Minister eyes govt choosing infrastructure fee to back Russian Post

MOSCOW, Sep 25 (PRIME) -- Economic Development Minister Maxim Reshetnikov on Monday said he expects the decision on support of Russian Post will be made soon in favor of an infrastructure fee charged from marketplaces.

“It’s true that the matter with Russian Post, its financial footing, is worrisome now…We should look for a financial source, a constant financial source to balance economy of Russian Post,” Reshetnikov said at the parliament’s upper house Federation Council.

The minister said there are two options, either the budget or the infrastructure fee. “We are ready to mull both. I think, we will certainly stick to the infrastructure fee. The other point is that calculations of the fee are needed, we need an understanding of what Post would guarantee…and we need a financial recovery plan of Russian Post,” he said.

Russian Post earlier offered an initiative of charging an infrastructure fee in its favor from the online sellers with annual revenue of more than 1 billion rubles to the tune of 0.5% of their turnover.

Russian Online Retail Association President Artyom Sokolov said earlier in September that none of the marketplaces or other players in the e-commerce industry backs the initiative.

(96.0419 rubles – U.S. $1)

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