Page 95 - RPTRusFeb17

such areas as medical and communication platforms, means of creating virtual images, development tools, and augmented reality are targeted.
Russia’s e-commerce market continued to grow at double-digit rates last year even as offline retail was severely affected by the economic crisis, a report published by East West Digital News (EWDN) reveals. Online sales in 2016 exceeded $26bn , growing more than 20% year-on-year, including $16bn for physical goods and $10bn for online travel. The cross-border segment is the fastest growing, up 26% by value and 80% by number of parcels and small packages, and exceeded $4bn for physical goods alone. This growth has been driven in large part by Chinese companies – most notably Alibaba’s B2C marketplace Aliexpress.ru – but key western players including Amazon, Asos, Next and Yoox are also in the game.
Due to the crisis, the real-estate infrastructure that companies need to serve Russian consumers has become dramatically cheaper and more accessible . International and local retailers are taking advantage of these opportunities to launch huge projects to build, expand or upgrade warehousing and fulfilment facilities across the country. Even though half of e-commerce companies now have their own infrastructure, demand still exceeds supply on the fulfilment services market. However, while service performance of many providers leaves much to be desired, delivery conditions across the world’s largest country have improved considerably over the past years, with the delivery service industry now entering a phase of consolidation.
Russian e-commerce (RUB bn, USD bn)
MasterCard together with Russian bank Ak Bars and a number of other banks will launch a first financial tech accelerator in Russia, t he bank's press service said. FinTech Lab will focus on joint projects with financial technology start-ups and along with MasterCard and Ak Bars is supported by VTB24, Otrkitie Bank, Bank St Petersburg, and Home Credit Bank. Accenture, having experience in organising fintech accelerators in London, New York, and Honk Kong, will consult on the Russian lab project. The accelerator's expert committee invites representatives of the Central Bank of Russia (CBR), Ministry of Communication, Association of FinTech, and universities in the field to participate.
95 RUSSIA Country Report February 2017 www.intellinews.com