One Question for Arkady Volozh and Other Russian Billionaires
Arkady Volozh, one of the founders of Russia’s tech giant Yandex and one of the wealthiest individuals in the country, publicly condemned the war in Ukraine after 533 days, calling it a «barbaric invasion». He is only the second tycoon to publicly oppose the war. None of Russia’s other leading businessmen, including those seeking to lift personal sanctions, have done so.
Volozh did not explain why he remained silent for so long, only stating that «there were many reasons» why he «had to» do so.
What were those reasons? At least one of them is that, since the war began, Volozh, who lives abroad, has been trying to sell his stake in Yandex to someone in Russia and take some of the international business (primarily drone delivery and cloud technologies) out of the company. To do this, he hired Alexei Kudrin, a former Russian finance minister and friend of Putin, to join the company. For a generous fee, Kudri…
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