Yuri Milner, CEO of major Russian investment firm DST, has hinted that he may put money in Twitter Inc., the Market Watch magazine said.

The businessmen told Web 2.0 Summit in San Francisco that there are between 25 and 30 private companies in existence that meet his investment criteria.

"Usually, this is a company which can be qualified as a late-stage company, probably a billion-dollar-plus valuation," Milner said. "Usually in the social Internet space, and it can be anywhere."

Asked about his interest in Twitter, Milner responded that the company is on his list, but refused to comment.

San Francisco-based Twitter enables users to post brief messages and images among online contacts and has at least 175 million registered users. According to SharesPost Inc., Twitter is now being valued at roughly $3.4 billion.

DST Ltd., which was recently renamed into Mail.ru Group, has already invested in closely-held Internet firms including Facebook Inc., and Zynga Game Network Inc.

In late April, DST Ltd. bought ICQ messenger from U.S. company AOL for $187.5 million.

MOSCOW, November 17 (RIA Novosti)