Adding at the time to the sanctions that the West applied on Russia, after the invasion of Ukraine, Google had previously suspended its commercial operations in Russia. However, it later said it would continue to provide its free services there, including its web browser, YouTube, Gmail, Maps, its Android operating system and its Play app store.
Now, Google says its Russian subsidiary plans to file for bankruptcy, because it can’t pay staff and vendors.
Google, one step away from its end in Russia
Russian state media reported on Wednesday that the Russian subsidiary of US tech company Google LLC has notified a national registry, Fedresurs, of its intention to file for bankruptcy.
The company said in a press release that it filed for bankruptcy because “The seizure of the Google Russia bank account by the Russian authorities has made it unsustainable for our Russia office to function, including employing and paying Russia-based employees, paying suppliers and vendors, and complying with other financial obligations “.
Last month, Alphabet said Russia accounted for 1% of its revenue last year, valued at about $2.6 billion for the period, the equivalent of 134.3 billion rubles, the Spark database of Russian companies confirms. Interfax news agency.
As reported by Reuters, the Internet giant said it did not plan to block YouTube in Russia, despite repeated threats and fines to which they have been subjected.
The chief executive of Rostelecom, the Russian telecommunications entity, Mikhail Oseevskiy, said yesterday that Google was operating normally in the country, including all its servers.
In December, Russia slapped Google with a 7.2 billion ruble charge for what Moscow said was a repeated failure to remove content Russia considers illegal. This is the first revenue-based sanction from such a case in Russia, which was later increased by 506 million rubles, due to an enforcement fee, the report said.
While the Russian office closes, Google will move its Russia-based employees elsewhere, according to the Wall Street Journal.
