The Bell

TheBell is a popular Russian online publication covering politics, business and tech. It offers a section and a newsletter in English language.

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Alexei Kudrin leaves public office to take top role at new look Yandex

November 30, 2022

Former finance minister Alexei Kudrin, once a leading reformist in President Vladimir Putin’s inner circle, is leaving public service to go into business. He is set to take charge of Yandex, Russia’s leading digital company. The transformation of a senior official into a businessman appears to be one of those common attempts to convert political …

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How parallel import provides Russians with Apple’s latest iPhone

September 28, 2022

The iPhone 14 went on sale in US stores Friday. Even though the company’s flagship product is not officially available in Russia, it will still reach the country via the so-called parallel imports scheme. Moreover, a strong ruble means there has reportedly been a significant uptick in pre-orders of the iPhone 14. There are even …

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How the war in Ukraine led Yandex into a trap

August 5, 2022

All Russian businesses have been affected by the fallout from the war and Western sanctions, but “perhaps the most dramatic events have unfolded at Yandex,” writes TheBell, a respected Russian online publication, in its English edition. While founder Arkady Volozh and head Tigran Khudaverdyan were sanctioned by the European Union, “compromises with the authorities have …

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Former US citizen and Ulmart co-owner August Meyer arrested in St. Petersburg

December 16, 2021

August Meyer, co-owner of cosmetics chain Rive Gauche and former co-owner of now defunct online retail Ulmart — was arrested Wednesday last week in St. Petersburg. Meyer and his wife, Inna Meyer, are suspected of embezzling 2.4 billion rubles ($32.6 million at the current exchange rate) from state-owned bank Sberbank on the pretext of developing Ulmart shortly …

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Russian movie ‘Major Grom: Plague Doctor’ features mass-murdering IT billionaire, tops Netflix charts

July 19, 2021

A Russian action film with coded references to Russian politics became Netflix’s most-streamed film last week. The hero of ‘Major Grom: Plague Doctor’ is incorruptible cop Igor Grom who does battle with a mass-murdering IT billionaire bearing an uncanny resemblance to Telegram messaging service founder Pavel Durov. Netflix released ‘Major Grom: Plague Doctor’ — their …

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From Russian village to Silicon Valley: How Alexander Agapitov built a $3 billion in-game payments company

May 27, 2021

A world-renowned company in the game and payment industries, Xsolla could be worth $3 billion, according to research from Goldman Sachs and Bank of America.  This company was founded back 15 years ago in the city of Perm, 680 miles east of Moscow. Today it has offices in the USA, Russia and South Korea. In 2020, it …

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“All transport on earth will be electric,” says Elon Musk to Russian students

May 24, 2021

Last week Elon Musk spoke remotely at a Russian state-sponsored education forum, spending 40 minutes answering questions from students. The tech celebrity said he received a personal invitation from President Vladimir Putin’s press secretary Dmitry Peskov. Among other speakers at the event were Steve Wozniak, on the international side, and a bevy of tech CEOs …

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Clubhouse frenzy hits Russia

February 26, 2021

Trendy social media app Clubhouse is seeing an extraordinary surge of interest among Russians as it launched last week in the country.  The social network saw the audience for its audio-chat service increase 20-fold as big brands and top managers from major companies signed up. The former head of Russia’s financial regulators even appealed for Central Bank Governor …

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What links Russia to Germany’s Wirecard scandal

August 25, 2020

One of the main figures in the collapse of German payment firm Wirecard, chief operating officer Jan Marsalek, is reportedly hiding somewhere near Moscow. Russian online publication The Bell looked at Wirecard’s connections with Russia, and why Marsalek visited the country over 60 times in a decade. The reason for Marsalek’s trips was a search for banks …

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Telegram and Russia seek rapprochement amid attack on Apple

July 15, 2020

It is only one month since Russia unexpectedly lifted its ban on messaging service Telegram. But the company’s vice president this week appeared alongside Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin — and proposed a crusade against US tech giants Apple and Google.  Mishustin took part in a panel discussion with IT industry executives near the city …

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