Estonia will ban Yandex

The Estonian government has decided to ban Yandex NV (Yandex’s parent company) from operating in the country, Prime Minister Kaja Kallas said. The restrictions will take effect on April 11 and will affect, among other things, the Yandex.Taxi service. With a proposal to ban its activities spoke Estonian Minister of Entrepreneurship and Information Technology Andres Suttas.

The Estonian authorities confirmed the sanctions the day before, on 31 March. “The ban on Yandex sends a clear signal that there is no room for companies cooperating with Russian intelligence agencies in Estonia. We have also proposed that the European Union impose sanctions on Yandex, Kallas was quoted as saying. ERR.
ISPs in Estonia will have to restrict access to taxi-related Yandex NV websites and apps (Yandex.Go and Yandex.Pro). Additionally, app stores (Google Play, App Store, and others) must restrict downloads of Yandex apps and stop updating them.

Previously, it was proposed to block Yandex.Taxi in Lithuania. The initiative was announced against the backdrop of Russia’s military operation in Ukraine. In response, Western countries have introduced several tough sanctions packages that have hit big Russian banks and businesses. Tigran Khudaverdyan, CEO of Yandex and a member of its board of directors, was blacklisted by the EU, after which he resigned.