August 10, 2020

The Яs Have It


The Яs Have It
We imagine an interior filled with beanbag chairs, nap pods, and ping pong tables. WikiFido, Wikimedia Commons

In Russia, Yandex ("Яндекс") is the technological giant of choice, encompassing food delivery (Yandex Eats), navigation (Yandex Maps), and car service (Yandex Taxi). And it's growing, spreading its cyber-tentacles into new financial ventures.

Yandex has registered 17 new names for potential ventures, including "YaBank," "YaSafe," and "YaCash." Some of the stanger ones: "YaInsurance," "YaAcquiring," and "YaCapital". Then there's "YaTrade," "YaCurrency," and "YaBroker."

They sound only a little better in Russian.

Experts predict that Yandex is moving to create a massive financial ecosystem using its platform. Already, Yandex has joined forces with Sberbank, a massive state-owned financial agency, to build out its Yandex.Market program.

Ironically, given that "Ya" (Я) is the equivalent of the English "I," we might see a Russian resurgence of those unfunny comics mocking Apple products for their names.

You Might Also Like

Yandex's New Index
  • March 30, 2020

Yandex's New Index

How well are Russians observing self-isolation? Yandex knows.
Like this post? Get a weekly email digest + member-only deals

Some of our Books

Murder at the Dacha
July 01, 2013

Murder at the Dacha

Senior Lieutenant Pavel Matyushkin has a problem. Several, actually. Not the least of them is the fact that a powerful Soviet boss has been murdered, and Matyushkin's surly commander has given him an unreasonably short time frame to close the case.

Jews in Service to the Tsar
October 09, 2011

Jews in Service to the Tsar

Benjamin Disraeli advised, “Read no history: nothing but biography, for that is life without theory.” With Jews in Service to the Tsar, Lev Berdnikov offers us 28 biographies spanning five centuries of Russian Jewish history, and each portrait opens a new window onto the history of Eastern Europe’s Jews, illuminating dark corners and challenging widely-held conceptions about the role of Jews in Russian history.

Moscow and Muscovites
November 26, 2013

Moscow and Muscovites

Vladimir Gilyarovsky's classic portrait of the Russian capital is one of Russians’ most beloved books. Yet it has never before been translated into English. Until now! It is a spectactular verbal pastiche: conversation, from gutter gibberish to the drawing room; oratory, from illiterates to aristocrats; prose, from boilerplate to Tolstoy; poetry, from earthy humor to Pushkin. 

White Magic
June 01, 2021

White Magic

The thirteen tales in this volume – all written by Russian émigrés, writers who fled their native country in the early twentieth century – contain a fair dose of magic and mysticism, of terror and the supernatural. There are Petersburg revenants, grief-stricken avengers, Lithuanian vampires, flying skeletons, murders and duels, and even a ghostly Edgar Allen Poe.

Russian Rules
November 16, 2011

Russian Rules

From the shores of the White Sea to Moscow and the Northern Caucasus, Russian Rules is a high-speed thriller based on actual events, terrifying possibilities, and some really stupid decisions.

A Taste of Chekhov
December 24, 2022

A Taste of Chekhov

This compact volume is an introduction to the works of Chekhov the master storyteller, via nine stories spanning the last twenty years of his life.

The Latchkey Murders
July 01, 2015

The Latchkey Murders

Senior Lieutenant Pavel Matyushkin is back on the case in this prequel to the popular mystery Murder at the Dacha, in which a serial killer is on the loose in Khrushchev’s Moscow...

The Samovar Murders
November 01, 2019

The Samovar Murders

The murder of a poet is always more than a murder. When a famous writer is brutally stabbed on the campus of Moscow’s Lumumba University, the son of a recently deposed African president confesses, and the case assumes political implications that no one wants any part of.

About Us

Russian Life is a publication of a 30-year-young, award-winning publishing house that creates a bimonthly magazine, books, maps, and other products for Russophiles the world over.

Latest Posts

Our Contacts

Russian Life
73 Main Street, Suite 402
Montpelier VT 05602

802-223-4955