"The fact that I learnt about the fine in the press shows that this penalty is just a silly game,” says Gennady Onishchenko.
Photo: Nikita Infantyev
| Other Photos |
 |
|
 |
Competition Watchdog Plays Silly Games – Consumer Rights Agency Head
The Russian consumer rights chief has lashed out at the competition watchdog which fined him for refusing to provide information during an inspection at his agency. Gennady Onishchenko says he learnt about it from the press. He accused the Federal Anti-Monopoly Service of “silly games” and lobbying interests of selected private firms. The anti-monopoly agency, in its turn, threatened to fine Mr. Onishchenko another 20,000 rubles or disqualify from holding any official posts for three years.
The Federal Anti-Monopoly Service on Monday fined Russia’s chief sanitary officer Gennady Onishchenko 1,500 rubles over his failure to present documents for an inspection at the Russian Consumer Rights Supervision Service. “The fact that I learnt about it in the press shows that this penalty is just a silly game,” the official said Tuesday.
“Somehow, the Anti-Monopoly Service pays a particular interest to us when issues on imported Georgian wine and other alcohol products appear on the agenda,” Gennady Onishchenko told Kommersant. “This is not what you would call ‘a disinterested zeal for the interests of the country’.”
“These links seem odd and unclear to us,” the competition watchdog’s deputy director Andrey Tsyganov said, commenting on Mr. Onishchenko’s statements. “Our checks have nothing to do with Georgian wines. Quite on the contrary, when a ban on them was under consideration we sided with the Consumer Rights Service.”
The Federal Anti-Monopoly Service launched its inspection after the consumer rights agency last March secured a monopoly on testing alcohol productions for certification. The Anti-Monopoly Service’s inspectors asked for a number of documents that Mr. Onishchenko’s agency would not provide.
Mr. Tsyganov said that his agency had already got hold of the documents through their own sources and finished the inspection. “We have found violations of the law by the Consumer Rights Service which imposed restrictions on private laboratories,” Andrey Tsyganov said, adding that Mr. Onishchenko’s agency would have two months to amend the situation. Otherwise, it will face a fine up to 20,000 rubles or the official in question will disqualify from any official posts for three years.
www.kommersant.com
All the Article in Russian as of June 20, 2007
|
|
|
