---
title: "Russia Imposed $34 Million Fine on Google for Violating the Competition Rules"  
description: "Russia's competition watchdog, the Federal Antimonopoly Service (FAS) has penalized Alphabet's Google 2 billion roubles ($34.2 million) on Tuesday."  
author: "Siddhi Shaw"  
published: 2022-07-27  
canonical: https://www.mindstick.com/news/1797/russia-imposed-34-million-fine-on-google-for-violating-the-competition-rules  
category: "google"  
tags: ["google", "russia"]  
reading_time: 3 minutes  

---

# Russia Imposed $34 Million Fine on Google for Violating the Competition Rules

Russia's competition watchdog, the **Federal Antimonopoly Service (FAS)** has penalized **Alphabet's Google** **2 billion** roubles ($34.2 million) on **Tuesday**. According to the regulator, [tech](https://www.mindstick.com/news/1743/to-avoid-anti-trust-lawsuit-google-offers-to-split-ad-)-business" target="_blank"> Google was fined for abusing its dominant position within the video hosting market.

```
HIGHLIGHTS
Russia's competition watchdog, the Federal Antimonopoly Service (FAS) fined Google
FAS has made it clear that Google should pay the fine within two months of time
YouTube blocked Russian state-funded media globally and uses RuTube as alternative
```

The decision includes multi-million dollar fine, which is a part of Moscow's increasingly assertive campaign which would be against the foreign tech companies.

According to the **Federal Antimonopoly Service (FAS)** the company was found to '**abuse its dominant position within the YouTube video [hosting services](https://answers.mindstick.com/qa/93389/do-mindstick-provide-web-hosting-services) market**,' without giving any sort of extra details.

Google in an interview had replied to the very statement that '**We would study the text of the official decision in order to define our next steps**.'

![Russia Imposed $34 Million Fine on Google for Violating the Competition Rules](https://www.mindstick.com/usernews/645947/5d7dca6e-291d-4dc0-942e-5595d5152f48/images/b71d0958-73ca-4ccd-a807-1eeceef069aa.jpeg)\

FAS has been very clear with its words that Google should pay the fine and make it clear within two months of it entering into force.

In recent months, [Russia](https://www.mindstick.com/news/1480/netflix-tiktok-banned-its-services-in-russia-amid-government-crackdown-on-ukraine-invasion) was found to impose Google's Russian subsidiary with various fines. Well, last week a court had ordered it to pay around **21.1 billion** roubles ($358.7 million) over what prosecutors had mentioned were actually some repeated refusals to get rid of content Russia which seemed illegal, like '**fake news**' about the [Russia's invasion of Ukraine](https://www.mindstick.com/news/1651/ukrainian-officials-phones-hacked-amid-russian-invasion-says-cybersecurity-expert) during the peak of the war.

Since the time Moscow had launched what it calls its '**[special military](https://yourviews.mindstick.com/view/87539/10-special-military-forces-in-the-world) operation**' in [Ukraine](https://www.mindstick.com/news/1493/ukraine-usages-clearview-ai-facial-recognition-technology-to-identify-russians-death), it has been involved in accelerating attacks on Western tech companies at home so that it can exert additional control over the online space, like by supporting domestic players to oust their Western rivals.

**Gazprom Media**, a media conglomerate which is connected to state-controlled gas giant Gazprom. Well, it has been heavily promoting **RuTube**, it’s an alternative to YouTube in Russia, that has seen a sharp uptick in traffic since February.

[YouTube](https://www.mindstick.com/news/1220/youtube-spreading-misinformation-worldwide-80-fact-checking-websites-claim) has eventually blocked Russian state-funded media globally and is under extreme pressure from Russia's communications regulator and politicians.

During the early days of **March**, Google has stopped selling [online advertising](https://answers.mindstick.com/qa/102506/how-does-google-adwords-work-for-online-advertising) in Russia but it has kept some of the free [services available](https://answers.mindstick.com/qa/93716/does-mindstick-give-affordable-prices-for-all-their-services-available) for the people to enjoy. Well, its Russian subsidiary which has formally filed for bankruptcy once authorities had seized its bank account, it is therefore, made it impossible for them to pay the staffs and vendors.

Also Read: [Google was fined $360 Million by Russia over YouTube videos that included ‘prohibited’ content](https://www.mindstick.com/news/1766/google-was-fined-360-million-by-russia-over-youtube-videos-that-included-prohibited-content)

---

Original Source: https://www.mindstick.com/news/1797/russia-imposed-34-million-fine-on-google-for-violating-the-competition-rules

Copyright © MindStick Software Pvt. Ltd. This Markdown version is provided for developers, AI systems, and offline reading.