Page 96 - RPTRusFeb17

Russia's cloud services market grew 43% in 2016 , to RUB22.6bn ($390mn), according to data from German software company SAP and analytical company Forrester.. Though this figure marks an acceleration of growth over 2015, 2017 growth is projected to be slower, at 24% - to roughly 28 billion rubles and 48.3 by 2020. Though the growth of Russia's cloud services sector will outstrip the global average of 20.9%, its share on the global market remains tiny, likely to grow to .4% by 2020. Software services made up the majority of revenue generated by the sector. Notes Maksim Tambiev at Forrester Russia, the growth in 2016 consumption was due in part to pent-up demand from 2015.
Discussions are continuing on the implementation on the new data storage law. T he expert working group on Russia's new data storage law chaired by Minister for Open Government Affairs Mikhail Abyzov has rejected a petition for the draconian law's cancellation. The petition received 100,000 signatures on the Russian Public Initiative website. However, Deputy Communications Minister Alexey Volin has suggested decreasing the required volume of data storage by 10 times, and implementing the law gradually in stages. Volin also submitted that the abridged requirements would require operators to spend around RUB100bn on capex. Contradicting this, MTS Vice President Ruslan Ibragimov estimated his company's requisite investment at RUB1.7trn if the law is implemented in full, and RUB400bn if the government agrees to the abridged version. MegaFon has suggested that the law's implementation be postponed for five years to give operators ample time to prepare and comply. There is still much uncertainty regarding the final requirements.
Russia's advertisement market has bounced back to pre-crisis volumes thanks to the strong ruble and relative political stability, Vedomosti reported on February 21. In 2016, Russian companies spent 10-12% more on advertisements, compared with the previous year, according to the Association of Russia's communicative agencies (AKAR). The organisation's head was quoted by Vedomosti as saying that last year, Russia's ad market reached its 2014 size. In 2015, the sector plummeted by 10% to RUB307.5bn (€5bn). However, it began to recuperate the following year, with all segments but print media registering growth in advertisement revenues. Vedomosti quoted Moskovsky Komsomolets editor-in-chief Pavel Gusev as saying that in 2016, print media's ad revenues declined by 40% on average, while some outlets saw a decline of up to 60%. By contrast, online ads grew by 21%.
The Russian Pay-TV market grew by 10% to RUB73.7bn ($1.2bn) in 2016, the President of Cable TV Association of Russia Yuri Pripachkin told a conference. The number of pay TV subscribers exceeded 41mn and the number of new subscribers was 1.66mn people at the end of the year. The size of the average revenue per user was also up by 5% y/y to RUB152 ($2.56).
Russian government has submitted to the lower house of parliament, the State Duma, a bill on blocking mirror websites c ontaining illegal information, the Cabinet’s statement reads. The bill was drafted based on examination of practice of blocking forever websites, which repeatedly and illegally distributed information containing objects of copyright and (or) related rights or information required for their procurement with the use of data telecommunications networks. The examination revealed some deficiencies including inapplicability of prompt measures regarding automatically created “mirrors” of the blocked websites. The proposed bill would introduce the term “derived Internet site” (mirror website) into Russian legislation and prescribe the procedure of access
96 RUSSIA Country Report February 2017 www.intellinews.com