According tp RBC sources, Yandex has decided to sell the "News" and "Zen" services. Yandex itself will focus on the development of search and urban services.
According to interlocutors RBC, changes in the company are occurring "in the face of increasingly difficult access to capital and changes in the economic situation".
According to RBC, the main potential buyer of "News" and "Zen" — holding VK.
"VK considers the development of digital partnerships to be an effective form of cooperation, which allows to mutually strengthen the companies in various directions,"
said the publication's source, declining to discuss details.
Another RBC source familiar with the discussion of the issue cited the following as a reason for the possible sale of services:
"Yandex wants to be a technology company, while “Zen” is developing more in the direction of social networks."
As for “News”, according to the interlocutor, it causes "a lot of criticism from all sides."
As it became known on March 16, Tigran Khudaverdyan is leaving the Board of Directors and the position of deputy CEO of Yandex N.V., as well as his positions in the Dutch subsidiaries of the company.
On the evening of Tuesday, March 15, the EU announced sanctions against Russian companies and individuals. Yandex Managing Director Tigran Khudaverdyan was among those who fell under them. As explained in the decision, former Yandex news head Lev Gershenzon accused the company of being a "key element in hiding information" about the military conflict in Ukraine from the Russians.
