The Journal said that the internet search engine company might retain some employees to assist in sales, business partnerships, user support, marketing and communications.
In July, Russia’s parliament passed a law to force Internet sites that store the personal data of Russian citizens to do so inside the country, a move the Kremlin says is for data protection but which critics see as an attack on social networks.
The law was passed soon after new rules were established requiring blogs attracting more than 3,000 daily visits to register with a communications watchdog and a regulation allowing websites to be shut without a court order.
Google could not be immediately reached for comment.
Data protection laws have become one of Google’s major worries of late, as users become increasingly wary of what information about them is available online.
The news Google shutting down its Russian engineering office comes shortly after it announced that it will end Google News in Spain. The decision was taken after the search-giant was asked to compensate publishers for showing snippets of their content through its news service – a law nicknamed as “Google Tax”.
Earlier this year, Google was fined by the data protection authority in France over issues with the way it was handling user data. Italy’s data protection regulator had given Google 18 months to change the way it treats and stores user data, in a move to reform the internet giant’s privacy practices.
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