Yandex.Taxi and Uber have closed a deal to combine services. “We’ve had a ride and that’s enough”: what does the merger of Yandex.Taxi and Uber mean – an expert’s opinion

MOSCOW, July 13. /Corr. TASS Anna Dementieva, Anna Toporova, Ekaterina Kazachenko/. The international technology company Uber and the Russian IT giant Yandex, which owns the Yandex.Taxi service, announced the largest deal in the online aggregation market - the creation of a joint company. Experts interviewed by TASS explained how the merger will affect the Russian taxi market.

For Uber, which is represented in 76 countries around the world, this is the first such association with a local player, Irina Gushchina, the company’s communications director in Russia and the CIS, told TASS. However, she emphasized that this deal should not be compared with Didi’s acquisition of Uber’s business in China. There, Uber's share was only 17.5% without the right to manage the business.

“This is the first time that we are merging a business in a country, and we continue to jointly manage this business and grow it. This is such a first example,” Gushchina said about the merger with Yandex.

The deal to create a new company has already been approved by the boards of directors of Uber and Yandex. It is expected that it will be closed in the fourth quarter of 2017. Uber will invest $225 million in the joint venture, Yandex - $100 million. The total value of the company is estimated at $3.725 billion. It is expected that at the time of closing the transaction, 59.3% of the company will belong to Yandex", 36.6% - Uber, and 4.1% - employees. In addition, Yandex does not rule out an initial public offering (IPO) of the new company.

“Indeed, the situation around the merger of the two largest taxi aggregators operating in Russia looks like “suddenly,” but if you take a closer look at it and evaluate the benefits that both brands acquire as a result of the merger, the question arises, “why didn’t these guys do it yesterday? “,” Sergei Plugotarenko, director of the Russian Association of Electronic Communications, commented on the deal.

Will the deal create a “new monster”?

The head of the Federal Antimonopoly Service (FAS) Igor Artemyev has already stated that the deal could create threats to competition in the market of online taxi aggregators.

“We should not be afraid of the emergence of a new “monster”; it will not absorb the entire direction, on the contrary, it will give impetus to its development and the final, irrevocable digitalization of this direction,” Plugotarenko disagreed with him.

Taxi Maxim, one of the largest regional players in Russia, is confident that there is no monopoly on the taxi market, competition will continue, just with fewer large brands. “We must not forget that there are dozens of taxi companies operating in every city, among which there are those who occupy very strong positions. They are also competitors,” the company emphasized.

Nevertheless, the general director of the Moscow “New Transport Company” (brand “New Yellow Taxi”), Felix Margaryan, noted that after the transaction, such a large player in the taxi market in Moscow has no competitors left. “Moreover, this is the foundation for expansion into the international market. Thanks to the merger with a foreign company, Yandex.Taxi receives databases and a machine park abroad, and Uber receives cars and orders in vast Russia,” he emphasized.

Market share

Yandex and Uber will combine online transportation businesses in Russia and five other countries - Azerbaijan, Armenia, Belarus, Georgia and Kazakhstan. Players estimate the share of the joint company in the Russian passenger transportation market in the cities of presence at 5-6%. According to VTB Capital Research, the legal taxi market in 2016 was estimated at 501 billion rubles, and the “gray” market - 116 billion rubles. in 2015

Uber also estimated the share of the company merged with Yandex.Taxi in the Russian market at 5-6%.

As a result of the merger, the new company will become the second largest online ordering company in Russia after Fasten, which consolidated two leading taxi ordering services - Saturn and Rutaxi - in 2017. Among the most famous brands of Fasten are: Taxi Saturn, RedTaxi, Vezet, Rutaxi, Leader, Fasten.

At the same time, in Moscow and St. Petersburg, the new company Uber and Yandex will dominate the aggregator market, believes Alexander Kostikov, director of corporate relations at Fasten. He emphasized that the deal between Yandex and Uber confirms the trend towards unification in the market.

The monthly volume of transportation of the merged company will average about 35 million trips per month, said the current CEO of Yandex.Taxi Tigran Khudaverdyan, who will head the joint project with Uber. As of June, the total monthly cost of Yandex.Taxi trips with Uber is 7.9 billion rubles, Khudaverdyan added.

What will Yandex and Uber gain?

Yandex said that the new company will use Yandex's technology and knowledge in the field of mapping and navigation services and search engines, as well as Uber's global experience in the market of online services for ordering transportation, which "will create an even more dynamically developing and sustainable a business that meets all the needs of users and drivers, and also helps develop the transport infrastructure of cities and regions."

The Yandex.Taxi and Uber applications will remain separate for users after the deal is closed. At the same time, taxi companies and drivers will switch to a single technology platform. Such a solution should make it possible to increase the number of cars available for fulfilling orders, reduce the delivery time, reduce idle mileage, and increase the reliability and availability of the service as a whole, the company believes.

This agreement once again proves that Russian technologies can not only perform on an equal footing with world leaders, but also surpass them in quality, says Bogdan Konoshenko, Chairman of the Moscow Chamber of Commerce and Industry for the Development of Taxi Transportation. “The fact that the terms of the deal included a roaming agreement on the possibility of ordering Uber cars from the Yandex.Taxi application around the world shows that the company was able to build a competitive and effective technology platform for which they are willing to pay dearly,” he emphasized.

Nothing will change for customers

Uber stated that it is not going to change its tariff policy after the closing of the deal to merge its business with Yandex.Taxi. Moreover, the companies plan that both taxi ordering applications will continue to operate.

“We do not expect any radical changes in tariffs related to the merger - neither now nor in the future,” Yandex promised not to change its principles.

As a source in the transportation market told TASS on condition of anonymity, the main advantage of creating a new company is the consolidation of budgets, which will allow intensifying promotion. As for tariffs, the agency's interlocutor suggests that initially we can expect them to decrease, thus, the merged company will try to attract those consumers who have not yet used any of the services. “Due to the combined budget, they could make a cheaper tariff, but at the same time not cut off payments for drivers,” he believes.

At the same time, the agency’s interlocutor does not rule out that in the future, when the company seriously increases its market share, it will be able to dictate its terms and then increase the tariff.

“We can only hope that tariffs for end users will not increase, because the competition between the two giants in this market forced them to “fight” for passengers, including through low tariffs,” Plugotarenko noted, in turn.

Bogdan Konoshenko, Chairman of the Moscow Chamber of Commerce and Industry for the development of taxi transportation, believes that after the merger there is no need to expect changes in the tariff policy. “In such a highly liquid market as taxi transportation, any tightening of the screws immediately leads to drivers and passengers switching to competitors. I think they will continue to move with the market and carefully develop services so as not to scare off users and maintain their partner base,” he emphasized He.

Relations with authorities

Russian Uber has repeatedly had problems with the authorities. For example, in early July, Deputy Mayor of Moscow Maxim Liksutov reported that Uber had not started transmitting data about drivers’ work online, as required by the corresponding decree of the Moscow government, which came into force in April of this year. “Uber transmits data to us, but not in the format we need. This does not allow us to respond quickly in emergency situations,” he said.

An Uber representative, in turn, noted that the company provides a significant amount of data under a bilateral agreement with the Moscow government. She added that it was too early to discuss specific aspects of working with the authorities, but assured that the deal with Yandex was not related to the requirements of regulatory authorities or the government. “The rationale behind this deal is purely economic efficiency and great opportunities for business development,” she emphasized.

Taxi fleet owners are also unhappy with the emergence of online aggregators on the market. Taxi drivers have repeatedly appealed to the authorities with a request to check the aggregators for setting tariffs below market rates. In their opinion, legal taxi drivers cannot provide transportation at such low rates. Carriers also complain that they have to operate at a loss.

Friends, I want to tell you about very important news. We, Yandex.Taxi and Uber, have decided to combine our services and businesses in Russia, as well as in Azerbaijan, Armenia, Belarus, Georgia and Kazakhstan. Together we will build “personal public transport” - an alternative to a personal car, buses or subway.

Here's what the combined platform looks like in numbers for June:

127 cities, 6 countries;
35 million trips per month;
7.9 billion rubles total cost of trips per month.

Experts estimate the total cost of travel by legal carriers in Russia at 501 billion rubles in 2016 (VTB Capital). At the same time, the “shadow” segment was estimated by the Analytical Center under the Government of the Russian Federation at 116 billion rubles in 2015. Thus, the share of the merged company in Russia in 2016 would have been approximately 5-6% by this indicator.

Taxi consumption is continuously growing, and we are witnessing this process. It seems to many of us that everyone has already switched to a taxi a long time ago, but in fact we are only at the very beginning of the journey. Our goal is to create a platform whose convenience and accessibility will be comparable to both a personal car and public transport. Now let's talk about what it will look like.

After the merger, nothing will change for users of both taxi services: both applications – Yandex.Taxi and Uber – will still be available for ordering rides. Drivers will be combined into a single platform. This will allow them to receive orders from both Yandex.Taxi and Uber in one application. Such a combination will significantly increase the number of available cars, reduce waiting time and idle mileage. All this will allow drivers to receive more orders per hour, and passengers will maintain an affordable cost of travel.

“Under the hood” our order distribution algorithms and Yandex navigation and mapping technologies will work. Over the past year, we have made several quantum leaps in technology that ensure optimal machine utilization. For example, drivers now make 30% more trips during rush hour than before. Combining the platforms will provide an opportunity to make another leap in the quality of service and driver efficiency.

In addition, Uber and I have agreed on a roaming agreement in all countries where the companies operate. For example, when you arrive in London or Bangkok, you can order an Uber from the Yandex.Taxi application, and tourists from Paris can order a Yandex.Taxi from the Uber application.

We will also continue to develop self-driving car technology, the first advances of which were published a few weeks ago. We use the many years of accumulated experience of our engineers, their knowledge in computer vision, pattern recognition and machine learning. I hope there will be something to brag about soon :)

UberEATS will continue its development under the new company. This is a complex logistics service in which we will be helped by the international experience of UberEATS and Yandex.Maps walking routing technology.

Uber and Yandex decided to invest $225 million and $100 million respectively in the new company, valuing the combined company at $3.725 billion. The company will be 59.3% owned by Yandex, 36.6% by Uber, and 4.1% by employees of the combined company. Our teams will be united. I become the CEO of the merged company.

I would especially like to thank the Yandex.Taxi team, which has built an incredible service and a successful business. This is one of the strongest teams I have ever worked on. Now the talented and equally successful Uber team is joining us - and we are very happy about it! An important task for me and for all of us after the merger will be to unite the two teams into one, combining our experience and best ideas.

The deal, which will create a new company, still must go through the regulatory approval process.

Welcome to the new company, friends! :)

Tigran Khudaverdyan
CEO
Yandex.Taxi

I found out how all this would work and who would benefit from the merger of two market giants.

Under what conditions do they merge?

The parties have already disclosed the financial part of the issue. Uber will invest $225 million in the new company and receive 36.6 percent of the shares, Yandex - $100 million for 59.3 percent of the shares. estimated at $3.7 billion, it will operate in six countries and 127 cities, providing 35 million trips worth 7.9 billion rubles. Yandex will also develop the UberEATS food delivery business based on Yandex.Maps walking routes.

What was the market like before the merger?

According to Lenta.ru sources, in 2016, Yandex.Taxi drivers made more than 16 million trips per month, more than 500 thousand trips per day. The second company in the market, Uber, had 4.8 million trips monthly, or 160 thousand per day, and Gett, which closed the top three, had 4.3 million trips per month, or 143 thousand per day.

Photo: Evgeny Pavlenko / Kommersant

In the same year, experts from the analytical center estimated the total volume of the legal taxi market at 441 billion rubles, and illegal taxis at 116 billion rubles. According to their data, 338 thousand taxi drivers constantly work in Russia, and the number of issued licenses exceeds 457 thousand.

There are more than 47 thousand licenses in Moscow, and more than 105 thousand in the Moscow region. This is due to the fact that today licenses in the capital are issued only to yellow cars, and in the Moscow region the official color of taxis is white, that is, the car does not need to be repainted or covered with film.

Most cars belong to taxi companies, and Yandex.Taxi, Uber and Gett act as order aggregators, that is, a more advanced analogue of dispatch centers. They charge taxi companies a monthly fee to use their system and take 15-20 percent of each trip. The taxi companies themselves make money by renting out cars, receiving up to 2 thousand rubles from taxi drivers every day.

The average income of a taxi driver in Moscow is 7.3 thousand rubles per day, in St. Petersburg - 6 thousand rubles, in cities with a population of over a million - 3.5 thousand rubles. Most drivers are registered as individual entrepreneurs and are not officially on the staff of the taxi companies from which they rent cars.

What changes await drivers?

Uber and Yandex.Taxi will combine driver databases, and they will also use Yandex maps and order distribution algorithms. In theory, it will be easier for taxi drivers to navigate the city, since the Yandex navigator is objectively better than the service used in the Uber application. The combined base (again in theory) will increase the number of available cars, which will reduce the delivery time and reduce the cost of trips.

However, the taxi drivers themselves are not very happy about this. Yandex.Taxi driver Said told Lenta.ru that the abundance of free cars will increase competition, but will reduce the workload of drivers. This means the number of trips will decrease. “This is all, of course, very cool, but I pay 1,850 rubles per day for a rented Ford Focus. And also gasoline - the car “eats” 10 liters per 100 kilometers, that’s 370-400 rubles. Plus a commission of 800 rubles - formally it is paid by the taxi company, but in fact I pay it. The average order I have now is 300 rubles, I make about 15 such orders. So calculate how much I earn,” he complains.

Photo: Anton Belitsky / Kommersant

Uber driver Alexey agrees with him. “You can’t work without a license now, plus soon we will be completely bent on color, in Moscow all cars must be yellow, and it costs 30-40 thousand to cover with film, even from someone we know. Yes, now we will fight for every order, passengers will probably like it. But we will definitely be able to raise less money, and migrants will squeeze us out. They are ready to work 20 hours on speed [amphetamines], but we are not. Although you have to, no matter where you go,” he says.

Alexey also noted that drivers will probably start working as private drivers more often. “You enter the night and stand at points where there are a lot of people. It is often possible to negotiate for cash. And in the morning you start accepting orders from Uber. True, for this you must have your own car, the taxi company will quickly notice that you are driving around for days, and will not allow you to go on a regular trip,” the taxi driver sums up.

Will passengers like the changes?

In theory, combining driver databases and unified navigation from Yandex will increase the speed of delivery of cars and allow taxi drivers to better navigate cities. “This is very important, because 80 percent of drivers come from the CIS,” explains Lenta.ru’s source in one of the taxi services.

On the other hand, the price war between Yandex.Taxi and Uber, which annoyed taxi drivers but was very popular with users, will end. Both companies constantly dumped and introduced new options: in February they set fixed prices, and in April, Yandex.Taxi supported Uber’s announced price reduction of 10-50 percent.

Photo: Alexander Koryakov / Kommersant

At the same time, in order to maintain income, both companies introduced so-called high-demand zones, where, depending on the time of day and the workload of drivers, the cost of the trip increased. True, this led to the fact that during peak hours tariffs soared by 200 percent, and in case of bad weather, a 15-minute route cost a nominal 800 rubles.

However, the merger of Yandex.Taxi and Uber is unlikely to reduce the cost of trips. On the contrary, the merged company will actually become a monopolist in the market, which means it will be able not only to dictate pricing policy, but also not to take into account the opinion of taxi drivers, who, due to the increased number of available drivers, will have no choice but to accept the new rules of the game.

This means that passengers will continue to be carried by taxi drivers who do not know the city, but who work 20 hours and receive pennies for it. Only the price for their services will most likely increase, because now the alliance of Yandex.Taxi and Uber need not be afraid that their orders will be picked up by drivers of a competing service.

Tigran Khudaverdyan,

— 127 cities, 6 countries;

— 35 million trips per month;

VTB Capital rated

first successes

Yandex and Uber have decided to merge their online ride-booking businesses and create a new company for this purpose. She will work in Russia, as well as in Azerbaijan, Armenia, Belarus, Georgia and Kazakhstan. However, both applications will still be available for ordering rides.

Yandex.Taxi CEO Tigran Khudaverdyan spoke about what this means for users, for drivers and for both companies in his letter to employees.

Tigran Khudaverdyan,
CEO of Yandex.Taxi

Here's what the combined platform looks like in numbers for June:

127 cities, 6 countries;

35 million trips per month;

Experts estimate the total cost of travel by legal carriers in Russia at 501 billion rubles in 2016 (VTB Capital). At the same time, the “shadow” segment was assessed

The deal, which will create a new company, still must go through the regulatory approval process.

Welcome to the new company, friends! :)

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Yandex.Taxi CEO Tigran Khudaverdyan spoke about what this means for users, for drivers and for both companies in his letter to employees.

Tigran Khudaverdyan,
CEO of Yandex.Taxi

I want to tell you about very important news. We, Yandex.Taxi and Uber, have decided to combine our services and businesses in Russia, as well as in Azerbaijan, Armenia, Belarus, Georgia and Kazakhstan. Together we will build “personal public transport” - an alternative to a personal car, buses or metro.

Here's what the combined platform looks like in numbers for June:

127 cities, 6 countries;

35 million trips per month;

7.9 billion rubles - the total cost of trips per month.

Now let's talk about what it will look like. After the merger, nothing will change for users of both taxi services: both applications - Yandex.Taxi and Uber - will still be available for ordering rides. Drivers will be combined into a single platform. This will allow them to receive orders from both Yandex.Taxi and Uber in one application. Such a combination will significantly increase the number of available cars, reduce waiting time and idle mileage. All this will allow drivers to receive more orders per hour, and passengers will maintain an affordable cost of travel.

In addition, Uber and I have agreed on a roaming agreement in all countries where the companies operate. For example, when you fly to London or Bangkok, you can order Uber from the Yandex.Taxi application, and tourists from Paris can order Yandex.Taxi from the Uber application.

The deal, which will create a new company, still must go through the regulatory approval process.

Welcome to the new company, friends! :)

Yandex.Taxi CEO Tigran Khudaverdyan spoke about what this means for users, for drivers and for both companies in his letter to employees.

Tigran Khudaverdyan,
CEO of Yandex.Taxi

Here's what the combined platform looks like in numbers for June:

127 cities, 6 countries;

35 million trips per month;

7.9 billion rubles - the total cost of trips per month.

The deal, which will create a new company, still must go through the regulatory approval process.

Welcome to the new company, friends! :)

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Yandex.Taxi CEO Tigran Khudaverdyan spoke about what this means for users, for drivers and for both companies in his letter to employees.

Tigran Khudaverdyan,
CEO of Yandex.Taxi

Here's what the combined platform looks like in numbers for June:

— 127 cities, 6 countries;

— 35 million trips per month;

— 7.9 billion rubles — the total cost of trips per month.

In addition, Uber and I have agreed on a roaming agreement in all countries where the companies operate. For example, when you fly to London or Bangkok, you can order an Uber from the Yandex.Taxi application, and tourists from Paris can order a Yandex.Taxi from the Uber application.

The deal, which will create a new company, still must go through the regulatory approval process.

Welcome to the new company, friends! :)

Yandex.Taxi CEO Tigran Khudaverdyan spoke about what this means for users, for drivers and for both companies in his letter to employees.

Tigran Khudaverdyan,
CEO of Yandex.Taxi

Here's what the combined platform looks like in numbers for June:

127 cities, 6 countries;

35 million trips per month;

7.9 billion rubles - the total cost of trips per month.

The deal, which will create a new company, still must go through the regulatory approval process.

Welcome to the new company, friends! :)

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Yandex and Uber will merge their online ride-hailing businesses in Russia, as well as in Azerbaijan, Armenia, Belarus, Georgia and Kazakhstan. Now ordering a taxi will become even faster and more convenient.

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Yandex.Taxi and Uber will travel together

Yandex.Taxi CEO Tigran Khudaverdyan spoke about what this means for users, for drivers and for both companies in his letter to employees.

Tigran Khudaverdyan,
CEO of Yandex.Taxi

Here's what the combined platform looks like in numbers for June:

127 cities, 6 countries;

35 million trips per month;

7.9 billion rubles - the total cost of trips per month.

The deal, which will create a new company, still must go through the regulatory approval process.

Today it became known that ride ordering services “Yandex.Taxi” and Uber are in Russia, Azerbaijan, Armenia, Belarus, Georgia and Kazakhstan. Both applications will continue to work, but drivers will be transferred to a single platform, and they will be able to receive orders from both services.

“I think we managed to find a formula for how to grow “unicorns” in a large company,” said Arkady Volozh, co-founder and CEO of Yandex. - Two years ago, we spun off Yandex.Taxi into a separate company and gave it maximum freedom. The experiment with Yandex.Taxi exceeded many of our expectations, and I am sure that this is definitely not the last example.”

According to an April report from UBS, Uber is the largest ride-hailing app in the world, with a share of more than 45%, while Yandex.Taxi ranks tenth with 1.8%. At the same time, in Russia the share of users is higher for the Yandex service: 30% versus 18% for Uber. In 2016, both apps doubled their market share. The total capacity of the commercial delivery market was 526 billion rubles; in online orders it is 20%, but in five years it can increase to 80%. At the same time, market participants are actively uniting. This spring, large aggregators RuTaxi (owner of the Vezet and Leader brands) and Fasten (Taxi Saturn and RedTaxi brands) announced a merger. The Village figured out what will happen to travel prices and the market in general after the merger of Yandex.Taxi and Uber.

What will happen to services

Vladimir Isaev

Head of the press service of Yandex.Taxi

“The transaction was approved by the boards of directors of Uber and Yandex. It is subject to regulatory approvals and is expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2017. Both applications will be available to users.

Both apps will continue to operate under their respective brands in countries included in the agreement. Drivers and taxi companies will switch to a single platform for working with orders. This will increase the number of machines available to fulfill orders, reduce the time it takes to submit them, and improve reliability and quality of service in general.”

How will transportation prices change?

Vladimir Isaev

“We do not expect any radical changes in tariffs associated with the merger - neither now nor in the future. The cost of the trip depends not only on the carrier’s tariff. “Yandex.Taxi” and Uber are systems of balance between demand (the number of orders) and supply (the number of drivers ready to accept them) at each specific point in each city at each individual moment in time. The balance is achieved completely automatically.

For example, when it rains, the demand for taxis increases very quickly, but the number of available drivers grows more slowly. At such moments, the algorithm can temporarily introduce a coefficient that increases the price to quickly equalize the balance between supply and demand. The coefficient, in turn, attracts new drivers with increased earnings, stimulating them to get on line as soon as possible to start accepting orders. The more drivers come out, the faster the increasing factor disappears.

To summarize: the cost is generated automatically in real time; it depends not only on the tariff, but also on the current balance between supply and demand at a specific point in time and for a specific point on the map.”

What will happen to the market

Alexander Kostikov

Director of Corporate Relations Fasten Russia

“Most likely, the market will become more understandable and transparent, as we already said when our companies merged just over two months ago. The process of consolidation is inevitable: in a couple of years, two or three large and strong players will remain on the market. And what we saw today fits into the logic of market development. This is probably the main thing that is clear now.

Then it will become easier to establish general rules of the game. If there are not 20 isolated companies, but two or three large ones, they can always sit down at the negotiating table and interact with government authorities to shape a new regulatory reality.

Now it’s difficult to say whether prices will change, because the price depends not only on the number of aggregators operating in the market. But, at least, if the price war between large aggregators stops, this will already be a great achievement.

Our unification process is now in full swing. Integration has already been carried out in a number of cities. We didn’t make any sudden movements, and I think our colleagues won’t make them either. There are all the apps and channels through which you can place an order - everything works for users. And this process happens gently and imperceptibly. In those cities where integration has already been carried out, drivers receive orders that come through all channels of both companies. There is a gradual unification of the terms of cooperation.”

Stanislav Schwagerus

head of the public movement Taxi 2018

“What is beautifully called the merger of Yandex.Taxi and Uber is essentially a camouflaged purchase for a ruble of the affiliate network of a global bankrupt. The Uber financial pyramid is collapsing - in France, Italy, Spain they are doing much tougher things, but here we have taken the same path.

This will definitely lead to market monopolization. The question arises of how Yandex will conduct this line of business in the future. If, as before, being a market participant, then the monopoly will not lead to anything good - neither for drivers nor for consumers. It is quite logical (and I think the state will take certain steps to improve the regulatory framework) if Yandex turns from a market participant into an infrastructure system for organizing passenger taxis in Russia.

To regulate this area, the state needs to have the necessary technological tool. It is impossible to regulate activities that occur on the Internet using analogue methods by checking the documents of taxi drivers. Therefore, it is quite possible that Yandex will become a kind of authorized company for improving the regulatory sphere.

As long as Yandex.Taxi plays the role of a market participant, the situation for passengers and drivers will change for the worse. This is a further reduction in tariffs for drivers, and a deterioration in the quality of service for passengers. We need new rules of the game, which, apparently, we will see in the next few years.”

Ugulbek

taxi driver

“I just now heard the news about the unification on Russian Radio. While the taxi company didn’t say anything, I didn’t discuss it with other drivers either.

Time will tell where this will lead. The price drop should level off. Otherwise, Yandex has generally low prices. Uber and Yandex used to fight, but if now they unite and work together, it will be better for us.”