Yandex, Russia’s largest Internet company, entered the market of Western Europe in 2012 by opening its office in Lucerne, Switzerland. The team became responsible for attracting new European customers, promoting the company's business and selling company's services.
Having an office in Switzerland helped the company to grow faster in European markets, build relationships with business communities, and launch an exchange program with local universities. Foreign companies wanted to sell their products online to customers from Russia and the CIS, and needed to advertise their products but did not know how to start. The national search engine and IT-company Yandex became an indispensable partner for them.
The work of Yandex’s European office is based on the 'One Stop Shop' principle: customers are split between account managers, with each manager offering its business-customers the entire range of Yandex services and products that can be useful for them to successfully work in the Russian market.
The very heart of Europe
The company's management did not have any hesitations when choosing location for its representative office in Europe. Yandex’s aim was to set an office as close as possible to all European customers, and Switzerland is located in the very heart of Europe. Besides, Yandex required the most stable and reliable environment from a legal, financial and monetary point of view, which would allow it to plan and invest for the long term. Finally, the reason for choosing Switzerland was the generally favourable environment for developing business, with support from national and regional authorities.
The authorities of the canton of Lucerne have lent indispensable support in solving the many problems that a new player is inevitably facing. Yandex received professional advice on finance and the employment of foreign specialists. Officials also helped establish business contacts with the business community and the highest level officials. The government is very friendly to any business regardless of its size or the number of employees.
