Moscow fines Amazon $2.26m for failure to set up office in Russia

A Moscow court fined Amazon over 200 million rubles (about 2.26 million U.S. dollars) for its failure to establish a representative office in Russia, the RIA news agency reported Wednesday, reported Xinhua.

Russia's telecommunications watchdog Roskomnadzor published a list of 12 foreign web hosting providers in September last year, which violated a federal law on the activities of foreign persons in the internet telecommunications network on the territory of the Russian Federation. Amazon Web Services, Inc. was included on this list.

According to the law, the owner of an information resource, the daily audience of which exceeds 500,000 Russian users must create a branch, open a representative office or establish a Russian legal entity to continue working in Russia.

Amazon failed to comply with the requirements of the law. According to the watchdog, the company failed to register a personal account on the Roskomnadzor website, post a feedback form for Russian citizens and organizations, and failed to open a representative office in Russia.