Re:Europe wants to end its dangerous reliance on US internet...
by Nextgrid on Saturday January 24, 2026 @07:43PM
(#46749372)
Didn't Russia quickly spin up an alternative smartcard payment system and Android app store once they got kicked out of the US-based competitors?
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Re:Europe wants to end its dangerous reliance on US internet...
by kgeist on Saturday January 24, 2026 @10:57PM
(#46750553)
>Didn't Russia quickly spin up an alternative smartcard payment system
The MIR payment system started functioning in 2015, long before Visa/Mastercard pulled out of Russia
>Android app store
Initially there was some fragmentation because several companies raced to develop "Russia's #1 answer to Google Play Store" but everyone eventually settled on RuStore developed by VK (Russia's Facebook).
Generally, Russia already had replacements for most major American services long before 2022, and with better market penetration: Google => Yandex, Meta => VK, Uber => Yandex Taxi, Amazon/eBay/Craigslist => Ozon/Avito/Wildberries, etc. Lack of own app store was more like an oversight. Europe is at least 20 years late in the game.