Russian search engine and cloud computing company Yandex confirmed that its sanctioned deputy CEO has resigned.

Tigran Khudaverdyan was sanctioned by the European Union this week, meaning he can no longer work at the Netherlands-registered company.

The EU said that Khudaveryan attended a meeting of oligarchs at the Kremlin the week of the invasion of Ukraine.

“We were shocked and surprised to learn that Tigran was designated under EU sanctions, and we are extremely sorry to see him step down from his Executive Director and Deputy CEO roles,” John Boynton, chairman of the Yandex N.V. Board, said.

“Over the past 15 years Tigran has worked tirelessly to help to transform Yandex into a world-class information technology business while serving the interests of the company’s stakeholders.”

Yandex was keen to clarify that the company has not itself been sanctioned. But it has been delisted from the New York Stock Exchange, and warned that it might default on its debts.

Part of the reason Khudaveryan was sanctioned was because of his involvement with Yandex News, which is accused of hiding information about the war in Ukraine from Russian citizens.

Techcrunch reports that Yandex is “in the last stages” of selling its media division, including Yandex News and blogging platform Yandex Zen, to VK, a Russian solcial media firm.

VK, originally short for VKontakte,operates a large portfolio of Internet sites, including email, social networks, and instant messaging.

The company's CEO Vladimir Kiriyenko was also sanctioned by the EU. Kirienko, a former vice president of Rostelecom, was appointed CEO at VK in December 2021.