Page 67 - RUSRptAug18

RUB1.32bn of deals in the B2B segment (11% y/y growth) and RUB0.88bn in P2B (up 4.7-fold y/y), Kommersant d aily said on July 3 citing the data by the Central Bank of Russia (CBR). Currently there are about thirteen large platforms on the Russian crowdfunding market defined as crowd lending (P2P, P2B, B2B), crowd investing, and ICO token placement. In 2017 the market grew by 80% y/y to RUB11.2bn, and is expected to reach RUB15bn in 2018 by the experts surveyed by the daily. Previously in June the State Duma, the lower house of the Russian parliament, approved almost unanimously in its first reading a bill to regulate digital financial assets, including cryptocurrencies and initial coin offerings (ICOs) . In May the State Duma also approved regulation on crowdfunding in the first reading, but it is unclear whether the second reading will take place in July or be postponed to the autumn session, according to Kommersant. In the meantime, the market participants consider are self-regulating in the legal vacuum that is created as the passing of regulation lags behind. One of the initiatives is establishing a national association of crowdfunding market participants, which would unite all platforms and protect the interests of both the investors and borrowers.
The US Lighting Group, a major producer of LED bulbs, bought the exclusive rights for five years to sell Russia’s Promobot’s friendly, talking promotional robots in the US for $600,000. The US company has put in an advance order for more than 2,000 robots, worth $56mn, reports East-West Digital News (EWDN), citing the Skolkovo Foundation. Promobot robots have already been sold to 18 countries around the world, where they work as promoters, museum guides, concierges, bank consultants and administrators. The robots can be programmed to speak multiple languages, and can recognise people with whom they have previously interacted.
The private banking branches of Sberbank , Russia’s national savings bank, and Alfa-Bank, a major retail bank, will offer cryptocurrency-based investment options to their clients , East-West Digital News (EWDN) reports . The new products will combine six of the most frequently traded cryptocurrencies, including Bitcoin, Ethereum, Bitcoin Cash, and Litecoin. The cryptocurrency composition of the portfolio will be reviewed quarterly. The weights of the digital assets will change dynamically based on a specially designed algorithm, the aim of which is to provide “significantly higher yields than individual digital assets or their indexes.”
9.1.8 Telecoms sector news
Russian mobile MegaFon has launched a personalised big data analysis based bonus and discount application , which proposes better tariff plans, third-party services and coupons, bonuses, cashbacks, and other perks to its subscribers, Vedomosti daily said on July 24. This is in line with the general trend of a saturating market with low inflows of new subscribers. Vedomosti reminds that previously another operator Vimpelcom (VEON) provided similar services. Subscribers of T2 RTK Holding (joint venture of Tele2 and Rostelecom) also benefit from personalised offers, as well as an option of independently tuning the tariffs. MTS mobile operator employs big data analysis for both tariff mix and smartphone purchase proposals for its clients.
9.1.9 Tourism sector news
67 RUSSIA Country Report August 2018 www.intellinews.com
Baku is the most popular city destination for Russian tourists within the