May 19, 20225:03 AM GMT+7
An exterior view of building BV100, during a tour of
Google's new Bay View Campus in Mountain View, California, U.S. May 16, 2022.
REUTERS/Peter DaSilva/File Photo
May 18 (Reuters) - Google's Russian subsidiary plans to file for
bankruptcy after authorities seized its bank account, making it impossible to
pay staff and vendors, but free services including search and YouTube will keep
operating, a Google spokesperson said on Wednesday.
The Alphabet Inc (GOOGL.O) unit has been under pressure in
Russia for months for failing to delete content Moscow deems illegal and for
restricting access to some Russian media on YouTube, but the Kremlin has so far
stopped short of blocking access to the company's services.
"The Russian authorities seizure of Google Russia's bank
account has made it untenable for our Russia office to function, including
employing and paying Russia-based employees, paying suppliers and vendors, and
meeting other financial obligations," a Google spokesperson said.
"Google Russia has published a notice of its intention to
file for bankruptcy."
A TV channel owned by a sanctioned Russian businessman said in
April that bailiffs had seized 1 billion roubles ($15 million) from Google over
its failure to restore access to its YouTube account, but this is the first
time the U.S. tech giant has said its bank account as whole has been seized. read more
Google did not immediately confirm whether it was the seizure of
those funds that led to its intention to file for bankruptcy, or whether other
seizures had occurred.
The database of Russia's Federal Bailiffs Service listed two
seizures since mid-March, without specifying the amounts, as well as other
fines and enforcement fees.
The service confirmed that it had seized Google assets and
property.
Google confirmed it had moved many of its employees out of
Russia since Moscow sent tens of thousands of troops into Ukraine on Feb. 24.
But some had chosen to stay and are now longer with company.
A note posted on Russia's official registry Fedresurs on
Wednesday said the Google subsidiary was intending to declare bankruptcy and
since March 22 had foreseen an "inability to fulfil its monetary
obligations," including severance pay, remuneration for current and former
staff and timely mandatory payments.
FREE SERVICES TO
STAY
Google, which has paused ad sales and most other commercial
operations in Russia, said its free services, including Gmail, Maps, Android
and Play, would remain available for Russian users.
Russia said on Tuesday it was not planning to block Google's
YouTube, in spite of repeated threats and fines, acknowledging that such a move
would likely see Russian users suffer and should therefore be avoided. read more
Rostelecom (RTKM.MM) Chief Executive Mikhail
Oseevskiy said on Wednesday that Google was operating as normal in the country,
including all its servers, the TASS news agency reported.
In December, Russia handed Google a 7.2 billion rouble charge
for what Moscow said was a repeated failure to delete content Russia deems
illegal, the first revenue-based penalty of that kind of case in Russia.
That fine increased by 506 million roubles due to an enforcement
fee, bailiffs data showed.
Google's Russian subsidiary's 2021 revenue was 134.3 billion
roubles, Interfax news agency's Spark database of Russian companies showed.
Alphabet said last month that Russia accounted for 1% of its
revenue last year, or about $2.6 billion.
($1 = 63.9570 roubles)
Reporting by Reuters; Editing by Elaine Hardcastle, Guy
Faulconbridge, David Clarke and Barbara Lewis
Google Will Declare Bankruptcy In
Russia, Says Russian Authorities Seized Bank Accoun
https://www.forbes.com/sites/dereksaul/2022/05/18/google-will-declare-bankruptcy-in-russia-says-russian-authorities-seized-bank-account/?sh=682cee266a05
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