“Clear and predictable step”: Russian “daughter” of Google decided to go bankrupt

Please bankrupt me

Legally significant information about the facts of the activities of legal entities on the website of the Unified Federal Register (Fedresource) saysHe said on March 22, 2022, that the Google subsidiary “anticipates its own bankruptcy and the impossibility of meeting its monetary obligations.”

Google LLC, represented by CEO David Munro Sneddon <...> Predicting its own bankruptcy and impossibility since March 22, 2022, it makes a statement of intent to file a bankruptcy statement (bankruptcy), adding to the Unified Federal Register a statement about the facts of the activity of legal entities. not meet monetary obligations,” he said.

Google’s press service informed TASS about the intentions of the Russian “daughter”, but noted that the company will continue to operate in Russia, despite the initiated bankruptcy and office closure.

“A while ago, Google suspended the vast majority of business operations in Russia. “Today we are announcing that the seizure of the Google Russia bank account makes it impossible for our Russian office to operate, including keeping employees and wages in Russia, paying suppliers and contractors, and meeting other financial obligations,” he said. .

At the same time, the company noted that “people in Russia rely on Google services to access quality information.”

We will continue to offer free services such as Search, YouTube, Gmail, Maps, Android and Play to our users.

According to Ruslan Permyakov, Vice President of “Trusted Interaction Technologies” of the NTI Competence Center based on TUSUR, the beginning of the bankruptcy procedure for the Russian “daughter” of Google was a natural continuation of the restriction of activities in the country. It started in March this year.

“Google had a few employees here, about 250: development, advertising, GR. In March, Google started pulling out those who agreed to move. It seems like everyone they wanted was kicked out. PR and GR don’t work at the company’s initiative. Permyakov gave RIA Novosti So the bankruptcy step is clear and predictable,” he said.

Google believes their interfaces are unlikely to change.

turnover penalty

On December 24, 2021, the World Court of the Tagansky District of Moscow decided to fine Google 7.2 billion rubles. The court found the company guilty of “repeated violation of the procedure for restricting access to information” (not removing content that was banned in Russia).

Google’s endorsement penalty was imposed for the first time in Russia. Its size depends on the company’s income. The court had the right to impose a turnover penalty on him from 1/20 to 1/10 of the income received for the year preceding the year the crime was discovered, but not less than 4 million rubles.

The company had to pay the specified amount by March 19, but Google did not comply with the requirement, and therefore on May 1, the enforcement officers sued Google for the imposition of a fine of 7.2 billion rubles.

In addition, various lawsuits were filed against Google LLC in the Arbitration Court, where the Russian media was the plaintiff.

“We keep making money”

In March and April 2022, Russian authorities began discussing possible YouTube blocking. Maria Zakharova, official representative of the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said she “signed her own sentence” after a video hosting service owned by Google blocked the State Duma’s channel.

But the previous day, the head of the Ministry of Digital Development Maksut Shadayev said that there are no plans to block YouTube in Russia.

“We are not planning to shut down YouTube, that’s all I can say. First of all, we must make it clear that when we really restrict something, our users don’t suffer,” he said at the Information Society marathon.

And on Wednesday, the head of Rostelecom, Mikhail Oseevsky, said that Google continues to operate in Russia, while all the company’s servers remain in the country.

“The first wave of fear has long passed. We see that the pressure on Russia continues. While the situation is stable. Traffic increased slightly at the beginning of the year. Then, after Facebook was shut down (the company that owns Meta is recognized as an extremist organisation), it crashed. Now it has grown again because of the VPN. Technically, our network has a large margin of safety. <...> Google is working, all servers are down, we continue to monetize it, ”said Oseevsky.