The ride-hailing arm of Russian technology company Yandex is facing an existential threat to its business in Kazakhstan. And a tough Chinese peer is r

Kazakhstan: Russia’s Yandex taxi in court trouble as China’s Didi circles | Eurasianet

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2021-06-24 18:00:05

The ride-hailing arm of Russian technology company Yandex is facing an existential threat to its business in Kazakhstan. And a tough Chinese peer is ready to pounce.

Yandex.Taxi is currently appealing a court ruling handed down on May 19 stating that it violated a patent held by a private Kazakh company called G-Taxi. If the company is unable to overturn the verdict, Yandex.Taxi will no longer be able to operate in Kazakhstan.

Meanwhile, Didi Chuxing, the world’s largest online transportation platform by usership, is set to begin working in Kazakhstan imminently. The Chinese company’s market-swallowing potential makes this a particularly vulnerable time for Yandex.

G-Taxi is essentially a dormant company and does not operate taxis. Public records show that it has paid less than $20 in taxes over the last seven years.

But it has since 2016 held the rights to a patent pertaining to all automated systems employed by taxi services. In 2018, the company used the patent as a pretext to sue Lider.kz, another dominant local taxi firm. That bid failed at the first hurdle.