MOSCOW, June 20. /TASS/. Russian IT company Yandex with state support successfully competes in the Russian market with such major players as Google, Russian President Vladimir Putin said at his annual televised Q&A session.

"We have an open market, it is not protected, and our Russian company, such a wonderful company as yours, Yandex, competes successfully in our market with such major players as Google - this is not without the state support either," he said.

Meanwhile, shares of Yandex on the Moscow Exchange rose to a historic maximum after the company was mentioned by Putin. In peak value, on Thursday the company's stock price reached 2,531.6 rubles ($40.15) per share, which is 2.49% higher than the day before. At the moment, the shares are trading at 2,511.6 rubles ($39.8), which is 1.79% higher than the figure the day before.