Yandex co-founder Arkady Volozh renounces Russian citizenship

Arkady Volozh, co-founder of the search engine Yandex, has officially renounced his Russian citizenship, a move linked to European Union sanctions imposed on the company in 2022.

The billionaire entrepreneur received formal confirmation that his Russian citizenship had been terminated two years after selling his stake in the company, as per Bloomberg.

Volozh, who has lived for many years in Israel, decided to fully sever his legal ties with Russia in order to concentrate on developing his new international venture, the Dutch technology company Nebius Group NV. 

The decision represents the culmination of Volozh’s gradual distancing from Russian assets, a process that began after the European Union imposed sanctions on him over Yandex’s alleged role in promoting state propaganda.

Volozh stepped down as chief executive officer of Yandex in June 2022, immediately after being added to the EU sanctions lists following Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. At the time, European regulators accused the company of spreading disinformation and manipulating search results in ways that favoured the Kremlin.

Renouncing his Russian passport marked the final stage of the businessman’s transformation. Having held Israeli citizenship for more than a decade, Volozh has sought to rebuild his international reputation after trading in Yandex shares was suspended on the Nasdaq exchange.

The move also reflects a broader trend among major business figures abandoning Russian citizenship after 2022. Similar decisions were previously taken by Yuri Milner, founder of DST Global, and Oleg Tinkov, founder of Tinkoff Bank.

By Tamilla Hasanova