Uber and Yandex.Taxi agree to merge services in Russia and four other countries

Uber and Yandex.Taxi have agreed to merge their services in Russia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, and Kazakhstan.

According to a statement by Yandex.Taxi's general director, Tigran Khudaverdyan, sent to Meduza by Yandex’s press office, Khudaverdyan will head the new unified company.

Following the merger, customers will be able to order rides like before, through both the Uber and Yandex.Taxi apps. Drivers, however, will be moved onto a single platform and one app that allows them to take orders from both Uber and Yandex.Taxi.

Uber has agreed to invest $225 million in the new company, and Yandex.Taxi will spend another $100 million. The combined company will be worth an estimated $3.7 billion.

According to the news agency Interfax, Yandex will receive 59.3 percent of the new company, and 36.6 percent will go to Uber. The remaining 4.1 percent will be owned by both companies’ employees.

“The deal creating this new company still needs to go through the regulatory approval process,” Khudaverdyan explained.

Uber first arrived in Moscow in November 2013. As of July 2017, the company had established operations in almost 20 cities across Russia.

Yandex.Taxi first launched in October 2011. The service is currently available in more than 100 major cities across Russia, Belarus, Ukraine, Armenia, Georgia, and Kazakhstan.