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In Russia, the internet is tightly controlled by the state
After months of negotiations, Yandex NV, a Dutch parent company of the search engine of the same name, sold it to local investors.
FILE PHOTO: The logo of Russian technology giant Yandex is on display at the company's headquarters in Moscow, Russia December 9, 2022. REUTERS/Evgenia Novozhenina/File Photo
The “Russian Google” is set to become authentically Russian and entirely aligned with the Putin regime. After extensive negotiations, Yandex NV, the Dutch parent company overseeing the eponymous search engine, is selling it for 475 billion rubles (4.8 billion euros) to local investors, including fifty directors of the company and the oil group Lukoil.
Company was labelled “unfriendly”
The announcement of this transaction, made on Monday, February 5, received government approval, accompanied by a mandated 50% discount on the company’s value. This discount is due to YNV’s headquarters being located in the Netherlands, perceived as an “unfriendly country” in the eyes of the Kremlin.
Since the conflict in Ukraine, the separation became inevitable to safeguard YNV’s international aspirations while safeguarding Moscow’s interests. Yandex, listed on Nasdaq in New York, stands as one of the scarce technological achievements of Russia, overshadowed by the United States and China in the realm of major digital platforms.
The Russian company will retain control over the search engine, artificial intelligence, advertising, e-commerce, car-sharing, taxis, home delivery, and entertainment, constituting 95% of its turnover, assets, and workforce. Its president, John Boynton, declared that this was the optimal solution. The parent company, slated to shed the Yandex name, will focus solely on autonomous vehicles, generative AI, and cloud computing.
Putin strengthens grip over the internet
Conducting the operation will involve completing half of the transactions in Chinese yuan, as foreign currency is banned in Russian, with the other half carried out through the exchange of shares.
Over the past decade, Vladimir Putin has consistently strengthened control over the Internet. In 2022, YNV had to sell its media activities to VKontakte, the “Russian Facebook,” which has faced increasing censorship since the invasion of Ukraine.
According to Putin, the large platforms contribute to the “monopolistic domination” of the West and “erase Russian culture.” In Russia, authoritarianism and autarky have now become the twin pillars of the digital space.
