2011 was a rather disappointing year for M&A both globally and in Russia. Compared to the 6% decline in the value of global M&A deals, Russia’s M&A market experienced an even stronger reduction in value, by almost 28%. This is a sign of its continuing higher volatility, but also the result of fewer mega deals …
Report: M&A in the Russian communications and media sector in 2011 and early 2012 Read More
The curse of the copycats has risen up once again, this time with a new twist – one of the most blatant clones of a German company from abroad. Berlin-based startup tricider (dot com) has been copied by a Russian firm called, wait for it, tricider (dot ru). The German tricider is a free web service …
Earlier this week, Ivi.ru, a leading video streaming site, announced it has reached agreements with all relevant copyright owners in Holywood, including 20th Century Fox, Walt Disney, Sony Pictures, Warner Brothers, Paramount Pictures, and Universal. These agreements, which were reported by the Russian news agency RIA Novosti, will allow Ivi.ru to enlarge its video catalog …
Leading streaming video site Ivi.ru completes deals with Hollywood’s major studios Read More
The Russian Post was among the ten companies awarded the title of “Anti-Brand of the year” by Potrebiteli.ru, a non governmental consumer rights initiative, for the second time in two years. “Judging from the endless flow of complaints, the Post’s work does not leave some things to be desired; it just leaves anything positive to …
Russian Post and Rostelecom judged “anti-brands of the year” Read More
Dubai – Mail.Ru Group Limited (LSE: MAIL, hereinafter referred as “the Company” or “the Group”), one of the largest Internet companies in the high-growth Russian-speaking Internet market, today releases its annual report for 2011 and provides the following final audited segment financial information for the year ended 31 December 2011 and an update on the …
Final audited IFRS results for FY 2011 and preliminary revenue update for Q1 2012 Read More
Moscow’s largest landline telecom provider, MGTS, has announced plans to spend $2 billion on its new GPON network. An investment of about $600 million has already been allocated for this year, Russian business daily Kommersant reported last week. MGTS is a subsidiary of MTS, a leading Russian mobile operator. It currently includes a client base …
Moscow telecom provider to invest $2 billion in GPON Read More
VTB Capital, the venture investment arm of leading Russian state-controlled financial group VTB Group, has led a $18 million investment round in Fast Lane Ventures, a Western style Internet investment company operating in Russia. Investors from Fast Lane’s two previous rounds are also participating in the operation. They include eVenture Capital Partners and “some business …
Fast Lane Ventures secures $18 million in a round led by VTB Capital Read More
By the end of this year, Odnoklassniki.ru, a leading Russian social networking site, will offer localized versions to its Uzbek, Armenian, Georgian and Moldavian audiences. The news was announced yesterday by Alexander Izryadnov, an executive at the Mail.Ru Group, the LSE-listed Russian Internet group that owns the website.
The Bauman university, a leading Russian technical university, and IBM have opened “Smarter City,” a scientific and educational center based on the latest approaches to urban infrastructure management. The center will conduct R&D in the fields of image, audio and video recognition, cloud calculations and analytical software, in particular
The Public Chamber, a state organization which aims to organize and enhance the relationship between Russian citizens and government, plans to open a hotline next month to field consumer complaints about violations of consumer rights by e-commerce sites. This initiative was announced by Anatoly Kucherena, a lawyer who heads the Public Chamber’s commission on citizens’ …
Government hotline to combat consumer rights violations in online retail Read More
Evernote, a California-headquatered company founded by a Russian-American team in 2007, has completed a $100 million round at a $1 billion valuation, Business Insider reported last Thursday from “multiple sources.” The round was led by Meritech Capital Partners.
In association with East-West Digital News, faberNovel, a French innovation consulting firm with offices in Paris, San Francisco and Moscow, has just released an eye-opening presentation on the Russian Internet and innovation system. The report features the latest data on the Russian market and its key players, of course, but then goes further, providing useful …
