The Federal Antimonopoly Service uncovered a cartel agreement in the procurement of computing equipment and software for government customers. The total value of contracts exceeded 236 million rubles, Vedomosti reported, citing FAS materials.
OOO "Business Standart", OOO AKB "Baryer", and OOO "Saveit Education" were found to be in violation. According to the agency, the companies entered into an anti-competitive agreement to maintain prices in electronic auctions. Instead of genuine competition for contracts, the firms minimally reduced the initial maximum price and refrained from competing.
Signs of collusion included a unified digital infrastructure, synchronized actions in tenders, affiliation of founders, and stable financial ties between participants. Violators face turnover-based fines, and the materials have been handed over to law enforcement agencies.
Connection to Softline
According to SPARK data, all three companies share common owners and addresses. The sole owner of "Business Standart", Ivan Kireev, also fully owns "Saveit Education". "Saveit Education" and AKB "Baryer" share the same director (Roman Parshin) and legal address in Voronezh. The parent company of "Baryer" is PAO "Softline" — a large Russian IT company, one of the market leaders.
Softline stated that they are not involved in the violations, as they acquired the "Baryer" structure six months after the disputed procurements. After joining the group, procurements for "Baryer" were centralized.
All three companies actively worked with government customers — the Social Fund, FSIN, and structures of the Moscow Oblast government. "Business Standart"'s revenue for 2025 amounted to 136.6 million rubles, with a net profit of 52.6 million. "Baryer" had 192.7 and 16.3 million respectively, and "Saveit Education" had 232.4 and 88.7 million.
According to experts interviewed by Vedomosti, cartels in IT procurement are common due to a narrow circle of suppliers, the highly specific nature of the market, and opaque pricing. As a result, the state overpays, and real price reductions do not occur.
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