Google Subsidiary Files for Bankruptcy After Asset Seizure in Russia

[Photo by AP Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Byung-hee] Major foreign media reported on the 18th (local time) that Google's Russian subsidiary plans to file for bankruptcy. The foreign media stated that Google is the first big tech company to file for bankruptcy in Russia due to the aftermath of the war between Russia and Ukraine.

Google announced that it plans to file for bankruptcy because Google's Russian subsidiary's bank accounts have been seized, making it impossible for Google Russia to pay salaries and fees to employees and partners, or to repay debts.

It is known that Russian authorities seized Google's accounts after Google blocked access to YouTube channels of Russian media. Local Russian media reported in April that Russian authorities seized assets worth 1 billion rubles from Google Russia.

Earlier, in March, Google stopped selling ads in Russia due to Russia's invasion of Ukraine. YouTube also banned ads on channels owned by Russian government-related media and later blocked the channels entirely.

Google had conflicts with Russia even before the war between Russia and Ukraine broke out. In December last year, Russia fined Google 7.2 billion rubles for illegal content, which was equivalent to 8% of Google Russia's revenue.

Google earned 134.3 billion rubles in Russia last year and employs more than 100 people locally.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.