Kazakhstani ticketing service Ticketon has broken off its partnership with Yandex Afisha

As RBC writes, citing a source in the media market, Ticketon (part of Freedom Holding Corp.) previously facilitated Yandex Afisha’s entry into the Kazakhstan market. Thus, in 2022, the Russian service gained access to the events database.

Under the terms of the agreement, Yandex was only allowed to sell tickets through this database. The Russian company initially complied with the terms of the agreement, but soon began trying to develop its own local marketplace.

In 2018, the companies wanted to start working together, but Yandex Afisha was not satisfied with the proposed conditions, according to which it was prohibited from negotiating with local venues and organizers.

In 2021, the idea of ​​partnership, initiated by Ticketon founder Konstantin Gorozhankin, was revived. However, the terms of cooperation have not changed.

The agreement, which excludes the possibility of Yandex Afisha acting independently on the market, was signed in 2022.

In March 2024, Ticketon’s management learned from the news that its Russian partner, bypassing the agreements, became a sponsor of the Park Live festival. This is an international event that was held in Moscow until 2022.

“We started negotiations, warned about violations of agreements, but they thought differently. Then Yandex Afisha launched the sale of the 30 Seconds to Mars tour in our cities, again without Ticketon,” Gorozhankin told RBC.

Ticketon notified Yandex of the termination of the partnership on June 12. At the same time, the company proposed new conditions under which Yandex should pay a fine for violations. But the Russian company rejected this format.

When the media started writing about Yandex’s partnership with Park Live, some artists refused to participate in the festival. This is what the British group Editors did. Initially, the team announced the concert, but then canceled the decision.

“But now that we have been informed who is sponsoring the event, we have decided to withdraw. We hope to come to Kazakhstan in the future, under different circumstances,” the editors said.