The Commercial Court of Kyiv on Thursday rejected Dniproazot JSC’s claim to invalidate and cancel the decision of the Antimonopoly Committee of Ukraine dated December 29, 2021 on the violation by the enterprise of legislation on the protection of economic competition and a fine of UAH 80.11 million.
“The Antimonopoly Committee will continue to defend its position on this case if Dniprozot continues to appeal against this in the highest courts,” the ministry said in a statement.
The Antimonopoly Committee of Ukraine recalled that during the investigation, the monopoly (dominant) position of the enterprise in 2017-2019 in the commodity market was established and it was proved that it abused this provision, in particular, stopped the production of goods from 06/18/2018 to 07/19/2018 and stopped its sale from 07/01/2018 to 07/19/2018.
“The main reason for stopping the production of Dniproazot was the increase in the cost of natural gas and the lack of working capital. At the same time, the Committee did not reveal significant changes in the cost of natural gas and established the presence of working capital in the company’s accounts,” the ministry said in a statement.
The Antimonopoly Committee also recalled that the issue of setting prices for Dniprozot in the period of 2017-2019 is being investigated by the committee as part of another case.
JSC “Dniproazot” specializes in the production of carbamide, ammonia, sodium hydroxide, liquid chlorine and hydrochloric acid and is controlled by the structures of the Privat group.
In January-September 2021, the enterprise reduced its net profit three times (by UAH 228.3 million) compared to the same period last year, to UAH 113.1 million. Its revenue for the nine months of this year increased by 43.2% – up to UAH 5 billion 734.8 million.
