Page 123 - RusRPTFeb19

9.2.7 TMT corporate news
Yandex presented Yandex.Phone on December 5, its first smartphone. It is powered by Yandex’s intelligent assistant Alice and has Yandex services preinstalled. The distinguishing feature of the Yandex.Phone is that Alice can be used across the majority of apps and services, without interrupting the smartphone’s services, and also remotely (via voice). Yandex has also said that the interaction between Yandex.Phone users and business in Russia will be simpler. When purchasing a Yandex.Phone, customers gets a free six- month subscription to Yandex.Plus as well as other perks from the company. Yandex.Phone is based on the Android 8.1 operating system and targets the mid-class segment of the smartphone market (it is going to cost RUB 17,990). According to Forbes, the device is produced in China, while Yandex created the design and optimised the hardware. Yandex.Phones are to be distributed via Yandex’s own properties (Yandex Store, Beru) as well as through third- party retail networks (Beeline, M.video and Eldorado).
Russia’s fixed line telecoms company Rostelecom is in talks to buy mobile operator T2 RTC Holdings, which operates under the Tele2 brand, Vedomosti reported on January 25. Tele2 is the most recent entrant to the telecoms business and has been valued at RUB240bn ($3.6bn) ahead of the mooted acquisition. The state-owned Rostelecom has already agreed on the terms with Tele2 shareholders, a source close to the deal told Vedomosti. The Federal Property Management Agency has prepared a directive approving an increase in the share of Rostelecom to 100%, a federal official said. Rostelecom has yet to ask permission from the Federal Property Management Agency, which oversees the company and the Federal Antimonopoly Service (FAS) has also not received a request to approve the deal, their representatives say as cited by Vedomosti. Representatives of Rostelecom and Tele2 declined to comment. T2 RTK Holding is valued at RUB240bn a friend of the members of the board of directors of Tele2 told Vedomosti, however, Rostelecom is only intending to buy a controlling packat of shares and not 100%, according to the Russian paper’s sources. Taking into account Tele2 debt, the value of the deal could be RUB200bn according to Maria Sukhanova, an anlyst with BCS Global Markets. Tele2 has an estimated net debt of RUB120bn as of the end of the third quarter. Rostelecom already owns 45% of Tele2 with the rest is owned by Tele2 Russia Holding AB, in which VTB holds 50%. Other shareholders include Invintel BV that belongs to Russian oligarch Alexey Mordashov with 40% and 10% belongs to the Bank of Russia.
Ozon.ru, a leading Russian online retailer, is testing a service that will allow customers to grant loans to small and medium businesses among Ozon’s 2,000+ suppliers. The new service, dubbed ‘Ozon.Invest,’ was presented on December 21. It will start operating “in the beginning of 2019,” according to its website.
RVC, the state-owned fund of funds dedicated to innovation, intends to launch an investment fund to support innovation in the field of education technologies in Russia. With a considerable target amount – 6.9bn rubles (roughly $100mn at the current exchange rate) – and a 10-year duration, the fund is being created in the framework of a government program called “Digital Economy of the Russian Federation.”
123 RUSSIA Country Report February 2019 www.intellinews.com