Page 84 - RusRPTFeb20

annual rate of 39%, ​outgrowing the market that is seen as expanding at 23%, and achieving a total market share of 39% by 2022, Sberbank CIB analysts argueonJanyary23.Asreportedby​bneIntelliNews,​ the​Russiane-commerce market in 1H19 expanded by 26% year on year to RUB725bn ($11bn)​, with the largest online retailers accounting for most of the growth. The number of purchases online was 191mn in the reporting period, up by a record 44%. Sberbank's report sees the share in overall retail sales over the period as continuing to rise from 6.1% to 9.5%, driven by growth in the number of online shoppers (10% growth) and increased penetration into their wallets.
Russia's Finance Ministry proposed to slash the limit for duty free cross-border packages to €20 as of 2022​, which would make a drastic decline from current €500 that will also be lowered to €200 as of January 2 2020. The issue of duty free packages is crucial for cross-border e-commerce and has been a hotbed for debate and lobbying since 2018, The Bell reported on December 11. As January 2020 the duty free limit is lowered to €200, while for the excess value, the import duty rate changes from 30% to 15% but not less than €2 per kilo. Chinese AliExpress is the leading cross-border operator in Russia, with a market share of 40%, which would benefit from the lowering of the import duties. ​AliExpress has recently formed a joined venture with Mail.ru and MegaFon​, assets of the influential tycoon Alisher Usmanov.
The Russian game market more than doubled in the past five years to more than $2bn ​in 2019, online payment system ​Yandex.Checkout​ has said in a report, ​according​ to Venture Beat. Historically dominated by free-to-play PC games, Russia’s market is shifting more toward mobile games in the past year, says the report by Yandex.Checkout, a joint venture of internet firm Yandex​ and Russia’s biggest bank, ​Sberbank​. The revenue hit the $2bn mark in 2019, adding more than 15% growth in comparison with 2018. The top-earning segment was free-to-play PC games at 47%, or $940mn, up 4% from a year earlier.
Russia and Ukraine amongst the world’s cheapest internets, ​according to Worldwide Price Comparison, a study by the British company BDRC Continental and provider Cable.co.uk. The average cost of connecting in Ukraine is $6.64 per month, only four cents more than in Syria. Ukraine is part of Eastern Europe’s cheap internet pool of countries. After Ukraine, the ranking is Russia - $7.35 per month; Romania - $8.15 per month; and Belarus - $9.87 per month.
The Internet advertising market increased 21% on the year to 169–171bn rubles in January–September​, excluding value-added tax (VAT), the Russian Association of Communication Agencies (RACA) said in a statement on Tuesday. “The current situation in the Russian economy is quite difficult despite the assurances of the Federal State Statistics Service of the opposite. It cannot be ignored by the advertising market. Although today’s 5% rise of the Russian market may seem an unattainable dream for many foreign advertising markets, but in comparison with a 13% increase we saw a year ago, it’s a modest figure,” Vice President Sergei Veselov said. The total volume of advertisements rose 5% to 340–345bn rubles VAT included. The television segment shrank 7% to 119–121bn rubles. The radio segment decreased 5% to 10.9–11.1bn rubles, and the press segment lost 18% to 10.5–10.7bn rubles, the association said.
84​ RUSSIA Country Report​ February 2020 ​ ​www.intellinews.com