CHISINAU -- Moldova has announced an investigation into concerns that Russian tech giant Yandex has been harvesting the personal data of its citizens by sending it directly to servers in Russia rather than storing it in the Netherlands as previously believed.
The suspected data breach came to light in an investigation by RFE/RL’s Moldovan Service that revealed allegations of tax evasion by Yandex.
Court files obtained by RFE/RL showed the case involved some $7.8 million in revenues from the Yandex Go taxi application allegedly flowing directly into banks in Dubai and Kazakhstan without being taxed before leaving the country. The company had refused to provide data about drivers using the app.
"We understand that a large number of citizens and drivers use this platform. Therefore, we must investigate the potential risks related to the unauthorized use of personal data, through the collection, storage, processing, or unjustified access to significant volumes of personal data of citizens of the Republic of Moldova," a government statement said.
SEE ALSO:
How Ukraine's Strikes On Data Centers Disrupted Taxis, Shopping, And Business In Russia And BeyondYandex is often described as "Russia's Google," though it actually sold off its search engine as part of an asset split in 2024 and provides other services, such as ride-hailing and food deliveries, that Google does not.
Taken For A Ride?
The Moldovan competition authority told RFE/RL that Yandex, which controls some 60 percent of the country’s taxi market, had made a $45,000 payment to the Moldovan treasury from a bank account in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) on October 5.
This was a fine that a company in the Yandex group, MLU BV, had received in Moldova in 2025 for refusing to provide authorities with a list of drivers using two Yandex taxi apps: Yandex Pro and Yandex Go. The former is used by taxi drivers or taxi companies, the latter by passengers.
In May, MLU BV was fined $112 million in the Netherlands, where it is headquartered, on the grounds that it collected and stored customer and driver data from Norway and Finland on servers in Russia.
In this case, the data included scans of driver's licenses, home addresses, contact details, account numbers, precise locations, trip history, photos, chat conversation content, and social security codes.
SEE ALSO:
Zelenskyy Says Yandex Strikes Crippled Pro-Kremlin Bots But Tech Experts Question EvidenceConcerns have been voiced in Moldova for some years that such data is being stored in Russia. Yandex has repeatedly said that the information is kept by the group’s European companies.
Moldovan authorities first requested information on drivers from Yandex back in 2022. Four such requests were made – and rejected – before, in November 2025, a fine was issued by Moldova’s competition authority to Netherlands-based Ridetech International, which ran the two Yandex applications in Moldova.
By the time the fine was issued, Ridetech had been taken over by MLU BV. It responded by suing the Moldovan authority and demanding the fine be canceled. In court, MLU BV stated that Ridetech had destroyed the data. Judges said MLU BV failed to provide sufficient evidence.
Court documents seen by RFE/RL do not clarify where the Moldovan drivers' data was stored or when it was deleted. The company did not respond to requests for comment.
RFE/RL’s investigation was published on October 13. It also found that payments for taxi rides ordered through Yandex Go flow to a company in the UAE while Yandex Plus subscriptions are paid to a company in Kazakhstan.
In June, Moldova’s parliament considered a bill obliging taxi platforms to process payments through banks within the country, but the measure did not make it to a final vote.
The Fallout
A day after RFE/RL’s investigation was published in Moldova, Deputy Prime Minister Vladimir Bolea announced that the government would launch an inquiry into Yandex’s activities and also possible security risks.
Then, on October 15, Moldova's Council for Strategic Investment Review, a government body chaired by Prime Minister Vasile Tofan, intervened.
The council, which has the ability to suspend the activity of any entity deemed as a threat and has exercised these powers in the past, demanded full disclosure of the ultimate beneficiaries of Yandex's branch in Moldova and ordered personal data watchdogs to trace where user records travel.
Crucially, authorities warned that the probe could lead to asset seizures or suspension of the app. It gave Yandex a 20-day deadline that the company has said it will comply with, although it did not provide details.
Latvia and Estonia banned the Yandex Go app in 2022, citing security risks and the transfer of data to servers in Russia. The app is popular in multiple countries, especially in the former Soviet Union but also, for example, in Serbia.