Russia's Finance Ministry rules out tax breaks for Yandex

Russia's Finance Ministry is not discussing tax breaks for Yandex similar to those granted to Wildberries and Ozon, State Secretary and Deputy Finance Minister Alexei Sazanov said on 30 October. According to him, questions about possible support for the company should be addressed to the government.

«This question should be addressed to the government. We have no such issues under review at the Finance Ministry,» Sazanov said.

Three data centers hit in October

On 8 October 2026, a fire broke out at a Yandex data center in Sasovo, in the Ryazan region, and the facility suspended operations. On 9 October an incident affected a site in Kaluga, and on 11 October another in Vladimir.

The incidents caused large-scale disruptions to Yandex services as well as to third-party internet resources. The company has gradually restored key functions, including Yandex Go, Pay, Disk and Direct, but the clean-up is still under way.

No request from Yandex

On 19 October, Sazanov said Yandex had not asked the authorities for tax support after the data center incidents. His 30 October remarks clarify that the ministry is not considering such relief on its own either.

The position contrasts with the help already approved for marketplace sellers. The Russian government earlier adopted support measures for Wildberries and Ozon sellers affected by incidents at the marketplaces' facilities. They include a 12-month deferral of a number of taxes and insurance contributions, followed by a further year of installment payments. On-site tax inspections for these sellers are also suspended until the end of 2026.

For now, then, Yandex faces the aftermath of the outages without a dedicated tax relief package, and any change would have to come from the government rather than the Finance Ministry.