Russia: Russian Court imposes additional RUB 4 billion fine against Google in case over anticompetitive practices

On 27 June 2023, the Moscow Presnensky District Court issued a penalty of RUB 4 billion against Google after the company failed to pay the RUB 2 billion fine imposed on July 2022 by the Russian Federal Antimonopoly Service (FAS),following an investigation that determined that Google had violated antitrust law, due to its non-transparent application of YouTube’s terms of service. In particular, the FAS had noted that the rules regarding account suspension and content blocking were biased and that YouTube failed to issue warnings to users and justify its decisions to block or suspend accounts. The FAS Russia notes that if a court-imposed fine remains unpaid 60 days after the ruling's effective date, the agency will forward the information to bailiffs for enforcement and submit the case materials to the court to initiate proceedings for double liability.