yandex
is not only one of search engine
used in Russia (45% market share, just behind google
), it is also a gigantic company that offers dozens of services including delivery, smartphones
cartography, e-mail or online payment.
A flagship of the Motherland which suffers from sanctions against Russian companies and which finds itself on red alert.
The “Russian Google” suffers sanctions
The war in Ukraine could bring one of the flagships of Russian tech to its knees. In less than a week, the conflict between Ukraine and Russia has caused a spectacular collapse in the value of Yandex, the “Russian Google”. Its action is not listed in Moscow, but on the Nasdaq, the New York Stock Exchange for Technology. As a result, its valuation has been divided by almost five just this week.
Since Monday, all Russian companies with at least part of their shares registered in the United States have had their contributions to the country’s stock exchanges suspended. A sanction that can be lifted on one condition: officially communicate on the embargo of their activity. In a statement issued this Thursday, March 3, 2022, Yandex clarified its position: “ None of our activities, subsidiaries, members of our board of directors or our main shareholders are subject to these sanctions. “.
A risk of default
Yandex nevertheless warns that a provision provides that if its listing on the Nasdaq is suspended for more than five sessions, some of its creditors may demand immediate repayment of its debt with interest at stake. The bonds covered by this provision are in the amount of $1.25 billion, with an original maturity date of 2025.” The Yandex Group currently does not have sufficient resources to ensure the repayment of these bonds for the full amount, the company said in its statement. This would suppose that all the creditors ask to recover their due.
In other words, if its contribution remained suspended Monday at Nasdaq, the Russian company could find itself in default of payment. Yandex is currently studying how to deal with such a scenario by investigating what other sources of funding would be available. The Russian company is not the only one to find itself in this situation. Ozon, “the Russian Amazon”, announced in the process that he too risked default on payment because of American sanctions.
Source: Le Figaro
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