Claim: Russia seizes $100 million from Google
It is alleged that more than $100 million was seized from Google's bank accounts in Russia and that the funds were transferred to Russian television channels.
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At the G7 summit held in June, approval was granted for a $50 billion loan to Ukraine, to be funded by the proceeds from frozen Russian assets.
As reported by CNBC-E, citing a Telegraph report, it has emerged that Russia has also seized funds from certain Western companies, albeit not in the same amounts. Authorities in Russia seized more than $100 million from Google's bank accounts in the country. These funds were transferred to Russian television channels to finance propaganda supporting Vladimir Putin's war in Ukraine.
GOOGLE'S RUSSIAN UNIT WENT BANKRUPT
According to US court records, this incident, which took place in 2022, led to the bankruptcy of Google's unit in Russia. Bankruptcy administrators transferred these funds to media outlets such as the state television channel RT and Tsargrad. Tsargrad announced that it would use this money to support the Kremlin's war in Ukraine.
Google's Russian unit declared bankruptcy in 2022 due to the seizure of its funds by the Kremlin. However, the amount of money taken at that time was unknown. Court documents reveal that this seizure occurred after a Moscow court ruled that Google had to pay compensation to Tsargrad TV. Tsargrad TV is known as a media outlet owned by oligarch Konstantin Malofeev.
Last week, Google filed lawsuits in US and UK courts against RT, Tsargrad TV, and NFPT. Russian courts have ruled that Google must pay large damages to these three channels on the grounds that they were removed from YouTube and their Google accounts were deleted.
'GOOGLE OWES 32.8 BILLION RUBLES TO RUSSIAN CHANNEL'
Google is attempting to prevent its assets from being seized in other countries by enforcing the decisions of Russian courts. In court documents, Google stated, "Bailiffs seized more than $100 million from Google Russia's assets, even though the amount required to be paid under the judgment was less than $12.5 million." It was also noted that Tsargrad received one billion rubles from the seized funds and stated that it would use this money to support the war in Ukraine.
It is stated that Russian courts have ruled that Google owes 32.8 billion rubles to Tsargrad. Google argues that Russian courts have imposed heavy fines on it for restricting access to its services and is attempting to prevent these rulings from being enforced in foreign countries.