VK and the Ministry of Finance will launch the beta version of the app store on May 25. An alternative app store will be available to foreign developers. This was stated at the 26th Russian Internet Forum by the head of VK Vladimir Kiriyenko, according to the Ministry of Finance of Russia.
"Legislatively, there will be one app store, the one around which the industry has consolidated. But we are for competition, we do not limit anyone," said the head of the Ministry of Finance Maksut Shadaev, quoted in the message.
"It will not be a state-owned app store. If the market can do it better than we can, let the market do it. Then the question of the form of implementation, profit, we give it to 10 companies. VK will start investing in this story, then we will see how it will be," M. Shadaev added.
VK is building an ecosystem that helps millions of people solve everyday tasks online. It is used by more than 90% of the Runet audience. In the ecosystem, you can communicate (in Odnoklassniki, VKontakte, messengers and Mail Mail.ru ), play (with MY.GAMES), sell and find goods and services, look for work and employees (on Yule and in VK Work), order groceries and ready-made food (in Delivery Club, "Scooter" and "Kitchen in the neighborhood"), find a taxi, car or scooter to travel around the city (in Citymobile and Citydrive), master new professions (with GeekBrains, Skillbox and other educational projects), buy things on the Russian AliExpress and solve many other tasks. The ecosystem is connected by common links. Users can log in to different services with a single VK ID account, pay and earn cashback with the VK Pay platform, receive discounts and favorable offers with VK Combo, use their favorite services on the VK Mini Apps application platform — and Marusya's voice assistant will help with any tasks. The company is also developing its ecosystem of products and services for digitalization of business processes - from Internet promotion and predictive analytics to corporate social networks, cloud services and enterprise automation.
The total net profit of VK Company Limited under IFRS for 2021 from consolidated subsidiaries increased by 24.7% to RUB 12.43 billion. compared to a year earlier. The total net loss of the company, taking into account key strategic associates and joint ventures, amounted to RUB 6.48 billion against RUB 1.96 billion. net loss in 2020. VK's total segment revenue increased by 18.2% to 125.75 billion rubles, while total segment EBITDA increased by 18.2% to 31.8 billion rubles.
