Yandex - investors: "In Russia you risk it"

Yandex issued an annual report in which she warned investors about the main risks, in particular, about the tight -fitting control of the Internet in Russia. In this regard, the company considered it necessary to warn investors about possible risks in the Russian market. Among them are inflation, economic sanctions , political motives, as well as the potential of the authorities to limit the company's activities in the areas where it occupies a leading position.

The past year, according to Amnesty International, turned out to be “fruitful” to restrict the Internet freedom in our country. The independent Russian Society for the Protection of the Internet ( OSI ) does not put the most consolation forecasts , according to the forecasts of which at such a pace of "the Internet in Russia in 4 years will simply not remain." In addition to the persecution of ordinary users of social networks for reposts, “likes” and expression of their own opinions, the authorities were also noted by pressure on the Internet business. In addition to the endless epic “copyright holders of VS, sites with pirate content”, companies whose reputation was not tarnished with any illegal actions, and conditions are also created, and the domestic Internet business, feels unequivocal hints , feels less and less comfortable.

The Yandex report also notes that one of the initiatives negatively affecting the development of the company was the proposal to regulate the segment of news aggregators, especially the point prohibiting the ownership of foreign persons of shares in more than 20% in the service whose audience exceeds 1 million people. We already wrote in sufficient detail about this in several of our publications.

In its report, Yandex also recalls the attempts of the authorities to adjust the market of online taxi services, the leading player of which in Russia is now Yandex.Taxi . So, in August 2015, Yandex.Taxi checked the FAS, and at the beginning of this year the Moscow City Hall threatened with the ban on its competitor Uber. Intervention in a taxi sphere can turn into, in particular, additional expenses, the report is noted. The representative of Yandex Anna Ivanova-Galitsin explained so much the reason why the company decided to contact the investors:

“Public companies are required to tell investors about any changes in the field of regulation, which may affect the work of the company and its services, as well as describe all risks, even hypothetical.”

It is worth noting that on the introduction of “tax on Google”, “Yandex”, unlike many other large Russian Internet companies, he did not express his unequivocal approval. True, in the history of Google’s disputes with the Federal Antimonopoly Service (FAS) it was “Yandex”, who complained of the foreign Internet giant about the violation of the law “On Protection of Competition”, was made “The First Blows on the Ball”.

In conditions when the “import substitution” map is pompously played by the Russian authorities, when summing up the initial results of showing the dubious viability of this method to achieve independence from the Western world, such trends cannot but scare investors from Russia. Both foreign and domestic investor will invest their capital in those economies where laws do not replace each other for a couple of years for the sake of political situation. Capital tends to look for more comfortable places for doing business.

The company "Yandex" by 5% belongs to the group of Baring Vostok funds, which manage the US pension and university money, Western Europe and Asia, 7% - Capital Research Global Investors, 4% - Comgest Global Investors, by 5.2% - Europacific Growth Fund. This means that the automatic arrangement to the "Yandex.No" of the Law on limiting a foreign share up to 20% will entail serious changes in the structure of the company.

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