"Yandex.Taxi" and Uber decided to unite

UFA, 14 July 2017. /Bashinform News Agency, Ksenia Kalinina/. Yandex and Uber taxi services popular in Bashkortostan decided to merge their businesses. A single online platform will operate in the territory of Russia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Armenia, Georgia and Kazakhstan. This was reported in the blog by Yandex.Taxi General Director Tigran Khudaverdyan.

According to him, nothing will change for users of both taxi services - both applications will be available, as before. Drivers will be united in a single platform. This will help to increase the number of free cars, reduce waiting time and idling. Drivers will receive more orders per hour, and passengers will still have affordable trip costs.

Uber and Yandex decided to invest $ 225 million and $ 100 million, respectively, into the new company. Its value was estimated at 3.725 billion dollars. Yandex will own 59.3% of the company, Uber 36.6% , and 4.1% of it will belong to employees.

According to RIA Novosti, the Federal Antimonopoly Service of the Russian Federation has not yet received a petition from Yandex and Uber about a deal to combine online taxi services in Russia and neighbouring countries.

Elena Zaeva, the head of the communication control and IT department FAS, explained that the company's shares would be determined in the course of comprehensive consideration of the petition upon its receipt.