Like many Russian multinationals, the Internet group Yandex has the feeling of being up against the wall since the start of the invasion in Ukraine. Faced with the patriotic demands of the local government, and the sanctions of the European authorities, the “Russian Google” seems bogged down in its difficulties. According to analysts, the company is eyeing prospects for the sale of services or even a split to ensure its survival despite a promising financial result for the first quarter.
Yandex is in crisis according to observers
The situation from Yandex has generated a lot of speculation from observers. For some time now, this Dutch and Russian holding company has been under the tugs of the Kremlin and the European Union, but despite everything shows a serene face. The company had recorded a high increase for the first three months of 2022, and welcomed its financial health. However, the stock market data and the current management of the multinational claim the opposite.
According to Marie-Gabrielle Bertran, doctoral student in Geopolitics, this image turns out to be a facade, because “ there is a clear difference between the reassuring speech of Yandex and the fall of its price on the stock market “. The numbers support this divergence with an 80% drop in its market value from 2021.
Yandex’s distress has also increased following the departure of its leaders Arkady Volozh and Tigran Khudaverdyan a few months ago, targeted by sanctions from Brussels.
What alternatives to survive?
Yandex has studied several scenarios to maintain its activity in the context of a geopolitical crisis which tends to persist. The company had planned to sell its Yandex News and Zen services to VK, the Russian Facebook. While the acquisition project resulted in an agreement in principle, the operation is still on hold.
Rumors report Yandex’s ambitions to split its Russian and international activities. This hypothesis would constitute the “last resort”, underlines Marie-Gabrielle, but it could also harm the stability of society in the future, retorts the researcher Julien Nocetti by declaring: ” One can imagine a sale by cutting for the benefit of clans close to the Kremlin, […] but if you withdraw services, will the building still hold? »
