EU Moves on Volozh Sanctions and Yandex Ownership Shift
EU authorities are preparing to remove Arkady Volozh, the founder of Yandex, from the list of entities and individuals under anti Russia sanctions, according to multiple sources familiar with the discussions. Reuters reports that switching the status could take place after March 15 when the sanctions regime is set to be extended. The EU updates the sanctions framework in a routine six month cycle, and discussions around removals are part of that process, say the sources.
Two other sources noted to Reuters that the legal arguments against Volozh in court appeared weaker in light of a potential proposal to divest all assets. The EU has already begun easing pressure on some businessmen tied to Russia, with several names removed earlier in 2023. In September 2023 the EU lightly revised the list, excluding figures such as Grigory Berezkin of ESN, Alexander Shulgin formerly with Ozon, and Farhad Akhmedov, co-owner of Northgas, among others. These changes reflect a broader reassessment of who should remain subject to sanctions.
Volozh’s Request and Court Actions
Volozh was placed on the sanctions list in mid-2022 after stepping away from all roles at Yandex. On August 27, 2023, he formally petitioned EU officials to lift the sanctions. People close to him suggested that he hoped to persuade EU authorities not to extend the measures. Yet when the European Union reviewed the regime on September 15, his name remained on the blacklist. In December, Bloomberg reported that Volozh filed an appeal with the EU Court.
During the hearing, William July, the lawyer representing Volozh, insisted that the case was not about a businessman who built a fortune through privatizations and government contracts. The defense also highlighted Volozh’s public condemnation of military actions, emphasizing his stance as a critic of the conflict.
Last August, Volozh described the Russian military operation in Ukraine as barbaric. He said he has friends and relatives in the country and noted that although he has not lived in Russia since 2014, he recognizes his share in the country’s actions. Official biographical material portrays him as a Kazakhstan-born Israeli IT entrepreneur, computer scientist, investor, and philanthropist, though it does not emphasize that much of his life was spent in Moscow.
Who Bought Yandex and What It Means
In early February, Yandex NV announced a deal to sell its Russian business to a consortium of private investors and company executives for 475 billion rubles. The primary owner will be a closed investment fund known as the Consortium. Yandex executives will lead the new structure. The company stressed that none of the buyers are subject to Western sanctions at this stage.
The resulting parent entity will be Yandex, an International Joint Stock Company registered in the Kaliningrad region. Under this arrangement, most assets will be consolidated, with the exception of foreign ventures such as Avride unmanned technologies, the Nebius cloud platform, the Toloka crowdsourcing service, and the TripleTen education platform, along with a data center in Finland.
Arkady Volozh co-founded Yandex with Ilya Segalovich in 2000. He resigned as CEO and board member of Yandex NV in June 2022. Yandex has been registered in the Netherlands since 2007. Volozh currently holds an 8.5 percent economic stake in Yandex NV through a family foundation, though he does not retain voting rights in the company.