Google's property in France was seized at the request of the Russian "daughter"

The entire property of the American company Google in France was seized at the request of its Russian subsidiary, Google LLC, whose bankruptcy case is being considered by the Moscow Arbitration Court. This was announced on December 10 to Izvestia by ART DE LEX Law Firm partner Artur Zurabyan.

"Google France has received an immediate arrest order for 100% of its shares. The arrest was imposed in connection with the upcoming consideration by the Paris Court of the application of Google LLC to the parent company Google International LLC," the statement said.

Google LLC's statement is based on the decision of the Moscow Arbitration Court issued in the framework of the company's bankruptcy case. This instance, as well as the higher courts, found that the debtor intentionally made the payment of dividends in order to avoid repayment of debts owed to creditors.

"The arrest was imposed as an interim measure to prevent possible attempts by Google to initiate bankruptcy of its French subsidiary Google France, just as Google did with its Russian daughter, until the end of the French court's consideration of Google LLC's application," Zurabyan said.

He also recalled that, coordinating the work of an international team of lawyers on the project, in addition to dividends, the bankruptcy case of Google LLC also challenges the withdrawal of funds from Russia after 2018 for a number of malicious transactions worth more than 140 billion rubles ($1.8 billion).

Due to the absence of Google's assets in Russia, which was its goal when withdrawing assets, the relevant Russian court decisions, after their adoption, may also become the subject of exequatur (recognition and enforcement in foreign countries), the specialist said.

The next stage will be the consideration by the Paris court of Google LLC's statement on the merits. Google France and Google International LLC can appeal the seizure in court. If the company's application is satisfied, foreclosure will be levied on the seized property, and the money will be transferred to meet the demands of Russian creditors.

Payment structure: Russian authorities collected 13 billion rubles in fines from Google

But this is only a small fraction of the debts of an American company — do creditors have any chance of recovering their funds?

Prior to that, on October 9, the Supreme Court of the Republic of South Africa (RSA) recognized and began to enforce the decision of the Moscow arbitration court in favor of Google's Russian subsidiary in the bankruptcy case. This judicial act provided for the accrual of a court penalty, which Google tried to avoid by zeroing its account under the guise of paying dividends abroad, Zurabyan clarified.

On July 25, the Vedomosti newspaper, citing the Moscow Arbitration Court, announced a ban on Google's Irish office from continuing legal proceedings in a US court in cases related to challenging transactions by the subsidiary's manager Valery Talyarovsky in the bankruptcy case of Google LLC. It is specified that more than 65 billion rubles can be recovered from Google Ireland Limited for each claim.

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