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Google Russia declares bankruptcy after bank accounts blocked by Russian authorities (May 19, 2022)

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Today Google Russia submitted a notice of intention to declare bankruptcy after Russian officials seized its bank account. That "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 told the news agency Reuters. Free services including Google search, Gmail and YouTube will keep operating for now.

In the last few months, telecoms regulator Roskomnadzor has been pressuring YouTube to lift restrictions on access to Russian media. Currently Russian outlets are still censored on the platform. A Russian TV channel reported last month that bailiffs seized around 1 billion rubles (approximately $15 million) from Google after it declined to restore the access to their YouTube account. Russia also fined Google around $82,000 for failing to delete thousands of pieces of content it deemed to be illegal. Authorities then fined the company $98 million in December for similar reasons.
Shortly after those lawsuits, Roskomnadzor also throttled Twitter in Russia. The country's watchdog cited tweets about child pornography, drug use and suicide.

Rostelecom 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. However, 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.

Sources: https://www.reuters.com/markets/europe/googles-russian-subsidiary-files-bankruptcy-document-2022-05-18/ https://www.engadget.com/google-russia-bankruptcy-194705423.html https://www.engadget.com/russia-google-fine-illegal-internet-slowdown-170140363.html