Russian e-commerce technology firm Yandex has signed a deal with Sberbank to combine the technologies and infrastructures of both organisations in order to developing a new e-commerce platform.

The agreement states that Sberbank will invest 30 billion rubles ($500 million) into Yandex.Market, with the two partners owning equal stakes in the venture. Up to 10 per cent of the company’s shares will be allocated for an equity incentive pool for Yandex.Market management and employees.

Yandex.Market will continue to operate under the current management team led by Maxim Grishakov, its chief executive officer. He will join the board of directors of Yandex.Market, which will also include three other representatives from Yandex and three representatives from Sberbank.

Maxim Grishakov, CEO of Yandex.Market, said: “This proposed joint venture will create new benefits for our users. Sberbank’s banking and payments infrastructure will help us develop simple and secure payment solutions on the Yandex.Market platform and will allow us to introduce new features, such as consumer lending.

“The proposed investment will strengthen Yandex.Market’s position in the e-commerce segment allowing us improve our logistics capabilities, accelerate the wide-scale introduction of ’Checkout on Yandex.Market‘ and enhance our value proposition to domestic and international merchants.”

Herman Gref, president and chairman of the board of Sberbank, added: “Sberbank’s role and contribution in the creation of a leading e-commerce player are important to the development of the Sberbank ecosystem, in addition to the economy as a whole.

“This partnership opens up new opportunities for Russian producers, e-commerce players, and small and medium businesses, unlocks opportunities for Russian exports abroad, and creates a new channel for international participants in the market. We’ve experienced successful cooperation with Yandex in other areas and we are excited to expand our partnership into this new strategic direction.”

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