PayPal, the leading international online payment company, has according to unnamed sources taken “the strategic decision” to enter the Russian market, reported RBC Daily. The business daily also reported—and PayPal confirmed to EWDN—that PayPal is holding discussions with MTS, VimpelCom and MegaFon, Russia’s leading mobile operators.
Armada, a Russian group offering software development and other IT services, announced last Friday that it sold 2.4 million additional shares for $13 each on Russia’s MICEX and RTS stock exchanges.
A trade delegation of 25 leading European venture capital firms and top executives of major international technology corporations is visiting Russia this week to participate in the Second International Trade Delegation on Global Innovation Partnerships (GIP).
MTS, a leading Russian mobile operator and retailer, announced last Friday the launch of co-branded MasterCard credit cards under the name of MTS Dengi (“MTS Money” in Russian). The cards are being issued by the Moscow Bank for Reconstruction and Development (MBRD).
In its Freedom on the Net 2011 report, Freedom House, an American NGO that monitors freedom progress or restrictions around the world, assigned Russia the status of a “partly free” country. The report acknowledges that the Russian Internet has remained a “relatively uncensored platform for public debate and the expression of political opinions,” in contrast with more …
Russian Internet “relatively uncensored,” says US watchdog Read More
The Russian Ministry of Communications and Mass Media is considering switching digital multiplex broadcasting (TV channel packages) over to the DVB-T2 standard, the Russian press reported. The move would free up frequencies for additional content, possibly for use by regional channels.
While Russia has set for itself the strategic goal of modernization through technological development, to date the country remains largely terra incognita to many international players in the IT sector because of the general lack of market data and business information in English.
Prominent Russian businessman Alisher Usmanov told Bloomberg that his $500 million acquisition of a 5% stake in Chinese Web retailer 360buy.com in March may have been his last big direct Web investment for some time. In a phone interview with the financial news agency last Friday, Usmanov said, “Investments in Internet companies start to bring …
DST backer cautious about investing in Internet companies as prices may have peaked Read More
Russian seed and early stage venture fund Runa Capital has invested $1 million in Metabar, a Russian startup allowing websites to customize a toolbar to adhere to their features, news, and other applications. “Our platform allows website owners to transform casual visitors into regular audiences,” said Mikail Ushakov, Metabar’s CEO.
Russia’s leading mobile retailer Euroset, whose IPO on the LSE was scheduled for this week, decided today to postpone the operation. “Despite increased interest from the investment community in Euroset, we decided to postpone the IPO due to volatile market conditions,” said President Alexander Malis, adding however that the company still expects to realize its strategic …
Ogoniok, a Russian weekly owned by Kommersant, reported plans to create an international Russian-language TV channel. The project will be managed by Valery Komissarov, a former member of the Russian Duma, who claims to have a background in entertainment television and who announced to the press last month that investors had been found for the project.
Yandex, the leading search engine on the Russian-language Internet, announced yesterday the launch of Yandex.Factory, an investment program designed to help startups finance their product, prototype, or project development at the seed, or early, stage.
