Attorneys for Yandex co-founder Arkady Volozh appealed to the European Union with a request to remove the businessman from the sanctions list after his anti-war statement. This is reported by the Financial Times, citing people familiar with the situation.
Sources of the publication said that the sanctions against Volozh were asked to be lifted «a few days» after his words about «Russia's barbaric invasion of Ukraine.» According to the Financial Times, the case of the co-founder of Yandex raised the question of the possibility of lifting restrictions on members of the Russian elite who opposed the war.
“Sanctions, of course, play a role. He is very worried about the sanctions and his reputation, — said the interlocutor of journalists about Volozh. “And he is really against the war and wanted to say that from the very beginning.” At the same time, the businessman criticized the actions of the Russian authorities only in mid-August.
“I am horrified by the fact that every day bombs fly into the homes of Ukrainians. Despite the fact that I have not lived in Russia since 2014, I understand that I also have a share of responsibility for the actions of the country <…> There were many reasons why I had to remain silent. You can argue about the timeliness of my statement, but not about its essence. I am against the war,” said the co-founder of Yandex in an open letter.
Volozh since 2022 has been under EU sanctions. On August 7, Twitter users noticed that they tried to amend the English-language Wikipedia article about Volozh and remove phrases where he was called a “Russian billionaire.” The biography on Volozh's website states that he is a «Kazakhstan-born Israeli IT entrepreneur».