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June 2018 www.intellinews.com I Page 22
Eastern Europe
FIFA World Cup in Russia to add 2% to ad market
Global advertising spending on the FIFA 2018 World Cup (WC) in Russia will amount to $2.4bn, Vedomosti daily said on June 7 citing the findings of Zenith analytical company. The mondial is expected to generate 3.5bn people TV viewership worldwide.
In Russia, the extra ad spending are expected to amount to $64mn or about 2.1%% of total annual advertising market in 2018.
To compare, in China and the US the spending
is expected to amount to $835mn and $400mn, or 1% or 0.2% of the total advertising market, respectively. The absence of the US national team keeps the spending in America low.
Russian economy could gain 0.2% annually or 1% of GDP over 2013-2018 or RUB820bn ($13.3bn) from preparing and hosting the FIFA World Cup 2018, according to earlier estimates by McKinsey.
Russia spent RUB1.2 trillion ($19.4bn) on World Cup preparations, according to McKinsey making it one of the most expensive tournaments ever. And this is a lot more than the previous estimates of $11.5bn-$13.2bn total costs, making the tour- nament by far the most expensive World Cup after the $6bn and $11bn spent in South Africa in 2010 and Brazil in 2014, respectively
Russian electronics retailer Svyaznoy and Euroset to open 500 new stores
The merged company of Russian electronics retailers Svyaznoy and Euroset will open 500 new stores in the next 18 months, the head of the company Alexander Malis told the press on May 31. The total store count will thus reach over 5,500 stores.
Russian mobile major MegaFon, that previously owned Euroset and SLV Group controlling Svyaznoy, completed the merge in May.
Malis reiterated that Svyaznoy brand will continue to be developed as planned, while after a year Euroset stores will be re-branded.
MegaFon previously consolidated its 100% stake in country's largest handset retailer Euroset
and reports suggested the operator may seek to merge Euroset with Svyaznoy, as it would provide benefits of economy of scale.
Russian government to streamline and digitalise tax reporting
Russian government is developing a "one-stop shop" tax reporting principle, under which the businesses would only have to submit their annual reports once to the Federal Tax Service (FNS), RBC business portal said on June 18 citing a bill drafted by the Finance Ministry.
The initiative would be in line for the drive for more efficient use and consolidation of domestic resources, which is supposed to back up the six- year spending drive under President's Vladimir Putin's May Decree and spur growth beyond the structural ceiling of 1.5-2%.
The bill sets up FNS as the single interlocutor agency for tax reporting, which would be fully digitalised. The initiative that would half the time and cost of reporting was reportedly reviewed by a governmental commission on June 18 and could come into effect for 2019 reports to be submitted as of January 1 2020.
Russia could levy cross-border online purchases in 2020
The Federal Customs Service (FTS) will introduce a levy on any purchases in foreign