The Federal Antimonopoly Service has approved the merger of Uber and Yandex.Taxi in the Russian Federation. The two ride-sharing businesses will join forces, allowing their apps users to use both Uber and Yandex.Taxi. The driver-side of the apps will also be integrated to generate higher driver utilisation rates. This will result in better service and reliability, as well as shorter wait times for passengers.
Pierre-Dimitri Gore-Coty, head of Uber in Europe, the Middle East and Africa, believes that “not only is this partnership good news for our two companies, it’s also great for riders, drivers and cities across the region. This deal is a testament to our exceptional growth in the region and helps Uber continue to build a sustainable global business.”
The companies had previously announced their plans in July earlier this year. Tigran Khudaverdyan of Yandex.Taxi had said: “This combination greatly enhances Yandex’s ability to offer better quality service to our riders and drivers, to quickly expand our services to new regions, and to build a sustainable business.”
“The combined companies currently perform over 35 million rides a month while growing over 400% year-over-year,” stated Khudaverdyan, noting that Yandex.Taxi has become “the largest and most trusted ridesharing business in Russia and neighbouring countries,” and that they “are excited to expand on this foundation in collaboration with Uber.”
As part of the agreement, both companies will merge their ride sharing business in the Russian Federation, Belarus, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan and Georgia. The Ministry of Antimonopoly Regulation and Trade of the Republic of Belarus approved the transaction in Belarus but the merger is still awaiting the approval of the Federal Antimonopoly Service of Kazakhstan.
Both parties intend to close then transaction in January 2018.
