A Company Linked To Putin Buys Parts Of "Yandex"

The Russian government seized the internet on Tuesday. A state-owned company (VK), which is closely linked to Russian President Vladimir Putin, agreed to buy the news feed section and the homepage of the country's most popular website Yandex, according to the Russian government. Reuters report.

Yandex, often referred to as "Russia's Google", will sell its news division, Zen content platform, and Yandex.ru homepage to VK to focus on other business areas, such as delivery applications, the report said. 

In return, Yandex will acquire Delivery Club from food delivery company VK. The report did not mention the value of the company.

VK runs Russia's largest social network, VKontakte, and the company's overhaul last year knew the takeover of state-controlled gas exporter Gazprom and Yuri Kvalchik, a banker whom Putin publicly described as a personal friend.

Vladimir Kirienko, son of Putin's first deputy chief of staff, Sergei Kirienko, is the company's CEO.

Reuters report adds, “As Russia’s crackdown on independent media escalated for years after Moscow sent troops into Ukraine last February, it has blocked access to some foreign platforms, including Meta platforms such as Facebook and Instagram.

"The board of directors concluded that the interests of the company's owners would be better positioned by strategically exiting its media business and shifting to focus on other technologies and services," a statement issued by Yandex said.

Buying our freedom

Fearing fines, the report states that Yandex has complied in recent years with Moscow's demands over stories published in its news section, prompting criticism from free speech advocates.

Moscow has not blocked access to most foreign language media, which is still freely available in Rssia and on Yandex. But the search results restrict access to any sites that have been blocked by communications regulator Roskomnadzor, many of which are independent Russian-language media.

In February, Yandex began warning Russian users seeking information about events in Ukraine about unreliable information online.

According to the report, Lev Gershenzon, the former president of Yandex, in March, described the company as a key element in the concealment of information about the conflict in Ukraine. Yandex has denied being complicit in the censorship.

A source close to Yandex told Reuters, "We are buying our freedom. This work was a heavy burden on us. So we can do our work in a depoliticized way."

Online search

Yandex dominates the online search market in Russia with a share of about 62%, according to analytics tool Radar. Google accounts for about 36%, and less than 1% for the VKMail Russia platform.

The Yandex.Russia platform displays a series of news stories below the search bar, followed by a steady stream of content.

E-commerce shake

Search, advertising and transportation services are among the strongest revenue-generating companies in Yandex. But it has many other units, such as cloud services and self-driving cars. It is also expanding its services in Africa and Latin America. But it is falling behind in the field of electronic groceries services in Europe, according to a Reuters report.

Dmitriy Masyuk, head of food technology at Yandex, said acquiring Delivery Club would improve speed and choice in food delivery offerings.