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May 2020 www.intellinews.com I Page 20
during the COVID-19 epidemic, to be in contact with their families and friends, to access information needed, or to work and study remotely.
“The crisis shows how much our society is dependent on high quality telecommunication services, we are very proud of the effort put by each one of our employees and suppliers to support the customers,” said CEO T-Mobile CZ and Slovak Telekom Jose Perdomo Lorenzo.
“Despite the significant impact that the new situation has brought to our business trends,
we are committed to continue investing in the country, in the networks and in the improvement of our services. We are a more resilient business branch compared to other sectors and we recognise the importance to stay focused on investment continuity,” Lorenzo noted.
T-Mobile’s mobile services were used by almost 6.3mn customers in 1Q20, out of which 57%
are contract customers and 35% prepaid ones. The number of machine-to-machine SIM cards amounted to 8% of the base, up by 14% y/y to 512,000.
Russia's Yandex signs Rosneft on its gas station service
Yandex.Zapravki, contactless petroleum filling station service of Russian internet major Yandex, will more almost double the number of gas stations in its coverage after getting Rosneft oil major on board, Vedomosti daily reported citing the head of the service, Roman Prudnikov.
Yandex.Zarpavki is integrated in the Yandex. Navigator dashboard application, as well as Yandex.Taxi app for taxi drivers, and car app Yandex.Avto.
As reported by bne IntelliNews, last year Yandex landed its software on the dashboards of the best- selling car models of domestic carmaker AvtoVaz, while Yandex.Taxi is the largest Russia's taxi ordering service.
Currently the service has 4,150 gas station connected, but this will increase by 3,000 with the addition of stations operated by Rosneft (includng BP, Bashneft, PTK and TNK stations).
Magnit retailer tests delivery service Pony Express in Russian regions
Russia's second-largest retailer Magnit is starting testing a delivery service from 18 supermarkets in Rostov-on-Don and Volgograd, in partnership with Pony Express, Reuters reported on May 14.
As reported by bne IntelliNews, Magnit is trying to catch up with the market leader X5 Group, which had a solid headstart on digital services and delivery solutions and already became Russia's largest e-grocer amid the coronavirus (COVID-19) epidemic.
Magnit does not have an online sales platform, but recently launched a digital transformation plan and reinforced its management with the former team of e-apparel major Lamoda.
The pilot with Pony Express on the assortment of up to 6,000 items will last for one month, with possible expansion to other cities.
Russian Sberbank and Mail.ru continue foodtech expansion
O2O Holding, the foodtech and transportation joint venture of Sberbank and Mail.ru Group, has invested in the Kuhnya na Rayone (Neighborhood Kitchen) startup of Oleg Kozyrev and Alexei Kolesnikov, Vedomosti daily reported.
O2O Holding was set up at the end of 2019, as Sberbank was turning away from MRG's main rival Yandex. The joint venture has recently reinforced its management team. O2O unites the foodtech and transportation assets, such as Delivery Club, Sbermarket, Sberfood, YouDrive, Citimobil and others.
The amount of the deal is undisclosed. The company was founded in 2018 and specialises