Russian regulator says да to Uber/Yandex merger

The Federal Antimonopoly Service of the Russian Federation has given its approval to the combination of Uber's services with those of local Google analog Yandex. The merger was floated in July 2017, with Uber saying the merger would be good for all parties. And well it may: Russian economic policy favours local – and …

[Anonymous Coward]

Doing so cemented Uber's presence in Russia, and several satellite states, without having to compete hard in a tricky jurisdiction.

I would not bet on that. Even after the merger, Uber-Yandex is only the second online taxi booking service in Russia by the number of rides. The first spot belongs to the recently merged RuTaxi-Fasten group. Of course, with this being Russia, RuTaxi and Fasten "forgot" to ask the permission of the anti-monopoly regulators and tied to keep the merger secret. As the result, they now face a full-scale illegal monopoly investigation.

It is refreshing to see Uber playing by the rules when their competitors do not; there may still be hope for them.

[Anonymous Coward]

It is refreshing to see Uber playing by the rules when their competitors do not; there may still be hope for them.

Eerm they'll get a legit foothold on Russia then move their entire operation there to be out of reach. Maybe they've realised some officials like a bit of money on the side there.

[Anonymous Coward]

So Uber can lose 40% on every fare in Russia too?

What business model are these clowns working to?

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: So Uber can lose 40% on every fare in Russia too?

Dunno. Historically, many Russian private drivers used to offer the service without an app.

As a pedestrian seeking a ride, you stuck your thumb out, and fairly quickly somebody would stop and offer to take you wherever you wanted to go, and you agreed the fare with them (effectively a form of pay as you go hitch-hiking that was quite profitable for the driver).

Given that as a general rule there are no roadworthy cars in Russia, and official "vetting" meant nothing, this practice didn't seem to be any more risky than using the scant number of official cabs (well, certainly scant whenever you might want one). Obviously, women wouldn't want to do this, and you'd prefer your party to outnumber the driver. And you need to be comfortable bouncing along in a smelly Lada driven by somebody you don't know, who doesn't speak your language.

Could that be any worse than Uber?

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: So Uber can lose 40% on every fare in Russia too?

Last year I was in Kazakhstan and this is the normal way of getting places. Just stand at the side of the road, have a brief conversation and go.

All cash, no exchanging of identities, and very friendly.

[Alistair]

Wait.

Putin has a "Federal antimonopoly Service"?.

I was wondering how he managed that stuff.

Goober coming to the USA soon?

[Aladdin Sane]

Federal antimonopoly Service

Ironically, there's only one of them.

[Kevin McMurtrie]

Analogies

Yandex was the Yahoo of Russia, but Yandex is too classy for that analogy so they should be the Google of Russia. Rambler is the new Yahoo of Russia. On the other hand, all of the scam e-mails that I receive have switched from Yahoo to GMail contact addresses, so Google is now the Yahoo and I don't know who the Google is.

[Fruit and Nutcase]

USSR

Uber Seeks to Service Russia