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- Altai conspiracy: what are the dangers of collusion at auctions for the overhaul of houses
Altai conspiracy: what are the dangers of collusion at auctions for the overhaul of houses
Recent events in the Altai Territory and the Altai Republic have once again drawn attention to the problem of cartel agreements at electronic auctions, as a result of which major repairs of houses and buildings are carried out extremely inefficiently. The Federal Antimonopoly Service has identified signs of a cartel worth more than 2.2 billion rubles. Experts explain that identifying and proving the fact of collusion remains a difficult task. But the main problem is that these violations cause serious damage to the quality of the work performed, jeopardizing the reliability of the repaired facilities. Details can be found in the Izvestia article.
The Altai Cartel
The Federal Antimonopoly Service of Russia conducted unscheduled inspections in connection with suspected anticompetitive actions in the field of building repairs, revealing numerous violations during the bidding process in the amount of more than 2 billion rubles. As a result of the inspections, a case was initiated for violation of antimonopoly legislation against the companies Stroygrad LLC, Zhilservice LLC, Spetsstroyengineering LLC, Protection Technologies LLC, Ledsvet LLC, Altaistroy LLC and one individual entrepreneur, according to a press release from the Federal Antimonopoly Service of the Russian Federation. All of them are suspected of organizing and implementing collusion at 23 auctions with a total contract value of over 2 billion rubles.
According to the FAS, the suspects used a common infrastructure in the preparation and participation in the auction, as well as jointly executed contracts involving work, construction control, copyright and technical supervision. In addition, the service has identified signs of an anticompetitive agreement with one of the bidders, which exacerbates the situation. In case of proof of guilt, the company expects large turnover fines.
The negative consequence of collusion at auctions, including major repairs of buildings, is an increase in budget expenditures due to the restriction of competition and price maintenance at auctions, which entails damage from cartels for budgets of all levels, the FAS press service told Izvestia. — In addition, acting in collusion, contractors are not interested in performing high-quality work, as they win due to anticompetitive actions to maintain the price.
Izvestia sent requests to the Ministry of Construction, the OS of the Ministry of Construction and the Prosecutor General's Office of the Russian Federation.
Why do cartels arise even in open electronic auctions
Oleg Moskvitin, a member of the Public Council at the FAS of Russia and a partner at Delcredere, explains that the e-procurement mechanism would seem to exclude the possibility of collusion, but practice shows the opposite.
— E-procurement by itself cannot completely eliminate cartel collusion, but it makes it more difficult and also greatly simplifies detection. In fact, cartels are not related to the format of the site, but to economic and organizational factors," the expert points out.
Denis Kislitsa, Adviser to the CLS Antimonopoly Practice, notes that digitalization of trade procedures inevitably leads to the invention of new methods of unfair practices aimed at circumventing even the most sophisticated anti-cartel measures. According to FAS statistics, cartels remain the most common in electronic trading.
Cartels are not related to electronics and bidding as such, says Olga Belyaeva, chief researcher at the Institute of Legislation and Comparative Law under the Government of the Russian Federation.
— Collusion takes place in advance, before the bidding, in whatever form they are conducted. Participants can coordinate actions at the same table using any means of communication," the expert notes.
Valery Alekseev, head of the Investigation Bureau of the Popular Front, also notes that agreements are formed even before bidding, and formal transparency does not prevent coordinated actions.
Alexey Lukyanchikov, the founder of the Element engineering company, assures that cartel agreements continue to arise even at fully open electronic auctions, because the form of procurement has become digital, but the industry itself has not.
"In the regional capital repair markets, the number of contractors with the necessary resources is limited, their capabilities are well known, and coordination is more profitable than price competition," he notes.
URBAN CEO Olga Khasanova, in turn, clarifies that customers often make up such specific technical assignments that only a certain company can participate. The collusion becomes obvious, but it hardly goes beyond the law.
Transparency does not guarantee fair competition
Despite the apparent transparency of electronic trading, control over the process is often formal, which allows cartels to disguise themselves.
Oleg Moskvitin points out that it is important not only timely suppression by the FAS, but also systematic measures to recover damages for poor work. Understanding and avoiding collusion requires a comprehensive approach, he emphasizes.
"Control is not weak at all, but the key is the inability to "regulate" procedures without prejudice to bona fide participants," explains Denis Kislitsa. — Intermediaries only save the situation to a lesser extent, and the main difficulty is the balance between control and competition.
Anton Glushkov, President of NOSTROI, in turn, draws attention to the specifics of the industry.
— It must be borne in mind that there is always a specialization in the "construction". As a rule, the construction of facilities, even the most complex ones, requires the participation of not one, but several companies at once, each of which specializes in certain types of work: engineering, finishing, electrical installation, etc. Here, the line between collusion and the formation of consortia is very thin," the expert notes.
Nina Mishchenko, a lawyer at AKG Business Profile, emphasizes the importance of new detection tools. GIS "Antikartel", introduced by the FAS, allows you to automatically analyze data and identify signs of cartels, including corruption collusion, she comments.
At the same time, Olga Khasanova, general director of URBAN projects, adds that cartel collusion is difficult to identify, it may formally look legitimate. Very experienced specialists are needed to detect it, she believes.
Why do customers often turn a blind eye to cartel collusion?
In some cases, customers do not just passively look at violations, but become participants in the schemes themselves or are not interested in eliminating them.
Anton Glushkov explains that the low level of competition in bidding for construction, almost zero profit from the state contract and the contract for the overhaul of the MCD, the need to fulfill the plan, master the budget — all this together can force the customer to accept such situations. But it is important to understand that the law is the law, and no matter what the situation, it must not be violated, he recalls.
Denis Kislitsa notes that quality and timing are more important for the customer, and the cartel usually leads to overcharging, but suppliers try not to let them down with the fulfillment of obligations. The customer suffers financially, not qualitatively, he claims.
Lina Tkachenko, President of the AKON Association, warns that the overhaul is a corruption-intensive area. In 2024, about 80% of the auctions were declared invalid due to a lack of bids. Bona fide companies do not go there, realizing that the conditions are impossible, the specialist complains.
Does the "cartelism" affect the quality of the overhaul
Cartel agreements damage not only the budget, but also the quality of the work performed, jeopardizing the reliability of the repaired facilities.
— The cartel, in fact, eliminates the economic essence of competition. If all the participants know in advance who the winner is, there is no point in a "competition", there is no bidding on the price. With each such case, a really good company may lose the opportunity to conclude a contract due to price manipulation," says Anton Glushkov.
And although the cartel members win contracts at inflated prices, they are not interested in doing high-quality work, Oleg Moskvitin notes. In case of non-compliance with obligations, companies easily change legal entities and continue their activities, he explains.
— The fact is that the cartel excludes the struggle of engineering solutions, leads to a deterioration of technologies and materials, — Alexey Lukyanchikov emphasizes. — The customer receives a formally accepted facility without a guarantee of long-term reliability.
However, it is not only collusion that affects quality, says Dmitry Vladimirov, managing partner of the IDI-Project design company, as the price and conditions are determined by collusion, which leads to a decrease in the reliability and safety of facilities.
"Identifying and proving cartels remains a difficult task," says Nadezhda Kosareva, President of the Institute of Urban Economics Foundation. — Cartel agreements often lower the quality and raise the price due to reduced incentives for competition, despite complaints from tenants.
There may be no direct link between the cartel and quality, adds Olga Belyaeva. That is, collusion may be a high level of execution, and an honest contractor may be unable to fulfill the contract.
— Cartel agreements lead to budget overruns and market imbalances. However, the level of quality depends on the qualifications of the participants, and not only on the existence of collusion," concludes Olga Khasanova.
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