Tech firm moves its engineers out of Russia

oke efagene

December 15, 2014 10:04 AM

The firm said it "remains committed" to Google users in the country and that it has relocated engineers in other countries on previous occasions.

Google has confirmed reports that it has concluded plans to move engineers out of its office in Russia.

The firm said it "remains committed" to Google users in the country and told the BBC it has relocated engineers in other countries on previous occasions.

However, the tech giant refused to disclose how many staff would be affected by the move.

The Russian parliament in July this year, passed a law requiring internet companies to store citizens' personal data inside the country.

According to the Kremlin, this law is designed to aid data protection, but critics have seen it as an attempt to censor internet access as the law would give the government powers to block sites which refused to comply.

Many tech companies store user data in huge data storage facilities around the world and do not link the location of the data to the location of the user, meaning that most users' data will not be kept in the same country as them.

The Wall Street Journal reports that Google will retain some staff including sales, marketing and support teams in its Russia office.

In a statement, the firm said: "We are deeply committed to our Russian users and customers and we have a dedicated team in Russia working to support them."

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