Earlier this month the Eastern Ring campus of the Skolkovo Institute of Science and Technology (Skoltech) won the Prix Versailles Campuses Award.

Sberbank, Russia’s largest savings bank, and Mail.ru Group, a leading domestic IT company, are finalizing plans to create a sizable O2O (online-to-offline) services platform focused on the key areas of food delivery and transportation.

The joint venture (JV) will operate in Russia’s two largest digital consumer markets that are expected to have a combined value of more than $15.5bn over the next three years with an anticipated CAGR of more than 30%. The partners will hold equal 50/50 stakes in the JV.

The partnership will help combine the financial and technological resources of Sberbank and Mail.ru Group, thus creating an optimal environment for the development of O2O consumer services. The services offered by the platform should be integrated into the ecosystems of Sberbank and Mail.ru Group, and compliment the existing range of high-quality services that meet consumers’ everyday needs.

Sberbank and Mail.ru Group envision a total investment of up to $1bn in the JV on condition that key performance indicators are achieved over the 12-month period following the closing of the transaction.