29 May 2012 07:00
29 May 2012 For immediate release
MAIL.RU GROUP LIMITED
Mail.ru Group and VKontakte agreed on cooperation
Dubai, UAE - MAIL.RU GROUP LIMITED ("Mail.ru Group" or the "Company") today announces that it has granted CEO of VKontakte Pavel Durov a broad power of attorney over its voting rights attached to its shareholding in VK.com Limited. Mail.ru Group and VKontakte agree to work and co-operate on a range of issues facing Russian internet companies amidst increasing global competition.
Commenting on the agreement Mail.ru Group chairman and co-founder Dmitry Grishin said "We are pleased that at this stage we have found a mutually acceptable form of co-operation which is comfortable for both Mail.ru Group and for VKontakte. We believe that in the long term, both parties and the whole Russian internet industry will benefit from our agreement."
Pavel Durov commented: "While Mail.ru Group and VKontakte remain independently managed companies, both parties share a range of common goals and issues that need to be addressed jointly. In reality, this may lead to faster progress in technological development of the Russian companies and improved user experience of the Russian internet audience."
For further information please contact:
Investors:
Matthew Hammond
Managing Director Mail.Ru Group
Phone: +971 505 56 1315
E-mail: hammond@corp.mail.ru
Press:
Ksenia Chabanenko
Phone: +7 916 0906626
E-mail: ks@corp.mail.ru
About Mail.Ru Group
Mail.Ru Group (founded in 1998) is a leading Internet company in the high-growth Russian-speaking Internet markets (Russia is today Europe's the largest Internet market measured by number of users, ComScore, September 2011). Mail.Ru Group's sites reach approximately 84 per cent of Russian Internet users on a monthly basis (ComScore, December 2011) and the Company is the world's fifth largest Internet business, based on page views (ComScore, December 2011).
Having the Communitainment (Communications + Entertainment) strategy the Company is moving rapidly to build an integrated communication and entertainment platform. The Company operates two of the three (TNS, December 2011) largest Russian language online social networking sites (Odnoklassniki and Moi Mir (or "My World")). The Company also operates the two largest Instant Messaging ("IM") networks in Russia (Mail.Ru Agent and ICQ), Russia's leading email service and Russia's second largest Internet portal Mail.ru (based on daily and monthly unique users, TNS, December 2011), and the Company operates Russia's largest online games platform.
The Company holds strategic minority equity stakes in VKontakte (a 39.99 per cent stake) and Qiwi, formerly OE Investments (21.35 per cent interest). The Company also holds small minority stakes in international Internet companies including Facebook, Zynga and Groupon as well as a number of small venture capital investments in various Internet companies in Russia and Ukraine.