Russia fines Apple $12 million for “abuse of dominant position”

The federal competition authorities of Russia has imposed a fine of 906.3 million rubles (more than 12 million dollars or 10 million euros) on the technology giant Apple for alleged abuse of a dominant position in the applications market.

“On April 26, 2021, the Russian Antitrust Service (FAS, in Russian) imposed a fine on Apple’s revenues of 906.3 million rubles (more than 12 million dollars) for violating antitrust laws,” he noted. the agency in a statement.

The FAS concluded the antitrust case against Apple last August after opening it “as a result of a request from Kaspersky Lab JSC”, a Russian cybersecurity company.

The Russian competition authorities determined that Apple abuses its dominant position in the distribution of mobile applications on its iOS operating system through a series of sequential actions that led to a “competitive advantage of its own products and at the same time to worse distribution conditions for rival products”, such as parental control.

The FAS has issued an order to Apple to “remove in its documentation provisions that give it the right to reject third-party applications in its technology store for any reason, even if they meet all the requirements,” he explained.

According to the official agency TASS, Apple disagrees with the decision of the Russian antitrust authorities and will appeal it in due course.