Yandex, Russia’s most popular search engine, announced today the opening of their portal in Ukraine. This will provide local search, news and information. As Arkady Volozh, General Director of Yandex explains, “Opening a branch in Ukraine will dramatically speed up our technology development for our users there”.
Ukraine has a large Russian speaking population which makes it a natural choice for Russian companies looking to expand. Yandex reports that they already have half a million Ukraine users accessing their existing services each week.
Sergey Petrenko, Director of Yandex Ukraine explains, “Our aim is to develop the market for internet advertising, primarily in search. We will be pleased to work together with the other players in the Ukrainian internet market and local advertising agencies”.
Yandex plans further expansion into the Ukraine market in the near future. Their fledgling Wi-Fi service already has a foot-hold in the country and they have been organising publicity seminars; the first held last year in Kiev.
