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Google to ask Russia's antimonopoly regulator to extend deadline for fulfilling order

FAS said earlier that one more fine might be imposed on Google if the corporation fails to meet the directive of the Russian Federal Antimonopoly Service to cure violations of antimonopoly laws

MOSCOW, September 2. /TASS/. The Russian Federal Antimonopoly Service (FAS) received a request from Google for extension of deadline for fulfilling the service’s orders, FAS said on Friday.

"The Service will consider the appeal of the company in due course," FAS press service quoted Head of FAS Department for Regulation of Communications and Information Technologies Elena Zaeva.

FAS said earlier that one more fine might be imposed on Google if the corporation fails to meet the directive of the Russian Federal Antimonopoly Service (FAS) to cure violations of antimonopoly laws.

"Google has eight days to perform FAS directive from the time of court judgment preparation in full scope. Otherwise they will face a new penalty," press service of the regulator said.

It was reported earlier that the Ninth Arbitration Court of Appeal rejected Google's appeal against the case of the Russian Federal Antimonopoly Service (FAS).

"The court upheld the decision of the court of original jurisdiction," Head of FAS Department for Regulation of Communications and Information Technologies Elena Zaeva told journalists.

"We are certainly pleased that the court upheld the judgment in favor of FAS. Soon as it enters into force, and we hope that in the near future, Google will perform the issued order in full," Zaeva said.

At the same time, FAS will enforce Google ruling. "We expect to see the situation favorable for the development of competition in the market, it is the most important thing," she added, saying that Google has not yet paid the fine.

Yandex, witness in the case, also expressed support for the court's decision. "We are pleased with the decision, once again it confirms the conclusions reached by the Federal Antimonopoly Service Commission on anti-competitive practices on Google on Android platform," Yandex press-service said.

On August 16, FAS said they failed to reach an agreement with Google on amicable agreement.

It was reported earlier, that FAS determined the fine in the amount of 438 mln rubles ($6.7 mln) penalty for US Google Corporation.

In March 2016, the Russian Federal Antimonopoly Service (FAS) initiated administrative proceedings against Google to determine the amount of fine under part 2 article 14.31 of the Russian Code of Administrative Offences. According to the article, in view of the abuse of dominant position on the market of operating systems for mobile devices in Russia, Google as the owner of the Android OS can pay a fine ranging from 1% to 15% of its revenues on the Russian market in 2014.

In January 2016, Head of FAS Igor Artemyev said Russia’s competition law violation penalty for US Google Corporation will most likely amount to 7% of the turnover in 2014 with addressed inflation. According to Artemyev, the fine will most likely be 7% of the annual turnover, subject to various factors and aggravating circumstances: protraction of process, etc.

On September 14, 2015, the Federal Antimonopoly Service ruled that Google Inc. and Google Ireland Ltd. had breached the competition protection law under the complaint of the Russian Internet company Yandex. According to the regulator, Google obliged manufacturers of Android OS-based devices to pre-install its applications together with Android platform. FAS said that Google’s policy restricted installation of applications by other developers. Google did not agree with the ruling and appealed to the court.

Google did not agree with FAS decision and appealed to the court. On February 5, 2015, the Court brought Yandex as a third party in the case and decided to hold hearings behind closed doors. On March 14, the Moscow Arbitration Court has dismissed the lawsuit Google filed against Russia’s FAS.

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