DiDi to Cease Operations in Russia and Kazakhstan Starting March 4

DiDi taxi aggregator will cease operations in Russia and Kazakhstan from March 4 of this year, PR Director of the company in Russia and CIS, Irina Guschina, told Russian media outlet TASS.

“Due to market changes and other challenges, the company cannot guarantee performance in Russia and Kazakhstan. Drivers, partners and passengers have been informed of this decision. DiDi will continue focusing on the company’s development and investment in Latin American states and certain markets of the Asia-Pacific Region, the Middle East and Africa,” Guschina said.

In June last year, Didi quietly went public in the United States and briefly topped a market value of nearly $80 billion in just a few days. However, domestic regulatory authorities soon launched a network security review for Didi as the country stepped up efforts to safeguard national data security risks. Didi’s applications were removed from online app stores and have yet to be re-installed.

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Didi is preparing for a Hong Kong listing but its current market value has dropped to only $19.1 billion. Recently, news emerged that nearly all departments in Didi will lay off employees.