29 May 2019 13:57

Apple asks for until June 10 to clarify Crimean cities' designation with U.S. office - Duma committee head

MOSCOW. May 29 (Interfax) - Apple has asked for until June 10 to clarify the technical and temporal capacities for designating Crimea as Russian territory with its head office in the United States, State Duma Security and Anti-Corruption Committee Chairman Vasily Piskaryov said.

At present, the Apple Maps and Weather apps do not indicate the state belonging of Crimea and its cities.

"We were informed at a meeting with Apple representatives a week ago of the adjustments made to the Map application, which now designates Simferopol and Sevastopol as Russian cities. However, the Weather application does not indicate which country Crimean cities belong to, while it does provide such information for other populated localities," Piskaryov said.

"We told representatives of the corporation it would be necessary to fix the program and said we expected the adjustments to be made by June 10," he said.

As reported earlier, Apple had arranged to give an answer by May 29.

The State Duma demanded that Apple stop designating Crimea as a territory of Ukraine, which Russian law views as a criminal offense. The company fixed the defect and removed references to Ukraine, but did not indicate Russia as the country to which Crimea and its cities belong.

According to Piskaryov, the State Duma Security and Anti-Corruption Committee continues to monitor the issue and intends to ensure that Apple fully honors Russian law.