By Andrei Skvarsky. Deutsche Boerse’s research subsidiary MNI says consumer sentiment in Russia was slightly more upbeat in September than the month before but that Russians were more worried about the job market and rising prices than in August. Continue Reading
Tag Archives: Russia
Sberbank: consumer confidence of Russian middle class edges down
By Andrei Skvarsky. The latest of a series of quarterly surveys commissioned by Sberbank, Russia’s biggest lender, shows consumer confidence among middle-class Russians to have edged down since June. Continue Reading
Russian venture market continues annual decline in Q2 2014 as cross-border investment could virtually disappear
Venture investment volumes in Russia fell by 9% year-on-year (y-o-y) as the number of completed deals increased by 32% in Q2 2014, says Rye, Man and Gor Securities (RMG), an independent Moscow-based investment company, in their latest quarterly report published with the participation of East-West Digital News. Continue Reading
Runa Capital leads $2.2 million round in US school admission startup
Runa Capital, a venture firm operating globally from its offices in Moscow and San Francisco, has led a $2.2 million funding round in SchoolMint, a leading provider of mobile and online enrollment systems for US public, charter and private schools. Continue Reading
Russia to go ahead with setting up own card payment system – Putin
By Andrei Skvarsky. President Vladimir Putin confirmed last week that Russia plans to set up its own card payment system next year to prevent potential further anti-Russian sanctions from causing Russians problems with the use of Visa or MasterCard. Continue Reading
Putin: state to keep financing Russian Direct Investment Fund
By Andrei Skvarsky. The Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF), a state-backed institution with the mission of supporting Russia’s private equity sector by co-investing with foreign companies, will continue to receive money from the state so it can achieve its capitalisation target of $10bn, President Vladimir Putin promised last week. Continue Reading
Russia’s Promsvyazbank hypes role of small businesses via photo project
By Andrei Skvarsky. Promsvyazbank, one of Russia’s largest private banks, has carried through an online project to popularise the role in the country of small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) by posting photos and brief descriptions of successful businesses and pictures of their founders and managers. Continue Reading
Kudrin: Russian economy needs big reforms but govt cannot deliver
By Andrei Skvarsky. Russia’s economic model is a bigger obstacle to the country’s economic growth than the Ukraine-related sanctions but the government is incapable of fundamental reforms, Reuters cited former Russian finance minister Alexei Kudrin as arguing. Continue Reading
Sberbank hires CFO, HR chief for investment arm
By Andrei Skvarsky. Sberbank, Russia’s biggest lender, has made two senior appointments for its investment arm Sberbank CIB, hiring Paul Goldfinch from Swiss bank UBS as chief financial officer and Annie Jordan from London-based headhunter Lansdowne International as head of human resources. Continue Reading
Russian Pension Fund’s 2015 budget to have $8.1bn hole due to investment moratorium
By Andrei Skvarsky. Due to a current moratorium on the investment of pension system money, Russia’s Pension Fund will not get 309bn rubles ($8.1bn) it was planned to receive from the state in 2015, Finance Minister Anton Siluanov has announced. Continue Reading
THE IMPACT ON THE EBRD REGION OF RUSSIA’S FOOD BAN
Russia imposed a ban on food imports from the West, including 11 EBRD countries where the EBRD invests, in early August. The one-year import ban on fruits, vegetables, meat, fish, milk and dairy products from the EU, the US, Australia, Canada and Norway was part of its reaction to the West’s own sanctions imposed as… Continue Reading
Rusnano and RusHydro to set up $200m venture fund for energy development
Rusnano, Russia’s nanotech giant, and RusHydro, the largest national hydroelectric power company, are in talks over the planned setup of a $200m VC fund. The parties intend to split the cost of establishing the fund on a 50/50 basis, the Russian news agency MA-agency.ru reported, citing Rusnano president Anatoly Chubais. Continue Reading
Russia-China Investment Fund (RKIF) reached an agreement to invest in a leading chain of stores selling products for children "Children's World"
September 9, 2014 Russia-China Investment Fund (RKIF) has reached an agreement in principle to invest in the company, “Children’s World”, is a major player in the sector of specialized network of trade in goods for children in Russia. To date, 100% of the share capital of the company is controlled by AFK “System”. Continue Reading
Mail.ru Group has placed part of its stake in the group Qiwi
Mail.ru Group has sold most of its stake in the group Qiwi, control of Russia’s largest system of instant payments . Mail.ru Group could realize 4% stake Qiwi from 2.8 percent discount to the market price, generated $ 80 million. Total investment in Qiwi, in which Internet holding company once owned a 25% stake, he… Continue Reading
RenCap gives ex-Deutsche Bank analyst senior job in MENA team
By Andrei Skvarsky. Russia’s Renaissance Capitalhas appointed former Deutsche Bank researcher Ryan Apache as senior banking analyst in its equity research team forthe Middle East and North Africa (MENA). Continue Reading
Moscow Exchange says got through Q2 with flying colours
By Andrei Skvarsky. Moscow Exchange ended tjis year’s second quarter with financial results described by its chief executive as its “best quarterly numbers”to date. Continue Reading
EU legislator proposes limiting ruble’s convertibility
By Andrei Skvarsky. A vice-president of the European Parliament has proposed limiting the convertibility of the Russian ruble as an addition to the Western sanctions imposed on Russia for its presumed support for the separatist insurgency in eastern Ukraine. Continue Reading
Warsaw bourse says unaffected by presumed cyber attack from Ukraine rebels
By Andrei Skvarsky. The website of the Warsaw Stock Exchange was temporarily paralysed on August 14 by a presumed hacking attack from eastern Ukrainian pro-Russia rebels, but the bourse said none of its trade had been affected. Continue Reading
Sberbank puts Peter Urbanczyk in charge of US investment business
By Andrei Skvarsky. Sberbank has appointed Peter Urbanczyk as chief executive of the US unit of Sberbank CIB, the investment arm of Russia’s biggest lender. Continue Reading
Sberbank, VTB: no shares of sanctions-affected types to be issued
By Andrei Skvarsky. Sberbank and VTB, Russia’s two main banks, have announced they have no plans to issue shares of types that European investors are forbidden to buy from them under sanctions imposed by the European Union on the two state-controlled lenders on July 29. Continue Reading
Russian deputy economics minister fired for slamming pension money moratorium
By Andrei Skvarsky. Russian Deputy Economic Development Minister Sergei Belyakov was fired on August 6 after publicly condemning the government’s one-year extension of a moratorium on the investment of assets from non-state pension funds. Continue Reading
EXCLUSIVE: Law firm Shearman & Sterling says Russia has little room to fight ruling on Yukos
By Andrei Skvarsky. There is a next-to-zero chance of Russia successfully challenging the recent international court order that it pay more than $50bn to former majority shareholders of Yukos, according to international law firm Shearman & Sterling LLP. Continue Reading
Chris Weafer: Sanctions against Sberbank, VTB unlikely to play havoc with Russia in 2014 but 2015 may be worse
By Andrei Skvarsky. Chris Weafer, who has spent 15 years as a top researcher in Russian investment banking, argues that the European Union’s sanctions against Russia’s biggest bank Sberbank and number-two lender VTB are unlikely to cause “a major disruption” to the Russian economy this year. Continue Reading
Runa Capital Managing Partner Dmitry Chikhachev: “Discriminating in business or science by country of origin is equally irrelevant”
As Runa Capital announced the launch of its second fund, Runa Capital II, with a focus on Europe, its managing partner Dmitry Chikhachev shared with East-West Digital News his views on the globalization of the startup and venture industry and the international positioning of his fund, which initially focused on Russia. Continue Reading
DST launches 4th international tech fund
DST Global, a large Russian IT-focused fund controlled by Russian billionaire Yuri Milner, has launched its fourth investment fund, DST Global IV. The news wasreported earlier this month by East-West Digital News, the first all English-language online resource dedicated to Russian digital industries, based on U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission documents. Continue Reading
EBRD STATEMENT ON OPERATIONAL APPROACH IN RUSSIA
A majority of the Board of Directors of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), including all EU member states and several non-EU shareholders, have given clear guidance to the EBRD management that, for the time being, they will be unable to approve new investment projects in the Russian Federation. Continue Reading
VTB Capital appoints new interim CEO
Nick Hutt has been appointed interim CEO of VTB Capital plc. He is a key member of the VTB Capital team and has been working in the London office since 2008 as CFO of the company’s international business. Atanas Bostandjiev will be leaving his current position to pursue other business opportunities. Continue Reading
US imposes new sanctions on Russia
The Obama administration on Wednesday widened sanctions against Russia to punish its government for contributing to violence in Ukraine. Continue Reading
Moscow-based Runa Capital to invest up to $200 million in European startups
Runa Capital, a Moscow-based global tech-focused venture capital firm, announced yesterday the first closing of its new fund, Runa Capital II. With a target size of $200 million, the firm will continue investing in tech-based companies worldwide, focusing especially on Europe. The amount of the first closing has not been disclosed. Continue Reading