VK and Sberbank plan to find a buyer for the Moscow-based ready-made food delivery service Kitchen in the District, which is now owned by their joint venture O2O Holding, RBC reports.

According to the publication's sources, there are several potential contenders for the service. So, the companies tried to sell "Kitchen in the District" to "Yandex", says one of RBC's interlocutors. Another source claims that now the owners do not allow the service to increase the number of orders so as not to multiply losses. The third interlocutor even suggests that the "Kitchen in the District" may be closed "in connection with the optimization of the business areas of the holdings."

Sberbank and VK refused to comment on information about the sale of the project to RBC. Yandex stated that they do not comment on rumors.

At the end of last year, VK changed its controlling shareholder - instead of USM Alisher Usmanov, they became SOGAZprombank. In addition, there was a change in the general director, Vladimir Kiriyenko, the ex-vice president of Rostelecom and the son of the first deputy of the presidential administration, Sergei Kiriyenko, was appointed to this post.

Since then, the company's priorities have changed. One of RBC's sources claimed that the authorities might not be satisfied with the chosen direction for the development of VK - allegedly, instead of focusing on social networks, the company was engaged in food delivery services, taxis, and a marketplace.

In mid-March, it became known that the Citymobil taxi service, which was also part of the joint venture, was ending its work. Shareholders did not publicly explain the reasons. However, RBC reported that the market share available to the service is not enough to be profitable, while the project requires further investment.

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