Due to the seizure of the bank account, the Russian part of Google was no longer able to pay suppliers and employees. Google also stopped selling advertising space in Russia in response to the war.
The company declines to comment on the bankruptcy. The group has been under great pressure from the authorities in Russia for some time. That’s because Google would fail to remove all ads, videos, photos or messages about the war in Ukraine that the Russian government considers to contain “illegal” information.
However, unlike X and Facebook, the Russian authorities have not yet banned Google’s services. These platforms are banned in Russia. According to Google, the tech company’s free services, such as Maps, Android, YouTube and Gmail, remained available to Russians despite everything. It is not clear whether this will change as a result of the bankruptcy.