Finam

VK Shares Rise 7.62% as Market Assesses Data Center Developments and Yandex Cloud Challenges

VK shares climbed sharply on October 12, reaching a peak increase of 7.62% to 134.2 rubles before moderating to a 6.6% gain at 132.95 rubles by evening. Analysts from Freedom Global linked the movement partly to the Ministry of Digital Development's announcement of joint measures with the Ministry of Defense to protect Russian data centers. Other observers at Finam suggested investors were pricing in potential client shifts from Yandex Cloud to competitors such as VK Cloud, which has already begun accelerated infrastructure placement for affected Yandex customers. The surge was also attributed to broader capital rotation away from the energy sector toward previously lagging technology stocks. While the confirmed price movement is clear, the exact drivers remain analytical interpretations rather than verified revenue impacts. The episode highlights how regulatory and infrastructure news can quickly influence valuations in the Russian cloud services market.

Yandex Data Center Attacks Trigger Outages, Cloud Disruptions and Stock Decline

A series of physical attacks has disabled or partially damaged multiple Yandex data centers in Russia, leading to prolonged service outages across cloud and consumer platforms. Fires and power failures struck facilities in Sasovo, Kaluga and Vladimir between 8 and 11 October, forcing the company to shift workloads to the remaining Mytishchi site. Analysts from Finam, Rikom-Trust and Freedom Global note that recovery timelines now stretch from several months to two years for specialized hardware such as supercomputers. The incidents have already erased nearly 9 percent of Yandex share value and raised concerns over future capital expenditure, client retention in Yandex Cloud and potential sanctions complications for overseas expansion. Experts emphasize that the attacks have moved from isolated technical failures to a systemic business-continuity and investment-risk issue.