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a lawsuit against Telegram following this ICO, in, which it saw an unregistered
securities sales.
Under a settlement announced in late June, Telegram ultimately agreed to
return $1.2bn to investors and pay a $18.5mn penalty. A part of the investors
are nevertheless filing lawsuits against Telegram, whose own mistakes in the
course of the project explain much of this blockchain disaster.
On the Russian domestic scene
The second quarter was also marked by large domestic transactions in Russia:
Online video platform ivi.ru secured a venture loan of $54mn (a considerable
amount by local standards) from Alfa Bank.
Kremlin-connected oligarch and Mail.ru Group shareholder Alisher Usmanov
extended his tech empire to smart device manufacturing with the acquisition of
notAnotherOne.
Sberbank, the state-controlled financial and tech giant, continued its buying
spree: acquiring 2GIS, a leading mapping service, at a $205mn valuation;
investing, jointly with Mail.ru Group, in two food delivery companies: Samokat
and Localkitchen.ru; investing in e-signature service Legium.io; airing plans to
buy a large stake in e-commerce major Ozon.
Two smaller deals deserve attention due to their unusual international
implications: A Russian agritech startup called Agro.club was backed by top
Western European investors – a rare case since geopolitical tensions tensions
stated in 2014 – with plans to conquer the US and EU markets.
Viqeo, a Russian video publishing startup, acquired a UK adtech startup to “get
stronger and go global.” The atmosphere was nevertheless spoiled by the
arrest of Alexander Povalko, the head of Russian Venture Company (RVC), in
early June, and his placement under pre-trial house arrest. Established by the
Russian government in 2006, RVC acts as a fund of funds and supports a
variety of programs, from startup accelerators to industry research and events.
The investigation alleges that RVC money was invested in personal projects of
its top managers. This might have been the case with the reinvestment of part
of the proceeds from the sale of an RVC portfolio company, Soft Machines
Inc., to another portfolio company, US company Alion.
Several prominent investors publicly shared their concerns about this new
high-profile arrest from within the Russian venture scene. The most shocking
one was that of US citizen Michael Calvey, the founder of Baring Vostok
Capital Partners, under controversial charges, in February 2019. Calvey and
his colleagues have maintained their innocence, but they are still under house
arrest or in pre-trial detention.
2.4 Russia’s economy has bounce back and is close to pre-crisis levels says new index
Russia’s economy is making an impressive bounce back from the fall that followed from the double external shocks of the collapse in oil prices in March and the lockdowns imposed after coronavirus (COVID-19) epidemic broke out in the same month.
Russia’s economy is expected to recover to 94%-95% of its pre-crisis level by the end of August, according to study by think tank Oxford Economics, based on its “crisis recovery index.”
The twin shocks knocked Russia’s economic growth back by -12% in April, but
8 RUSSIA Country Report September 2020 www.intellinews.com