Apple surrenders one hour of profit to Russia for antitrust violations

This case is separate to the 2022 App Store antitrust fine, in which Russia's Federal Antimonopoly Service (FAS) has said it will fine Apple $17.4 million. That case concerns forcing developers to use Apple's in-app payment system, and the $12.12 million fine relates instead to a specific complaint from Kaspersky Lab.

Following that firm's 2019 complaint that an app of its was being forced to reduce functionality because it competed with Apple's own Screen Time, the FAS investigated. In 2020, FAS first ruled that Apple owed $12 million in fines, but then agreed to delay the ruling until Apple had appealed.

Now according to Reuters, Apple has reportedly paid the fine. Apple itself has not commented, but FAS posted a statement on its Telegram channel saying: "Apple has paid a 906 million rouble antitrust fine."

Since the original ruling, Apple has ceased all online sales in Russia following the start of the Ukraine war.