Foreign investment test case ends with Calvey conviction Paid Members Public
More than two and a half years after the arrest of Michael Calvey — the founder of Russia-focused private equity fund Baring Vostok — one of the most symbolic legal cases for Russia’s investment climate has finally come to an end. A judge found Calvey guilty Friday, handing him a five-and-a-half-year
Russians lose millions as Finico pyramid scheme collapses Paid Members Public
Many associate giant financial pyramid schemes in Russia with the 1990s and the financial Wild West that followed the end of the Soviet Union. But they are still alive and well today. The last few weeks saw the unraveling of the Finiko pyramid scheme and the arrest of founder Kirill
Top tech company uses AI to fire 30% of workforce Paid Members Public
Russian tech company Xsolla sparked intense debate Wednesday when it abruptly made 147 employees redundant using an algorithm appraisal system. Founder Alexander Agapitov added fuel to the fire by an aggressive email informing staff of his decision, while posting on Facebook that they should “get the fuck outta here”. * It’
Calvey conviction Paid Members Public
Hello! This week our top story is the conviction of private equity investor Michael Calvey on embezzlement charges in a long-running legal case that has stymied Russia’s investment climate. We also look at the collapse of the Finico pyramid scheme and the top tech company that used AI to
How banks and payment systems enabled illegal gambling Paid Members Public
The Bell published an investigation in Russian last week detailing how part of Russia’s financial system profits from the transfer abroad of earnings from illegal online casinos and bookmakers. Below we have a summary of the findings in English. How Russia cracked down on gambling There’s an old
The Dutch blogger assisting Russia's media crackdown Paid Members Public
Prominent investigative outlet The Insider appeared this week to be the latest target for officials in an ongoing crackdown on independent media. Editor-in-chief Roman Dobrokhotov was briefly detained Wednesday as part of a defamation case brought by controversial Dutch blogger Max van der Werff. * Dobrokhotov’s detention came just a
Tech giants Q2 results point to economic recovery Paid Members Public
State-owned banking giant Sberbank and internet giants Yandex and Mail.ru are leading the market in developing their own ‘ecosystems’ covering everything from banking and fintech to ridesharing, driverless cars, artificial intelligence, food delivery, virtual assistants and media streaming. We had a look at their second quarter results to see
Servicing illegal gambling Paid Members Public
Hello! This week our main story is our investigation into Russia’s illegal gambling business and how it moves its money offshore. We also look at the difficulties faced by investigative media outlet The Insider after its chief editor was briefly arrested and the second quarter financial results of three
