Top Tech Stories May 2: Tinkoff Bank founder sells his stake

FINTECH

Tinkoff Bank founder Oleg Tinkov said he was forced to sell his stake in the bank following Instagram comments criticizing Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and saying 90% of Russians are against the war. He told the New York Times he was threatened with the bank’s nationalization. Fintech pioneer and Russia’s third-biggest bank by customer count may now be changing its name to distance itself further from the founder. [Source: The New York Times, INSIDER]

Every player in the payments ecosystem is adjusting to the new reality, from large banks to early-stage fintech companies and consumers. Daniel Gusev, managing partner and founder of Gauss Ventures, predicts that “merchants will lead the evolution of payments, mirroring the Chinese/SEA model.” [Source: Chris Skinner’s blog]

ECONOMIC DOWNTURN

Dwindling spending: an estimated 45% of Russian consumers will spend less money during the May national holidays than a year ago, a report by a consulting company Calltouch found. A survey by NielsenIQ said 73% of Russian households are going to cut their spending amid sanctions and rising prices. [Source: Kommersant]

Some major Russian companies are facing a lack of servers and data storage systems after the biggest world producers have left the Russian market. The largest social network VK reached out to the government with a request to facilitate purchase of the equipment. [Source: Kommersant]

A list of foreign companies that left the Russian market was joined by Haribo, InterContinental Hotel Group, DWS Group, Downdetector, Coty, LPP, Inchcape, Japan Tobacco, UPS, BASF, DJI Technology, AAK, Beiersdorf, Stora Enso, Volvo Cars, and Compass Mining. Some of them have temporarily suspended their activities, while the remainder are not planning to return. [Source: Telegram Channel The Provisional Government]

INTERNET

Russia’s Federal Bailiffs Service will forcibly seize $100 million from Google in a fine imposed by a Russian court in late 2021. A file to the court was sent by Roskomnadzor, a Russian state communications regulator, after Google refused to delete content the regulator found illegal. [Source: Interfax]

Russian tech company Yandex has sold its news service and a blog platform Zen to a social network VK. The deal is still subject to approval by the Federal Antimonopoly Service, and the sum was not disclosed. [Source: East West Digital News] 

Yandex’s net loss in the first quarter of 2022 was nearly $150 million compared to $36 million of net income in Q1 2021. The company cited a sharp increase in staff costs as the main driver for the loss. [Source: Bloomberg]

THE RISE OF DOMESTIC ANALOGUES CONTINUES

The Russian government issued a decree on the establishment of the Aerospace Innovation Valley. To be located in the Ryazan region, the valley will be a technopark with residents investing in aerospace, biomedical, and information technologies. [Source: the Russian government]

Russia-produced smartphone AYYA manufactured by the state corporation Rostech was not highly sought by Russian consumers even amid drop in supplies of foreign gadgets. Just 400 devices were sold in the first quarter of 2022, a fraction of the total smartphone sales in the country. [Source: Kommersant]

New service AudioClub will replace Spotify, Youtube Music, and the like for Russian melomanes. The service to be launched in fall 2022 will be developed by a state-owned corporation Gazprom Media. [Source: RIA Novosti] 

IT EDUCATION

Russian Federation Council Deputy Chairman Andrey Turchak claimed the Russian economy additionally needs one million IT professionals. High schools have to boost educational capacity to provide enough labor to join 1.7 million professionals currently employed. [Source: Kommersant]

30,000 student IT startups will receive nearly $150,000 each from the federal budget through 2030, as a part of the program that will fund 3,200 startups next year. The initiative is directed at the stimulation of students’ involvement in IT business. [Source: TASS] 

SOFTWARE

Demand from businesses for face recognition solutions and services rose by 120% in April year-on-year. Competitive pressures and desire of manufacturers and real estate companies to enhance the quality level of client service is fueling the jump. [Source: RB]

Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a decree on additional measures for cybersecurity. All federal and regional government bodies, state companies, funds, and other entities of critical importance will have special cybersecurity departments charged with defense from cyber attacks and espionage. [Source: RB]

SCIENCE

The St. Petersburg Polytechnic University was awarded with grants for breakthrough research in fields of healthcare, digital transformation of industry, clean energy and space. [Source: N+1]

Russia will leave the International Space Station at an unspecified future date. The reason is the sanctions imposed on the country’s space industry due to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. [Source: Bloomberg] 

FIGHT FOR TALENT

The U.S. wants to ease visa requirements for Russians with degrees in science, technology, engineering, and math. The initiative is targeted at highly educated specialists in semiconductors, space technology, cybersecurity, advanced manufacturing, and AI. [Source: Bloomberg]

Russians spent 30-40% more in March and April on IT courses than in the corresponding period of 2021, as more job seekers are looking to polish their skills and have the option to work anywhere in the world. [Source: Kommersant]