The Russian IT giant Yandex plans to double the number of employees in Serbia by the end of the year, and they do not exclude the possibility of expanding the range of services on our market.
This month, the company found itself in the center of attention after local media published information about the opening of Yandex’s office in Belgrade. Although the texts of certain portals might give the impression that this is an office that has just started working, as the company’s press service confirmed for Bloomberg Adria, it is a space in Vojvoda Bojović Boulevard (Dorćol) that they have been using for some time.
Strengthening of personnel, maybe also services
When the Serbian government officially announced the opening of Yandex’s development center in Serbia this fall, it was said that it would employ “more than 800 engineers who will work on the most modern IT solutions.” Prime Minister Ana Brnabić then assessed this undertaking – which followed the opening of the development center and representative office of Swiss Luxoft – as strong support for our economic growth.
Meanwhile, Yandex has employed more than 1,000 people here. “Our goal is to have over 2,000 employees by the end of the year,” said the press service of the Russian company.
Even before the local media reported on the opening of the largest international office in the Serbian capital, part of the public speculated that, due to sanctions due to the war in Ukraine, the “Russian Google” could move its operations to our country, but how as they confirmed to us, they do not plan to do such a thing.
“We chose Serbia as a location to open an office because of the scale of our presence, a favorable business environment and strong local talent in the country. We are constantly looking for qualified professionals and are ready to provide employment opportunities for the local population as well as for expatriates,” they said.
They add that they are considering options for developing new services and initiatives that can benefit the local community here. “We are always looking for opportunities to develop new services.”
Yandex reminds that they first launched their business on the Serbian market with the launch of Yandex Go in Belgrade in 2018 with further expansion of business into the field of delivery services, which happened last year. According to the data of the Agency for Business Registers (APR), the representative office was established in June last year, and since representative offices are not obliged to submit a financial report to the APR, there is no information on that aspect of business on the agency’s website.
By the way, their teams in Serbia develop technologies for Yandex services in our country as well as for other world markets. Apart from us, they have international hubs in Armenia, Kazakhstan and Turkey. It is interesting that they offer their employees the opportunity to choose to work in any of the existing offices – in Russia or abroad.
Cooperation with the administration of Belgrade in the announcement?
It is also interesting that in mid-June they met with the mayor of Belgrade, Aleksandar Šapić, after which it was announced that the main topic of the conversation was the development and improvement of the transport infrastructure in the city.
“The meeting discussed the cooperation between the City of Belgrade and this company, which would further increase the efficiency and sustainability of urban mobility in the city. Representatives of Yandex Go informed the mayor about the plans for the development of their taxi platform, as well as geo-services (map) in the country. Both sides confirmed their commitment to strengthening cooperation that would improve urban planning solutions and thus improve the life of the citizens of Belgrade,” said the City’s press release at the time.
On that occasion, the belief was highlighted that cooperation with the Russian company “would significantly benefit Belgrade and its residents, positioning the Serbian capital as a leader in innovative and urban development.” However, details about it were not given in the official announcement.
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