The Yandex company believes that the government heard its arguments against the bill introduced by the State Duma deputy from United Russia Anton Gorelkin, which is proposed to limit the rights of foreigners to own and manage Internet resources that are informationally significant for the development of infrastructure.
Arkady Volozh, founder and CEO of the Yandex group of companies, which "immediately spoke out against the bill in its original form," commented on the current situation for the first time during a conference call with investors after the publication of the third quarter report. He noted that in its original form, the bill would be destructive not only for Yandex and the technology sector, but also, possibly, for many other sectors of the country.
“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 how this law will ultimately look like,” said the head of the group of companies.
Volozh stressed that if changes are made to the corporate structure of Yandex, then only 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." According to analysts at Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Yandex could bypass the 20% foreign ownership limit specified in the bill by issuing a new class of shares and repurchasing them in the future, which would mean a blurring of the shareholder structure.
Source: 3dnews.ru