Prospective Yandex Buyer Sanctioned By U.S. Government

Politics bled into real estate last week when Ivan Tavrin, the man behind a rumoured buyout of Russian marketplace giant Yandex, was sanctioned by the US government.

Tavrin's name has been added to the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) sanctions list, while his investment companies Kismet Capital Group, Kismet Consulting LLC and Kismet Telecom Infrastructure LLC were also named.

Avito was not on the list and Yandex, which is under instruction to divest itself from Russian assets or face delisting from Nasdaq, also remains unsanctioned.

The question is whether Tavrin—who has distanced himself from a Yandex buyout—would still be able to pursue a deal under these sanctions if he is unable to participate in the consortium of prospective buyers.