Google is bracing itself for legal action in Russia after that country’s anti-monopoly watchdog found it guilty of abusing its online market dominance.

According to Bloomberg, the Russian Federal Antimonopoly Service (FAS) says Google has been found guilty after a probe that resulted from a complaint by rival search firm Yandex LLC.

Yandex, which is sometimes called the “Google of Russia”, filed its antitrust complaint last February. The company, which holds 60 percent of Russia’s search market, alleged Google was abusing the dominant position of Android in Russia’s mobile sphere. Of particular concern to Yandex is the fact that Google insists smartphone makers install its own services – things like Google Search, Mail, Play Store and so on. According to Yandex, this allows Google to unfairly extend its dominance over its rivals. We should note Yandex offers many similar services to Google, including Web search, its own app store, maps and so on.

Now, Google has been found guilty of breaking anti-competition rules, although the ruling hasn’t been made official just yet. Alexey Dotsenko, Deputy Head of FAS, said in a statement the organization will make the full statement of its decision public within 10 working days, before ordering Google to “terminate abuse of dominant position”.

“In particular, FAS Russia can prescribe it to adjust the agreements with the manufacturers of mobile devices, eliminating them from the agreements with those items that restrict the installation of these devices applications and services to other developers,” Dotsenko said in relation to possible sanctions the FAS can impose.

That could well mean Google will be forced to change how it offers applications and services for Android in Russia. Alternatively, or as well, the FAS could impose a heavy fine on Google. Of course, Google should be able to initiate some kind of appeals process, so it could be a while before any of this happens.

Russia is not alone in taking on Google over possible antitrust violations. The European Union has been dragging its feet for years in a similar case over Google’s business practices following numerous complaints from rival firms. More recently, India’s government has also accused Google of unfair practices.

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