Russia’s leading social media platform VK has been expanding fast, but at a cost
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Loading... - Melania Gulin
- 27 Mar 2023
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Russia’s leading social media platform VK has taken advantage of the crisis to snap up assets and expand its business in 2022, but at a cost.
Faced with some big M&A bills and poorly performing acquisitions, the company has taken a significant financial hit to its balance sheet.
“VKontakte continued to strengthen its leading position among Russian social networks: the average monthly active users in October-December 2022 grew by 9.6% on the year to a record of 79.5mn users. The global average audience of VKontakte in October-December 2022 reached a record high of 101.7mn monthly active users, while the average daily active users in Russia grew by 8.9% compared to October-December 2021, to a record of 51.1mn users,” VK said in a statement.
While other online businesses have been hurt by sanctions like search engine Yandex and online bank Tinkoff. VK has the backing of the Kremlin, which has been using it to increase its control over the internet by proxy. Formerly owned by Russian tycoon Alisher Usmanov, he sold his stake in December 2021 to state-run insurer Sogaz, which is part-owned by a long-time ally of President Vladimir Putin, banker Yuri Kovalchuk, whom Putin has publicly called a personal friend.
Later Vladimir Kiriyenko became the CEO of VK; he is the son of former Prime Minister Sergei Kiriyenko, who currently serves as the first deputy head of the presidential administration. VK, originally known as Vkontakte (“In contact” and the Russian analogy to Facebook), was founded in 2006 and has since grown to become one of the most popular social media platforms in Russia and other parts of the world. The platform boasts over 500mn registered users and has been a significant player in the social media space for many years. Read More…
