Apple Inc. has been penalized by Russia’s Federal Anti-Monopoly Service for allegedly abusing the app industry. The penalty is worth RUB 1.2 billion equivalent to $17.4 Million USD. The regulator earlier declared Apple to have violated anti-monopoly law and stated that the penalties would be based on the company’s turnover and equal to a percentage of their yearly revenue in Russia, ranging from 0.01 to 1.5%.
More About Russia’s FAS’
The Decree of the President of the Russian Federation “On establishing the Federal Antimonopoly Service” was what gave rise to the Federal Antimonopoly Service (FAS) of Russia. It is a legal organization with the authority to supervise and manage the market, carry out preventive measures for the enforcement of the law, and defend the interests of both rival businesses and consumers.
The Competition Law, together with related laws and regulations, such as the Law on Protection of Economic Competition and Federal Law No. 135-FZ, are enforced by the FAS. Infractions of the legislation governing public procurement and state assistance are also dealt with by the FAS.
The Federal Anti-Monopoly Service of Russia has been investigating Apple since October 2021. Igor Artemyev serves as the Federal Antimonopoly Service’s director. According to the website description for Russia, it states, “The Federal Anti-Monopoly Service is a federal body of executive authority responsible for adopting regulatory acts and exercising control and supervision over the legal protection of product market and financial services market competition, protection of natural monopolies’ activities (within the Service’s powers set by Russian legislation) and advertising (within the Service’s powers set by Russian legislation).”
