Yandex and Sberbank’s fight to gain control of Russia’s finance and technology industries is being billed as the corporate showdown of the decade.
“Sberbank versus Yandex: The battle of the super platforms has begun,” declared Russian business daily Vedomosti last week. Novaya Gazeta went further, dubbing it a “war of the ecosystems.”
The clash — which has been brewing in the background for years — took center stage last week when Yandex announced it had struck a deal to buy upstart online challenger bank Tinkoff. Less than 48 hours later Sberbank unveiled what it called the “biggest transformation in its history,” unveiling a suite of technology products, and dropping the word “bank” from its corporate branding.
The developments mean the two are now either competing directly against each other, or through their subsidiaries and joint ventures, in areas as diverse as banking and fintech, ridesharing, driverless cars, artificial intelligence, food delivery, virtual assistants, media streaming and cloud data services.
Sber vs. Yandex: The battle of Russia’s super platforms beginsRead More
