Russian search giant Yandex is holding talks with Russian banks to negotiate the sale of a stake in its e-currency service Yandex.Dengi (Yandex Money), said Yandex CEO Arkady Volozh in an exchange with journalists last week.
Yandex is considering the move as a means of compliance with new legislation on payments systems passed in the Russian Duma in June of this year. The law stipulates that electronic payment activity be conducted only by credit organizations, including non-banking ones.
Yandex.Dengi PR manager Asya Melkumova could not say whether or not a controlling stake might be sold in an effort to keep the service within the new norms. The company is also considering, however, ”going through the procedure to get the required credit organization status, or acquiring a bank or a credit company,” options that would also allow Yandex.Dengi to conform with the new law, she explained to East-West Digital News.
