SHANGHAI, May 23. /TASS/. VTB Bank has become a member of the consortium to buy a stake in Yandex, head of VTB Andrey Kostin told reporters.

"As for Yandex, we are members of a large consortium, yes," he said, noting that the size of VTB's stake in the consortium is still being discussed.

Kostin added that the deal could be closed before the end of the year, but did not specify its amount. At the same time, the head of VTB did not disclose other participants in the consortium.

Earlier, The Bell (recognized as a foreign agent in Russia) reported that a controlling stake in Yandex could be bought out by a consortium, which included Russian businessmen Vladimir Potanin, Vagit Alekperov, Alexey Mordashov, and VTB Bank.