The .РФ domain turned out to be too expensive.

Free domain registration for the Cyrillic .РФ domain zone recently began in Russia. The third registration phase was to follow the Dutch auction principle. The .RU domain coordination center set the initial price for the domain at 10 million rubles. However, this price proved too high—there were virtually no takers for domains at this price on the RuNet. Following this, the .РФ domain registrar proposed a fixed fee of 5,000 rubles per domain. However, this proposal sparked protests from the Federal Antimonopoly Service (FAS). The company considered this too expensive. Furthermore, this registration mechanism violates competition law.

If the coordination center for the .RU domain maintains this price, it will be fined for abusing its dominant market position.

The RU TLD Coordination Center Council must now prepare new rules for registering domains in the Cyrillic domain zone by September 30.

According to Andrey Kolesnikov, director of the coordination center, the 10 million ruble price, like the 5,000 ruble price, was intended to serve one purpose: to deter cybersquatters. Otherwise, many domains would be registered by squatters for subsequent sale.