Russian ruling puts Google in financial jeopardy in France.

 The matter concerns three rulings issued against it in Moscow.           

Russian ruling puts Google in financial jeopardy in France.

The entity managing Google's suspended operations in Russia has received a temporary freeze order on approximately €110 million ($129 million) of the company's assets in France, according to official orders seen by Reuters.

This move represents a rare attempt by Russian authorities to use legal channels to target the assets of Western companies abroad, amid escalating tensions over the potential use of confiscated Russian assets in Europe.

The actions taken against Google France relate to shares belonging to Google International, which Google Russia sought to acquire through the court-appointed entity managing its operations. The French bailiff's orders show that this action is based on three rulings issued between 2024 and 2025 by arbitration courts in Moscow, which operate under international commercial law.

William Joly, the lawyer representing the court-appointed liquidator at the French law firm WJ Avocats, said a Russian court found Google guilty of illegally paying dividends in 2021 totaling around 10 billion rubles ($126 million). Joly added that the Russian liquidator is also seeking enforcement of the judgments in Spain, Turkey, and South Africa.

Google, whose parent company Alphabet has a market capitalization of around $3.8 trillion, faces multiple fines from Moscow. Google Russia declared bankruptcy in 2022 when authorities seized its bank account, months after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. 

The French bailiff’s order imposes a temporary freeze, and French law requires lawyers to initiate formal recognition proceedings within one month or the freeze will expire. Joly said these documents will be submitted to the court in the coming days, and Google France will also be notified.

Joly explained that the Paris Court of Justice would then consider granting formal recognition of the foreign arbitration awards and authorizing their enforcement, a process that could take up to 18 months. 

He noted that Google could appeal the temporary freeze order before an enforcement judge. If authorization for recognition and enforcement is granted, the frozen funds could be seized to satisfy the arbitration court's rulings, he said.