Moscow Prosecutor’s Office launches investigation into labor law violations as Delivery Club couriers threaten to strike

June 6, 2020

The Moscow Prosecutor’s Office has launched an investigation into compliance with labor laws following mass complaints from couriers working for the Russian online food-delivery platform Delivery Club (a property of Mail.Ru Group since 2016). The company’s workers are complaining about deteriorating working conditions, as well as facing an increasing number of monetary penalties. Meanwhile, Delivery …

Moscow Prosecutor’s Office launches investigation into labor law violations as Delivery Club couriers threaten to strike Read More

YouTube deletes homophobic campaign video created by media organization linked to ‘Russian troll factory’

June 6, 2020

YouTube moderators have deleted a Russian campaign video that used homophobic humor to urge participation in an upcoming plebiscite on constitutional amendments. In the video, two gay men adopt a young boy, to the horror of orphanage employees. The campaign ad depicts a hypothetical Russia where voters have rejected new constitutional amendments, including a proposed change …

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Russia’s cryptocurrency laws remain in the gray zone

June 4, 2020

In late May Russia’s State Duma released a draft of proposed litigation toward cryptocurrencies and companies that deal with the technology. The draft called “On Digital Financial Assets,” is an updated version on how lawmakers might regulate the crypto industry in the near future. The documents do not delve much into personal holdings, trading, and cross-border remittances, …

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How blockchain platform Factorin is transforming Russia’s trade finance market

August 30, 2020

In only a year Factorin, a young technology company was able to change the trade finance market in Russia. The distributed platform automates the interaction of the customers’, suppliers’ and factors’ accounting systems, and removes all manual work in the preparation, verification, and approval of documents. Factorin reduces the overhead costs of all processes and …

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Deepfake video of Elon Musk singing Soviet space song appears after successful ‘SpaceX’ launch

June 5, 2020

With the successful launch of the Crew Dragon capsule, Elon Musk’s space travel company SpaceX sent its first astronauts to the International Space Station on May 30. To celebrate the occasion, Russian Internet users released a clever deepfake video of Musk singing “Grass at Home,” a famous song by the Soviet rock band “Zemlyane” (“Earthlings”). Russia’s state space corporation, Roscosmos, …

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Russian online video platform ivi.ru secures giant venture loan from Alfa Bank

June 3, 2020

Russian online video major ivi.ru has attracted debt financing for the first time. As reported by business daily Vedomosti,  the company received a six-year venture loan from Alfa Bank, amounting to 3.7 billion rubles (some $54 million at the current exchange rate, a considerable sum by local standards).  In addition to the share collateral, the bank has been granted an …

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Sberbank invests in e-signature service Legium.io

June 3, 2020

Sberbank, the state-controlled finance and technology giant, has invested 10 million rubles (around $150,000) in e-signature service Legium.io. As reported last week by Kommersant, Sberbank has received a 8.06% stake in the startup.  Legium.io was one of the startups which went through a joint acceleration program by Sberbank and 500 Startups last year. 

Siberian smart t-shirt helps athletes and patients monitor health markers

June 1, 2020

Already moving into the commercial sector with a considerable growth potential, plastic-based electronics are already used in several ways. For example, they allow to create flexible solar displays that can be used as wallpaper as well as in sensors on smart clothing, aiming to monitor health markers. A Siberian company called PlusMinus Electronics Lab has …

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Facebook suspends Russian colorist for “dangerous” WW2 images

June 4, 2020

Russian photo colorist Olga Shirnina has stunning new work ready to post for her more than 45,000 followers on social media but is unwilling to share three new images on Facebook and Instagram because, as she told RFE/RL, “I would be [suspended] again for sure.” Shirnina (above), who works under the name Klimbim, is a professional German-Russian …

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Russian video publishing startup acquires UK company to get stronger and go global

May 29, 2020

Russian video platform Viqeo has announced the acquisition of Suggestv, a UK adtech company, as reported by RB.ru. The terms of the deal were not disclosed.  Founded in 2015, Suggestv uses machine learning to increase video views for publishers. These may “automate the embedding of video content in-article to build a predictable pre-roll revenue model and unlock new …

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Tinkoff’s sophisticated online tools track business activity in Russia during the pandemic

May 29, 2020

Last week  Russian digital banking major Tinkoff released a sophisticated online tool, the ‘Tinkoff CoronaIndex,’ which aims to track the country’s economic activity during the pandemic.  The index relies on data from more than 11 million users of the Tinkoff ecosystem, including retail banking customers, some 550,000 businesses, and more than 60,000 customers acquiring services.  The beta version of Tinkoff CoronaIndex is …

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Moscow ranks 9th in StartupBlink’s global startup ecosystem ranking

June 24, 2021

StartupBlink has just released the 2020 edition of its Startup Ecosystem Rankings Report, which encompasses 1,000 cities and 100 countries across the world. StartupBlink’s algorithm analyzes tens of thousands of data points. Data is coming from the company’s community of 50,000 members as well as from such partners as CrunchBase, SEMrush, Meetup, and Coworker. The ranking …

Moscow ranks 9th in StartupBlink’s global startup ecosystem ranking Read More

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