Moscow has suppressed the Internet giant. “Russian Google” will come under the complete control of the Kremlin

The large Russian-Dutch company Yandex will now fall into the hands of the Kremlin. Called the “Russian Google”, the giant was bought by the Russian authorities for over $5 billion and will come under the full control of the regime in Moscow.

Moscow takes control of “Russian Google”. They will move their headquarters to Królewiec

Yandex NV, the Dutch parent company of the Yandex group, on the conclusion of long talks regarding the takeover of a significant part of its operations by the Russian authorities. According to the signed agreement, the company will sell the entire Russian branch of the company along with all assets, including all shares of IJSC “Yandex”, registered in Moscow, to the Kremlin authorities.

The conclusion of the agreement is the finale of 18-month-long talks on the division and sale of part of the group. Yandex NV claims that the company and its employees have been facing “unique challenges” since February 2022, but did not specify what those challenges were. In the statement, the group also talks about “extraordinary circumstances”, “unprecedented and unique geopolitical environment” and finding the “best possible solution” for the company’s shareholders, who will be able to “recover part of the value of the enterprises we are selling.” However, at no point does the company want to admit what is the reason for the “extraordinary situation” and the need to divide the company (of course, it is about the war in Ukraine).

How, the Kremlin will take over part of the Yandex company with the help of a consortium consisting of, among others, from the Russian oil company Lukoil. The transaction amount was calculated at 475 billion rubles ($5.21 billion), which is exactly half of the average capitalization of the acquired company over the last three months. What’s worse, only half of this amount is to be paid in cash (in Chinese yuan), and the remaining part, among others, in (rapidly falling) Yandex shares. The real value of Yandex just before Russia’s attack on Ukraine was approximately $30 billion.

The co-founder of Yandex criticized the Kremlin for the war with Ukraine

Reuters also reminds that until recently Yandex tried to be perceived as free from Kremlin influence, but this has recently become an increasingly difficult task. Arkady Volozh, co-founder of the company immediately after the annexation of Crimea and the start of the war between Russia and Ukraine in 2014, criticized these actions and fled the country to Israel, where he lives to this day. After Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, he again condemned Moscow, calling the attack “barbaric.” This, of course, greatly displeased the authorities in the Kremlin, which for years has perceived the “Russian Google” as an element of Russia’s technological achievements.

After the final finalization of the transaction and the division of the conglomerate, the Dutch part of the group will have to change its name and will stop using the Yandex logos and brand in its products. The Russian part, in turn, will still be able to use its logo and will be registered under the name Yandex MCAO. that the company, which already belongs to the authorities in Russia, will move its headquarters to Königsberg, which is quite a surprising move. Artem Savinowski is to remain the general director of Yandex, and Yandex NV is to retain limited rights to use its technologies only until the end of 2024. “Rz” added that the group on the Russian stock exchange had already lost about 9 percent since the morning.

Yandex was founded in 1997 by Arkady Volozh and Ilya Siegalovich. Currently, it is a Russian-Dutch company with headquarters in Moscow and Amsterdam. The company offers a number of internet services, such as e-mail, translator, weather, navigation and, of course, a search engine, which has been one of the most popular in the world for years. Outside of Russia, Yandex is also popular, among others: in the countries of the former USSR or in Turkey.