The co-founder and general director of Yandex, Arkadi Voloj, resigned from the management of the group, an internet and services giant in Russia, after being sanctioned by the European Union as a result of the war in Ukraine.
“Arkadi Voloj leaves the board of directors and the position of general director of the Yandex group, as well as his management positions in the group’s international subsidiaries,” the company said in a statement.
Cornered
The company, known as the “Russian Google”, is registered in the Netherlands and has European, British and American subsidiaries, but the bulk of its activities take place in Russia and Russian-speaking countries.
Voloj, 58, co-founded the company in 1997 and was its CEO since 2000. He was blacklisted by the European Union, a sanction that affects him individually, as the tech giant is not sanctioned.
In his statement, Yandex denounced an “unfair” measure and assured that it would have no impact on the operation of the group.
The company specified that Voloj controls 45.3% of Yandex shares through a “family trust”, but that this trust would follow the recommendations of the board of directors during the period of sanctions.
