- Google has had 110 million euros of French assets frozen by the Russian authorities
- The move is a response to a reported illegal dividend payment in 2021.
- Russia cracks down on Western tech companies, restricts citizen access
A ruling by a Russian arbitration court found Google guilty of an illegal dividend payment, triggering a temporary freeze of around 110 million euros of French assets owned by Alphabet.
Official court rulings show that this measure was confirmed by an administrator of the defunct Russian subsidiary of Google, and the action is presented as a rare attempt by Russian authorities to target the assets of Western companies through legal channels.
Google was allegedly guilty of illegal dividend payments worth around 10 billion rubles (€110 million) in 2021, a Russian court has ruled.
Temporary gel
The firm can challenge this temporary freeze with an enforcement judge before the French courts. Russian authorities are trying to act in the same way in Türkiye, South Africa and Spain.
TechRadar Pro contacted Google but did not receive a response immediately.
Google no longer operates in Russia, after its bank accounts were frozen by Russian authorities in 2022 amid Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, making its operations untenable.
Currently, Russia is threatening to block all of Google’s services as part of “soft pressure” on US technology, considering a total ban on its services. This is apparently because the company stores user data outside the country, posing a “serious threat” to the country and its economy due to surveillance by Russian companies. This in turn could be used to inform further sanctions against the already heavily sanctioned state.
This is part of a broader pattern of digital isolation, which is not uncommon in a country at war, especially if it faces significant backlash from around the world. Popular apps like FaceTime, Snapchat and, more recently, WhatsApp could be banned in the country.
Russian censorship has intensified in recent months, with a crackdown on VPNs making it much harder for citizens to access unbiased information or communicate securely and privately, both within Russia and with the outside world.
Via PK Press Club
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