The highly publicized antitrust case regarding 'wizards' (enhanced answers in search results) of 'Yandex' might intensify again.
Kassir.ru, the ticket operator, has decided to legally challenge the settlement agreement made in January between the search engine and a group of internet companies who filed a complaint against it with the FAS. They believe that the agreement does not consider their interests and may violate the law. Lawyers think the company has a chance to challenge the agreement since it should consider the rights of all third parties.
Kassir.ru LLC decided to contest the settlement agreement in the antitrust case about 'wizards', as stated in the company’s appeal (as reported by Kommersant), submitted to the Moscow Arbitration Court on January 26. A note about the appeal is in the archive of arbitration cases.
According to the appeal, Kassir.ru National Ticket Operator LLC disagrees with the court decision issued on January 19, 2022, considers it illegal, and is looking to get it canceled after reviewing the final court decision.
Yevgeny Finkelstein, the main owner of Kassir.ru (85%), told Kommersant that the company's interests were not considered in the agreement: “We are doing everything possible to make our position heard in Yandex and find the strength to acknowledge the fairness of the requirements.”
The antitrust case against Yandex started in mid-April 2021 following a complaint from ivi, Avito, CIAN, Profi.ru, Tutu.ru, and other companies. However, Kassir.ru was the first to approach the FAS in June 2019 (see Kommersant dated June 28, 2019). The companies believed that Yandex was abusing its dominant position in search results through enhanced responses (the so-called “wizards”). The FAS recognized that “wizards” create discriminatory conditions in the internet search market.
The FAS issued a warning requiring Yandex to provide equal conditions for the display of services on the search engine's pages, including for competitors. The FAS demanded that the condition be met within a month, but the search engine disputed this.
The case consideration was repeatedly postponed, and on January 19, it was reported that Yandex and a group of companies had reached a friendly agreement under which all market participants would have equal access to “wizards”, and the search engine would contribute 1.5 billion rubles to the Russian Foundation for the Development of Information Technologies (RFRIT).
A source close to Kassir.ru, as mentioned in Kommersant, believes that this goes against the law: “You can’t just give 1.5 billion rubles to RFRIT and promise to stop discriminatory practices.”
Egorov Puginsky Afanasiev & Partners (EPAM), representing the coalition, insists that the market's interests are fully considered. “Protection of the private interests of Kassir.ru is not within the FAS's jurisdiction, and the agreement resolved all issues of a general market nature,” says Natalya Korosteleva, head of EPAM's antitrust practice. Yandex, Avito, ivi, 2GIS, Tutu.ru, and CIAN did not respond to Kommersant’s request.
Kassir.ru probably believes that the measures proposed by Yandex under the agreement do not fully restore the company’s rights, or will be completed only after a long time, says Lyudmila Lukyanova, a lawyer at Forward Legal. In her opinion, the cassation appeal will be supplemented after the publication of the judicial act approving the agreement in full.
