The administrator of Google’s now-defunct Russian business has obtained a temporary freeze on approximately €110 million ($129 million) worth of Alphabet-owned assets in France, according to official orders reviewed by Reuters.
The move marks a rare effort by Russian authorities to pursue Western corporate assets overseas through legal channels, amid escalating tensions over Europe’s potential use of frozen Russian assets.
The action targets shares held by Google International and was initiated by Google Russia, acting through its court-appointed judicial administrator. The freeze was executed by a French bailiff, who declined to comment. Google, the administrator of Google Russia, and the French government did not respond to Reuters’ requests for comment.
Court documents show the freeze is based on three rulings issued between 2024 and 2025 by Moscow arbitration courts, which operate under international commercial law. A Russian tribunal previously ruled that Google made an illegal dividend payment in 2021, valued at around 10 billion roubles ($126 million), according to William Julie, the lawyer representing the liquidator at French law firm WJ Avocats.
Julie said the Russian liquidator is also seeking to enforce the rulings in Spain, Turkey, and South Africa.
Google, whose parent company Alphabet has a market value of about $3.8 trillion, has faced repeated fines from Moscow. Google Russia filed for bankruptcy in 2022 after authorities seized its bank accounts, months after Russia invaded Ukraine.
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