Tele2 Russia announced yesterday the launch of Mobilny platezh (“Mobile payment”), which allows its subscribers to make payments from bank accounts with Visa, Mastercard, JCB International, or Diners Club cards.
IBS Group, a major Russian IT consulting and outsourcing company, is ready to sell a stake of at least 20% in Softkey.ru, an online software retailer. The group acquired a 70% stake in Softkey in 2006. Not only does Softkey count among Russia’s top online software retailers, its technologies and servers are also used by …
Minority stake for sale in leading online software retailer Read More
ZocDoc, a New York based startup that allows patients to locate and book doctor appointments online, announced yesterday it secured a $50 million investment from prominent Russian fund DST Global in its third round of financing. Founded in 2007, the site claims to offer 5 million appointments across nine major metropolitan areas and dozens of medical …
After weeks of rumors, DST’s investment in Twitter was confirmed officially for the first time yesterday on Twitter’s blog. “Now we have an opportunity to expand [our] reach with a significant round of funding led by the venture firm DST Global, along with the participation of several of our existing investors,” Twitter writes. “We will …
Last week, President Medvedev signed certain amendments to the Russian law on personal data, which hardened the legal obligations on all organizations – both corporate and state sector – dealing with personal data. Although the law was voted by the Russian parliament in 2006 – one year after Russia ratified the Council of Europe’s 1981 Strasbourg …
Personal data law comes into full force, Medvedev signs more restrictive amendments Read More
Russia’s Internet community was shocked by a series of major private information leaks during only one week and amid the adoption of a new law aimed to protect personal data. The vulnerabilities of Russian websites came to light for the first time last Monday, when some 8,000 text messages sent by clients of the Russian …
Search engine data leaks shocks Russian Internet community Read More
The stock of the leading consumer electronics retailer Utinet.ru that was introduced last week on MICEX, one of the two Moscow stock exchanges, didn’t attract much investor interest during its first days of trading. This Monday the volume of trading of Utinet.ru stock totaled just 3.7 million rubles, or slightly over $130,000, while the offer …
Stock of online retailer Utinet.ru fails to attract many investors Read More
The Russian Federal Communications Agency (Rossvyaz) has started accreditation of organizations that will test and certify LTE equipment, the agency announced on Monday. Accredited organizations will carry out tests of infrastructure related LTE equipment, either imported or produced in Russia, and issue certificates required for using the equipment in the country.
Last week, payment terminal operator Qiwi announced that its users can now transfer money from their Qiwi electronic wallets – named Qiwi Koshelek – to Mastercard and Maestro cards accounts issued by banks from Russia and 24 other countries, primarily in Eastern Europe and the former Soviet republics.
Russian president Dmitry Medvedev called upon Russian game developers to create “something similar to World of Warcraft” based on Russia’s own national history. “We should pay more attention to computer games based on history. The majority of them are based on pseudo-history, i.e. fantasy style stories,” the president said. “World of Warcraft, besides its destructive …
Medvedev praises World of Warcraft’s historical background, calls to create Russian analog Read More
Pavel Durov, founder and shareholder of Russia’s leading social network, Vkontakte.ru, referred to LSE-listed Mail.ru Group as a “trash holding” on Twitter last Friday. The message was accompanied by an explicit picture of his “official answer to Mail.ru Group’s last attempt to absorb Vkontakte.”
Russia’s leading WiMax provider Scartel, working under the Yota brand, announced last week the launch of Yota Play, an video on demand (VOD) service accessible from Samsung and LG TV sets, Samsung’s blu-ray players and home entertainment systems, as well as from regular computers with an Internet connection.
