Russian tech giant VK wants Apple to pay $696,000 every day until its apps return to the App Store

The Russian tech conglomerate VK is seeking a substantial daily financial penalty from Apple for the removal of its applications from the App Store, totaling $696,000 per day. The monetary demand is expected to amount to approximately $21 million monthly or $252 million annually. VK, formerly known as Mail.ru Group until 2021, initiated the lawsuit against Apple in a Moscow arbitration court following the removal of several of its apps in June.

These apps, such as VKontakte, VK Messenger, VK Video, Zen, Mail Cloud, Mail, Skillbox, and Youla, were taken down by Apple due to compliance with EU sanctions imposed on VK and its subsidiary, Communication Platform LLC. The European Union deemed these companies engaged in surveillance, censorship, and the identification of individuals opposing Russian government policies.

VK is requesting the court to order Apple to reinstate its apps in the store, with additional fines of 50 million rubles (~$600,000) for the persistent removal of its flagship VKontakte app, 5 million rubles (~$60,000) for VK Music, and 3 million rubles (~$36,000) for Odnoklassniki. If Apple refuses to comply, the company proposes the daily penalties to commence six days following the court's decision, targeting Apple Rus LLC, Apple Inc., and Apple Distribution International Ltd. The Kremlin expressed concern over Apple's decision, questioning the company's reliability as a commercial services provider.

Russia has a history of pursuing Western technology firms in court, although many cases typically involve government regulators imposing fines rather than Russian entities filing lawsuits. Notable instances include Google being fined $373 million in 2022 for not removing prohibited YouTube videos, and in 2024, 17 Russian television channels sued Google over YouTube blocking their accounts, with penalties that escalated to $20.5 decillion.

Despite Russia's court rulings, Google maintains that these legal proceedings will not significantly impact its business. Additionally, Russia has filed a case against Meta, leading to the declaration of Facebook and Instagram as extremist and banning them in the country. Russian courts and regulators have imposed penalties on various Western companies, including Airbnb, Pinterest, Twitch, UPS, WhatsApp, Facebook, Twitter, and Reddit, for violating data-storage rules or removing content deemed illegal by Moscow.

While Russia has struggled to enforce its largest penalties, Apple is an exception, having paid $13.65 million in an App Store antitrust fine in 2024 and previously paying $12.12 million in penalties. The success of VK in collecting the substantial daily fines imposed on Apple remains uncertain.