Russian authorities have secured a temporary freeze on Google-linked assets in France, signaling a new legal front in Moscow’s dispute with Western companies.
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| Russia’s bid to freeze Google assets in France tests whether European courts will enforce Moscow-backed rulings amid ongoing geopolitical tensions. Image: CH |
Tech Desk — December 13, 2025:
A temporary freeze on around €110 million ($129 million) of Google-linked assets in France marks a notable escalation in Russia’s legal strategy against Western companies, raising questions about whether European courts could become new battlegrounds in the broader geopolitical standoff between Moscow and the West.
The measure was obtained by the court-appointed administrator of Google’s defunct Russian subsidiary and targets shares owned by Google International in Google France. While financially insignificant for Alphabet, whose market capitalization is roughly $3.8 trillion, the move is symbolically powerful and legally consequential.
The freeze is based on three rulings issued between 2024 and 2025 by Moscow arbitration courts operating under international commercial law. According to legal counsel for the Russian liquidator, a Russian tribunal ruled that Google made an illegal dividend payment in 2021 worth about 10 billion roubles.
What makes the case unusual is not the dispute itself, but the venue. Russian authorities are increasingly attempting to enforce judgments beyond their borders, testing whether foreign courts will recognize rulings originating from a country under sweeping international sanctions. Similar enforcement efforts are reportedly under way in Spain, Turkey, and South Africa, suggesting a coordinated attempt to reach overseas assets of Western firms.
Under French law, the bailiff’s order imposes only a temporary freeze. Formal recognition proceedings must be launched within a month or the freeze will lapse. If the filings proceed, the Paris Judicial Court will have to decide whether to recognize and enforce the Russian arbitration rulings, a process that could take up to 18 months.
The decision carries implications well beyond Google. Recognition could set a precedent enabling other Russian entities to pursue claims against Western companies in Europe. Rejection, meanwhile, could reinforce Moscow’s argument that Western legal systems apply double standards—particularly as European governments debate the potential use of frozen Russian state assets to support Ukraine.
Google may also challenge the freeze before an enforcement judge, adding another layer of legal complexity to an already sensitive case.
The action against Google comes as Russia’s central bank is separately suing Brussels-based Euroclear, which holds a large share of frozen Russian assets. Together, these cases reflect how legal disputes are becoming extensions of geopolitical confrontation, with courts increasingly drawn into conflicts shaped by sanctions, asset freezes, and retaliatory measures.
For Google, the episode follows years of pressure from Russian authorities, including fines and the seizure of bank accounts that ultimately pushed Google Russia into bankruptcy in 2022, months after Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
Even if the French courts ultimately refuse to enforce the Russian rulings, the attempt itself sends a message. Western companies that once operated in Russia may continue to face legal exposure abroad, long after exiting the market.
In that sense, the €110 million freeze is less about recovering funds and more about testing the resilience of Western legal systems under geopolitical strain. As disputes over frozen assets intensify, European courts may increasingly find themselves at the crossroads of law, diplomacy, and global power politics.