THE OWNERS OF RUSSIA'S TECH PIONEER YANDEX ARE SELLING - AT A BIG, KREMLIN-REQUIRED DISCOUNT

The Dutch parent of pioneering Russian tech company Yandex is selling its operations in the country at a steeply discounted price of just over $5 billion to its Russia-based managers and oil company Lukoil, one of the biggest deals for Western-held companies to exit Russia since the invasion of Ukraine.

The price reflects a 50% discount that Moscow imposes on companies from “unfriendly” countries like the Netherlands as a condition of exiting business in Russia, according to a statement this week from Nasdaq-exchange listed Yandex NV.

It follows drawn-out negotiations that show the complexities international companies must navigate if they want to unload their Russian businesses, which many have been struggling to do since President Vladimir Putin’s February 2022 invasion of Ukraine and the sweeping financial and economic sanctions that followed.

Yandex, founded in 1997 as Russia’s answer to Google and Yahoo, serves Russian-speaking customers through its search engine and with widely used apps for food delivery, car-sharing and shopping.

Co-founder Arkady Volozh, who had earlier moved to Israel, resigned as CEO in 2022 after he was hit with European Union sanctions. He subsequently condemned Russia’s invasion as “barbaric.” The Nasdaq exchange suspended trading in Yandex shares days after the invasion.