MOSCOW, January 22 The time has come for the state to pay closer attention to the e-commerce industry, including from the point of view of legal regulation, says the State Statistics Service -Secretary — Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade of the Russian Federation Viktor Evtukhov.
According to him, over five years, the turnover of e-commerce has grown 6 times, and marketplaces — 5 times. Thus, at the end of December, according to the Association of Internet Trade Companies (AKIT), the volume of online trade in Russia in January-November 2023 amounted to 5.6 trillion rubles, which is 26% more than the same period of the previous year.
«There is enormous growth, there are problems in the industry and, probably, the time has come for the state to pay closer attention to this industry (e-commerce — ed.) from the point of view of state policy and legal regulation» , — said Evtukhov on the TV channel «Russia 24».
Answering a question about the law on distance selling, he clarified that the draft review, which takes into account the position of all federal authorities, was prepared and submitted to the government, and then it will go to the State Duma.
In October last year, Evtukhov noted in an interview that the State Duma was beginning to discuss a bill proposing measures for state regulation of the online trading market in Russia. Speaking about when this law could be adopted, Evtukhov noted that while it has not even passed the first reading, it will be submitted to the government, as well as the issuance of a conclusion by the Ministry of Industry and Trade.
At the end of May, the Deputy Minister stated that the Ministry of Industry and Trade does not exclude the possibility of introducing additional regulation for the e-commerce industry, including for marketplaces: according to him, the Internet -trade in Russia is actively developing, the share of marketplaces exceeds 50% of the volume of online commerce, and the system may be able to be self-regulating and self-controlled until it reaches certain levels in its development.
However, later, already in June, he noted that there was no need yet to introduce regulation of the activities of this segment, since market participants were able to find a compromise.