Yandex, the NASDAQ-listed Russian Internet giant, and VTB, a major Russian state-owned bank, intend to launch a B2C online investment platform. Meant for a large, non-professional audience, the platform will allow users to trade shares and other financial instruments, as reported by The Bell earlier this week.

Alfa Bank, Sberbank and Tinkoff offer similar services, notes the online publication, which sees in Yandex’s choice to partner with VTB rather than Sberbank yet another sign that the Yandex-Sberbank alliance is weakening.

The two companies run, in particular, two joint ventures: Yandex.Money, an e-wallet and payment service provider, and Yandex.Market, a group of e-commerce platforms.