John Boynton has been a non-executive director since 2000 and was appointed to serve as Chairman of the Board in 2016.  He was a founding shareholder of Yandex and has served the Board in a number of capacities including Chairman of the Nominating and Governance Committee, Chairman of the Compensation Committee, and Member of the Audit Committee. He is a member of the National Association of Corporate Directors.

In addition to Yandex, he was co-founder of CompTek and InfiNet Wireless in Russia and has served as a founder, investor and/or board member in a variety of growth companies in technology, healthcare services, and real estate.  His career was shaped by a student trip to the Soviet Union in 1983. He was studying Russian language at the time, and that trip inspired him to direct his entrepreneurial energy toward Russia after graduating from Harvard in 1988.
 

Arkady Volozh is the principal founder of Yandex and has been our Chief Executive Officer and a director since 2000. A serial entrepreneur with a background in computer science, Mr. Volozh co-founded several successful IT enterprises, including InfiNet Wireless, a Russian provider of wireless networking technology, and CompTek International, one of the largest distributors of network and telecom equipment in Russia. In 2000, Arkady left his position as CEO at CompTek International to become the CEO of Yandex. Mr. Volozh started working on search in 1989, which led to him establishing Arkadia Company in 1990, a company developing search software. His earlier achievements include the development of electronic search for use in patents, Russian classical literature and the Bible. Mr. Volozh holds a degree in applied mathematics from the Gubkin Institute of Oil and Gas.

Mr. Khudaverdyan was appointed Deputy CEO of the Company in May 2019. Mr. Khudaverdyan joined Yandex in April 2006, and since then has led several successful Yandex projects, including Yandex.Browser and Yandex.Navigator. He moved to the Yandex.Taxi business in 2015, and has served as Chief Executive Officer of MLU B.V., our ride-hailing and food delivery joint venture with Uber, since its formation. Mr. Khudaverdyan graduated from Moscow State University with a degree in Physics. The Board believes that Mr. Khudaverdyan will bring a deep understanding of the Company’s business, operations and technology to the Board.  The Board also believes that it is in the best interests of the Company and its shareholders to appoint a second executive member to the Board.

Charles Ryan became a non-executive director of Yandex at the time of its initial public offering in 2011. A finance professional with 29 years of experience in both the Russian and international markets, Mr. Ryan co-founded United Financial Group (UFG) and became its Chairman and CEO in 1994. In 1998, Mr. Ryan initiated the New Technology Group within UFG Asset Management, which sponsored an early-stage technology investment in ru-Net Holdings whose investments include Yandex. In 2006, Deutsche Bank acquired 100% of UFG's investment banking business, and Mr. Ryan was appointed chief country officer and CEO of Deutsche Bank Group in Russia and remained in that position until the end of 2008, when he became chairman of UFG Asset Management. From 2008 through the end of 2010, Mr. Ryan was a consultant for Deutsche Bank. Prior to founding UFG, Mr. Ryan worked as an associate and principal banker with the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development in London from 1991 to 1994 and as a financial analyst with CS First Boston from 1989 to 1991. Mr. Ryan is also a founder and the general partner of Almaz Capital Partners, an international VC firm, headquartered in Silicon Valley, which connects entrepreneurs and engineering talent in the USA and Eastern European /CIS countries and brings prominent startups to the global market. Mr. Ryan has a degree in Government from Harvard University.

Alexander Voloshin has been a non-executive director of Yandex since August 2010 after serving as an advisor to the company for two years. Since February 2012, Alexander Voloshin has served as Chairman of the Board and Independent Director at JSC Freight One. As the leader of the Moscow International Financial Centre working group, Mr. Voloshin championed an overhaul to Russia’s corporate governance rules, helping to update guidance in line with global best practice. He also served as Chairman of the Board of Directors of Uralkali from 2010 to 2014. Prior to joining our Board of Directors, Mr. Voloshin served as Chairman of the Board of MMC Norilsk Nickel from 2008 to 2010 and as Chairman of the Board of Directors of RAO "UES of Russia" from 1999 to 2008. From 1999 to 2003 Mr. Voloshin headed the Russian Presidential Administration. Prior to becoming Chief of Staff of the Russian President he worked as Deputy Chief of Staff from 1998 to 1999, and as Assistant to Chief of Staff from 1997 to 1998. Mr. Voloshin has been Chairman of the Board at Moscow Business School Skolkovo since 2016. He graduated from the Moscow Institute of Transport Engineers in 1978 and holds a degree in economics from the All-Russia Foreign Trade Academy.

Herman Gref has served since 2007 as the Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of the Executive Board of Sberbank of Russia, one of the largest commercial banks in Russia. From 2000 to 2007, Mr. Gref was the Minister for Economic Development of the Russian Federation. He previously served in a number of government positions at the federal and regional levels in Russia. Mr. Gref received a degree in law from Omsk State University in 1990, a Ph.D. in law from St. Petersburg State University in 1993 and has a Ph.D. in economics. Mr. Gref holds a Citation and Certificate of Honor from the President of the Russian Federation, the Order for Distinguished Service of Grade IV and the Stolypin Medal.

Rogier Rijnja has been a non-executive director of Yandex since 2013. Mr. Rijnja, is Senior Vice President of Human Resources and a member of the executive committee at D.E Master Blenders, a Dutch public company listed on the Amsterdam stock exchange. Prior to joining D.E Master Blenders in 2011, Mr. Rijnja served as head of the human resources departments at several international companies, including Maxeda (2008 to 2011), Numico N.V. (2004 to 2008) and Amazon.com (2002 to 2004). Prior to this, he was director of global management development at Reckitt Benckiser PLC from 1998 to 2002, and a human resources manager for Nike Europe from 1996 to 1998. Between 1989 and 1996, Mr. Rijnja held several positions at Apple in The Netherlands and the United States. Mr. Rijnja has a degree in law studies from Leiden University in The Netherlands.

Esther Dyson has been a non-executive director at Yandex since 2006. Ms. Dyson is executive founder of Wellville, a US-based 10-year non-profit project to demonstrate the value of investing in health. Ms. Dyson is an active investor and board member in a variety of IT, healthcare and aerospace start-ups, and also sits on the board of Luxoft (LXFT -NYSE) and Pressreader, two other IT companies of Russian origin. She started her career as a fact-checker for Forbes Magazine, and then spent five years as a securities analyst on Wall Street. At New Court Securities, Ms. Dyson comprised the sell-side research department, and worked on the initial public offering of Federal Express, among others. At Oppenheimer & Co., she followed the nascent software and personal computer markets. From 1982 to 2004, as the owner of EDventure Holdings, she edited its newsletter Release 1.0 and ran its annual PC Forum conference, where Yandex CEO Arkady Volozh spoke in 2005. In addition to Yandex and Luxoft, her Russian interests have included advisory board seats with both IBS Group and SUP/Live Journal, and investments in the technology companies Epam, Ostrovok, TerraLink, UCMS and Zingaya. She sits on the boards of 23andMe (genetics) and SWVL (a Cairo-based dynamic transportation company). She was an early investor in Flickr and del.icio.us (sold to Yahoo!), Medstory and Powerset (sold to Microsoft), Brightmail (sold to Symantec), and Postini (sold to Google), Meetup (sold to WeWork), and Geometric Intelligence and Jump (sold to Uber), among others. She is the author of “Release 2.0: A design for living in the digital age” (1997). She earned a B.A. in economics from Harvard University.

Ilya Strebulaev has been a non-executive director of Yandex since 2018. Mr. Strebulaev has been on the faculty at the Graduate School of Business, Stanford University since 2004 and currently is the David S. Lobel Professor of Private Equity and a tenured Professor of Finance. He has also been a Research Associate at the National Bureau of Economic Research since 2010. He graduated from the London Business School with a doctorate in Finance. He also holds degrees from Lomonosov Moscow State University (B.Sc. Economics) and the New Economic School, Moscow (M.A. Economics). In addition to his qualifications in Finance, Mr. Strebulaev brings to the Board his expertise in the global technology industry, as well as his experience in corporate innovation and leadership.