The Ministry of Digital Development asked the FAS to promptly consider Apple's actions after removing VK applications from the App Store. The agency stated that the company did not explain on what specific sanction grounds it blocked the placement of services.
The Ministry has not received a reasoned position from Apple regarding the existence of sanction requirements. Based on the conclusions received, including from American law firms, the Ministry of Digital Development confirms the absence of such grounds for blocking VK applications.
On June 25, VKontakte, Zen, VK Video, VK Music, VK Messenger, Mail.ru, Odnoklassniki, and other services disappeared from the App Store. iPhone owners will no longer be able to download or update these applications, or receive push notifications from them.
Against the backdrop of the dispute, Apple received a separate fine of 500 thousand rubles. The magistrate of the Tagansky district of Moscow found the company guilty of repeated failure to fulfill the duties of an information dissemination organizer. This case is not directly related to the removal of VK applications.
At the same time, the Ministry of Digital Development reminded that Apple has still not fulfilled Russian requirements: it has not added a default search engine selection window and does not pre-install the Russian application store on its devices.
Earlier, the "Max" messenger was also removed from the App Store. It remained available in RuStore, Google Play, Huawei AppGallery, and other stores, and the Ministry of Digital Development began negotiations with Apple for its return.
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