Chinese cars will rise in price by 10%, 2.5 billion rubles will be allocated for preferential loans for IT companies: the main thing on August 16

World

• The International Monetary Fund has proposed increasing the cost of electricity for cryptocurrency miners by 85%. That is why the IMF wants to tax them for air pollution. Thanks to the initiative, the government’s annual revenues could increase by $5.2 billion.

• Nebius Group shareholders approved the share buyback, approved the new composition of the board of directors and also gave permission to change the name. It was previously reported that as part of the buyback, the share price could be $10.5 per share.

• British fintech company Revolut has strengthened its status as Europe’s most valuable startup. As a result of the transaction for the sale of shares owned by employees, Revolut’s valuation reached $45 billion.

Russia

• The number of domains for fraudulent investment projects increased by 25% and reached 10,000, and the number of posts on social networks attracting fraudulent sites increased 40-fold. The increase in the activity of scammers is associated with the popularization of programs for expanding illegal business.

Business

• The parent company of T-Bank became the owner of 99.4% of Rosbank’s capital. As part of the deal, one bank bought 1.42 billion shares of another bank. TKS Holding intends to buy the remaining part and has already sent the corresponding offer to the Central Bank.
• Former vice president of the American company Cisco in Russia will become an advisor to the IT company Aquarius. His responsibilities in his new position are not disclosed.
• Another 2.5 billion rubles will be allocated for preferential loans for IT companies. The loan amount can reach up to 10 billion rubles.

• DNS, following Citylink, has set maximum prices for some products. The list includes categories and basic products to prepare for the new school year. Previously, the FAS sent a recommendation to retailers to limit margins.

• Two investors have increased their shares in the startup developer of the house-building assistant Puzzle PropTech (legal entity Puzzle Proptech LLC), RB.RU reported. The company is preparing for a new investment deal, its founder Alexey Gorulev said.

Finance

• HeadHunter will be able to pay dividends again at the end of 2024. The last time the company paid them was based on the results of work in 2021. The largest human resources company in Russia is currently changing its business registration from Cyprus to Russia and is preparing to move to a new office in Moscow.

• US banks block the accounts of Russian clients when they log into personal accounts from Russia. US financial institutions can apply this practice only in some territories, but not throughout the country, lawyers say.

• The Moscow Exchange may buy its own broker. The initiative was born in response to criticism from brokers about the possible provision of direct trading access to investors. By law, an exchange cannot have a brokerage license, but it has the right to own a brokerage company.

Transport

• Russian dealers will increase prices for cars from China by 10% from September. A possible price increase at ROAD is explained by problems with bank payments between the two countries.

Services and technologies

• According to the survey, 77% of Internet users in Russia reacted negatively to the YouTube slowdown. Only 13% of users use tools to avoid service slowdowns, and if YouTube is completely blocked, one in three respondents would prefer Telegram as an analogue of the service for watching videos.
• The first “smart” AI-based waste collection device from EcoPoint has appeared in Moscow. It was installed on the territory of the Aurora business center.

• Wildberries has conceived a large-scale project to combat fires in warehouses and other facilities. The market is looking for contractors to design a fire safety system for all existing and new facilities, RB.RU reported.

• Yandex has decided to create an analogue of the Miro platform for remote collaboration, which has left Russia. According to the source, the service may become part of Yandex 360. The company itself confirmed that the project is being worked on, but did not specify the details.