Founder of search engine Yandex
EU lifts sanctions against Russian billionaire Volosh
March 13, 2024, 1:37 p.m
Oligarchs and billionaires are partly financing Russia’s war against Ukraine. Such people will be sanctioned by the EU. Even if the war is condemned, it is uncertain that the restrictions will be relaxed and lifted. Now the EU is loosening its financial grip on a Russian billionaire.
The EU has lifted sanctions against Russian billionaire Arkady Volosh. The name of the co-founder of the most popular Russian search engine Yandex was removed from the sanctions list along with eleven other people, according to a release on March 12th.
The EU sanctioned Volosh in June 2022 on the grounds that Yandex promoted pro-government narratives and was involved in Russia’s war against Ukraine. The 60-year-old resigned as CEO of Yandex after being sanctioned and spoke out publicly against the war. He called Russia’s actions in Ukraine “barbaric.” According to the Financial Times, he waited until people close to him could leave Russia to publicly condemn the war.
Wolosch had already submitted a formal request for the EU to lift the sanctions imposed against him in August 2023. According to experts, the long adherence to this shows the weaknesses of the EU measures. “The EU is walking on very thin ice,” said Gerhard Mangott from the University of Innsbruck to the “Standard”.
The actual purpose of sanctions is counteracted by the Wolosh case. “If Russians who turn away from Putin are not rewarded with sanctions relief, it could deter others from doing the same. Even worse, it will tie them more closely to the Kremlin.”
Volosh, who has lived in Israel since 2014, founded Yandex in 1997. In 2011 he took the company public in New York – after the outbreak of the Russian war of aggression, the shares were excluded from trading on the NASDAQ. To date, Yandex is the best-known search engine in Russian-speaking countries, but has also developed numerous other business areas, from streaming to online taxis to delivery services.
In February 2024, Yandex sold its Russia business, which accounts for around 95 percent of the group’s capital, the press release said. Wolosch still has shares in Yandex’s remaining Dutch parent company and his fortune is estimated at around $1.5 billion.