AMSTERDAM - Prosus, the Dutch-based technology investor, said on Friday it would seek a buyer for its Russian online marketplace Avito.

Avito had been one of Prosus's most valuable investments until Russia's invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24, with an estimated valuation of around $6 billion.

In March, Prosus said it would cut ties with Avito, which it said could operate independently under local management, and would not seek to benefit economically from its ownership.

As sanctions were imposed on Russia after its invasion of Ukraine, which Moscow calls a "special military operation", Prosus initially decided to continue running Avito, noting that it had responsibility for the company's 4,000 employees.

That decision was criticised after it emerged that Avito had carried advertisements for Russian military jobs.

The company then said it would separate Avito from its online marketplace businesses, part of the larger OLX Group, but had not clarified what would happen after the separation.

Prosus's shares have fallen by more than 40% over the past year, largely tracking the value of its biggest asset, a 28.9% stake in Chinese online media giant Tencent.

Prosus shares traded 2.4% higher at 46.61 at 0715 GMT in Amsterdam on Friday.

(Reporting by Toby Sterling; editing by Jason Neely)