Because Russian authorities blocked Google’s bank account in the country, the company has to file for bankruptcy there, reports the Reuters news agency. Free services such as search and the video service YouTube should not be turned off.
“The confiscation of Google’s bank account by the Russian authorities makes it impossible for our Russian branch to continue operating,” a company spokesman said. You can neither continue to pay employees there, nor meet financial obligations to suppliers.
Google restricted Russian state media
Alphabet’s subsidiary has been under pressure in Russia for months. The company refused to remove content that the Kremlin deems illegal. In addition, Google had restricted the profiles of some Russian state media worldwide on its video portal YouTube.
As early as March, Russian authorities had initiated a possible blocking of the US group Google and its video platform YouTube. The Russian media regulator accused Google of “terrorist activities”.
The platform allows YouTube users to share advertisements calling for “interruption of rail traffic between Russia and Belarus”. The activities of the YouTube operator were of a terrorist nature and threatened the life and health of Russian citizens, it was said at the time.
Two seizures since March 2022
Bailiffs had seized one billion rubles ($15 million) from Google, according to a TV channel owned by a sanctioned Russian entrepreneur. The reason: The company did not restore the businessman’s YouTube account.
According to Reuters, the records of Russian criminal authorities list two seizures since mid-March 2022. However, no amounts are mentioned there. It is not known whether the confiscations contributed to the bankruptcy.
