Why the Uber-Yandex merger in Eastern Europe won’t cover Ukraine – VentureBeat
As the dust settles from the momentous merger news that will eventually see Uber and Yandex form a new ride-sharing company covering six Eastern European markets, its worth taking a moment to dig down into the finer nuances of the deal.
Weve already looked at how the partnership willhelp expand Yandexs global footprint, but specific to the handful of countries where the new joint venture will operate, there was one conspicuous absentee:Ukraine, which claims a population of more than 45 million people.
The new Yandex / Uber combined unit which is tentatively called NewCo but will eventually get a proper name is going to operate in Russia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, and Kazakhstan, where both Uber and Yandex.taxi both operate already, as well as in Armenia and Georgia, which will represent entirely new markets for the Uber platform.
So why not Ukraine, which on the surface fits into the duos broader plans for the region? Well, it all comes down to politics.
Uber kicked off its Ukrainian operations in Kiev last June, while Yandex.taxi threw its hat into the ring there in November. However, with political tensions mounting between Ukraine and Russia, Ukrainian president Petro Poroshenko in Mayimposed sanctions on a number of Russian technology companies including Yandex. A couple of weeks later, the Ukrainian Security Service (SBU) raided Yandexs offices in Kiev and Odessa, alleging thatthe company had been illegally collecting Ukrainian users data on behalf of Russian security agencies. Shortly after Yandexs Ukrainian adventure was cut short, Uber reportedly raised its pricesthere.
At any rate, NewCo will be 59.3 percent owned by Yandex,which is why Uber will continue to go it alone in Ukraine under its own brand its just too risky trying to launch a Yandex-backed venture in the country.
As an aside here, Ubers decision to jump into bed with a major Russian tech company could isolate Uber from customers in Ukraine if the opinions contained in some tweets are a template for sentiment across the country.
This could ultimately be good news for other local players, such as Estonias Taxify, an Uber clone that launched in Ukraine last year.
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Why the Uber-Yandex merger in Eastern Europe won't cover Ukraine - VentureBeat