Google’s Russian subsidiary plans to file for bankruptcy after the authorities seized its bank account, making it impossible to carry on operations, a company spokesman said on Wednesday.

Google has been under pressure in Russia for months for failing to delete content Moscow deems illegal and for restricting access to some Russian media on YouTube, but the Kremlin has so far stopped short of blocking access to its platforms.

“The Russian authorities seizure of Google Russia’s bank account has made it untenable for our Russia office to function, including employing and paying Russia-based employees, paying suppliers and vendors, and meeting other financial obligations,” the spokesman said. “Google Russia has published a notice of its intention to file for bankruptcy.”

A TV channel owned by a sanctioned Russian businessman said in April that bailiffs had seized ₽1-billion (R238-million) from Google over its failure to restore access to its YouTube account, but this is the first time the US tech giant has said its bank account as whole has been seized.

Google did not immediately confirm whether it was the seizure of those funds that led to its intention to file for bankruptcy, or whether other seizures had occurred.

Google, which has paused the vast majority of its commercial operations in Russia in the wake of Moscow sending tens of thousands of troops into Ukraine on 24 February, said its free services, including Search, YouTube, Gmail, Maps, Android and Play, would remain available for Russian users.

Fine

Russia said on Tuesday it was not planning to block Google’s YouTube, in spite of repeated threats and fines, acknowledging that such a move would likely see Russian users suffer and should therefore be avoided.

Rostelecom CEO Mikhail Oseevskiy said on Wednesday that Google was operating as normal in the country, including all its servers, the Tass news agency reported.

In December, Russia handed Google a ₽7.2-billion fine for what Moscow said was a repeated failure to delete content Russia deems illegal, the first revenue-based penalty in that kind of case in Russia. That fine increased by ₽506-million due to an enforcement fee, bailiffs data showed.