Russia's anti-monopoly agency said Google had until November 18 to address charges that it was abusing its market position in the country.

The FAS anti-monopoly body said Google must correct its contracts with manufacturers after ruling in September that the software giant had broken the law by pre-installing certain applications on mobile devices.

The case was launched by local competitor Yandex, which is the Russian version of Google and actually beats it.

However as competition has stiffened in mobile phones consumers have adopted Android-based handsets that come pre-loaded with Google products that compete directly with Yandex gear.

"Our goal is to return fair play to the market. Our position is strong and we intend to defend it in case of appeal at any level. This view is shared by a number of companies outside of Russia," Yandex said.

 

It is true that Google is being investigated by the European Commission for allegedly using its influence over Internet search results to favour its Google Shopping service over rivals. However  Google is not the number one search engine in Russia and does not make money directly from Android.   This feels a little more like Tsar Putin defending local industry against the evil Yankees.

If it fails to comply with the FAS ruling, Google could face penalties totalling up to 15 percent of its 2014 revenue in the mobile applications part of the Russian market.