Yandex secures president's permission to recapitalize subsidiary bank

MOSCOW. Dec 6 (Interfax) - Yandex.Market Lab LLC, the owner of Yandex Bank, has received permission to recapitalize the lender.

The company can acquire 250 million common shares in the bank in a private placement. The order allowing this transaction was signed by President Vladimir Putin on December 5 and posted on the official website for disclosure of legal acts.

This is not the first time that Yandex is recapitalizing its subsidiary bank, but before it did not need presidential permission to place new shares. This requirement has been in place since October, when Yandex Bank was put on the list of Russian credit institutions subject to a ban on transactions with stakes and shares, as well as contributions to charter capital unless they receive special permission for such transactions.

This list primarily includes subsidiaries of banks from "unfriendly" countries, but there are also entities of Russian companies in the technology and e-commerce sectors whose ownership structures include foreign holding companies. In addition to Yandex, they include Internet group VK and online marketplace Ozon .