Yandex Head Quits After Surprise EU Sanctions

3.16.22
The head of Russia’s top technology firm Yandex quit late Tuesday after being slapped with EU sanctions in response to Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine. Brussels hit Yandex executive director and deputy CEO Tigran Khudaverdyan with an asset freeze and travel ban earlier in the day, citing the firm's role in “hiding information” from the Russian public through the manipulation of search results on its platform. Yandex — often dubbed “Russia’s Google” — is the country’s largest search engine. Its sprawling business empire also covers taxi services, e-commerce, fast food delivery, online education and a host of other technology-powered businesses. “Yandex’s former head of news accused the company of being a ‘key element in hiding information’ from Russians about the war in Ukraine,” the EU stated in its official journal, outlining the sanctions against Khudaverdyan and a host of other Russian business figures. “Moreover, the company has been warning Russian users looking for news about Ukraine on its search engine of unreliable information on the internet, after the Russian government threatened Russian media over what they publish,” it added.

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