Russian antitrust not inclined to give Google more time to comply

MOSCOW, Sep 13 (PRIME) -- Russia’s Federal Antimonopoly Service is not inclined to extend the period given to Google to fix its breaches on the local market of preinstalled application stores; still no final decision has been made yet, the authority’s Director Igor Artemyev told reporters Tuesday.

“Now the official who made the corresponding decision should take steps. We will speak to that person, but my point of view is that we should not stretch (the term); they’ve already had plenty of time,” Artemyev said.

The antitrust service said in early September that it had received a request from the U.S. company, which was fined 438 million rubles, to prolong the period to execute the authority’s order. The fulfillment period expired on August 29.

The watchdog not only fined Google, but also ordered it to fix violations regarding the imposition of restrictive conditions for device manufacturers. The authority said in late August that the U.S. giant could face another penalty up to 500,000 rubles if it fails to fix breaches.

(65.0539 rubles – U.S. $1)

End