Apple shuts down Online Sales in Russia

The continuous weakening of the Russian Ruble over the past few days has taken a major casualty in the world of technology with Apple being forced to shut down its Russian Online Store after confirming the constant conditions mean it doesn’t know which to charge customers.

In the past 24 hours, Russia’s currency has taken a nosedive by losing as much as 19 percent and despite an enormous interest rate rise overnight to 17 percent, the Ruble isn’t showing signs of rectifying the decline. At close of play, the Ruble had slipped to over 80 per dollar in comparison to below 40 at the beginning of the year.

Alan Hely, a spokesman for the Cupertino-based company, wrote in an emailed statement to Bloomberg:

“Our online store in Russia is currently unavailable while we review pricing.

We apologize to customers for any inconvenience.”

Prior to the incredible recent volatility of the Ruble, Apple had dealt with the fluctuations by raising the prices charged to customers. Last month the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus prices were raised by 25 percent to counter the fluctuation in the Ruble but with the current conditions resulting in significant fluctuations almost hourly, the company has been forced to suspend its online store.