Azerbaijan will not cooperate with NewCo, a company formed as the result of a merger of Yandex.Taxi and Uber, spokesman of Baku Transport Agency Mayis Agiyev told
Sputnik Azerbaijan.
The reason behind the refusal is the fact that the new company’s CEO, Tigran Khudaverdiyan, is of Armenian origin.
Yandex and Uber announced the creation of the company on 13 July. The two companies will combine their ride-sharing businesses in Georgia, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Russia and Belarus.
Agiyev told local press that the primary concern of all Azerbaijani citizens and organizations is to consider what is in the political interest of Azerbaijan and what is not.
“For this reason, after the unification of Yandex Taxi and Uber companies, if this structure is to be headed by an Armenian citizen or a person of Armenian origin, the taxi drivers of Baku will be called on to cease communication with this company. Also, the issuance of special signs for taxis will be suspended for those [taxis] working with the newly established company”, Agiyev was quoted by
media
as saying.
The newly formed company will be owned 59.3% by Yandex, 36.6% by Uber, and 4.1% by employees of the company. Once the merger is completed, clients will be able to continue using their Yandex and Uber apps, whereas drivers’ applications will be able to field requests from both.
“This combination greatly enhances Yandex’s ability to offer better quality service to our riders and drivers, to quickly expand our services to new regions, and to build a sustainable business,” Tigran Khudaverdiyan, CEO of Yandex.Taxi said in an
official statement.
“The combined companies currently perform over 35 million rides a month while growing over 400% year-over-year. Since founding Yandex.Taxi in 2011, we have connected tens of millions of riders and drivers to become the largest and most trusted ride-sharing business in Russia and neighboring countries. We are excited to expand on this foundation in collaboration with Uber,” he added.
According to official sources, Uber will invest USD 225 million and Yandex USD 100 million into the new company, NewCO.
