Online media

Banki.ru founders sell their stake to settle conflict with US investor

November 24, 2020

An investor consortium led by Russian private equity firms Elbrus Capital and Winter Capital (the latter has Russian billionaire Vladimir Potanin among its limited partners) has acquired 60% of Banki.ru, a leading bank and insurance marketplace. The investors are buying all the shares of company founders Philipp and Kirill Ilyin-Adaev and Elena Ishcheeva for an undisclosed amount. Russia Partners, an …

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Sber completes full acquisition of online media and entertainment group Rambler

October 30, 2020

Sber, Russia’s state-controlled financial and technology giant (previously known as Sberbank), has brought its stake in Rambler to 100%, buying the 45% stake of billionaire Alexander Mamut.  These shares will be paid for in tranches, stated Sber. The first one, worth 3 billion rubles (nearly $38 million at the current exchange rate) will be settled immediately, while …

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Sberbank to increase its hold on top media group Rambler

July 29, 2020

Sberbank, Russia’s state-controlled financial and tech behemoth, plans to increase its share of Rambler Group, a major online media and entertainment group. Following the acquisition of a 46.5% stake in August last year, Sberbank is now preparing for an additional investment “to ensure the group’s absolute leadership in the market.” The investment is set to total 2 …

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Russian video publishing startup acquires UK company to get stronger and go global

May 29, 2020

Russian video platform Viqeo has announced the acquisition of Suggestv, a UK adtech company, as reported by RB.ru. The terms of the deal were not disclosed.  Founded in 2015, Suggestv uses machine learning to increase video views for publishers. These may “automate the embedding of video content in-article to build a predictable pre-roll revenue model and unlock new …

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New legislation considers bloggers with income abroad as ‘foreign agents’

November 22, 2019

Russia’s State Duma, the lower house of parliament, has adopted the final reading of amendments to the law on mass media, applying the status of “foreign agent” to mass media outlets. If approved by the upper house of parliament and signed by the President, the law will designate any legal entities or individuals as foreign agents if they …

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Sberbank acquires large stake in online media group Rambler

August 27, 2019

Yesterday Sberbank, the state-controlled financial giant, announced it completed the acquisition of a 46.5% stake in Rambler Group, a major online media and entertainment group. The deal, which was approved by the antimonopoly authorities, has given Sberbank equal stake to investment holding company A&NN, while Era Capital owns the remaining 7%. A&NN is affiliated to Russian …

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Wikipedia blocks users who edit articles to praise Russian authorities and take down opposition activists

July 6, 2019

In February 2019, a Russian entrepreneur who uses Wikipedia in his work began to notice something mysterious: a relatively new user on the Russian-language version of the platform was making regular edits to political articles. While the user clearly attempted to dilute the effect of the edits by making politically neutral changes elsewhere, much of …

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How federal censors monitor and punish Russia’s mass media

June 12, 2019

The arrest of Ivan Golunov under drug trafficking charges on June 6 triggered a flurry of emotion in the Russian media and social scene. Many see in the case a manipulation to intimidate or punish an independent-minded journalist and its employer, the Riga-based online publication Meduza, whose investigations often target behind-the-scene interests in the Russian …

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Sberbank to acquire large stake in online media group Rambler

April 24, 2019

Sberbank, Russia’s state-controlled financial giant, is to acquire a 46.5% stake in Rambler Group, a major online media and entertainment group. The deal gives Sberbank equal stake to investment holding company A&NN, which is affiliated to Russian billionaire Alexander Mamut, while Era Capital owns the remaining 7%. The terms of the deal have not been disclosed, …

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How advocacy group Roskomsvoboda emerged in Russia to combat Internet censorship

April 19, 2019

In the last seven years, the Russian government has drastically tightened its regulation of the Internet, and it has shown no signs of slowing down: on April 16, the State Duma passed a new law enabling the isolation of the Russian segment of the Internet from the World Wide Web. Opposition to the government’s onslaught …

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Anti-Putin graffiti triggers first enforcement of new Internet censorship law

April 3, 2019

The Prosecutor General’s office has reportedly requested Roskomnadzor, the Internet regulator, to take steps to delete online news stories about graffiti that used offensive language to describe President Vladimir Putin. The authorities thus applied for the first time a new law that penalizes online expressions of “contempt” for society, state symbols and the authorities. On …

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Russian authorities demand that VPN services comply with censorship policies

April 1, 2019

Roskomnadzor, the agency responsible for communications regulation and censorship in Russia, announced today that it contacted a number of VPN services to request that they subscribe to the agency’s registry of websites that are banned from distribution on Russian territory. Though Roskomnadzor has blocked VPN services before and asked Internet service providers to comply with its registry of blocked …

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