Analysis

Ozon not profitable yet, but expects fast growth and still considers Western IPO 

September 4, 2016

Ozon.ru, one of the most established Russian online retailers, — sometimes dubbed, with some exaggeration, ‘the Russian Amazon,’ — saw its sales grow by 20% year-on-year in the first seven months of 2016. The figure was disclosed by Danny Perekalsky, the site’s CEO, in exchanges with Rambler News Service (RNS) and East-West Digital News. “We’re satisfied with …

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New ranking reveals Russia’s top e-commerce sites

August 5, 2016

Data Insight, a reputable Moscow-based research agency, and Ruward, a publisher of industry rankings, have just published the 2016 “E-Commerce Index TOP-100.” This index ranks Russian e-commerce sites by sales volumes, number of orders, average order value and other criteria, over the course of 2015. Leading the ranking is Ulmart, a St. Petersburg based online retailer which has …

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The fintech world beyond Silicon Valley and Europe: Emerging market contenders

July 28, 2016

According to a recent study by Accenture, investments in fintech hit $5.3 billion in the first quarter of this year (having grown 75% in 2015). Most of the investments have occurred in the U.S. and Europe, with a marked exception this year when China’s Ant Financial completed a staggering $4.5 billion raise at a $60 billion valuation, making it one …

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Russian mobile Internet users in 2016

July 27, 2016

Approximately 19% of Russians only use their mobile phone to access the Internet, compared with 52% of Russians who use both computers and mobile devices to access the Internet. Computers are still a popular way for Russians to access the Internet, but mobile devices offer convenient and affordable access always, compared to a stationary desktop …

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Consumer habits, payment methods, legislation: The latest trends on the Russian e-payment scene

October 6, 2016

Even though the Russian online payment industry has seen the emergence of a variety payment instruments – with online payment services becoming more and more popular, – the market cannot be characterized as fully mature yet as this term may be understood in countries where electronic forms of payment already prevail. In this article, Elena …

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Why Russian police targets people on Vkontakte rather than on Facebook

July 16, 2016

According to the human rights group “Sova,” which monitors the enforcement of anti-extremism legislation in Russia, 119 people were convicted last year of criminal activity for posting and reposting content on Vkontakte, Russia’s leading social network. For comparison: in 2015, police went after only three users of Odnoklassniki (another Russian social network) and just a …

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The end of privacy: A hard look at FindFace

July 19, 2016

The FindFace mobile app, which makes it possible to find a random person’s social-media page on Vkontakte after taking a photo of them in the street, has made news headlines for its use in experimental art projects and bullying women who appear in pornography. Daniil Turovsky, special correspondent for independent online publication Meduza, sat down with the authors …

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From lab to market: Dutch, Russian innovators talk commercialisation

July 16, 2016

Bridging the gap between academia and industry to turn the ideas of the country’s brightest minds into successful commercial projects is one of the challenges struggled with by innovations institutions all over the world. To find out more about the Dutch approach to this mission, the Skolkovo Foundation recently hosted a roundtable for representatives of …

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Russian games market reached nearly $1 billion in 2015

July 11, 2016

Russia’s online and mobile games market amonted to 51.9 billion rubles in 2015, or $830 million at the average exchange rate, up 2% from the previous year. The estimate comes from Mail.ru Group, a major, LSE-listed Russian Internet group with leading positions in this industry. An earlier forecast from western market research agency Newzoo put the Russian market at some $1.3 …

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unmanned car

Unmanned cars could become new instrument for crime, fears Russian police

April 14, 2017

Russian law-enforcement officers fear that unmanned cars may be used as instruments of crime in the near future. “In 20 years, conventional cars will be replaced by autonomous vehicles just like they once replaced horses,” said Alexander Bykov, chief of the State Road Safety Inspectorate’s Road Patrol Service department. “However, no one has studied the potential future dangers.” …

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Why the Prisma app could become a global hit

October 3, 2016

As reported earlier this week by East-West Digital News, a quirky mobile photo app named ‘Prisma’ has been leading Apple’s App Store ranking in Russia and several neighboring countries since June 20 — just ten days after launch. Among its millions of users are a bevy of Russian celebrities, from Russian Prime Minister DMitry Medvedev, to supermodels Irina Shayk …

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