Yandex, the company often described as “Russia’s Google”, is seeking Vladimir Putin’s blessing to sell its operations in the country, spin off its main international projects and appoint a longtime confidant of the Russian president to manage its relationship with the Kremlin.
Three people familiar with these moves said that the internet giant has informally enlisted top economic official Alexei Kudrin to win the Russian president’s approval, in principle, for the restructuring plan.
The changes would lead to Yandex’s Dutch holding company exiting the Russian market by selling its entire business apart from the international divisions of four key units.