The enforcement of a Moscow Arbitration Court decision to recover nearly 10 billion rubles from American tech giant Google may face significant delays, despite the seizure of Google France’s assets in France, according to Artur Zurabyan, partner at Art de Lex Law Firm.
Zurabyan explained that the current arrangement is legally flawed under bankruptcy legislation because it requires parent companies to pay dividends while nearing bankruptcy. He noted that Google LLC has exhausted all legal avenues for challenging the decision and emphasized that recognizing and enforcing foreign court rulings typically takes 1.5 to two years, though a potential agreement with Google might be reached.
“Such processes are standard in jurisdictions where a company holds assets,” added Kira Vinokurova, a lawyer specializing in sanctions and compliance issues. She highlighted that the French court has yet to assess whether executing this order aligns with public order—a critical step for final confirmation or cancellation.
On December 10, Zurabyan reported the seizure of all Google assets in France. The Moscow Arbitration Court (along with higher courts) found that Google intentionally paid dividends to evade creditor debts and disputes over more than 140 billion rubles ($1.8 billion) in illicit transfers from Russia after 2018. Additionally, Russian authorities have collected 13 billion rubles in fines from the company.
