Court Upholds 160B RUB Ruling Against Google Ireland

A court in Moscow rejected Google's complaints regarding the recovery of 160.3 billion rubles in favor of 'Google'.

Consensus

The Moscow Arbitration Court rejected appeals by Google Ireland Limited and Google International LLC against a ruling to recover 160.3 billion rubles.
The funds were to be paid to the Russian subsidiary, ООО «Гугл».
The court found that two transactions between ООО «Гугл» and Google Ireland Limited were invalid.
The invalid transactions included the termination of a 2009 agreement on reselling advertising space and the signing of a new agreement in April 2018.
Payments made by ООО «Гугл» to Google Ireland Limited from April 1, 2018, to March 3, 2022, totaling over 373.7 billion rubles, were also deemed invalid.
The court ordered the recovery of 101.7 billion rubles in principal debt and 58.6 billion rubles in interest.
The decision was upheld by the Ninth Arbitration Appellate Court in June.
The bankruptcy administrator, Valeriy Talyarovskiy, initiated the legal challenge.
The court applied the consequences of invalidity of payments, resulting in the recovery of funds.

The bankruptcy administrator stated that the new contract reduced the Russian company's revenue share from 20% to 3%, and that the contract was intended for a 'smooth exit' from the Russian market amid sanctions. — m24
Google argued that the new contract was market-driven, citing changes in market conditions and that the old contract provided 17–19% profitability compared to a market average of 3.8–6%. — m24
Google also claimed that the challenge was time-barred, citing a missed deadline for contesting the transactions. — m24
Google previously registered three trademarks in Russia, including a logo for an AI-powered mobile app, with the decision by Rospatent issued in August. — m24