YNDX Yandex NV

By Thomas Grove 

MOSCOW--Russia's antimonopoly watchdog fined Alphabet Inc.'s Google 438 million rubles ($6.75 million) Thursday for competition violations.

The antimonopoly body said U.S. technology company Google was responsible for forcing retailers to install and keep a suite of apps on mobile phones for sale on the Russian market.

Google failed to overturn the Russian ruling against them in an arbitration court in March. They said they weren't in violation of antitrust laws.

The Russian watchdog last fall ordered Google to end violations of antitrust laws, paving the way for a hefty fine, in a victory for Yandex NV, the Russian company that has a rival internet search engine.

"We are sure that the requirements will provide the possibility for development of competition in Russia," said antimonopoly agency official Yelena Zayeva.

Yandex helped initiate the investigation by filing a complaint with the antitrust body against Google's practices of bundling, or pre-loading, its own apps and services on handsets using Android software.

Broader concerns have been raised in Europe among telecom operators that Google forces operators to install a suite of apps for messages, search, email and other functions if a carrier wants to include any of them.

Telecom executives say they would like more freedom to pre-install only some Google apps. The European Commission, the European Union's executive arm, has since last year been formally investigating whether to accuse Google of anticompetitive behavior with Android. Google says it doesn't violate antitrust rules.

The fine comes days after the same agency said it launched a case into price fixing between Apple, Inc. and other mobile phone retailers.

Write to Thomas Grove at thomas.grove@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

August 11, 2016 09:15 ET (13:15 GMT)

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