Tuna Cetin
Russia’s Federal Antimonopoly Service (FAS) announced on Monday that Apple has paid a fine of $12.12 million (906 million ₽) to settle an antitrust case that accused it of abusing its power in the mobile apps market and favoring its apps over those of rivals, as reported by Reuters.
The FAS had announced its decision back in August 2020, requiring the company to remove provisions that allow it to reject apps of third party developers from the App Store.
The same year, Russian cybersecurity company Kaspersky Lab issued a complaint claiming that the tech-giant rejected its Safe Kids app’s new version because it was also preparing to launch a similar product.
Apple previously said that it ‘’respectfully disagreed’’ with the decision, which it appealed but eventually complied with, the FAS wrote in its official Telegram channel.
The news comes a month after the FAS fined the iPhone-maker around $17.4 million for allegedly violating the country’s competition laws by requiring iOS developers to use its own payment system.
Following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Apple stopped its product sales in the country, limited access to its services including Apple Pay, suspended its Search Apps on the App Store, and removed various apps including Sputnik News and RT from its app marketplace.
It also removed Russia’s largest social media platform Vkontakte along with other VK-owned apps from the App Store, but restored them weeks after Russia demanded it to explain the reason behind the removals.
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