TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Apple has stopped selling products on its Russian website following the 20 percent drop of the country's currency exchange rate against the US Dollar since the start of the week, reaching an all-time low record.
"Due to extreme fluctuations in the value of the Rouble, our online store in Russia is currently unavailable while we review pricing," the company said in a statement on Wednesday, 17 December 2014.
Visitors to the site were greeted with the message "we'll be back" in several languages to inform them of the website’s closing.
This is the second time that the California-based tech company has closed its Russian website. At the end of November 2014, the site was shut down for about 24 hours, before reopening with prices 20 to 25 percent higher.
Russians are big fans of Apple's products and before the latest currency crisis they were ready to pay more expensive price for the latest iPhone model compared to customers in the US. The number of Apple consumers in Russia exceeds that of the US.
GUARDIAN | MARIA RITA