“We rule out, and consider to be utopian, a full integration of Vkontakte into Mail.ru Group,” said Pavel Durov in an open letter published yesterday. Durov, Vkontakte.ru’s general manager and main shareholder, denied holding any discussions about an increase of the Mail.ru Group stake in Vkontakte.ru, Russia’s leading social network.
Durov’s statement contradicts a recent declaration by Dmitry Grishin, Mail.ru Group’s general manager, to Forbes magazine. Grishin considered it “strategically correct” for Mail.ru Group to take control of Vkontakte “or, even better, to acquire all of its shares,” and said he was “holding a dialog about that.”
Mail.ru Group co-owner Alisher Ushmanov said he respected Durov’s position as well as his “superb” management of Vkontakte.ru.
LSE-listed Mail.ru Group currently holds a 32.5% share in Vkontakte.ru.
According to Leonid Delitsyn of Finam, a leading Russian financial company, Vkontakte’s desire to remain independent might indicate plans to go public. Vkontakte, however, declined to comment on this supposition.
Source: Kommersant
