Yandex, often described as Russia's Google, sold its domestic operations at a knockdown price. Bloomberg reports The search and services giant, now headquartered in the Netherlands, sold its Russian operations for 475 billion rubles ($5.2 billion) in cash and stock. The new owners include the management group, as well as Russia's largest national energy company, Lukoil, and Russian businessman and former Gazprom executive Alexander Ryazanov, among others. Now that Yandex has severed ties with Russia, the company will be able to expand and associate more freely given sanctions affecting companies with ties to Russia following the deal. invasion of Ukraine.
Since the war, Yandex faced repercussions such as its delisting from Nasdaq. Its founder, Arkady Volozh, faced European Union sanctions in the summer of 2022 over the company's alleged support of Russian propaganda. The company soon sold its news aggregation service, and Volozh openly condemned the war.
Reports that Yandex would cut its ties with Russia first appeared in late 2022. At the time, the company was facing sanctions repercussions and was rumored to have no path forward to develop projects without Western technology. However, it took a year and a half of negotiations between Yandex and the Kremlin (a necessary step) for Yandex NV to be allowed to divest itself of its Russian operations. The final agreement came with a reduction of at least 50 percent, a standard practice when the Kremlin deems the registered country – in this case the Netherlands – hostile.