Reports indicate that Google owes the Kremlin over 2 undecillion rubles a staggering figure that equates to a 2 followed by 36 zeros due to its refusal to pay fines related to blocking pro-Russian channels on YouTube. This almost unpronounceable penalty amounts to $20 billion, or roughly $20 billion trillion trillion, which far exceeds the size of the global economy. This is an impossible fine that Russia has parted on Google. This amount is equal to the global economy budget. it happened after when google refused to pay the recent fines for blocking pro-Russian channels on its platforms.
In contrast, the world’s gross domestic product, estimated at $110 trillion by the International Monetary Fund, seems modest. Google’s parent company, Alphabet, has a market value of about $2 trillion. According to Russian state media TASS, a Russian court has mandated that Google must restore the blocked YouTube channels some of which have been unavailable since 2022 or face escalating fines that double every week.
When asked about the lawsuit during a press call on Thursday, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov admitted he ‘can’t even pronounce this figure right’ but noted that the staggering amount was ‘filled with symbolism.’ He emphasized that Google ‘should not be restricting the actions of our broadcasters on its platform.’
CNN has reached out to Google for a comment. In its quarterly earnings report released this week, the company acknowledged ‘ongoing legal matters’ related to its operations in Russia.
‘Civil judgments that include compounding penalties have been imposed on us in connection with disputes regarding the termination of accounts, including those of sanctioned parties,’ Google stated. ‘We do not believe these ongoing legal matters will have a material adverse effect on our earnings.’
After Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Google scaled back its operations in the country but did not completely withdraw, unlike several other American tech firms. Many of its services, including Search and YouTube, remain accessible in Russia. Following the invasion, Google’s Russian subsidiary filed for bankruptcy and suspended most of its commercial activities after the government took control of its bank accounts.
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