Putin takes things in hand at Yandex
While the “Russian Google” suffered the full brunt of the fallout from the war in Ukraine and sought a few days ago to emancipate itself from Russia, Vladimir Putin regained control and appointed a close friend, Alexei Kudrin, to a post of company management.
According to Les Echos, Alexeï Koudrine will initially act as an adviser to the Russian giant. The man has just announced that he will be joining the group, when according to inside sources, Yandex was about to cut ties with Russia. It would have been a blow for Vladimir Putin, who tried everything to avoid the worst. This appointment can be interpreted as “a sign of Moscow’s stranglehold on society”. However, from the side of Yandex, the operation may not be so bad either.
Indeed, Alexei Kudrin could be likely to “convince the Russian president to let her split her international activities, as she has the project”. The 62-year-old served as finance minister for more than 10 years (from 2001 to 2011). Since his departure from the Court of Auditors last week, Alexei Kudrin had been expected at Yandex. In Russia, he is known to be “one of the last liberal figures to still have the ear of President Vladimir Putin”.
As explained by Marie Gabrielle Bertran, doctoral student in geopolitics at the University of Paris 8 and at the GEODE center, “this appointment is proof of a takeover of the group, which is strategic for Russian digital technology”. Indeed, Yandex is still the number one search engine in Russia. For his part, Alexei Kudrin assured that he would endeavor to help Yandex to “preserve its unique managerial and technological culture, so that the company remains independent and the best of high technologies in Russia”, reports AFP.
According to Forbes, “Putin broke Russia’s top tech company.” Founded in Moscow in 1997, Yandex has seen its future questioned since Russia invaded Ukraine. Western sanctions prevent the company from developing under the right conditions. In this pivotal period for Yandex, Putin expects a lot from Alexei Kudrin.
Yandex, headquartered in the Netherlands, wants its most promising new technologies transferred outside of Russia. The Russian giant even hopes to sell its activities already in place in the country: its search engine, its Internet browser, its meal delivery applications, etc. The company must first obtain permission from the Kremlin before transferring Russian technologies abroad. This would be a blow for Vladimir Putin, who will do everything to prevent this from happening.
Newer Articles
- Android 13 is now available for the 4G version of the Galaxy A51
- “Dahmer: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story” is now the third most watched series ever on Netflix
- Disney+ to cut Original Productions in 2023
