According to news released by the Russian local media TASS, the director of the Russian Federal Antimonopoly Service, Maxim Shasklinsky, has issued a letter to Apple. The agency made a request to Apple: set the Russian local search engine as the default option for Russian Apple devices.
The Apple devices here refer to iOS, iPadOS and macOS devices, that is, the Apple Safari browser included with these software must use the Russian local search engine by default without requiring the user to make any additional settings or switches.
This new regulation actually requires the pre-installation of Russian or Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) search engine products instead of Google or Microsoft Bing search. The members of the EAEU only include five countries: Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Armenia.
Search engine products from the other four countries are obviously unlikely to be selected by Apple as Russia's default search engine, so this regulation essentially requires Apple to set Russia's Yandex search engine as the default search to replace Google search.
In the letter, the Russian Antimonopoly Service pointed out that in devices currently sold in Russia, this feature without additional settings provides a search engine whose country of origin is not Russia or other EAEU member states. In this case, due to Apple's actions, search engines originating from Russia or other EAEU member states may face unfair competitive conditions with other search engines that are enabled by default.
To this end, the agency requires Apple to set search engines in Russia or EAEU member states as the default option, and Apple must respond before October 31, 2025.
Although this request is unreasonable for Apple, it ultimately involves money transactions. Apple has long-term cooperation with Google to set Google search as the default search engine. In return, Google pays Apple Pay $20 billion in compensation every year. If Yandex wants to become the default search, it will also need to pay Apple Pay.
It is unlikely that Apple will set Yandex as the default search engine for free due to the request of the Russian Antitrust Bureau, so the end result may be that Yandex will indeed be used to replace Google, but Yandex must also pay corresponding remuneration to Apple Pay.