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The Dutch parent company of Russia’s pioneering high-tech company Yandex is selling its operations in the country to Russia-based management and oil company Lukoil for a steep discount of just over $5 billion, a deal that Western-funded companies It will be one of the biggest deals to leave Russia. Since the invasion of Ukraine.
The price is 50% that Russia imposes on companies from “unfriendly” countries like the Netherlands as a condition for exiting Russian operations, according to a statement Monday from Yandex NV, which is listed on the Nasdaq exchange. % discount.
The negotiations have been lengthy and illustrate the complexities that international companies must navigate if they want to exit Russian operations, but they have been linked to President Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 and the subsequent extensive financial・Since economic sanctions, many companies have struggled to realize this goal.
Yandex was founded in 1997 as Russia’s answer to Google and Yahoo, serving Russian-speaking customers through its search engine and widely used apps for food delivery, car sharing and shopping. .
Co-founder Arkady Volosh, who had previously immigrated to Israel, resigned as CEO in 2022 due to European Union sanctions. He then denounced the Russian invasion as “barbaric”. The Nasdaq exchange suspended trading in Yandex stock a few days after the breach.
“We can welcome that the shareholders have reached an agreement on the sale,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said in a conference call with reporters. “The Russian management of the company will remain the main owner. Of course, it is important for us that our company continues to operate in this area.
He added: “We are aware that the negotiations have been long and we welcome their completion.”
The sale of cash and shares worth 475 billion rubles will reduce Yandex’s core business, which accounts for more than 95% of its revenue, assets and employees, to a group of up to 50 executives, Lukoil and investors Alexander Chachava, Pavel It will be transferred to an entity owned by Mr. Plas. And Alexander Ryazanov.
After the sale, Yandex NV will retain international operations that employ 1,300 people, including self-driving technology, generative artificial intelligence and a data center in Finland.
Yandex NV chairman John Boynton said the company had faced “exceptional challenges” since the start of the war.
“We believe we have found the best solution for our shareholders, team and users in these extraordinary circumstances,” he said in a statement.
Boynton said the sale “allows our shareholders to recover some of the value of the businesses we are selling while unlocking new growth potential for our retained international businesses.”
Hurdles for companies to exit Russia include finding partners who are not subject to U.S. or European sanctions and avoiding prohibited financial transactions. Yandex NV said none of the buyers had been sanctioned and the cash portion of the transaction would be carried out in Chinese yuan outside Russia.
The companies, which fled Russia shortly after the war began, ended joint ventures and wrote off billions of dollars worth of stock. For example, McDonald’s sold 850 restaurants to local franchisees, and France’s Renault acquired a majority stake in Russia’s largest carmaker, AvtoVAZ, for a symbolic one ruble.
Some are still struggling to leave because of hurdles put in place by Putin’s government, while others are simply staying put.
The government also seized assets and operations of Western companies in Russia, including Danish beer maker Carlsberg’s Baltika Brewery, French yogurt maker Danone, Finnish energy company Fortum and Germany’s Uniper electricity company.