“Some of our arguments were heard”: Arkady Volozh commented on Gorelkin’s bill

In a dispute over a bill by Deputy Gorelkin on significant Internet resources, the authorities heard the arguments of Yandex, which "immediately spoke out against the bill in its original form," Forbes writes , citing a statement by the company's founder Arkady Volozh during a conference call after the publication of financials third-quarter . . This is Volozh's first direct comment on this matter.

Quote. “So far I can say that it seems that some of our arguments have been heard. However, it is not yet possible to say exactly what this law will ultimately look like,” Volozh said.

Details. The founder of Yandex noted that, in its original form, a bill to limit foreign ownership of significant information resources would be destructive not only for Yandex, but for the entire technology sector in Russia - and, possibly, many other sectors.

Volozh added that if the company makes changes to the corporate structure, this will only happen with the approval of the board of directors and shareholders: “We understand how important it is to do everything possible to prevent the dilution of the economic interests of our shareholders.” Earlier, analysts at Bank of America Merrill Lynch suggested that Yandex could bypass the 20% foreign ownership limit if it dilutes the shareholder structure by issuing shares of a new class and buys shares from the market.

Context. In the first reading, Gorelkin's bill may be considered by the State Duma as early as November. The government has already stated that it does not support Gorelkin's bill in its original form. In his response from mid-October, there is a proposal to limit the maximum share of foreign ownership in significant Internet resources to 50% minus one voting share (the deputy himself proposed setting a limit of 20% of the authorized capital). The Federal Antimonopoly Service also opposed the adoption of a separate bill limiting the share of foreigners in "significant" IT companies, Anatoly Golomolzin, deputy head of the department, told Interfax.

But the bill was supported and asked not to be criticized in the Kremlin, several interlocutors in the government told The Bell. Later, an interlocutor close to one of the large companies that could fall under it admitted that the presidential administration would agree to make changes to it - in particular, extend the restrictions only to voting shares and increase the amount of permissible foreign participation.

Gorelkin's bill appeared in the summer. Its first discussion in the State Duma cost Yandex a sixth of its capitalization - on October 11, it fell by $1.8 billion, to $9.8 billion. Later, the company won back a significant part of the losses.

To learn more. We wrote in detail about the bill, including who it can harm and who is beneficial, here .