Red light turned on: FAS initiated 21 cases against the Svetofor network
The Federal Antimonopoly Service has initiated 21 cases against Svetofor logistics centers in 14 regions, Izvestia has learned. The reason was the presence of bonded conditions for manufacturers in supply contracts. Mass violations in the work of this network were also recorded by Rosselkhoznadzor inspections — a significant part of the samples of milk, meat, fish and products from them, chicken eggs, did not meet the quality requirements. The State Duma believes that the current system of sanctions allows some networks to deliberately build their business model on violations of the Law on Trade: The fines they pay are minuscule compared to the profits. What more severe measures are proposed by deputies and public figures to strengthen control over the quality of products in large chains — in the Izvestia article.
What did the large-scale Traffic Light inspections show?
The regional departments of the Federal Antimonopoly Service have initiated 21 cases on grounds of violation of antimonopoly legislation against 20 logistics centers of the Svetofor retail chain. This was reported to Izvestia by the press service of the department. The cases were initiated during the FAS inspection of Svetofor logistics centers for compliance of their activities with the requirements of the law "On Trade".
According to the service, complaints about the network were identified in 14 regions of the country — Yakutia, Tatarstan, Krasnodar, Krasnoyarsk and Stavropol territories, Belgorod, Voronezh and other regions.
Violations include the presence of conditions in the supply contracts that contradict the law, such as payment for the goods only after its sale by the store, covering the costs of disposing of unsold goods at the expense of the supplier, etc. If found guilty, the service will initiate administrative violations cases against distributors and fine them in accordance with the Administrative Code of the Russian Federation, the FAS clarified.
Svetofor is a Russian retail supermarket chain. It operates 2.2 thousand low-price stores under the brands "Svetofor" and "Mayak".
According to the rating of Infoline Analytics, for the first nine months of 2024, the company's revenue amounted to 286.3 billion rubles (-2.2% compared to the same period in 2023). The organization ranks fifth in the list of the country's largest retailers after X5 Group, Magnit, Krasnoe&Beloe and Lenta.
Simultaneously with the FAS, the Rosselkhoznadzor conducted inspections of the retail network on behalf of the government.
"As a result of unscheduled on—site inspections conducted against legal entities and sole proprietors engaged in trading activities under the Svetofor brand, more than 2.5 thousand violations were identified, about 280 orders for their elimination were issued, more than 1 thousand protocols were drawn up and almost 1 thousand resolutions on bringing to administrative responsibility were issued," the service told Izvestia.
They noted that the largest number of violations was detected in the Krasnoyarsk and Krasnodar Territories, Orenburg, Nizhny Novgorod, and Volgograd regions.
"More than 1.5 thousand product samples were taken from more than 400 Russian manufacturers, of which about one third revealed non—compliance with the requirements of the EAEU Technical Regulations," the Rosselkhoznadzor said.
They explained that the most violations were found in milk and dairy products — 51.4%, meat and meat products — 21.49%, fish and fish products, chicken eggs — 20%.
Izvestia sent a request to the Svetofor retail chain with a request to comment on the situation with the inspections and their results. The editorial board also addressed questions to the Ministry of Industry and Trade and Rosprostrebnadzor with a request to clarify the situation with further measures regarding the operation of the network, as the services continue to identify new violations.
So, the other day, the Orenburg court issued a decision banning the sale of counterfeit dairy products in Svetofor stores. An inspection by the local Rospotrebnadzor revealed that butter, sour cream, cheese and other products with undeclared vegetable fats were present in the assortment, which poses a threat to consumer health.
In the Bryansk region, on July 1, the Rosselkhoznadzor announced that it had detected violations of the conditions for storing goods and selling various products at Svetofor. In particular, the sale of expired goods was recorded. As a result, a total of more than 890 kg of various products were withdrawn from sale in a number of retail outlets. Administrative proceedings have been initiated.
These are not the first claims of the control authorities against the "Traffic Light". Large-scale unscheduled inspections of the retail chain began back in January 2025 after Sergey Lisovsky, deputy chairman of the State Duma Committee for the Protection of Competition, appealed to the government and the Federal Antimonopoly Service.
In particular, from January 10 to January 30, Rospotrebnadzor checked almost 1.5 thousand Svetofor stores in 45 regions. As a result, 5.7 thousand shipments of unsafe products with a volume of over 300 tons were seized, more than 3 thousand protocols on administrative offenses were drawn up, and fines of more than 1.2 million rubles were imposed.
As a result of these inspections, 76 network facilities were suspended. But subsequently, they all resumed work. At the same time, out of 1,293 orders to eliminate violations, 23 were not fulfilled within the prescribed period — the materials on them went to court, said the head of the department, Anna Popova, in response to a deputy's request (Izvestia has it).
A business model based on violations of the law
The State Duma believes that tougher measures than just administrative fines should be taken against the Svetofor retail chain and similar companies.
— The business model of this retail chain is based on violations of the law. In other words, the fines it will pay for selling substandard products to consumers and violating obligations towards suppliers are not comparable to its profits. Therefore, she continues to commit violations, does not pay suppliers on time and sells substandard goods. But this should be unacceptable for the state. Such a practice should be severely suppressed so that there is no desire to repeat it," Sergei Lisovsky explained to Izvestia.
According to him, bona fide entrepreneurs are perplexed when some retail chains show successful results using such methods. Lisovsky did not rule out that the results of the latest inspections would be sent to the Prosecutor General's Office, and changes would be made to the legislation to eliminate loopholes that allow businesses to ignore the requirements of the law.
At the same time, the deputy noted that the current moratorium on unscheduled business inspections, on the one hand, allows bona fide producers to work safely, but on the other, unscrupulous entrepreneurs use it to make super profits and deceive consumers and producers. In this regard, he proposed to change the moratorium system: to exempt small enterprises from inspections, but to subject larger market players to them.
— If we take the food sector, then this moratorium is very dangerous for the country, — Sergey Lisovsky emphasized.
Oleg Pavlov, head of the Public Council at Rosportebnadzor and head of the Public Consumer Initiative, shares the opinion on the need to strengthen punishment.
— Indeed, the situation with the Svetofor network, which was checked by several departments, each of which found a huge array of serious violations, indicates an unfair practice of deliberate behavior of the company. It can be concluded that she consciously laid the foundation for her business model. Therefore, ordinary fines cannot be a deterrent for her," the social activist told Izvestia.
According to him, thousands of fines do not stop the company from making billions of dollars in profit on these violations.
— Therefore, it is necessary to transform responsibility and introduce at least negotiable fines, and as a maximum — disqualification and blocking of activities, including accounts and business transactions. In other words, the sanctions system should be such that businesses have no desire to violate the law," Oleg Pavlov said.
The social activist believes that this practice provokes other retail chains to violations, therefore, increased punishment is especially important.
So, in May of this year, as Izvestia reported, E. coli and salmonella were found in shish kebab blanks purchased at Magnolia and Verniy stores. These were the results of an inspection conducted in the laboratory of the National Center for the Safety of Fish and Agricultural Products. During the subsequent inspection of Magnolia by Rospotrebnadzor, the finished products of the chain's own manufacture showed a lack of data on shelf life, information on the time of manufacture, and the products themselves were often sold without packaging, which could contribute to the appearance of pathogens.
Переведено сервисом «Яндекс Переводчик»
