The territorial department of the Federal Antimonopoly Service (FAS of Russia) in the Ryazan region initiated an antitrust case against the Magnit and Pyatyorochka retail chains due to high markups on potatoes, onions, cabbage and carrots.

"In August 2021 the Ryazan FAS of Russia assessed the justification of price increases for socially important food products in the largest retail chains in the region: "Magnit" and "Pyatyorochka". The data obtained indicate that when selling horticultural goods (potatoes, onions, cabbage, carrots) in the summer of 2021, Magnit and Pyatyorochka set a substantial markup on purchase prices - over 50%. In some cases, the markup exceeded 100%," the department said in a statement.

The companies will have to pay a fine from 300 thousand to 1 million rubles for abuse of dominance, if the interests of other market participants are not impaired. Otherwise, they face a fine of 1 to 15% of the proceeds.

At the same time, the press service of "Magnit" told TASS that the average mark-ups in the chain's stores in the Ryazan region for onions and cabbage in August were negative, for young potatoes and carrots - 5% and 17% respectively. The retailer noted that its actual profitability for these products is in the negative zone.

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Author: Karina Kamalova