Russia to launch own TikTok developed with Vladimir Putin’s alleged daughter
- Gazprom-Media said it had bought a service called ‘Ya Molodets’ (’I am great’)
- The company had announced earlier this month that it would launch two websites similar to YouTube in the next two years
Russia’s leading media holding, which is controlled by state energy giant Gazprom, will launch an app similar to the video-sharing social network TikTok, the group’s CEO said Wednesday.
The Kommersant business daily cited Gazprom-Media CEO Alexander Zharov as saying the holding had bought a service called “Ya Molodets” (“I am great”).
Zharov said the app was developed with the support of the Innopraktika foundation, an organisation run by Katerina Tikhonova – one of President Vladimir Putin’s alleged daughters.
Gazprom-Media will “use the project’s software to speed up the creation of a new video service for Russian bloggers”, Zharov said, adding that it will be launched within two years.
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The app will support the sharing of short vertical videos, similar to the Chinese social network TikTok.
Zharov took charge of Gazprom-Media earlier this year after leaving his post as head of the Russian media watchdog Roskomnadzor that was behind the failed blocking of the Telegram messaging service.
