Putin, Kudrin discuss Yandex in late night meeting

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Putin, Kudrin discuss Yandex in late night meeting

Putin and Kudrin touch on the future of Yandex in late night meeting sources. The logo of Russian internet group Yandex is pictured at the company's headquarter in Moscow.

Three people familiar with the matter told Reuters on Friday that Russia's President Vladimir Putin and former Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin touched on the future of the internet giant Yandex in a late night meeting.

Sources told Reuters that Kudrin, one of the country's top economic officials and long-time colleague of the president, is expected to leave his role as head of Russia's Audit Chamber to take up a position with Yandex.

The Russian media speculated about the future of the company, which dominates Russia's online search and ride-hailing markets, but also has several operations abroad.

Two of the sources who spoke on condition of anonymity in order to speak freely said Putin and Kudrin had discussed Yandex.

Dmitry Peskov, a Kremlin spokesman, said he could not confirm whether the meeting had taken place or not.

One of the sources said that Kudrin is a good person to navigate this because he is liberal enough to understand that Russia needs a private internet company that is free from nationalisation and has credibility in Putin's eyes.

Since Russia launched what it refers to as a special military operation in Ukraine in late February, Nasdaq-listed Yandex, often referred to as 'Russia's Google', has grappled with domestic pressure on one side and its Western investors on the other.