The German “daughter” of the Russian Post was wanted; you can top up your Steam wallet via VK Play: the main thing on August 20;

World

• In Berlin, customs officers searched the premises of the Russian Post subsidiary RusPost GmbH and another logistics company. The state operator did not confirm this information and added that the delivery of goods from abroad is taking place normally.

• Chinese banks have begun to return payments even for goods delivered to Russia. The reasons given range from errors in details to fears of violating sanctions. Russian companies have been experiencing problems in trade relations with China since July.

• Former Warner Music Group CEO Edgar Bronfman Jr. has decided to derail the already-approved deal to merge Paramount and Skydance Media, sources said. Bronfman Jr. has submitted a formal offer to buy Paramount, valuing it at $4.3 billion.

• Direct flights from Russia to Bali are opening after a four-year hiatus. From September 17, Aeroflot will start operating them. Air traffic between Moscow and Denpasar was stopped due to the coronavirus pandemic in 2020.

• Musk has agreed to work in the Trump administration if he wins the election. The billionaire made this statement on the social network X. He posted a photo of himself behind the podium of the Department of Public Administration Efficiency, the businessman accompanied the post with the description: “I’m ready.”

Russia

• The Supreme Court of the Russian Federation has rejected Ilya Sachkov’s appeal against his treason conviction. In April 2023, the founder of Group IB was sentenced to 14 years in prison; according to the Prosecutor General’s Office, he handed over information containing state secrets to a foreign intelligence service.
• The Brief Telegram channel has dissolved its editorial staff after being included in a list of foreign agents. This happened on August 16; now other channels affiliated with Brief have ceased to operate.

Services and technologies

• Russian gaming platform VK Play has added the ability to top up a Steam e-wallet. The conversion rate varies between 9 and 12%.

• Russian marketplace Ozon will send messages to residents of Belarus, Armenia, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan urging them to register as sellers or open a pick-up point, RB.RU has learned.

• The bankruptcy trustee of Ansystems LLC, a reputable IT company declared bankrupt, has received a request from the Prosecutor General’s Office of the Russian Federation to include in the register of creditors’ claims a debt to the department of 84 million rubles.

• Russian residents are massively buying routers with pre-installed VPN after YouTube slows down. In the first half of August, sales of these devices increased by 40% compared to July figures.

• OPPO has launched sales of the new Enco Buds2 Pro TWS headphones in Russia. Their weight is just over four grams, which makes them imperceptible to the ear. At the same time, the device received powerful filling for high-quality sound.

• Mail.ru Agent service announced the end of its operation on August 20. Users were asked to switch to VK Messenger and VK WorkSpace; the company decided to focus on the development of these sites.

• FAW’s flagship crossover will soon appear in Russia. We are talking about the BESTUNE T90 model, which was built on the advanced modular FMA-A2 platform and therefore combines comfort, safety and advanced digital capabilities.
• Chery car brand has patented a new Xtrim brand in Russia. The Chinese carmaker is already using it in the Iranian market. The product logo has also been approved. This is the company name in a corporate font.
• VK WorkSpace has extensively updated its messenger. The business communications platform has many new features. You can now create and organize folders, archive and pin chats, and manage notifications.
• Yandex has introduced Station Light 2, featuring an LED display and emotional responses from Alice. Emotional synthesis technology has been added to the device. You can buy a new speaker for 5,990 rubles. It is already available in major retail chains and online platforms.
• An invitation poster with the date of the presentation of the iPhone 16 has been published online. This event was supposedly scheduled for September 10. On this day, not only the updated smartphones will be presented, but also the Apple Watch Series 10 smartwatch, as well as AirPods headphones.
• In Russia, the demand for smartphones with large memory capacity has increased significantly. The most interesting were devices with 512 GB, the demand for which increased 6.9 times. The most popular smartphones with 128 GB are Realme, and those with 256 GB are Tecno.
• WhatsApp* will let you hide phone numbers under nicknames. Messenger is testing a new feature: only old contacts will see the phone number. WhatsApp is also planning to add protection against unwanted incoming messages from unknown numbers with a PIN code.

Business

• Vladimir Potanin’s Interros became the largest shareholder of TKS Holding, increasing its stake from 35.1% to 41.4%. The structure participated in the additional issue of TKS securities by contributing Rosbank shares.

• Blogger Andrei Sidoropulo was detained in Moscow and charged with fraud. Sidoropulo has been on the federal wanted list since January 2023. The blogger sold his own courses and promised buyers a multiple increase in income in a short time.

• Former Deputy Head of the Ministry of Digital Development Dmitry Oguryaev has joined Rostelecom. In June, he took up the position of Vice President for Customer Experience for Government Digital Services and New Digital Products.

• The Moscow Stock Exchange is going to challenge the US sanctions imposed on it, which were introduced in June 2024. Work in this direction has already begun. An appeal to OFAC is also being prepared to clarify the use of general licenses when unfreezing assets.
• Immigrant couriers in Russia have started earning on a par with novice IT specialists. The salary of couriers who are not citizens of the Russian Federation has increased by 40% to 147 thousand rubles per month, while the income of an IT specialist is about 155 thousand rubles per month. The growth in courier salaries was facilitated by the shortage of staff.

Transport

• Spare parts manufacturers will offer a warranty for Avito car products. It will cover possible defects in materials and workmanship.
• Avto.ru Business has updated customer chats in the dealer’s personal account. Managers can view the VIN number, make, model, year of manufacture, mileage and equipment.