Zuckerberg in Russia to boost network’s presence

MOSCOW - Agence France-Presse

Facebook CEO Zuckerberg (R) gives a T-shirt to the Russian premier. AFP photo

Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg yesterday met Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev as he visited Moscow on a mission to boost the social network’s presence in the country and scout for new talent.

Russia is one of the few major countries worldwide where Facebook is not the number one social network and with an estimated five million users it lags well behind the homegrown Russian-language rival VKontakte. Zuckerberg met Medvedev, who promotes himself as a champion of innovation and a drive to give Russia a more diversified economy, at the former president’s Gorki residence outside Moscow.

Zuckerberg, 28, dropped his usual uniform of hooded top, jeans and trainers in favor of a dark suit and tie. “As you know we do not just have gas and oil and gold and diamonds in Russia but we also have an IT industry,” Medvedev told Zuckerberg in comments published by the government. He noted the social revolution caused by the growth of social networks. “There can be no doubt that today we live in a completely different world. No-one has any doubt about this and this is probably partly your doing.”

Zuckerberg said the main reason for his visit was to attend an event where programmers compete to create the best new applications, and acknowledged he was impressed by Russians’ abilities.