Telegram Launches Stories, Collectly of Brutyan, and Mizotin Raises $29 Million: Breaking News July 21

World

• The European Union is not yet ready to confiscate the frozen assets of the Russian Federation, adviser to the Prime Minister of the Netherlands Geoffrey van Leeuwen said. Among the reasons, he called disagreement with Germany, reports TASS.

• The US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has withdrawn a lawsuit to block a deal between Microsoft and Activision Blizzard. In June, the regulator asked the court to block the deal, as trial in this case in the FTC’s internal administrative court was scheduled for August 2 only. Thus, the commission tried to prevent the purchase from taking place before the case was considered by the regulator’s administrative judge.

Russia

• The State Duma approved in third reading the introduction of a tax on excessive profits for companies. The rate will be 10% on the amount of excess profit. You must pay the tax by January 28, 2024, but if you make a payment from October 1 to November 30 of the current year, the rate will be cut in half to 5%. As State Duma Chairman Vyacheslav Volodin commented on the move, “Politics is not just decisions that cause applause, but also responsibility.”

• The Ministry of Finance will launch a jewelry market for the EAEU countries in March 2024. Entrepreneurs from the union’s member countries will be able to market their products on the site without administrative costs. At the initial stage, companies from Russia and Belarus will sell on the online platform, and other countries will join later. The Ministry of Finance believes that such a project will help increase the recognition of Russian manufacturers in the world.

• Wildberries took over the former Apple office in Moscow’s business center, Romanov Dvor. The US company terminated the lease in March. The market moved to a place of more than 4 thousand square meters. m., distributed over two floors.

Economy

• Against the background of a sharp decline in the venture capital market in the Russian Federation, the White House intends to provide startups with not only financial, but also administrative support, Kommersant writes.

Business

• Levon Brutyan and Maxim Mizotin’s FinTech startup Collectly has raised $29 million in a Series A round. Investors include Y Combinator, Cabra VC, Burst Capital and others.
• Alfa-Bank will get a stake in the event ticket aggregator Kassir.ru. The amount of the transaction, according to unofficial data, can exceed a billion rubles.
• Invitro founder and CEO Alexander Ostrovsky leaves the company. Businessman Roman Mironchik will become its owner, Kommersant learned.
• In Russia, it was proposed to ban the terms “eco fur” and “eco fur”. Market participants refer to them as various artificial materials, which misleads consumers, Izvestia reports.

• The government commission approved the sale of Decathlon’s Russian assets to Mango franchise owner AMR. The buyer undertakes to resume the work of 35 stores in the network, as well as to restore about 1.4 thousand jobs. The Ministry of Industry and Trade said that “neither Decathlon, nor any other foreign company that decided to leave, was allowed to sell the business in parts and get the full value of the assets, breaking the law.”

Technologies and services

• Telegram has stories. You can update through the website, Google Play and App Store. Version 9.7.0 for Android, 9.6.4 for iOS. For now, stories are only available to Premium users.

• Otkritie Bank launched a non-cash tipping service. Bank acquisition users can set up the new feature for free. Employee card numbers will be linked to the system, where it will be possible to instantly credit gratitude for the employee.