OREANDA-NEWS.  January 30, 2012. Yandex (NASDAQ: YNDX), the leading internet company in Russia operating the country’s most popular search engine and most visited website, has purchased a license for digital maps supplied by the leading global location content provider, NAVTEQ. These digital maps will be used in the development of a detailed world map for the Yandex.Maps service.

NAVTEQ has provided Yandex with maps from all over the world, including highly detailed maps of Europe, North America, Australia and developed countries in Asia. These maps show intercity motorways, urban traffic networks, streets and buildings. Yandex.Maps will gradually add new content both to its desktop version and to its mobile application that supports all major platforms. Using the Yandex.Maps API, website owners can embed maps of various countries into their resources.

Yandex previously purchased map content from NAVTEQ. The NAVTEQ-provided detailed map of Turkey at yandex.com.tr, featuring location search and other Yandex services, has been extremely popular with users following its debut last year.

“Our users have already appreciated high-quality detailed maps of Russia and Ukraine with the search function and other useful features such as routing, traffic information, satellite images and panoramic views. We continue to enhance our map services for Belarus and Kazakhstan. NAVTEQ’s content will help us make Yandex.Maps a comprehensive, all-purpose mapping service that can answer users’ questions about countries throughout the world,” said Maria Orlova, head of Yandex.Maps Production and Quality Control Service.

In addition to NAVTEQ, Yandex partners with other digital map content providers to license location information for Russia, Ukraine, Belarus and Kazakhstan. To enhance and continually update the map of Russia, Yandex acquired map provider GIS Technologies in July 2010 and began making city maps for numerous locations across the country. Currently, Yandex offers maps for 270 cities in Russia, Ukraine, Kazakhstan and Belarus.