MOSCOW, May 5 - RAPSI. Novolipetsk Steel and VIZ-Stal submitted an application to the Moscow Commercial Court that disputes a ruling by the antimonopoly service on inflating prices for electrical transformer steel for Russian transformer manufactures.

The Federal Antimonopoly Service reported in February that from August 2009 to December 2010 the two companies inflated prices for electrical transformer steel.

The service reported that the prices were twice as high for Russian manufacturers compared with prices in foreign markets. The commission found no economic or technological variables to justify the difference in prices for goods and concluded that this action contradicted the law "On Protection of Competition."

NLKM and VIZ-Stal are the only producers of electrical transformer steel in Russia. Manufacturers of high-voltage electrical equipment are the main users of this steel.

The fine for NLMK could be as high as one to 15 percent of profits received from the sale of the transformer steel on the Russian Market.

Yekaterinburg-based VIZ-Stal is the leading producer of cold-rolled electrical steel and transformer steel in Russia. Its production capacity amounts to 200,000 tons a year.
NLMK is one of the world's largest steel producers. The company is held primarily by Vladimir Lisin with an 84.6 percent stake. Some 2.5 percent of the shares belong to the company's management. Another 12.89 percent of the company's shares are in free float, with 8.45 percent being GDR shares floating on the London Stock Exchange.