Russia Spared Western Companies From Sanctions Response to Avoid Confrontation: FAS

MOSCOW, September 23 (RIA Novosti) – Russia’s Federal Anti-Monopoly Service (FAS) could have opened dozens of cases against Western companies, but decided not to do so to avoid confrontation, FAS chief Igor Artemyev said Tuesday.

“We could have launched dozens of cases,” he said. “But the Russian government’s stance is to avoid using these mechanisms, at least at this stage, to prevent the ties from worsening,” he said.

He named international financial services corporations Visa and Mastercard as an example.