Google has accounts seized in Russia and declares insolvency

Google’s Russian subsidiary has declared itself insolvent after the company had bank accounts confiscated by the government, preventing the company from operating in the country, a company spokesman said.

“The confiscation by Russian authorities of Google Russia’s bank account has made the operation of our office in Russia unsustainable, including employing and paying staff in the country, paying suppliers and vendors and fulfilling other financial obligations,” a Google spokesperson said.

Google has been under pressure from Russia for months, accused of failing to delete content that Moscow considers illegal and for restricting access to some Russian media outlets on YouTube.

Google did not immediately confirm whether further confiscations had taken place.

The subsidiary sent “a notice of intent to declare itself insolvent”, said a note published in Fedresurs, Russia’s official registry, on Wednesday (18).

“As of March 22, 2022, (the company) anticipates its own insolvency and inability to meet obligations,” the note said.

Russia said on Tuesday that it has no plans to block YouTube despite repeated threats and fines, acknowledging that such a move is likely to harm users in the country.

Rostelecom Chief Executive Mikhail Oseevskiy said on Wednesday that Google was operating normally in the country, with all servers, according to the TASS news agency.

The revenue of the Russian subsidiary of Google in 2021 was 134.3 billion rubles, showed Interfax’s Spark database of Russian companies.

Google, which halted the vast majority of its business operations in Russia after Moscow invaded Ukraine on February 24, said its free services, including search, YouTube, Gmail, Maps, Android and Play, would remain available to Russian users.