In a modern, Turkish-managed office building above a French brasserie in central Moscow, a hundred people funded by US capital sit poring over computer screens as they work towards fulfilling their goal of becoming one of Russia's leading internet operators.

Over the space of just a few months, they have built, through acquisitions and internal development, a company managing sites that offer auctions, jokes, directory listings and other services in the country's online sector. The question is whether they can convert their enthusiasm into serious money.

Along with most of its rivals in the country's fledgling online sector, Netbridge was founded only very recently - and perhaps just in time - with a mixture of foreign money and with workers who are largely Russian with a western tinge.

Yuri Milner, the company's head, was a Russian physicist who graduated from Moscow's state university before studying for an MBA at Wharton in the US in the early 1990s. After a stint working in association with the then politically influential Menatep group back in Moscow, he launched his own investment boutique.

Last November he helped create Netbridge with backing from New Century Holdings, a US-based fund specialising in investments in eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union, which became the largest shareholder. Subsequent rounds of financing brought another two minority investors from the US, bringing total capital raised to the still relatively modest sum - but typical of other similar ventures in Russia - of $8m. He and other executives say they themselves have no shares, although they do have stock options.

Mr Milner soon hired as his vice president for strategy Vladimir Konovalev, an Australian of Russian origin and a former employee of the World Bank in Moscow with whom he had previously worked.

If Netbridge's funding and expertise is unashamedly US-inspired, so too is its business plan.

"I was watching the development of the internet sector in the US and Europe, which made me believe it could be developed here in Russia," says Mr Milner.

Netbridge has a range of services which mirror some of the better-known internet sites in the US. Mir I Mir offers greetings cards designed by more than 20 artists, similar to Blue Mountain, Boom echoes the build-your-own website services of Geocities, 24x7 offers e-commerce with 48 hour delivery, modelled on Amazon, and Molotok - meaning hammer in Russian - is an auction site resembling e-Bay.

In addition, there are a few cultural curios, not least Fomenko.ru, a site named after the Russian comedian and personality Igor Fomenko. Originally an independent site in homage to the man, it was purchased and enhanced, offering a focal point for the exchange of jokes. There is also the inevitable more salacious offering, Lovers.

With Russia's small quantity of popular independent sites quickly snapped up by rivals, Netbridge's largest acquisition - in a deal ultimately estimated to cost $6m in investment and shares - was for List, a directory site which generates substantial traffic. In the company's latest report, it claims to have captured 800,000 of an estimated 1.6m active Russian internet users. "What makes us different is a broader spectrum of services," says Mr Milner. "I think as a starting position it's fine."

He acknowledges the argument of his critics that Netbridge lacks a search engine, while stressing that other successful US operators also licence such services rather than developing their own.

Web users in Europe
	% of population		% of population
Austria	24	Italy	14
Belgium	8	Netherlands	24
Czech Republic	8	Norway	39
Denmark	36	Poland	4
Finland	42	Portugal	9
France	14	Slovakia	4
Germany	23	Spain	13
Greece	6	Sweden	45
Hungary	11	Switzerland	26
Ireland	18	UK	31
Source: IDC Emea, 2000

To some analysts, Netbridge's greatest weakness is the lack of a coherent portal that would draw sufficiently large volumes of traffic - and notably internauts willing to spend money or draw advertisers. That connects to a broader question: along with most of its rivals in Russia and beyond, the real issue is whether Netbridge can begin to earn significant cash in the future.

Executives are close to taking some decisive but dangerous new commercial steps, such as introducing commissions for the auction service, Molotok. They are also starting to expand their sites to neighbouring countries, including Bulgaria, Ukraine and Rumania. And they are aiming to emulate some of their local rivals who are increasingly targeting the Russian-speaking diaspora, in Israel, New York and elsewhere.

Netbridge aims to generate $70,000 to $100,000 a month by the end of this year, mainly from advertising. Executives are confident that they will break even within two years. In the meantime, Mr Milner argues that Netbridge's original investors understand Russian risk, and the need to be prepared to hold their stakes for the long term.

In an indication of a likely shake-up in the market in line with the US and elsewhere, they hint that Netbridge may not continue as a self-standing entity for long. "We are involved in various talks," says Mr Milner. "We are believers in the value of consolidation. It could well take place within the next few months."