Russia’s anti-monopoly service approves Yandex-VK internet deal

MOSCOW (Reuters) -Russia’s federal anti-monopoly service (FAS) on Tuesday granted approval to technology companies Yandex and VK to proceed with an asset-swap deal but with some terms aimed at preserving competition.

Yandex last week agreed to sell its news aggregator, content platform Zen and homepage yandex.ru to state-controlled VK in a move that is expected to tighten the government’s grip on the internet.

“The operator of these platforms will be obliged … to ask for and receive users’ consent to process personal data for each service separately,” the FAS said in a statement.

As part of the deal, Yandex will acquire VK’s food delivery service Delivery Club, complementing its own Yandex.Eda. The FAS said Yandex must not take measures aimed at reducing restaurants’ use of Delivery Club or other third-party services.

(Reporting by Alexander MarrowEditing by David Goodman)