The media reported on a possible halt in the sale of Yandex to a consortium of Russian investors.

According to the publication, the list of potential buyers has already been approved by the President of the Russian Federation, but the board of directors fears the risks of sanctions and does not want to approve a deal with businessmen under sanctions.

The only buyer who is satisfied with the advice is reported to be Vagit Alekperov.

• In mid-May, Alexei Kudrin, the former head of the Accounts Chamber and now Yandex’s corporate development adviser, agreed with the president on a list of potential buyers of control in the “new” Yandex, which will appear as a result of the decision of the company. divorce from its founder Arkady Volozh.
• The list includes billionaires Vladimir Potanin, Alexei Mordashov, Vagit Alekperov and VTB Bank. The Yandex Board of Directors informed that everyone would be checked for compliance with the sanctions restrictions.

Sources of the publication report that the configuration of the consortium does not suit foreign directors in the Yandex directory. Now, among the foreigners on the Board of Directors are the co-founder of the investment company United Financial Group and the Almaz Capital Partners fund, Charles Ryan, business coach and management consulting specialist Rohye Riinia, president of the investment company private Firehouse Capital Inc. and CEO of Yandex, John Boyton.

The main problem is reportedly that most of the investors selected for the new consortium are under US and EU sanctions.

One of the sources says that none of Yandex’s foreign minority shareholders will agree to a deal with a Russian billionaire under sanctions, “it’s easier for them to write off losses.”