Natura Siberica enters two more markets; Russians will need to have a TIN when applying for a loan: the main thing is December 25

Russia

• Russian operators are switching to a new format for exchanging traffic with Google: companies are expanding the number of direct connections. Previously, Google notified that it would stop transmitting traffic through routing servers at exchange points starting in 2024.

• The government submitted amendments to the rules to consolidate control over PJSC to the State Duma. It is proposed to replace the concept of “affiliation” with the more general term “related parties” when determining the ownership thresholds of a structure (30%, 50%, 70%).

Finance

• When issuing a loan, banks will require a TIN from Russians. This is how organizations will check if the client has a self-ban: The law that will establish this protection mechanism against scammers will come into force in 2025.

• The volume of funds of Russian investors frozen on the St. Petersburg Stock Exchange due to sanctions amounts to 3 billion dollars. Last week the platform announced that it was preparing a request to OFAC to unfreeze the funds.

Business

• The Russian cosmetics manufacturer Natura Siberica intends to enter the markets of Africa and South America. All shipments to new regions go through local distributors and then the cosmetics go to retail and pharmacy chains.

• MTS is negotiating the purchase of Mars Media Entertainment’s production center, sources said. The amount of the transaction could amount to about one billion rubles. With the purchase, the company wants to strengthen its film production areas within the framework of the development of the Kion online cinema.

• The largest agricultural holding in Krasnodar, the “Agrocomplex that bears its name. NI Tkachev” entered the Moscow market. The first store was opened in the Filevsky Park district and then the company will begin to open outlets in a neighborhood format in residential areas of the capital. The emphasis will be on fresh products : meat and dairy products with a short shelf life.

Services and technologies

• On the eve of the New Year, Telegram launched an update: channels will be able to set wallpapers, emoji statuses and profile logos, and users will be able to repost community posts in the story.
• Russian developers have launched the Flero dating app. Using artificial intelligence, it will determine compatibility and select partners based on socionic, astrological and other parameters.
• In December, MegaFon, MTS, VimpelCom and “several specialized companies” will receive samples of Russian M2M SIM cards for IoT (Internet of Things) for testing, Kommersant writes.
• Yandex Travels has put together useful services for traveling. Now all the necessary information about tickets and hotel appears on the main screen of the application a month before the trip. Basic details are available even without the Internet.