Almaz Capital Partners has purchased a 23 percent stake in Russia’s casual web-based game publisher Alawar Entertainment.

The purchase price wasn’t disclosed. On the strength of its Russian-speaking audience, Alawar has risen to become one of the top 10 casual game publishers worldwide.

Almaz Capital Partners is a venture capital firm that invests in Russian technology, digital media and communications companies. It’s buying its stake from Finam Investment Holding, which invested in Alawar in 2007. The casual game industry is strong in Eastern Europe.

Alawar has 60 games on a variety of platforms | PC, Mac, iPhone, PlayStation 3, mobile Java and Android. The company distributes its games on its own in Ukraine, Poland, Germany and Finland. The company said its market capitalization has quadrupled in the past 2.5 years. Alawar was founded in 1999, and its games are available in 60 countries. It has published 200 casual games, including Farm Frenzy, Craze, and the Treasures of Montezuma. This year, it plans to enter the social game and massively multiplayer online game markets.

Alawar has 171 employees in five game studios and is based in Novosibirsk, Russia.

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