Apple paid Rbs1.18bn (12.3mn dollars) to the Russian state budget after a Moscow court found it guilty of abusing the App Store’s dominant position.
FAS, Russia’s anti-monopoly regulator, announced Monday that it had received payment in response to a ruling from November that found Apple prohibited app developers from telling customers they could pay for purchases outside of the App Store.
The money will be paid directly into the Russian budget. This is a boost to the Kremlin at a moment when the government of President Vladimir Putin is trying to raise funds for record-breaking defence expenditures to prosecute the Ukrainian war.
Apple has not paid fines for the first time since the dispute began in February 2022.
According to FAS, the iPhone maker also paid Rbs906mn (about $10mn) in fines a year after for another violation of antimonopoly laws. In recent years, other western tech companies, such as Google, paid fines after FAS took action.
To pay the fines levied by the Russian government on US companies, they must first seek permission from US Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), the agency that enforces trade restrictions.
Apple and US Treasury have not responded to comments immediately.
Following the outbreak of the war in Ukraine, Western sanctions led many tech firms to leave Russia. Groups such as Intel and Samsung, among others, suspended business there.
Apple ceased selling its physical products by 2022. However, its App Store as well as some subscription services are still available. Apple closed its Moscow office at the end of 2022. However, it still operates two legal entities in the country.
Apple, however, has taken down the Russian propaganda apps and sanctioned Russian bank from its mobile store.
Many banks in Russia still use iPhones and have created disguised versions under innocuous name to avoid Apple’s attempts to weed out sanctioned developers.
Russians have easy access to the latest iPhones, which are imported from third-country countries like Turkey, UAE, and former Soviet States, at high prices. Apple’s former Russian authorized reseller, re:store offers the iPhone 15 for Rbs95990 ($1,071), compared to $799 in America.
App Store policies are also being scrutinized by other courts. A US federal court found that its rules prevent developers from directing customers away from their apps. Apple’s rules were changed in the US last week to conform.
The new EU legislation also forces the company to allow iPhone users to download apps from other sources and bypass its store.