Yandex Go has 20 days to submit documents to the authorities detailing its ownership structure and beneficial owners. The request comes from the Council for the Examination of Investments of Importance to State Security (CEIISS), which has launched an in-depth assessment of the platform’s activities in Moldova.
The decision was taken at a meeting on October 15. The Council examined risks to information security, personal data protection, and the investor’s control structure. The assessment also covers how the Yandex group has intervened in investments in Moldova.
CEIISS has also requested a detailed report from the National Centre for Personal Data Protection. The report must show how users’ data is collected, processed, stored, and transferred, and whether the platform complies with national legislation.
“Our priority remains maintaining safe services that strictly comply with privacy and security standards and adhere to national tax legislation,” the statement said.
According to the statement, the law gives the Council strong powers: it can impose conditions and restrictions on investments, require the sale of shareholdings and assets, or suspend operations. These measures will be considered after the assessment results are available.
The authorities say Yandex Go does not provide taxi services but rather grants rights to use its platform. Operators pay a commission of 12% of the fare, on which they pay 20% VAT. For a 100-lei ride, the commission amounts to 12 lei, while the VAT comes to 2.40 lei. In 2025, the state budget collected approximately 12.5 million lei in VAT from these commissions.
Taxi operators, including those using Yandex, paid approximately 216 million lei in taxes and contributions in 2025, 42% more than in 2024.
The State Tax Service says it found discrepancies in approximately half of the rides completed during the first months of 2026 by the 8,781 drivers. Inspections are ongoing, and tax evasion “will not be tolerated,” according to the statement.
Yandex Go has responded to recent media reports, stating that passenger and driver data is processed in accordance with the legislation of the Republic of Moldova and that appropriate protection is ensured for users’ personal data.
The issue was raised following media reports claiming that the company recorded a turnover of approximately seven million euros last year without paying taxes in the Republic of Moldova.
Asked how the authorities explain Yandex’s continued operations in the country, given that several European states have imposed sanctions against the company following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Deputy Prime Minister Vladimir Bolea said that the company is being monitored by law enforcement and security agencies.