Page 11 - bne_Tech_12_2019

Leaders
December 2019 www.intellinews.com I Page 11
"The event provided some insight into MTS’s goals and tools to achieve them, though nothing surprising was revealed. At this point, all carriers in Russia have a broadly similar strategic vision
– success lies in the execution," BCS Global Markets commented on November 26.
Russia's Sberbank to compete on driverless market
Russia's largest bank Sberbank will start developing driverless technologies jointly with domestic AI developer Cognitive Technologies founded by Olga Uskova, Reuters reported. The two set up a joint venture Cognitive Pilot.
Driverless technologies will be yet another segment in which Sberbank will compete with internet major Yandex, since the relationships between two majors went sour in 2018. As reported by bne IntelliNews, Yandex that recently boasted it has done more than a one million miles of road testing of its driverless vehicles.
Sberbank will control 30% stake in the JV, with another 70% held by the founders and
Sberbank CIB analysts were "pleased to get MTS's vision on its convergent products involving ecosystem offerings." The bank "would also like
to see more quantified estimates on the impact of these convergent products on revenues and Ebitda," but still reiterated a Buy recommendation for MTS.
management of Cognitive Technologies. The deal is expected to be closed in December 2019, for an undisclosed amount.
Cognitive Technologies develops driverless development solutions for agricultural machinery, railroad locomotives, trams, as well as driverless passenger cars components. It cooperates with Hyundai Mobis, Russian Railways, and Rusagro.
Notably, the driverless segment could also get
a boost from the state. This month Vedomosti daily reported that the government is considering fully covering the testing of driverless vehicles as of January 2019.