MOSCOW, Oct. 17, 2011 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Yandex (Nasdaq:YNDX) and Samsung today have announced a strategic partnership in the CIS countries. Samsung Smart TV in these countries now features Yandex's TV widget with access to the company's online services. Samsung's Smart TV for users in the CIS now has Yandex as the default search engine with the portal's front page set up as the default homepage. Additionally, Yandex's services will also be available on bada 2.0 powered smartphones in the near future.

"This partnership between two market leaders, Samsung and Yandex, will be beneficial to the consumer who will benefit from a new level of helpful services in smart devices from Samsung," said Sergey Pevnev, Marketing Director for the CIS countries at Samsung Electronics. "Yandex's apps for Samsung Smart TV and bada-powered mobile phones help users to quickly find and receive the latest information and stay updated on recent news and events."

The widget for Smart TV offers access to all services available on Yandex's front page, including Yandex.Traffic, Yandex.Afisha, Yandex.News and Yandex.TV. Continually updated information, such as currency exchange rates, road conditions, news or movie listings can now be viewed directly on the TV screen, during commercial breaks, for instance. All services offer information based on the user's location and are adapted for viewing on a TV screen.

"The time when the computer was the only device for browsing the internet is long past. Web services and applications are now available on various mobile devices, smartphones and game consoles. Together with the Samsung team, we are continuing to evaluate what services are appropriate for each device to provide an optimal experience for the user," said Elena Dobrokhotova, Director of Operational Marketing at Yandex.

About Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd.

Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. is a global leader in semiconductor, telecommunication, digital media and digital convergence technologies with 2010 consolidated sales of US$135.8 billion. Employing approximately 190,500 people in 206 offices across 68 countries, the company consists of nine independently operated business units: Visual Display, Mobile Communications, Telecommunication Systems, Digital Appliances, IT Solutions, Digital Imaging, Memory, System LSI and LCD. Recognised as one of the fastest growing global brands, Samsung Electronics is a leading producer of digital TVs, semiconductor chips, mobile phones and TFT-LCDs. For more information, please visit www.samsung.com.

About Yandex

Yandex (Nasdaq:YNDX) is the leading internet company in Russia, operating the country's most popular search engine and the most visited website. Yandex also operates in Ukraine, Kazakhstan, Belarus and Turkey. Yandex's mission is to answer any question internet users may have.

FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

This press release contains forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties. These include statements regarding the success of our Smart TV and mobile products. Actual results may differ materially from the results predicted or implied by such statements, and our reported results should not be considered as an indication of future performance. The potential risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ from the results predicted or implied by such statements include, among others, our ability to successfully meet the challenges of establishing a market position in a new geography, competitive pressures, changes in advertising patterns, changes in the legal and regulatory environment, technological developments, unforeseen changes in our hiring patterns, and our need to expend capital to accommodate the growth of the business, as well as those risks and uncertainties included under the captions "Risk Factors" and "Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations" in our Prospectus dated May 24, 2011, which is on file with the Securities and Exchange Commission and is available on our investor relations website at http://company.yandex.com/investor_relations/sec_filing.xml and on the SEC website at www.sec.gov. All information provided in this release is as of the date hereof, and Yandex undertakes no duty to update this information unless required by law.