After Google stopped supporting Visa, Mastercard and Mir cards of Russian users on March 10, the country started talking about alternative catalogs of applications. One of them, called RuMarket, has already been launched. The first release of the catalog includes about 20 applications, including mobile applications VTB Online, Promsvyazbank and Alfa Bank.
Behind the creation of RuMarket is Anatoly Smorgonsky, an entrepreneur and CEO of Gett’s Russian division. Investment in the project is expected to be about 100 million rubles before full recoupment, not including the budget for marketing promotion of the project. The investors are Smorgonsky and a group of “private IT investors,” whose names were not disclosed.
The first version of RuMarket will be free for both users and developers. In the next releases it is planned to expand functionality – monetization and a rating system. All applications will be moderated and checked by the system for viruses.
“Moscow is a comfortable and digital city, so we Muscovites are very demanding of the service. For all users who have lost their usual services, we launch RuMarket – an alternative store for applications that is available not only to Russian users. This is the first release of the product, but it is already working, and we will develop it further,” said Anatoly Smorgonsky.
Other Russian companies and entrepreneurs are preparing their own alternatives to Google Plya. For example, Vladimir Zykov, project director at Digital Platforms, is preparing NashStore, Sber is developing the SberStore project, Yandex may restart Yandex.Store, which was closed in 2020, and VK plans to present a platform for app developers in May.