London CNN –
Russia is seeking an unfathomable sum of money from one of the world’s largest technology companies.
Google reportedly owes the Kremlin more than 2 rubles – 2 followed by 36 zeros – after refusing to pay fines now accumulating over the blocking of pro-Russian channels on YouTube.
The practically unutterable penalty amounts to 20 decillion dollars – or about 20 billion trillion trillion dollars. This dwarfs the size of the global economy.
At $110 trillion, according to International Monetary Fund figures, global GDP looks modest by comparison. Meanwhile, Alphabet, Google’s parent company, has a market cap of about $2 trillion.
Russian state media TASS reported this week that a Russian court had earlier ordered Google to reinstate YouTube channels — many of which have been banned since 2022 — or face mounting charges, with penalties doubling every week.
Asked about the lawsuit during a call with reporters on Thursday, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov admitted he “can’t even pronounce that number correctly,” but said the staggering sum was “full of symbolism.” He added that Google “should not restrict the actions of our broadcasters on its platform.”
CNN has contacted Google for comment. In its quarterly earnings published this week, the company cited “ongoing legal issues” related to its business in Russia.
“Civil judgments containing double penalties have been imposed in connection with disputes related to the termination of accounts, including those of sanctioned parties,” Google said. “We do not believe these ongoing legal matters will have a material adverse impact (on earnings).”
In the wake of Russia’s large-scale invasion of Ukraine, Google has scaled back its operations in the country but has stopped short of withdrawing completely, unlike many other American technology companies. Many of its services, including Search and YouTube, are still available in the country.
Months after the invasion, Russia’s Google declared bankruptcy and temporarily halted most of its business operations after the government took control of its bank accounts.
