Google subsidiary in Russia intends to initiate bankruptcy procedure

MOSCOW. May 18 (Interfax) - Google LLC, the country's Russian entity, intends to apply to the arbitration court to declare its own bankruptcy, according to a notice posted by the company on Fedresurs.

Beginning on March 22, 2022, the company "anticipates its own bankruptcy and the impossibility of executing monetary obligations," the notice reads.

Interfax has sent an inquiry to the internet company.

At the moment the court has imposed a turnover fine of over 7.2 billion rubles on the company as a result of Roskomnadzor claims, which the company was to pay voluntarily by March 19. In May, the bailiffs service initiated a case against Google on enforcement of the turnover fine.

The company has also been fined more than once by a court for failing to remove banned content from its sites, including Youtube.

Furthermore, several claims have been filed against the Russian subsidiary in the court of arbitration, where the plaintiffs are Russian media organizations.

At the end of 2021, Google's Russian legal entity Google posted a net loss of 26 billion rubles. This is the company's first loss since 2009.

The legal entity itself was registered in 2005.

In May 2022, Google banned users and developers from Russia from downloading and updating paid applications on Google Play. Free apps remain available.

Also on March 10, due to payment problems in foreign stores, Google restricted the operation of Google Play in Russia. Furthermore, the applications of Russian banks subject to sanctions were removed from the store.