Google wins UK ruling blocking Russian fine worth more than world GDP

Alphabet’s Google won a UK court ruling to block Russian media firms from seizing the tech giant’s global assets to recover Russian court-imposed fines that have now accrued interest equal to many times more than the world’s economy combined.

Google sought protection in the UK and the US courts last year to stop enforcement of Russian fines after it blocked YouTube channels of three media groups, controlled or owned by sanctioned individuals. The Russian court asked Google to reinstate the channels or face a hefty penalty that doubles every week, the judge said in the decision.

A recent estimate pegged the penalties at $125 nonillion, a nonillion being a 1 followed by 30 zeros, according to the ruling. Google’s market capitalisation is $2.4 trillion, while according to the World Bank the world’s GDP was just over $106 trillion at the end of 2023.

The case became a prime example of how multinational companies are finding themselves exposed to the Russian legal system and courts across the world are caught in conflict with each other — especially so since the large scale invasion of Ukraine. The Russian media companies, including one that runs RT TV channels, launched cases in several countries including South Africa, Spain and Vietnam.

“From around late 2023, a coordinated strategy of foreign enforcement was initiated,” the judge said in the ruling blocking the enforcement of the penalty.

While cases in other countries remain at early stage, a South African court froze Google’s local trademarks and shares, an order that was later put on hold.

“For years, Russian courts have levied unprecedented fines and arbitrary legal penalties against Google in an attempt to limit access to information on our services and as punishment for our compliance with international sanctions against Russian individuals and organisations,” a Google spokesperson said.

Lawyers for the three Russian companies — Nao Tsargrad Media, No Fond Pravoslavnogo Televideniya and Ano TV-Novosti — did not immediately comment on the ruling. Google curtailed their free speech and the penalties were meant to enforce court’s orders to reinstate the YouTube channels, their lawyer previously said.

“I can not even pronounce this figure, but it is likely full of symbolism,” the Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said to reporters in October.

© 2025 Bloomberg

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