Russia’s Federal Antimonopoly Service (FAS) issued a warning to Apple because iPhones and iPads come with a foreign search engine installed by default.
Users must manually change their settings to use Russian search engines, the agency said. “This creates discriminatory conditions for domestic developers and infringes on the rights and interests of consumers,” FAS said.
Another reason for the warning was Apple’s failure to comply with requirements to preinstall Russian software on devices running iOS. That software includes the Max messenger and Russia’s domestic app store (RuStore), among others.
FAS gave Apple until July 15 to correct the violations. If the company ignores the warning, it faces a fine of up to 4 billion rubles (about $52 million) for violating antitrust law, the agency said.
Apple removed a group of apps tied to Russia’s VK holding company from the App Store in June, a move Russian officials called politically motivated. The apps removed included the Max messenger, VKontakte’s flagship app, Mail.ru’s email apps, the Odnoklassniki social network, and other VK products.
Apple said that Max was removed from the App Store “in accordance with sanctions compliance rules.” Why Apple removed the other apps is unclear.
Russia’s Digital Development Ministry called the removal of VK’s apps from the App Store a “politically motivated decision” and filed a complaint with FAS. The Kremlin said the move “raises the question of this service’s reliability and how much it can be trusted as a provider of commercial services.”
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