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such as Sistema Venture Capital, Flint Capital, United Capital Partners (UCP), the owner of electronic payment system Qiwi Sergei Solonin, and entrepreneur Alexander Kabakov. YouDo notes that operational control is maintained by the founders of the service Alexei Gidirim and Denis Kutergin. The service has raised $26.5mn of investment to date, with the latest funding to be used to expand the geographic reach, the launch of new service categories, federal marketing campaign, and further automation. Currently the platform has 0.8mn verified freelance service providers, 5mn users, and about 6,000 orders published daily. In 2017 the turnover of orders on YouDo amounted to RUB4bn ($59mn).
Russian internet major Mail.ru , its shareholder mobile operator MegaFon, and the sovereign Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) are entering into a strategic partnership with Chinese e-commerce major Alibaba , MegaFon said in a press release on September 11. The goal of the partnership is to "integrate Russia’s key consumer internet and e-commerce platforms and launch a leading social commerce joint venture in Russia and the CIS." Mail.Ru Group may also contribute its fast-growing market place Pandao to the JV. This confirms previous reports that RDIF and Alibaba are potential investors into Mail.ru Group's online commerce business. Alibaba Group will reportedly have 48% stake in the joint venture, MegaFon 24%, Mail.ru Group 15%, RFDI 13%. Alibaba will merge its existing Russian business AliExpress and Tmall with the new venture, and contribute investment. RFDI will invest up to $300mn. MegaFon will swap 10% stake in Mail.ru for the 24% stake in the joint venture. The analysts at RenCap believe the relationship with Alibaba could put Mail.ru in a strong position in other businesses, including food delivery and classifieds, as well as lending significant credibility to the strategy put in place by company management.
Mobile TeleSystems (MTS) the largest Russian telecommunications operator and digital services provider, acquired a 100% stake in the largest data storage centre in Russia , Avantazh LLC for RUB 8.9bn ($131mn) (including net debt) from a group of private investors, the company said in a press release.
Russian Post (Pochta Rossii) will open 38 logistics centres in autumn worth RUB24bn ($1.7bn), the head of the company Nikolay Podguzov announced at the Eastern Economic Forum, as cited by Vedomosti daily on September 11. The infrastructure will be introduced in 34 Russian cities, which could enable deliveries of orders within two days for 80% of Russian population, boosting the e-commerce potential in the country. Russian Post also plans to open express delivery channels from China, speeding up deliveries from two-three weeks to one week, and in 18-24 months to up to three days. Russian Post’s transformation from loss-making Soviet-era dinosaur to profitable company in the last few years has been remarkable. In 2012 the company was asking the state for large subsidies to build new logistic centres, but in the last few years the company has benefited from the boom in e-commerce, which is growing ten-times faster than the real economy and can now fund its modernisation from its own funds.
9.2.8 Telecoms corporate news
VEON confirmed that it had closed the sale of its 50% stake in the Italian JV to CK Hutchison Holdings for $2.9bn in cash on September 7 . The deal
105 RUSSIA Country Report October 2018 www.intellinews.com