‘We haven’t investigated the affairs of Metro in terms of their having banks empowered to deal in factoring yet, since we haven’t been ordered to do so by our seniors, but if we are, we shall naturally inspect them,’ the spokesperson for Sverdlovsk Region division of Federal Antimonopoly Service said to UrBC.

Federal Antimonopoly Service has recently completed the first stage of checking how well the food chains comply with the antimonopoly legislation when dealing with their suppliers and, in particular, when there exists a factoring agreement. The Service monitored a number of chains, including Metro Cash and Carry; their experts analyzed the supply agreements, the invoices and the payment transactions, the data on existing factoring agreements with suppliers and on the banks who facilitate these transactions. The chains were asked to support or refute the claim as to their having special banks empowered to deal in their factoring agreements.

The inquiry revealed that Metro Cash and Carry Ltd. had no such banks.