Russian Internet group Yandex plans to open an office in Berlin to attract western technological expertise, it said Thursday, in a sign of its growing foreign ambitions.
The new office is expected to employ 30 to 40 software engineers and user interface designers by the end of this year who will work on the global version of Yandex's mapping service, the firm said on its website.
Yandex, which leads the world's biggest search engine Google in Russia with a market share of more than 60 percent, had said that expansion beyond former Soviet countries was one of its focus areas when it floated shares in New York in 2011.
Apart from Russia, Yandex has operations only in Belarus, Kazakhstan, Ukraine and Turkey but it also has developer offices in Switzerland and the U.S.
Last November, Yandex expanded the coverage of its mapping service to Europe and the U.S., powered by Nokia's Navteq, recently rebranded as HERE, but those maps still lack many functions that are available in Russia.
A Message from The Moscow Times:
Dear readers,
We are facing unprecedented challenges. Russia's Prosecutor General's Office has designated The Moscow Times as an "undesirable" organization, criminalizing our work and putting our staff at risk of prosecution. This follows our earlier unjust labeling as a "foreign agent."
These actions are direct attempts to silence independent journalism in Russia. The authorities claim our work "discredits the decisions of the Russian leadership." We see things differently: we strive to provide accurate, unbiased reporting on Russia.
We, the journalists of The Moscow Times, refuse to be silenced. But to continue our work, we need your help.
Your support, no matter how small, makes a world of difference. If you can, please support us monthly starting from just $2. It's quick to set up, and every contribution makes a significant impact.
By supporting The Moscow Times, you're defending open, independent journalism in the face of repression. Thank you for standing with us.

Remind me later.