25 Oct 2017 17:31

Biggest Chinese taxi service could enter Russian market, invest in local firm - RDIF

RIYADH. Oct 25 (Interfax) - Didi Kuaidi, the biggest online taxi service in China, could enter the Russian market, the head of the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF), Kirill Dmitriev said.

"We expect Didi to enter the Russian market at some stage," he said, speaking in Riyadh at the Future Investment Initiative conference.

The RDIF told Interfax that the Chinese firm might invest into a local taxi firm on the Russian market.

The RDIF's Dmitriev said the Russia-China Investment Fund, created by RDIF and the China Investment Corporation (CIC), had invested in Didi at an early stage. The amount of investment has not been disclosed.

At the same time, RDIF is considering investing in the merged company between Uber and Yandex.Taxi.

Before the Uber-Yandex deal, RDIF said that the Russia-China Investment Fund was interested in investing in Yandex.Taxi. However, Yandex announced the creation of a joint venture (JV) with Uber shortly after this; the joint business of the two companies has been estimated at $3.725 billion.

Yandex and Uber expect to close the deal in Q4. It has already been approved by the Uber and Yandex boards of directors and is awaiting approval from the Federal Antimonopoly Service (FAS).