Although a somewhat nineties homepage (image below), and given the due proportions, Yandex is among the few tech giants in Russia that could rival Google. And now he has sounded an alarm on his accounts, announcing that it may go into default after being suspended from trading on the New York stock market.
This week, the Nasdaq and the American stock exchange suspended all quotations of Russian companies, at least until they explain how and to what extent they will be affected by the sanctions imposed by the United States and its allies in the wake of Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine. In a statement, Yandex, which has its registered office in the Netherlands but has its main offices in Russia, said it was not targeted by sanctions: “There are currently no legal restrictions on the possibility of US, UK or EU citizens to acquire and exchange Yandex securities “, reads the text.
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The problem of bonds to be redeemed
And yet, the company, often called “the Russian Google” for its size and above all for the breadth of the services offered, has also made it known that if it will be suspended for more than 5 trading days, the holders of some bonds will have the right to redeem their debt, complete with interest. And the problem lies precisely here: “The Yandex group as a whole does not currently have sufficient resources to meet these expenses in full”. Not only that: even if the company were able to obtain financing and loans to pay them in full, Yandex nevertheless communicated that such a large expense “it would have a material negative effect on the financial position and short-term liquidity and may affect our ability to meet our other obligations. “
Founded in 1997, in the same year Yandex debuted its search engine, which is the largest in Russia and in the last quarter of 2021 provided over 60% of the country’s internet searches; today the group has an annual turnover of almost 5 billion dollars and over the years it has diversified its products and also offers a voice assistant (her name is Alice) and a food transport and delivery service, just like other American tech giants do.