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Arkady Volosh, the billionaire co-founder of Russia’s largest internet company, was today removed from the EU’s sanctions list, paving the way for his return to the international tech world.
On Tuesday, a European Council spokesperson confirmed to WIRED that Yandex’s co-founder was among the three individuals whose sanctions were lifted this week.
Volosh, 60, was first added to the EU sanctions list in June 2023 following Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. “The Federation,” the federation said last year to justify its decision. “As the founder and CEO of Yandex, he supports the government of the Russian Federation materially or financially.” In response, Volosh said the sanctions were “misguided” and said that his position as Yandex’s CEO resigned.
Three months later, Volosh, who has lived in Israel since 2014, became one of the few Russian businessmen to speak out against the Kremlin’s actions in Ukraine, describing the war as “barbaric.” “I am horrified by the fate of the people of Ukraine, many of whom are my personal friends and relatives, whose homes are bombed every day,” he said in a statement in August.
Founded in 1997 as a search engine, Yandex has become so pervasive in the daily lives of millions of Russians that it has become known as the “Google of Russia.” There is Yandex Music for streaming. Yandex navigator for maps. and Yandex Go, which provides ride-hailing services. Mr. Vorosh stepped down as CEO in June 2023, but continues to hold an 8.5% economic interest in Yandex’s Dutch parent company, Yandex NV, through his family trust.
Over the past 18 months, Yandex NV has been selling off its Russian business while carving out four European-based divisions, including businesses focused on self-driving cars, cloud computing and data labeling. We have been engaged in complex negotiations with , Educational Technology.
Last month, Yandex NV announced it had reached a “binding agreement” with Russia to sell its operations in the country to a consortium of local companies for 475 billion rubles ($5.2 billion) in a cash and stock deal. Yandex NV was once worth $30 billion at its peak, but that price includes Russia, which applies to the sale of Russian assets by companies based in countries deemed “unfriendly” by the Russian government. It said it included a “mandatory discount of at least 50 per cent” under government rules. Kremlin, including the Netherlands.
The lifting of sanctions that affected one of the most prominent figures in Russian technology will be especially important if Volozh continues to build Yandex 2.0 within Europe. The billionaire maintains strong ties to exiled Russian tech talent, with thousands of Yandex staff leaving the country after the war began. “These people are now out there, in a position to start something new and continue to drive innovation,” Volosh said in the same 2023 statement. “They will be a tremendous asset to the countries they land on.”
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