Google is facing an escalating international legal battle after a French enforcement officer ordered a temporary freeze on approximately €110 million ($129 million) of assets belonging to the technology giant. The measure, sought by the court-appointed administrator of Google’s defunct Russian unit, represents a striking development: Russian authorities leveraging legal pathways in Western jurisdictions at a time when both sides are increasingly entangled in disputes over frozen assets, sanctions, and cross-border claims.

A Rare Legal Gambit With Geopolitical Overtones

The freeze stems from three arbitration rulings issued in Moscow between 2024 and 2025, which found Google liable for what Russian authorities labeled an illegal dividend distribution in 2021 worth roughly 10 billion roubles. The liquidator appointed to oversee Google Russia’s collapse sought enforcement abroad after the company filed for bankruptcy in 2022, when its bank accounts in Russia were seized amid mounting state pressure.

What makes this case exceptional is the direction of legal force. Western firms have frequently faced penalties or seizures inside Russia since 2022, but Moscow-backed actors have rarely succeeded in pushing claims into Western courts. The move comes just as Europe debates the use of frozen Russian sovereign assets to finance Ukrainian reconstruction—an unresolved political and legal tension that is increasingly spilling into unrelated corporate disputes.

France is among the first jurisdictions where enforcement is being attempted, though the liquidator’s representatives say actions have also been initiated in Spain, Turkey, and South Africa. This signals a coordinated strategy to pursue Google’s international footprint, potentially foreshadowing similar steps against other multinationals that exited Russia.

Legal Complexity and a Long Road Ahead

Under French law, the bailiff’s freeze is temporary. For it to move forward, attorneys must file a request for formal recognition of the Moscow arbitration rulings within one month. That process will require France’s Judicial Court to determine whether the Russian decisions comply with international commercial rules and meet French public-policy standards.

Such proceedings can take more than a year, and Google retains the ability to challenge the temporary freeze before an enforcement judge. Only if the court ultimately grants recognition could the frozen assets be seized to satisfy the Russian judgments—an outcome that would reverberate across Europe and signal a new vulnerability for foreign companies facing litigation tied to Russian claims.

For Google, which has repeatedly faced fines and operational restrictions in Russia, the legal offensive is the latest chapter in a deteriorating relationship that began well before its bankruptcy. For regulators and investors, the case raises broader questions about how geopolitical rivalries may increasingly influence cross-border commercial enforcement.

Broader Implications for Global Companies

The dispute arrives at a moment when global firms are reassessing legal-risk exposure, especially those that exited Russia but retain assets elsewhere. If Moscow-backed administrators succeed in convincing courts to enforce these rulings abroad, it could embolden similar actions against other Western companies with Russian entanglements.

Equally, European courts may now face more politically sensitive cases that blur commercial arbitration with geopolitical retaliation. That dynamic could complicate ongoing deliberations over what to do with Russia’s frozen sovereign assets and test longstanding frameworks of international arbitration law.

What Comes Next

All eyes now turn to the Paris Judicial Court, which will decide whether the Russian rulings merit recognition under French law. The outcome may take many months, but its implications will be immediate: either it reinforces the insulation Western companies expect from politically influenced rulings in foreign jurisdictions, or it opens a new channel for legal pressure tied to Russia’s broader strategic aims.