Apple Removes Russian VTB Bank App Posing As Restaurant Guide From Store

Apple has removed from its App Store a restaurant guide that was actually an app providing services for Russian majority state-owned VTB Bank, according to a report.

The removed app, Vsyo Prosto, which translates into English as "It's all simple," first appeared on Apple's app marketplace on March 1, Russian business magazine Inc. Russia reported.

It was supposed to keep track of discounts and coupons from cafes and restaurants, according to its description, but it actually provided online services for VTB Bank instead, according to the outlet.

The app's users reportedly warned others in the comments section to not mention the "well-known three-letter abbreviation," which is understood to have referred to the name of VTB Bank.

VTB Bank's mobile application, VTB Online, disappeared from Apple's App Store last year after the United States announced sanctions against Russia over the invasion of Ukraine that affected the state-owned financial institution.

By taking action against VTB Bank and another Russian majority state-owned bank, Sberbank, two of Russia's largest financial institutions, the U.S. Treasury Department claimed the entities' fundamental abilities to operate would be "drastically" altered.

"On a daily basis, Russian financial institutions conduct about $46 billion worth of foreign exchange transactions globally, 80% of which are in U.S. dollars. The vast majority of those transactions will now be disrupted," the department said in a statement.

"By cutting off Russia's two largest banks — which combined make up more than half of the total banking system in Russia by asset value — from processing payments through the U.S. financial system. The Russian financial institutions subject to today's action can no longer benefit from the remarkable reach, efficiency and security of the U.S. financial system," it added.

An analog for VTB Online, Prime Balance, appeared on Apple's app marketplace in May 2022, but it was removed from the platform by August.

Mobile applications for Russian digital lender Tinkoff Bank, another entity that was also sanctioned by the U.S., were deleted from Apple's app marketplace as well.

Apple ended up removing apps for other Russian services following western sanctions, including the Facebook alternative VK, then the fifth most popular social media app in Russia.

"These apps are being distributed by developers majority-owned or majority-controlled by one or more parties sanctioned by the U.K. government. In order to comply with these sanctions, Apple terminated the developer accounts associated with these apps, and the apps cannot be downloaded from any App Store, regardless of location. Users who have already downloaded these apps may continue to use them," an Apple spokesperson told The Verge at the time.