Russian antitrust regulator initiates suit against Apple, Russian resellers
10 Aug 2016
Russia's federal antitrust regulator has initiated a suit against Apple and a number of Russian smartphone retailers, over alleged price-fixing of iPhones.
According to the Federal Anti-Monopoly Service (FAS), it was investigating to discover whether or not Apple and 16 Russian resellers agreed to lock iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus prices beginning in October 2015. According to the regulator, the prices were stable across the board and over a significant period of time.
FAS said it considered such a coincidence could be the outcome of a negotiation between Apple and local resellers.
"Resellers set their own prices for the Apple products they sell in Russia and around the world, Apple said.
The head of the anti-monopoly unit of the FAS, Andrei Filimonov, previously affirmed that his unit was studying the possibility of iPhone price-fixing.
According to Filimonov, the culprits could be fined 15 per cent of iPhone sales revenue.
With the relations between the US and Russia at a low not seen since the Cold War, US businesses in Russia are constantly under fire. The sanctions by the EU and the US against Russia after its annexation of Crimea in March 2014 further exacerbated the situation. Hitting back, Russia embargoed a number of food products from the EU and the US.
Two years ago, Russia's state consumer regulator temporarily shut 12 McDonald's restaurants and 100 more had to undergo thorough sanitary inspections. McDonald's Corp said in 2015, that its expansion in Russia would continue.
With Russia's increased focus on placing curbs on human rights, tech companies slowly emerged as the regulator's preferred target.
The Russian government aimed to exercise full control over Russia's mainly unfettered internet, which put it at odds with tech industry representatives.
In 2014, Russia passed a law, forcing foreign internet companies, such as Twitter, Facebook and Google to store Russian users' personal data on servers from within the country.
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