Business
Alexander Varshavsky: The car salesman who became the biggest winner of Russia’s corporate exodus Paid Members Public
The mass departure of international firms from Russia has provided a golden opportunity for previously mid-ranking Russian business owners to jump into the ranks of the corporate elite. Nobody has taken better advantage of the once-in-a-generation chance to snap up profitable companies at massive discounts than Alexander Varshavsky and Kamo
The New Russians: Who is buying up the assets of Western companies leaving Russia? Paid Members Public
The war in Ukraine is changing business in Russia beyond all recognition. This has been obvious from the very first days of the invasion, with Western companies announcing departures in their droves and dozens of Russian business leaders falling under sanctions. The Bell has analyzed exactly who is coming out
Aircraft delays Paid Members Public
* Russia’s aviation industry is among the hardest hit by Western sanctions imposed over Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine. Airlines lost access to leased Airbus and Boeing aircraft and could no longer easily buy parts to service their fleets. A multi-billion-dollar state program to produce home-made planes was meant to
Yandex: the end of independence Paid Members Public
For the past 25 years, Yandex, arguably Russia’s most innovative company, has struggled to preserve its independence from the Kremlin. The announcement of a planned $5.2-billion deal to sell the company’s Russian businesses to a consortium of investors brought an end to that era, raising questions over
The plot to extort the biggest bribe in Russian history Paid Members Public
Russian investigators are currently probing a case related to the biggest attempted bribe in recorded Russian history. FSB officers and officials from the Investigative Committee are said to have fabricated a murder case then tried to use it to extort 15 billion rubles ($200 million) from the alleged suspects, the
Yandex gets a new set of owners Paid Members Public
The two-year saga surrounding the sale of Yandex’s Russian assets is nearing its end. Russia’s leading internet company announced Monday that it is dividing its business in two. Founder Arkady Volozh, who lives in Israel and has condemned Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, will keep hold of a
Russia invests in a homemade Wikipedia, in the hope of blocking the original Paid Members Public
Russia launched the Ruwiki platform this week, the latest Wikipedia clone it hopes will secure an audience at home. The success of the project may determine the fate of Wikipedia itself inside Russia. The authorities would like to block the site, but can’t while it remains overwhelmingly popular throughout
Russia’s “lottery king” buying up Western assets Paid Members Public
The departure of Western firms from Russia has created a new cadre of Russian business elite, as previously little-known figures snap up lucrative assets at cut price assets. The Bell investigated the case of one such figure, Armen Sarkisyan, who has bought a string of Western companies over the last
