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Mark Zuckerberg to meet Dmitry Medvedev on trip to 'Russian Silicon Valley'

Mark Zuckerberg to meet Dmitry Medvedev on trip to 'Russian Silicon Valley'

By Louis Goddard

Source AFP (Physorg)

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Mark Zuckerberg is set to meet with Russian prime minister Dmitry Medvedev on Monday during a trip to Russia, where Facebook use is growing. According to a report from French news agency AFP, the meeting will take place at the Skolkovo Innovation Center, a technology hub and science park being built on the outskirts of Moscow with support from American companies including Microsoft, Intel, and IBM. Zuckerberg will also attend the Facebook World Hack in Moscow on the same day.

Medvedev, for his part, is known as a champion of social media

While Zuckerberg's social empire currently plays second fiddle to the homegrown network VKontakte in Russia, it is still extremely popular. Medvedev, for his part, is known as a champion of social media, maintaining a pair of Twitter accounts in Russian and English with a combined following of more than 1.8 million users, alongside accounts on Facebook, VKontakte and LiveJournal.

As AFP points out, Facebook's Russian connections run deep — investment firm Digital Sky Technologies (DST), run by oligarch Yuri Milner, is estimated to have built up a stake of more than 10 percent in the company prior to its May 18th IPO, beginning with a $200 million investment in 2009. Despite this, Zuckerberg has reportedly never visited the country, preferring to focus on operations back home in California.

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