The chairman of the board of directors of the Tsargrad media group, Konstantin Malofeev, speaks to reporters in Moscow during an interview with Reuters.
MOSCOW Reuters - A Russian businessman on the U.S. sanctions list claimed victory over Google in a court case on Thursday and said the U.S. tech giant is facing a potentially heavy fine.
Alphabet's Google has appealed a Russian court order that it unblocks the YouTube account of Tsargrad TV, a Christian Orthodox channel owned by businessman Konstantin Malofeev, or face a daily 100,000 rouble $1,358 fine that would double every week Google didn't comply.
Tsargrad said the Ninth Moscow Arbitration Court of Appeal upheld the fine. Malofeev confirmed the verdict to the Reuters, but the court could not be reached for comment despite repeated attempts by phone and email.
Russia is waning tolerance of foreign technology giants, several of which it has fined this year for failing to delete content Moscow deems illegal.
Tsargrad said the fine would stop compounding when it reached 1 billion roubles $13.6 million, which it estimated would happen in mid-March next year. After nine months, the 1 billion rouble limit would be removed, it said.
Since the case first came to light in mid- 2020, both parties have engaged in talks but Tsargrad said in August it had abandoned talks for a settlement and accused Google of dragging its feet in negotiations.
In May, Google said the proposed penalty was out of proportion and created uncertainty for foreign investors.
In 2014, the United States and the European Union imposed sanctions on Malofeev over accusations that he funded pro-Moscow separatists fighting in Ukraine, which he denies. Before the court decision, Malofeev told Reuters that the choice facing Google was either to continue to break Russian law or reinstate his channel and face no penalty. He said that breaking the law is never part of the investment climate.