Page 90 - bne IntelliNews Country Report: Russia Dec17

Russian wine exports in January-September 2017 in value terms declined by 28.4% year-on-year to $2.95mn , RBC daily said on November 7 citing numbers of the Federal Customs Service (FCS). Bad weather conditions earlier this year has hit the world's top wine producers hard and Eastern Europe producers could fill the gap, a report bybne IntelliNews on October 27 showed. However, despite huge gains in production and quality Russia is still struggling to establish itself in the international market, with exports in quantity terms declining by 42% y/y to 1.35mn litres in January-September. The Kuban-Vino brand, one of Russia’s best wines, accounts for a sixth of all exports, which also saw a decline in wine sales by 19% y/y to $0.5mn and by 34% y/y to 0.22mn litres, according to RBC.
9.1.6 TMT sector news
Total spending on Internet advertising in Russia was more than spending on TV advertising for the first time ever in January-September 2017. The total online spend amounted to RUB115-116bn ($2bn), up by 23% year-on-year, according to the survey by Association of Communication Agencies of Russia (ACAR) cited by Vedomosti daily on November 9. For the first time in 20 years internet advertising has caught up with spending on TV ads that stood at RUB116-117bn in the reporting period and grew at a slower pace of 13%. Total advertising market in January-September increased by 14% y/y to RUB285bn. In the third quarter alone, the market grew by 16% y/y. In the third quarter alone advertisers had spend RUB41bn on internet, beating RUB36.5bn on TV promotion. In the meantime, this year the media communication market in Russia could peak at an all-time-high of RUB400bn, the head of ACAR Alexei Kovylov told Vedomosti. The 14% market growth is the fastest since 2011.
Moscow is to launch world's largest public WiFi network , which will cover public transportation, parks, museums, and central streets, the mayor of Russian capital Sergei Sobyanin said on Twitter . The WiFi network is planned to be launched ahead of the FIFA World Cup 2018, and will further boost the development of mobile economy in Russia's largest and richest city.
Currently about 30% of the territory within the Garden Ring area of Moscow is covered by free WiFi, the capital's Department of Information Technology (DIT) told Vedomosti daily. The new network will also improve the work of city services, such as road policing, parking, and toll services.
Russian state-controlled integrated telecom major Rostelecom estimates the cost of Digital Economy information technology infrastructure at RUB427bn ($7.3bn) for the next three years , Vedomosti daily said on November 23 citing the draft prepared by the company for the federal government. Following the Kremlin's urge to prioritise the development of IT and other new technologies, the government reportedly started a special working group that develops a list of initiatives to facilitate the rollout of the Digital Economy programme. Most of the spending planned by Rostelecom, or RUB299bn, is earmarked for a satellite system covering the globe, financed entirely outside of the federal budget. The share of the information technology in Russia's GDP has been growing steadily from 2010 to 2015 (by 25% vs GDP growth of 7%), but took a 5% dive in 2016, according to the study. Previously this year policymakers summoned by Kremlin warned that Russia will struggle with diminishing defence potential and threats to national sovereignty if it doesn’t become a technological power.
90 RUSSIA Country Report December 2017 www.intellinews.com