Russia is demanding an unfathomable sum of money from Google, one of the largest technology companies in the world.
Google reportedly owes the Kremlin more than 2 undecillion rubles—around US$20 decillion (a figure followed by more than 30 zeros)—after refusing to pay fines that are accumulating for blocking pro-Russian channels on YouTube.
The practically unmentionable fine amounts to US$20 decillions, or around US$20 billion trillion trillion. This dwarfs the size of the global economy, CNN notes.
At US$110 trillion, according to International Monetary Fund figures, the world’s gross domestic product (GDP) looks modest by comparison. Meanwhile, Alphabet, Google’s parent company, has a market value of around $2 trillion.
Russian state media outlet TASS reported this week that a Russian court had previously ordered Google to restore YouTube channels — several of which have been blocked since 2022 — or face mounting charges, with sanctions that They double every week.
Asked about the demand during a call with reporters on Thursday, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov admitted that he “can’t even pronounce this figure correctly” but said the staggering sum was “full of symbolism.” Google “should not be restricting the actions of our broadcasters on its platform,” he added, quoted by CNN.
CNN has contacted Google for comment. In quarterly results released this week, the company referred to “ongoing legal matters” related to its business in Russia.
“Civil judgments including compound penalties have been imposed on us in connection with disputes regarding account terminations, including those of sanctioned parties,” Google said. “We do not believe that these ongoing legal matters will have a material adverse effect (on profits),” was the response reported by the American media.
Following Russia’s large-scale invasion of Ukraine, Google scaled back its operations in the country but stopped short of completely withdrawing, unlike other American tech companies. Many of its services, such as Search and YouTube, are still available in the country.
Months after the invasion, Google’s Russian subsidiary declared bankruptcy and halted most of its business operations after the government took control of its bank accounts.
