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bne Invest
May 24, 2019 www.intellinews.com I Page 13
Major win for Russian Yandex as software lands on dashboard of Avtovaz best selling cars
In the next five years Russian internet major Yan- dex will install its multi-media system Yandex.Avto in two million Ladas, the best-selling car models of domestic carmaker AvtoVaz, as well as Renault and Nissan models assembled in Russia, Vedo- mosti daily said on May 21 citing the representa- tives of the companies.
Yandex has been active in transportation and mobility solutions, with a major merger of Yan- dex.Taxi service and Uber, and cooperation deal on driverless technologies with South Korean car major Hyundai, as well as other services in car- sharing and carpooling markets.
With the help of $1bn recapitalisation from its main shareholder Renault Nissan, Avtovaz man- aged to emerge intact from the car market plunge of 2015-2016, strengthened its position as a top
seller of the still bumpy market, and in 2018 turned in the first profit in a decade.
Now, the companies will join forces in pre-installing Yandex.Avto, multi-media content system with voice recognition and controls, analogous to Androd Auto and Apple CarPlay. Currently Yandex sells the software for RUB29,900 ($463) that can be installed on models such as Lada, Mitsubishi, Volkswagen, Nissan, Renault, Toyota, Kia, Hyundai and Skoda.
Yandex also provides mobile data package to ac- cess its services, such as Yandex.Navigation, Yan- dex.Music, and AI-driven personal assistant Alisa. As of 2016 about 50,000 cars with Yandex services pre-installed were sold, with the total number of vehicles estimated at 100,000.
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Russia's Miratorg agro major still eyes dairy market
Miratorg, one of Russia's largest agricultural holdings and leader in output of pork and beef, plans to enter the dairy market with the launch
of its branded pasteurised milk, Vedomosti daily reported on May 21 citing the vice president of the company Alexander Nikitin.
Most recently a market study revealed that Mira- torg is the largest holder of agricultural land in Russia, with a land bank of over 1mn hectares. The company also revealed its plans to enter
the lamb market in autumn 2018.
Miratorg has been eyeing the dairy marker since 2017, Vedomosti reminds, with a $400mn investment in vertically integrated business including milk farms, production of milk, dairy products, and cheeses.
Currently the company is still holding on to the investment plans, and is choosing the region for its realisation, Nikitin told the daily, without specifying the investment amount.
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