Page 100 - RusRPTOct19

Bonduelle production in Russia. Reportedly, the cost of the factory was RUB444m ($6.8mn). Bonduelle is world's largest producer of canned, frozen, and fresh vegetables and up until now produced only canned food in Russia at its two facilities in the southern city of Krasnodar. It is the market leader on the processed vegetable market with a 12% share.
The food delivery service Delivery Club, owned by Russian tech giant Mail.ru Group, plans to open 24 “dark kitchens” in Moscow in collaboration with restaurateur Arcady Novikov, Vedomosti daily reported on September 9. The competition in Russian food and grocery delivery market is gearing up, with deals involving major players such as Mail.ru and Sberbank, Yandex, and smaller start-ups as Instamart, Dostavitsa, and iGooods delivery services. Mail.ru already eyed dark kitchens back in 2017. The business model is to provide kitchens to partners preparing food solely for delivery, allowing restaurants to save on investment normally required for the front of the house. The company is targeting more upscale restaurants to get away from the regular offering of pizza, burgers and sushi as the punters get bored of junk food. Under the flagship of Novikov six cuisine concepts will be developed: Russian, Japanese and Asian, Pizza, Deserts and Healthy Nutrition. One kitchen will be able to process between 10,000 to 20,000 orders monthly. As reported by bne IntelliNews, Mail.ru will challenge its rival internet major Yandex in the transportation and food delivery segments with a recent partnership with Russia's largest bank Sberbank.
Yandex has announced that it is getting into bed with the state’s second biggest bank VTB bank to create a fintech service to sell equities and funds to retail investors. The new portal will provide financial services and is called Yandex.Investment that it is creating with VTB, The Bell reported on September 13 citing unnamed banking sources. Potential closer cooperation between Yandex and VTB will be closely watched. As bne IntelliNews reported a joint venture between Sberbank and Yandex to create an e- commerce powerhouse Yandex.Market broke up in divorce. E-commerce already accounted for 4.8% of Russia’s retail trade in 2018 but is now growing exponentially and is forecast to top 8.5% by 2024. Yandex.Market should have been a big part of that. Sberbank, a digital innovation front runner, recently delivered a blow to Yandex by teaming up with its largest rival Mail.ru on transportation and delivery solutions instead. Partnership with Yandex could also help VTB with its recent pledge to catch up with Sberbank in terms of digital development. Yandex.Investment with VTB will reportedly be company's largest fintech project since Yandex sold 75% in its Yandex.Money to Sberbank. The new service will target non-professional retail investors, providing access to equity, securities, and other financial instruments, which could meet regulatory resistance.
Russia gets a second unicorn this year. Cybersecurity software company Acronis, founded by Sergei Belousov and Ilya Zubarev, sold just under 10% of its shares for $147mn in the first investment round organised by Goldman Sachs that implies a valuation of at least $1.47bn, Vedomosti and Kommersant dailies reported on September 18. Acronis became the second IT unicorn with Russian roots in 2019, following the acquisition of Luxoft by DXC Technology for $2bn. Swiss-registered Acronis will use the funds raised to finance growth through acquisitions and other business development, according to Belousov. Belousov and Zubarev still control 70% of the company founded in 2003 and makes two thirds of if revenues in Europe and the US, according to The Bell. The company employs about 1,400 people in 14 countries and could grow by 30% in 2019. Belousov and Zubarev also
100 RUSSIA Country Report October 2019 ww.intellinews.com