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bne August 2020 Companies & Markets I 23
As reported by bne IntelliNews, Russian internet majors Yandex and Mail.ru Group also offer music streaming services (Yandex.Music; VK Music and Boom, respectively).
The reported prices for subscription services in Russia will include RUB169 per month for ad-free music and a group tariff of RUB269 per month for up to six people, according to Vedomosti.
VTB Capital noted on July 15 that these rates are broadly in line with other domestic offerings on the market.
"Both Yandex (Yandex.Music) and Mail.ru (VK Music
and Boom) have developed their own music services," VTBC wrote, but tends to see these services as ecosystem enhancements rather than standalone sources of value for both companies, at least at this stage.
From this perspective the entrance of Spotify is seen as neutral for both Yandex and Mail.ru by VTBC, "even though it will likely bring about more competitive pressures."
Young Croatians top EU for digital skills
bne IntelliNews
Young Croatian adults were the most likely in the European Union to have basic or above basic digital skills, a compilation of data from Eurostat showed.
Over 95% of Croatians aged 16-24 had at least basic digital skills, better than any other EU country, even e-government pioneer Estonia which held second place, and comparable only to non-EU countries Iceland and Norway.
More than 90% of young people also had at least basic digital skills in Czechia, Greece, Lithuania and the Netherlands, as well as non-EU countries Sweden and the UK.
At the other end of the scale, young people from Bulgaria and Romania were least likely to have at least basic digital skills.
Overall, in 2019, 80% of young people in the EU had basic or above basic digital skills – 24 percentage points (pp) higher than among people aged 16 to 74.
Eurostat lists a range of activities as basic digital skills, including finding information about goods or services online, making phone or video calls over the internet, participating in social networks and installing software or applications.
“Over recent months, many young people (aged 16-24) have had to
follow online classes, as lockdown measures associated with the COVID-19 pandemic have prevented their schools,
universities or other vocational and training institutions from running face-to-face teaching,” said Eurostat in a press release.
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