International

Russian e-book leader Litres expands to Poland, Baltic states and Finland

November 6, 2019 November 6, 2019

Litres, a leading Russian e-book company, has acquired a majority (51%) stake in Eesti Digiraamatute Keskus OÜ (Estonian Digital Book Centre or EDRK). The details of the transactions were not disclosed. EDRK is an online wholesale e-book platform which controls 90% of the Estonian market, according to company statements cited by Vedomosti. Litres hopes to replicate in …

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Russian game giant Playrix acquires Ukrainian game studio

November 4, 2019 November 5, 2019

Last week Playrix, a global Russian-founded gaming giant, announced the acquisition of Ukrainian game studio Zagrava Games. Founded in 2003 (known as ‘Friends’ Games’ at that time), this game development service company is located in Rivne (Rovno), Western Ukraine, and employs 60 people. Its creations include ‘Greedy Bunnies,’ ‘The Hunt for Red Panda’ and ‘Chasing Chaster.’ Among its clients …

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Russia’s sovereign Internet law comes into force

November 1, 2019 February 28, 2022

Russia’s State Duma is in the process of passing over 50 laws to regulate new technologies in the IT sector, which last year generated almost 5% of GDP and is growing at a rate of 10 to 15%. The most controversial of them — the so-called sovereign internet law that will allow Russia to cut …

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“I’m making this bitch’s life hell:” A murder in the darknet

October 31, 2019 October 31, 2019

The BBC Russian Service has released an investigative report detailing the activities of Yaroslav Sumbayev, a hacker who allegedly ordered the widely publicized murder of Special Investigator Yevgenia Shishkina. The Georgian government extradited Sumbayev to Russia on October 24. He had previously fled the country to avoid prosecution in a case that Shishkina was investigating. Russian journalists …

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Mail.ru Group’s Dmitry Sergeev: “Our e-commerce JV will actively develop social and domestic dimensions”

October 30, 2019 November 14, 2019

Earlier this month Mail.Ru Group and Alibaba completed their e-commerce joint venture deal with participation from jointly with Russian telco MegaFon and sovereign fund Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF). This JV will leverage on the existing businesses of AliExpress Russia, the B2C marketplace owned by Alibaba which controls the bulk of e-commerce flows between China and …

Mail.ru Group’s Dmitry Sergeev: “Our e-commerce JV will actively develop social and domestic dimensions” Read More

ID Finance secures $2 million in minutes on crowdfunding platform

October 29, 2019 November 12, 2019

Update Nov. 12: ID finance finally closed the crowdfunding campaign one week ahead of schedule. The company raised £4.95 million ($6.36 million) in total, more than three times as much as the initial target. ID Finance, a Barcelona-based fintech company with Russian roots, claims to have raised nearly $2 million in just a few minutes last …

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Building a mobile app in Eastern Europe is seven times more cost-effective than in the US

October 29, 2019 October 29, 2019

The average cost to develop a mobile app in Eastern Europe is $23,000 versus $171,450 in the US, according to SmartBrain (also known as Rubrain), a San Francisco-based marketplace for IT contractors. The company analyzed data from more than 400 deals between Eastern European contractors and international startups and found out that developing a new app …

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Report: CIS region to make multi-billion investment in 5G; 54 million connections expected by 2025

October 23, 2019 October 23, 2019

Russia will lead the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) in the commercialisation of 5G services, with the region’s other markets all launching 5G networks by 2025, according to the GSMA’s Mobile Economy: Russia & CIS 2019 report, which was published on Oct. 10 at the Mobile 360 Series – Eurasia event in Moscow. The CIS region will have around 54 million …

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Internet isolation exercises to take place in Russia at least once every year

October 22, 2019 October 22, 2019

Following the passage of a 2019 law allowing Russian Internet traffic to be isolated from the World Wide Web in case of an emergency, the country’s government has arranged to hold exercises to prepare for such a scenario at least once a year. A new posting appeared October 21 on Russia’s official government website to …

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Yandex shares bounce back as Russia softens foreign ownership rules

October 21, 2019 October 21, 2019

Shares in the NASDAQ-listed Russian tech giant Yandex have jumped higher on reports Russia will soften proposals to limit foreign ownership of strategically important tech firms. The government is now considering placing a 50%-minus-one cap on the number of shares that can be held by non-Russian investors — up from the 20% limit proposed in a draft …

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Blockchain-based crowdfunding platform prepares for launch as Russian legislation clarifies

October 21, 2019 October 21, 2019

Earlier this month Da Vinci Capital – a major EBRD-backed and PE firm focusing on Russia and neighboring countries – announced an investment of 100 million rubles ($1.57 million at the current exchange rate) in BitRussia. BitRussia presents itself as an international blockchain-based crowdfunding platform. It aims to put together projects and investors using distributed ledgers, asset …

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Equality and diversity in the tech community on the agenda (Wolves Summit, Warsaw, Oct. 23-24)

October 20, 2019 October 24, 2019

The tenth edition of the international Wolves Summit conference will take place on October 23 and 24 in Warsaw. Investors, corporations and startups from around the world will meet at the Palace of Culture and Science. On the stage of the next Wolves Summit conference, among others: Ludwik Sobolewski, head of the Emerging Europe Marketplace; …

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