Page 108 - RusRPTMay20

9.1.7​ TMT sector news
The input of the Runet, the Russian-speaking Internet segment, into the country’s economy rocketed 64% to RUB6.4 trillion in 2019​, business daily Kommersant reported on Wednesday citing a research of the Russian Association for Electronic Communications (RAEC). Of the total, e-commerce amounted to RUB4.17 trillion, comprising online retail with RUB1.3 trillion, digital payment services with RUB1.34 trillion, services in the Internet with 809bn, and online travelling with RUB730bn. RAEC analysts studied two scenarios for the Runet economy in 2020, keeping in mind such factors as COVID-19 and the ruble’s fall. In the negative scenario, there may be growth of 6–10% thanks to January–March and October–December, while there may be a 0–5% growth with negative dynamics of some markets under the crisis scenario.
Two years after the Russian authorities unsuccessfully attempted to block Telegram by playing whack-a-mole with the Runet, deputies from A Just Russia have submitted a bill to the Duma to officially unblock Telegram​. It’s effectively become an “official service” of government agencies. The mayor’s office and COVID task force in Moscow, for instance, rely heavily on the platform to relay information to residents. Even the head of Roskomnadzor, the organization responsible for dismantling the messaging service, has joined the app. Extending the declarative ban on Telegram only undermines the prestige of Russian state power, the deputies conclude.
Russian venture investments amounted to at least $868mn in 2019
(excluding exits), up 13% year-on-year, ​EWDN.com​ wrote citing a yearly report from ​DSight​, a business intelligence agency focusing on the Russian venture market. Although this performance remains very modest by international comparison (USA: $136bn, UK: $14.3bn, Germany: $6.6bn), it set “a historic record,” DSight said in the report. Much of this growth is attributed to increasing deal amounts. These amounts grew nearly two-fold in seed stage transactions (to $0.2mn), more than three-fold (to $1.1mn) at the “start-up” phase and 1.6 times (to $78mn) as far as mature companies were concerned. Meanwhile, only 230 transactions were reported in 2019, down 26% from 2018. The number of exits remained stable at 38. On the pre-seed and seed investment scene, a new generation angel investors and micro VCs surfaced while corporations and corporate accelerators continued asserting themselves aggressively. Niche funds continued springing up in such segments as fintech, agritech, sports tech, and industrial tech. Several independent funds refocused on fresh business models — from venture loans to venture builders or studios. Meanwhile, all private VC funds, with few exceptions, set their sights on international projects or Russian ones operating globally, according to DSight co-founder Arseniy Dabbakh. B2B and B2C companies were equally attractive to investors, with 112 and 118 transactions, respectively. In terms of amount, B2C outpaced B2B investment ($537mn vs. $332mn). Deals involving business software companies turned out to be the most numerous. Deep tech companies demonstrated a strong appeal, particularly in the fields of machine learning, 5G Internet, IoT, medicine technology, industrial safety and personal data protection, DSight said.
Telecom Ministry draft ruling implies delay in Yarovaya law​. Telecom ministry drafted a ruling to postpone some of Yarovaya law terms. Kommersant, which claims to have a copy of the draft ruling, says it contains a
108​ RUSSIA Country Report​ May 2020 ​ ​www.intellinews.com