MOSCOW, December 14 - RAPSI, Natalia Belova. The court has dismissed Wimm-Bill-Dann's lawsuit to cancel the antimonopoly service's resolution that a state procurement tender for baby food in 2010 was marred with violations, the Russian Legal Information Agency (RAPSI/rapsinews.com) reports.
Wimm-Bill-Dann is the Russia's largest food company founded in Moscow in 1992.
Established over 100 years ago, Nutricia specializes in producing baby food. It has operated in Russia since 1994 and been a part of the international Danone food group since 2007.
Wimm-Bill-Dann was named as a successful bidder in the state procurement tender for baby food.
The Moscow District Health Department and Nutricia, a Danone subsidiary, which contested the tender's validity, are involved in the case as third parties.
The Federal Antimonopoly Service acknowledged Nutricia's complaint on January 11 and agreed that the baby food requirements limit the number of bidders.
The watchdog's representative said on Wednesday that Wimm-Bill-Dann missed the three-month appeal deadline.
Wimm-Bill-Dann said it filed the lawsuit as soon as it became aware of the decision, as it had not been involved in the case hearing at the antimonopoly service, and the watchdog had not published its decision. In this regard, Wimm-Bill-Dann requested to restore the missed appeal deadline.
The Kommersant newspaper earlier reported that in 2010 the Moskva Zlatoglavaya trading house and Wimm-Bill-Dann won an annual tender to provide free baby food to Moscow residents. Nutricia was barred from the tender as it failed to meet the customer's packing and product property requirements, Kommersant reported.
Moskva Zlatoglavaya sells food products produced by the French Nutribio. The Moscow government owns a 20-percent stake in Moskva Zlatoglavaya.
Danone told RAPSI that it seeks to "secure fair competition for itself and the other bidders".