Russian antitrust sees no amicable deal if Google denies guilt

MOSCOW, Dec 17 (PRIME) -- Russia’s Federal Antimonopoly Service does not see grounds for a pretrial amicable agreement with Google, which it found guilty of violating the competition law, since the company does not admit guilt, Director Igor Artemyev told reporters Thursday.

“The company does not admit its guilt, and we do not conclude amicable agreements if a company does not do it,” Artemyev said.

“All amicable agreements at court start with the words ‘the company admits that it has committed violations of a certain clause of law on competition’. If this is the case, there are grounds for negotiations to reduce fines.”

Google was found guilty of abusing its dominant position on the market of preinstalled applications stores on Android devices. In September, the service ordered Google to eliminate all infringements by Friday. The U.S. company appealed the decision in the Moscow Arbitration Court on December 10.

At present, the fine amounts to 8% of its turnover on the Russian market. “Everything will also depend on success at court. Let’s put it this way: we will announce the fine when the case is on the level of an upper court, when a court decision comes in force,” Artemyev said.

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