On 20th August 2008, Federal Antimonopoly Service (FAS Russia) filed lawsuits to the Moscow Arbitration Court on invalidating and withdrawing the results of the auctions organized by the Forestry Department for the Moscow Region and Moscow (Mosleskhoz) on 10, 14 and 12 December 2007 to sell the rights for the leasing contracts of the forest blocks, owned by the state.
On 16th June 2008, FAS Russia recognized that Mosleskhoz violated Part 2 Article 17 of the Federal Law «On Protection of Competition», which forbids bidding restrictions, not specified in the federal laws or other regulatory legal acts, if bidding is organized by the federal executive bodies.
Mosleskhoz violated the law by setting unlawful restrictions against the persons that intended to participate in the above auctions
FAS Russia established that Mosleskhoz had imposed the order «On a Forestry Auction for Leasing Contracts of the Forest Blocks, Owned by the State». It specified the commencement and the deadline for submitting the bids - 12th and 14th December 2007 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Under the auction documentation and the auction notices, the bids were accepted at the designated time on specified days at the organizer's address - Mosleskhoz. At the same time, notices published by Mosleskhoz in a periodical print media and on the official web site, had no information regarding preliminary registration for submitting the bids. In addition, officers of Mosleskhoz personally accepted the bids. The companies did not have a possibility to submit the bids in any other way, in particular, by post.
