OREANDA-NEWS. Svyazinvest’s CEO and president of the National Association of E-Trading Participants Alexander Kiselev made a speech at a meeting of the Presidium of the Governing Board of the Russian Chamber of Industry and Trade that was devoted to the rollout of e-commerce activities in Russia.

Commenting on the promotion of e-commerce solutions in Russia, Kiselev said that “the penetration rate of information technologies in the economy is characterized by the ratio of electronic deals and GDP. In 2006, Russia’s e-commerce turnover topped 1% of GDP for the first time, equaling Rub 250 bln. At the same time, in the US e-commerce turnover is close to 17% of GDP and around 14% in the UK, Germany and France. We have much room for improvement”.

Right now, the Russian e-commerce industry consists of online shops, electronic payment systems, online exchanges, authorization e-signature centers and corporate e-procurement systems. Kiselev notes that “Russia currently has around 10 big independent electronic trading venues that execute deals involving state-run and privately owned businesses. The largest players in this segment are SETonline and B2B-Energo. These operators have exhibited robust growth rates (up to 110% a year), continuously expanding the geographical range of participants. Based on NAUET estimates, it is independent players that will be the driving force of the industry in coming years”.

Telecom companies that make up Svyazinvest Group were among the trailblazers in shifting to e-commerce systems. As Kiselev said, in 2006 RTOs, controlled by Svyazinvest, launched e-auctions using the SETonline system. As of today, regional telecom operators purchased goods and services worth a total of Rub 546 mln using e-commerce platforms, which accounts for half of the e-platform’s volumes. Frontrunners on this market were CenterTelecom and Volga Telecom. This year Rostelecom and Central Telegraph followed suit. The economic efficiency of such auctions is plain to see: a discount at such an auction averages 11.7%, above 20% for a number of lots and sometimes it approximates 40%. Generally, 5-6 suppliers from various regions participate in an auction, placing around 25 bids for each lot on offer. It is evident that such indicators are achievable only in conditions close to an ideal market”.