The FAS considered the state directive to discriminate in import substitution

The Federal Antimonopoly Service (FAS) called the state directives to provide preferences in Russian goods during Transneft's procurement with illegal discrimination of foreign suppliers. This was reported by Kommersant with reference to a letter from the head of Transneft, Nikolai Tokarev, Deputy Prime Minister Igor Shuvalov.

According to the newspaper, Tokarev asks to “clarify the possibility of execution of directives” of July 17 and November 24, 2014 in accordance with the Procurement Law (223-ФЗ). According to the directives, the company fixed the preemptive right to purchase goods from Russian suppliers in its provision on procurement, excluding cases when such products are not manufactured in Russia.

However, the FAS does not consider the indications of the White House by the official acts of the government and considered that such an interpretation contradicts the law. This can lead to the abolition of purchases due to illegal discrimination of foreign suppliers.

In December 2015, “Transneft -Verkhnyaya Volga” carried out a tender for 25 million rubles for the supply of parts for connecting pipes. As a result, the company DM-Consulting challenged the results of the tender in the OFAS in the Nizhny Novgorod region. The management considered that the structure of Transneft illegally provided an advantage to Russian goods, which contradicts the NTEA norms. The OFAS also indicated that the government has the right to establish priority for Russian -made goods, but the compliance with the regulatory act was not issued, and the directives are not such an act. The company tried to challenge the decision in court, but the regional arbitration sided with the department.

The representative of the secretariat Igor Shuvalov told the publication that Tokarev’s letter was received by the government apparatus and is in the study. Transneft refused comments.

According to the newspaper, in other oil and gas state -owned companies they refused to say whether they faced the same problems as Transneft. The Rosseti said that the company “had situations when the directives were not backed up by government acts,” but they added that in this case the company cannot talk about violation of the law.

In May 2015, the Ministry of Industry and Trade of Russia said that he was preparing directives for oil and gas companies for import substitution of equipment. The Minister of Industry and Trade Denis Manturov said that directives will become the main tool that will stimulate state -owned companies on the purchase of Russian equipment.