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Yandex приобретет сайт, товарные знаки и базу данных пользователей Express24. Комитет по конкуренции не считает это слиянием или монополизацией рынка.

Yandex will acquire the website, trademarks, and user data of Express24. The Competition Committee states that this does not indicate market monopolization or merger concerns.

Uzbekistan, Tashkent – According to AN Podrobno.uz, the Committee for the Development of Competition and Consumer Rights has examined the acquisition of the Express 24 service by Yandex Eats and the potential monopolization of the food and grocery delivery market. The study revealed that no mergers or acquisitions are taking place, and the market possesses all the necessary conditions for healthy competition, as reported by a correspondent from Podrobno.uz.

The legality of the transaction was previously commented on by economist Otabek Bakirov, who was interested in whether Yandex Eats had approached the competition commission regarding this deal.

“The problem is that a market already aggressively dominated by one giant is then taken over by another—its companion. This creates an extremely dangerous concentration. The first losers in such a situation will be us, the consumers. Participants with high concentration can easily collude; they are no longer competitors but partners, making it easier for them to jointly exploit consumers,” he noted, adding that the deal should not be allowed until a third large player enters the market.

In response, the committee stated that the structure of the deal does not involve the acquisition of shares (stakes) in the legal entity that owns the Express24 service, but rather the purchase of its intangible assets.

Specifically, Yandex Eats plans to acquire the website, domain names, and trademarks of Express24, mobile applications for users of the service and couriers, other software to support operational processes, as well as a database of user data.

The deal will not affect any other assets of Newmax Technologies, which, in particular, owns the taxi aggregator service My Taxi.

According to the law "On Competition," the deal is subject to preliminary approval if more than 25% of voting shares or more than one-third of stakes in the authorized capital are acquired, or if the business entity is reorganized through merger or consolidation. This is not the case, so the deal does not fall under the requirements for preliminary approval by the antimonopoly authority.

“At the same time, this deal has characteristics of economic concentration, when the individual entrepreneur LLC 'Yandex Eats' gains decisive influence over the operations of the Express24 service, collectively controlling 87.5% of the market for food delivery aggregator services,” the committee noted.

However, there are other services in the market—local ones like Uzum Tezkor, Bringo, Girgitton, as well as proprietary services from cafes and restaurants, and Russian Broniboy and Finnish Wolt, which is a global player in the international market.

“All of this indicates that there are currently all the prerequisites and conditions for proper competition in the market,” the committee assured.

The committee also recognized Yandex Eats and Express24 as players with a dominant position in the market for food delivery and other consumer goods.

“To prevent abuses by operators of digital platforms with a dominant position, an antimonopoly compliance system will be implemented. Additionally, appropriate monitoring will be conducted,” the agency's statement said.