Page 23 - bne_Tech_06_2018

NIBs
June 2018 www.intellinews.com I Page 23
online stores and delivered to Russia starting in 2020, Vedomosti daily said on June 17 citing two unnamed sources with knowledge of FTS proposal to the Finance Ministry.
Russian e-commerce is dominated by cross- border trade, which beat the 13% market growth and expanded by 24% in 2017, while domestic online shopping lagged behind with 8% growth. In monetary terms Russians e-shopped the most in China (53%), the EU (22%), and US (12%).
The move could reportedly bring RUB25bn ($0.4bn) to Russian budget annually. Currently foreign online purchases of less than €1,000 per one consumer or below 31kg in weight ate not taxed. The measure is not likely to have impact, as according to the FTS, 95% of online purchases are below €30. The data by the Post of Russia shows that in 2017 out of 283mn parcels shipped from abroad only 0.02% cost more than €200.
IKEA wants to bring 20% of Russian sales online
Swedish furniture major IKEA plans to boost online sales in Russia from current 7% to 15-20% of sales in the coming 2-3 years, Vice President of the company's regional division Gerhard Peter Moritz told Tass on June 14.
"We believe that interest of Russians in modern technologies creates potential for raising the online turnover to over 15% in short-term perspective," he said.
IKEA launched online sales in Russia in 2013, starting with Siberia and launched online deliveries in Central Russia in 2017, which included Moscow and the Moscow region.
US expands cyber-related sanctions against Russia
The US Treasury Department (USTD) expanded its sanctions against Russian companies
and individuals, retaliating against alleged cyberattacks targeting American energy grid and other key infrastructure. The USTD designated three individuals and five entities, namely Digital Security, ERPScan, Embedi, Kvant Scientific Research Institute, and Divetechnoservices.
“The entities designated today have directly contributed to improving Russia’s cyber and underwater capabilities through their work with the FSB [Federal Security Bureau] and therefore jeopardize the safety and security of the United States and our allies,” Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said in a statement released on June 11.
The new USTD designations maintain the sanction pressure, which has reached a peak when on April 6 in first Russian oligarchs Oleg Deripaska and Viktor Vekselberg and their businesses were sanctioned.
Russian computer market expands by over 25%, driven by note books
Russia’s PC sales are growing at their fastest pace in the last five years. The personal computer market expanded by a quarter (27.3%) in January- March 2018, with 1.2mn PCs sold, Vedomosti daily said on May 31 citing IDC research company.
Notably, the growth was mostly attributed to note books, which boosted the sales by 45% to 0.86mn devices in the first quarter, while the sales of desktop PCs slipped by 0.7% to 0.37mn.
The PC market resumed its growth in the fourth quarter of 2016 posting 4.2% y/y growth and reached double-digit numbers already in the following quarter.