TNK-BP and Gazprom Neft Fined for Fixing Prices on Refined Products

The Federal Anti-Monopoly Service (FAMS) started its investigation on five leading oil and gas companies in Russia - Rosneft, LUKoil, TNK-BP, Surgutneftegaz and Gazprom Neft - in July.

The investigation focused on prices for gasoline and jet fuel as well as diesel and fuel oil.

On Friday, FAMS announced that two of the companies - TNK-BP and Gazprom Neft - has broken Russian anti-monopoly laws.

Both companies, according to FAMS, set "monopolistically high" prices and such market conditions that were unfair to competitors.

The law under which the action was taken allows for a fine of 1 percent to 15 percent of revenues from sales of the products in question but no more than 2 percent of the company's total revenues. It can be estimated as more than $400 million.

The size of the fines will be determined after further investigation, a spokesman for the anti-monopoly service said.

Author: Ksenia Kochneva