MOSCOW, August 20 (RIA Novosti) - Russia's business watchdog said Monday it has launched a probe into the activities of an environment and technology regulator over its suspected violation of anti-trust laws.
The Federal Anti-Monopoly Service (FAS) said on its Web site that the federal body had empowered state-run laboratories in south Russia and the Volga Region to charge enterprises for environmental impact assessments, to study documentation for environmental projects and to provide related conclusions for issuing permits.
The case, which will be heard September 17, will also focus on the involvement of those facilities in scheduled and random environmental inspections conducted by the regional offices of the Federal Service for the Oversight of the Environment, Technology and Nuclear Management.
The anti-monopoly authority said such measures by the regulator not only restricted competition on the environment documentation market, but also created additional administrative barriers for commercial enterprises.
The FAS press service said private companies designing environmental documentation had been invited to participate in the probe as an interested party.
The authority earlier revealed similar violations in the Kursk Region in central Russia and the Republic of Bashkortostan in the Volga region.
"Analysis of materials received by the FAS and in possession of its regional offices demonstrates the need to carry out country-wide inspections," Nikolai Zolotukhin, deputy head of the FAS directorate on control and supervision in construction, natural resources and housing and utility services, said earlier.
However, Yevgeny Anoshin, an advisor to the head of the environment and technology regulator, said there was no monopoly in terms of industrial and environmental inspections, as those conducted by the lab analysis centers accounted for only 20-30% of the total number of inspections.
"Consequently, the overwhelming majority of inspections are conducted by private companies," he said.
