Trade ministry says e-commerce may have new regulations

MOSCOW, May 31 (PRIME) -- Russia’s Industry and Trade Ministry does not rule out additional regulation for the e-commerce industry, including marketplaces, Deputy Minister Viktor Yevtukhov said on Wednesday.

Online trade burgeons in the country, and the share of marketplaces exceeds 50% in the e-commerce volume, but there are also difficulties, Yevtukhov said.

“It seems that the system has been truly self-regulated and self-controlled until a certain level. Unfortunately, discouraging situations have recently been occurring more often that draws our attention. It means self-management of the system is being lost,” he said.

Marketplace Wildberries Tatyana Bakalchuk asked the authorities to delay state regulation of the e-commerce industry and said that “where state regulation starts, growth ends.”

A platform economy is taking shape. “We all do our best to make it correct, transparent, with clear principles. We support self-regulation and are prepared to triple our efforts to make it all successful,” Bakalchuk said.

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