This was reported by Bloomberg, according to a report from Ukrinform.

Yandex appears on the “selection screen” that allows Android smartphone users in 23 European countries to choose their preferred search engine. According to information on the Android website, it recently entered the top five Android search engines in Germany, Italy, Czech Republic and Denmark.

“It is a real concern that Yandex, a search engine with clear ties to the Kremlin, can still operate in our EU market,” said Stephanie Jon-Kurten, a member of the European Parliament.

In a list of sanctions updated in September, the EU accused the company of being “responsible for elevating state media and narratives in search results and for downgrading and removing content critical of the Kremlin, such as content about an aggressive war against Russia.” Ukraine”.

The Android selection screen was developed by Google in 2019 after EU regulators fined the company €4.34 billion and ordered it to stop excluding rivals from the mobile search market. The display allows Android mobile users to choose among the 5 most popular public search services that meet the requirements in their country. Google is appealing this decision in the EU courts.

Despite the growing popularity of the selection screen on Android, Yandex’s mobile search share in Europe remains around 2.8%, according to StatCounter.

Yandex has come under intense pressure in Russia following the large-scale invasion in 2022. The company’s founder, Arkady Volozh, was hit with EU sanctions last June after the EU cited Yandex’s support for Russian propaganda and the Kremlin’s war narratives.

Yandex is registered in the Netherlands and traded on Nasdaq until its shares were frozen after the occupation. Registering abroad was a common strategy for Russian companies seeking foreign investors even before the full-scale war against Ukraine.

Yandex’s attempts to remain free of state influence have been thwarted by the Kremlin’s crackdown on online information since the invasion. Putin signed a law that makes spreading “fake news” about the military, which authorities consider “fake,” punishable by up to 15 years in prison.

As reported by Ukrinform, the Ministry of Digital Development of Kazakhstan announced that the activity of the Yandex site in the country was suspended, following information that user data was transferred to the FSB of the Russian Federation.