Russia Says Apple Paid $13M in Anti-Monopoly Fines

Multinational tech giant Apple has paid the Russian government 1.2 billion rubles ($13.2 million) in fines, Russia’s Federal Anti-Monopoly Service (FAS) announced Monday.

The Russian agency said it found Apple in violation of its anti-monopoly legislation in July 2022 for banning app developers from informing customers about purchase options outside the App Store.

Western sanctions have cut off Russia’s access to international payment systems in response to its invasion of Ukraine.

Apple paid the fine of 1.18 billion rubles ($13.2 million) in full on Friday, FAS said in a statement.

The company has not publicly commented on the payment. 

Apple previously paid Russia an anti-monopoly fine of 906 million rubles ($10.1 million) as part of a 2020 lawsuit by the Russian cybersecurity company Kaspersky Lab.

FAS' announcement comes as hundreds of Western companies pulled out of Russia in response to Moscow's invasion of Ukraine.