IT mortgage for remote regional specialists, Wink music service: the main thing on September 23

Russia

• Promsvyazbank (PSB) has filed a claim against Ost-West Handeslbank (OWH SE, formerly VTB Bank Europe) for 1.8 billion rubles.
• Unmanned long-distance trains could start running on Russian railways as early as 2030, Russian Railways Director General Oleg Belozerov said at the International Forum “Digital Transport – 2024”.
• A bill to expand tax breaks for electronics manufacturers will be considered at the next meeting of the Cabinet of Ministers, Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin said.
• Small cargo weighing up to 10 kilograms can now be sent quickly and across the entire Aeroflot route network. The airline, in cooperation with UTG-Express, started delivering parcels and letters from 23 September.

World

• The European Commission has stated that they are not considering a complete blockade of Telegram in the EU. However, its work may be temporarily suspended if it poses a threat to the security of member states.
• Durov said Telegram has taken even more steps to deter criminals promoting illegal products. The service’s terms of service and security policy have been updated.
• The Central Bank of Russia has decided to once again extend restrictions on transfers of funds from Russia. The limits that were introduced earlier remain in place.

• The IT startup Brandquad ceased to be a Russian-French company on September 19, and the foreign structure of the same name finally gave up its capital, RB.RU reported. The shares were returned to the founders and Russian investors; 35% remains in the ownership of the LLC itself.
  

Finance

• Amid the tightening of sanctions, intermediaries have begun to offer factoring to companies as a tool for international payments. The mechanism is gaining popularity.
• The Federal Tax Service (FTS) will provide companies with information on the tax amnesty for the division of their businesses.
• Bank customers will be able to report fraudulent transactions to the Ministry of the Interior via their apps. The measure will save time and quickly provide the necessary information to the police.
• In Moscow, the activity of private investors with capital of 15 million rubles or more in the commercial real estate market has increased, Alexandra Zakharova, director of commercial real estate at the Level Group development company, told RB.RU.
• Credit card users in Russia use more than a third of the limit approved for them, the Scoring Bureau spoke about this, adding that residents of the country more actively use credit cards for everyday needs, and transfers from deposits and accounts have become less popular.
• Authorities have approved a regulation to protect the rights of mortgage borrowers. The document, which will come into force in January 2025 and will be mandatory for banks, is designed to minimise the spread of subprime mortgage lending schemes and force banks to inform borrowers in more detail about the terms and risks of loans.
• The Central Bank issued commemorative coins based on the cartoon “The Hedgehog in the Fog” in honor of its 50th anniversary: ​​one silver coin with a face value of 3 rubles and two 25-ruble coins made of steel with nickel plating and of copper-nickel alloy with color coating.

Business

• Authorities are considering extending preferential mortgages to 6% for IT specialists living in the regions and working for Moscow companies. According to experts, such a change will help support regional real estate markets.
• Wildberries has decided to unite 35,500 pick-up points across Russia into a single network. As part of the new program, software and applications for managers and partners will be updated, the personal account will be improved, and customer service will be strengthened.
• Since September 20, 2024, the general director of the Russian clothing manufacturer and seller Gloria Jeans, Maxim Basov, has become a minority co-owner of 1% of the shares of VVM Investments LLC, which owns Gloria Jeans JSC and Gloria Jeans Corporation JSC.

• Marketplaces has asked the Ministry of Digital Development to support the online sale of alcohol using biometrics. According to AKIT, the ban on the sale of alcoholic beverages on the Internet is only observed by conscientious market participants, while underground companies successfully circumvent it.

• “Vkusville” has released children’s products with characters and quotes from Chukovsky’s works. The first batch has already gone on sale.

• The volume of the Russian heavy-duty road transport market may grow by 13% to 5.2 trillion rubles by the end of 2024, and by 2028 it may reach 6.9 trillion rubles.
• Wildberries founder Tatyana Bakalchuk has decided to return her maiden name, Kim. The market’s press service told RB.RU that “the official procedure for changing the name has been initiated.”

• Moscow’s Europolis shopping and entertainment complex has lost 31 million rubles, which it tried to recover in court from a franchisee of the American fast food chain Burger King for incorrectly installed air conditioners, RB.RU reported.

• The truck driver shortage in January-August 2024 increased 58% compared to the same period in 2023. The shortage has worsened this year as trucking companies have expanded their fleets.
• Car-sharing operator Delimobil has announced the appointment of Alexander Beloturkin to the position of Chief Technical Officer (STO). He previously held a similar position in the financial department of Raiffeisen Bank.
• AvtoVAZ has denounced rumors that it plans to resume production of the third-generation Renault Logan and Sandero cars at Avtozavod St. Petersburg under the Xcite brand. This was reported on the Telegram channel “Russian Automobile etc.” on September 23.

Services and technologies

• Lamoda will deliver orders via Yandex Market pick-up points. In September, points in 600 cities will be connected to the program.
• Wink online cinema has launched a new music service, Wink Music. For now, the subscription is available to T2 subscribers for 149 rubles per month.
• Unmanned trucks have been put into operation along the entire M-11 Neva highway. Previously, the driver had to be at the wheel when entering the city, but now he can move to the passenger seat.
• Kaspersky Lab has found a dangerous virus in a WhatsApp modification. It was found in an Android app that was not downloaded from the Google Play Market.
• Experts at iFixit, a resource for electronics repair specialists, analyzed the new iPhone 16 smartphones and identified an improved method for removing the battery, which is why the new product took first place in the repairability rating.
• Russian cosmonauts Oleg Kononenko and Nikolai Chub, who spent 374 days in space, returned to Earth and set two world records.