A local newspaper in Moscow reported that hotel owners there are believed to be illegally increasing their prices in the run up to the 54th Eurovision Song Contest next month.

Many hotels are reporting to be boosting their prices by 20-30%for the pan european event on the week of May 10th to 16th, Kommersant newspaper reported, citing its own price research.

Russia's Anti-Monopoly Service says it plans to root out any illegal collusion between hotels, the paper said, citing anti-monopoly official Timofey Nizhegorodtsev.

"We will carry out an inspection of this situation," he said.

Kommersant reported that one well known hotel group, for a standard room, are increasing their prices from 208 dollars (159 euros) at present to 270 dollars (207 euros).

Moscow had the world's most expensive hotel rooms in the four years to 2008, a time when Russia's economy was booming thanks to high oil prices, according to Hogg Robinson Group, a British firm that monitors the travel industry.