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smartphone market.
Russian internet provider Yota launched its Yota smartphone in 2011, which did have a unique feature: two screens. The front of the phone is a regular phone screen, but the back of the phone was an e-ink screen typical of e-Book readers like Kindle.
The second generation of the phone was launched in 2014 in Europe, Asia and the Middle East and costs around $500. Its main difference from the previous model is that its second screen is touch-sensitive, can send text messages, respond to calls and perform other basic operations. A third generation of the phone came out at the end of 2017.
However, sales of the Yota phone have also been disappointing and with a price that is twice that of the Yandex phone, they are considered expensive on the Russian market.
Yota sold a 65% to Hong Kong-based REX Global Entertainment Holdings in the maker of the double-screened for $100mn in October 2015 and the company is concentrating on building up a customer base in China.
2.4 Russia to spend RUB26 trillion on National Projects
National projects will cost RUB26 trillion. The government has published key indicators for its 12 national projects along with their outlays over the next six years. The total will run at RUB25.7 trillion ($391bn), of which RUB13.1 trillion ($200bn) will come from the federal budget, RUB7.5 trillion ($114bn) from non-budgetary sources, RUB4.9 trillion ($74.6bn) from regional budgets, and RUB147.8bn ($2.3bn) from federal extra-budgetary funds.
What is astonishing about the numbers released by the government is just how much money will go toward infrastructure. The two largest national projects, costing 40% of total outlays (i.e. $170bn), both concern transport infrastructure.
Putin’s May decrees in a large part arose from Alexei Kudrin’s calls to invest more in developing Russia’s human capital. And while demography and health will receive fairly large outlays—the government plans to spend RUB969bn ($14.8bn) on the fight against cancer—education and R&D both appear somewhat overlooked. The government seems to be prioritizing large-scale investment projects—an easy boost to GDP numbers and a great flow of rents to insiders—over investing in Russia’s people.
Russia’s National Projects RUB
Comprehensive infrastructure development
Safe and high-quality roads program
6.35 trillion
4.78 trillion
Ecology
4.04 trillion
Demography
3.1 trillion
Health
1.72 trillion
13 RUSSIA Country Report March 2019 www.intellinews.com