UPDATE: Antitrust orders oil cos to explain jet fuel pricing by Dec 15

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MOSCOW, Dec 12 (PRIME) -- Russia’s Federal Antimonopoly Service (FAS) has requested oil companies to provide grounds for their jet fuel pricing until Friday, Dmitry Makhonin, head of the service’s fuel and energy sector regulation department, told PRIME on Tuesday.

“The Federal Antimonopoly Service constantly monitors indicators of the oil product markets,” he said. “Relevant information will be submitted to the FAS before December 15. On December 1, we received a complaint from Siberia Airlines (part of S7 Group), which will be considered in accordance with regulations of the antimonopoly legislation in the term defined by the law.”

Earlier on Tuesday, S7 co-owner Natalya Filyova told reporters that the airline believed that domestic jet fuel prices were excessively high and planned to file a relevant complaint with the Federal Antimonopoly Service.

“We were going to submit a complaint (to the Federal Antimonopoly Service), I do not in which state it is, maybe, we have submitted… They (jet fuel prices) in Russia are simply higher than the exchange – this is unacceptable,” she said.

Filyova said she believes there is price collusion on the market. “In fact, there are only three oil companies: Rosneft, Gazprom Neft and Lukoil – and this is all, there is nobody else! I believe it is collusion, because the prices are just off the scale,” she said.

Business daily Vedomosti reported earlier that prices for jet fuel in Moscow airports grew by 23% since early June to 43,000 rubles per tonne, which is close to a historical maximum price, meaning that there is a fuel deficit on the domestic jet fuel market.

(59.2348 rubles – U.S. $1)

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