According to court papers on Friday, Google’s Russian subsidiary has sued the country’s bailiffs in a year that has seen it declare bankruptcy in Russia and have more than $127 million in assets seized.
Alphabet Inc.’s Google declined to comment.
In May, Russian bailiffs seized money from Google that a court ordered it to pay at the end of last year. A month before that, Tsargrad, a Russian Orthodox television channel blocked by YouTube, said bailiffs had grabbed 1 billion roubles from Google.
Google’s subsidiary filed for bankruptcy in June after disclosing that law enforcement officials had confiscated its bank account, which made it unable to pay employees and outside contractors.
On October 4, court papers were published that revealed the Moscow Arbitration Court had accepted a complaint from Google LLC filed on September 30 and would consider it.
The court named the Moscow department of Russia’s Federal Bailiffs Service and one of its senior officials as defendants.
When asked for comment, Russia’s Federal Bailiffs Service did not respond immediately.
The same Moscow court has rejected Google’s request to have the $1 billion seized in the Tsargrad case refunded, with the TV station still unable to access all of Google’s services, according to RIA.
Tsargrad TV is owned by businessman Konstantin Malofeev, sanctioned by the United States and European Union in 2014. He has been accused of funding pro-Moscow separatists fighting in Ukraine, although he denies these claims. Russia considers such Western sanctions illegal.
Tsargrad TV could not be reached for comment at this time.
($1 = 60.5000 roubles)
