Russian billionaire's house taken over by squatters

The group is protesting the Yandex founder’s wealth as well as the conflict in Ukraine

Squatters have occupied the Amsterdam property of Arkady Volozh, the billionaire founder of  Russian search engine Yandex. The group’s members say they took over the sanctioned Russian’s building to protest the conflict in Ukraine, as well as the activities of capitalist “parasites.”

Volozh is sanctioned by the EU and as such is currently prohibited from selling or maintaining the building, NRC reported on Monday. With the property held in limbo, squatters moved in on Thursday, and banners reading “against war and capitalism” now hang from the facade of the building, located on a residential street in the affluent southern part of the city.

The Dutch news site noted that the police have visited the squatters, but the outcome of the visit is unclear. It is also unclear how many people are staying in the building, or how they gained access.

Read more

In a statement, the squatters said that they were “against the war, against the greed of oligarchs and billionaires and against parasites that empire creates.” Their sit-in was staged “in support of Ukrainian and Russian anarchists who are fighting against their state,” the group added.

Volozh resigned as Yandex’ CEO earlier this summer after his name appeared on the EU’s sanctions blacklist. The company, however, has continued to flourish, and announced the recruitment of some 2,000 new employees in July. Later that month it announced plans to sell weather forecasting technology to companies in Mexico and Brazil.

Yandex is Russia’s largest technology company and is used for around 60% of searches in Russia. Its holding company, Yandex NV, is registered in Amsterdam.