OREANDA-NEWS. Yandex (NASDAQ:YNDX) and Sberbank of Russia OJSC today announced the completion of the previously announced joint venture for electronic money solutions. Under the terms of the deal, Sberbank has acquired 75% interest (minus one ruble) in the charter capital of Yandex.Money for approximately USD 60M. The key objective of this strategic partnership is to drive innovation in online retail payment solutions.

The Yandex-Sberbank joint venture aims to create a general-purpose payment solution for small and medium-sized businesses, as well as to make recurring payments and transactions simpler for both online and offline customers. As the first step towards streamlining online payments, beginning in June 2013, Sberbank has waived its commission for Yandex.Money top-ups from any bank card at its ATMs and payment terminals.

The Yandex.Money team will leverage Sberbank's infrastructure to develop new online payment solutions based on Yandex's technologies. Customers of Yandex.Money will continue to be served by Yandex.Money, a non-banking credit organization operating under a license issued by the Central Bank of Russia.

Evgenia Zavalishina, CEO of Yandex.Money since 2006, will head the new joint venture. The JV's board of directors will include two representatives of Yandex - Evgenia Zavalishina and Yandex's CEO Arkady Volozh, joined by three members representing Sberbank of Russia - Alexander Torbakhov, Denis Bugrov and Svyatoslav Ostrovsky.

Yandex will retain a substantial interest in the JV (25% plus one ruble). Yandex will stop consolidating the financial results of Yandex.Money beginning with the third quarter of 2013.