Krasnodar, 23 July – Yug Times. MLU B.V. (the company that unites Yandex.Taxi and Uber) has reportedly concluded an agreement on the purchase of assets of Vezet, Russia’s second largest taxi operator. The parties stated that the deal may be completed by the end of this year. It has already been approved by the Supervisory Board of Yandex.Taxi and Councils of Director of Yandex N.V. and Vezet.
According to the deal, MLU B.V. will acquire the rights for the software and call-centres of Vezet in the Russian cities. Zoya Avstriyskaya, Vezet press secretary, was quoted as saying in this respect that what this means is only the Russian assets of the company.
When the deal is completed, 56.2% of Yandex.Taxi will be owned by Yandex, 25% by Uber, and 5.3% by the employees in the framework of the corporate incentive program, Yandex stated.
The parties asserted that owing to the introduction of the new technological platform, the drivers will be less often driving empty and will be earning more, while the passengers will be spending less time to wait for a cab.
However, the all-Russia Passengers’ Association believes that the purchase of Vezet’s assets may result in the prices going up. In their attempt to prevent the monopolization and price rise, they have sent a letter to the Federal Antimonopoly Committee.
On the other hand, experts do not share the apprehensions that the market would become monopolized. They state that in small towns, even those located close to big cities, most passengers are still being served by independent taxi companies. Leonid Delitsyn, a Finam analyst, said that even after the merge, Yandx.Taxi will be serving not more than 42% of the orders.
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