Russian antitrust can decide on fine for Google by April

MOSCOW, Jan 14 (PRIME) -- Russia’s Federal Antimonopoly Service can decide by April on an amount of the fine imposed on Google for abusing its dominant position on the market of preinstalled application stores on Android devices, the authority’s Deputy Director Anatoly Golomolzin told reporters Thursday.

“The first meeting, preliminary hearings (of Google’s litigation) are scheduled for the end of January. This trial will take some time,” Golomolzin said.

“Simultaneously, we are carrying out certain activities related to an administrative investigation to calculate the fine.”

In September 2015, the antimonopoly service ordered Google to eliminate all infringements by the end of that year. The U.S. company appealed against the decision at the Moscow Arbitration Court, which will hold preliminary hearings on January 25.

The authority’s Director Igor Artemyev said in December 2015 that the fine can amount to 8% of Google’s turnover on the domestic market, if the case reveals no mitigating circumstances.

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