Google in Russia is about to go bankrupt because of the confiscation of bank accounts

Google Doodle with typical Russian construction on Russia Day 2015 – Screenshot

“Russian authorities confiscated the bank account of the office Google in Russia makes it impossible for us to hire or pay employees in Russia, pay service providers, and meet other financial obligations.” 5.

Google in Russia has announced its intention to file for bankruptcy with Russian authorities, the notice added.

According to Reuters, this is the first time that all Google assets in Russia have been frozen by local authorities. In April, Google was frozen 1 billion rubles (about 15 million USD) after a Russian TV channel complained that Google had closed its YouTube channel.

Russian authorities previously announced that they had frozen two properties of Google’s Russian branch, but did not specify how much. Google did not immediately respond as to the exact reason it filed for bankruptcy.

The US company has faced a lot of pressure from Russian authorities not to remove content that Moscow describes as illegal and inappropriate. Last December, Russian authorities fined Google a whopping 7.2 billion rubles for repeatedly ignoring Moscow’s requests.

Google has largely halted its operations in Russia since Moscow launched its military operation in Ukraine. Tensions escalated when YouTube, a video sharing platform owned by Google, blocked access to some channels of Russian state media.

Google’s Russia revenue is 134.3 billion rubles in 2021, according to Interfax news agency.