Marketplaces proposed a “market” replacement for payment in favor of Russian Post

Companies that are members of the Association of Internet Trade Companies (AKIT) can purchase Russian Post services in the amount of about 33.5 billion rubles. This proposal is contained in a letter from AKIT sent to the Chairman of the State Duma Committee on Information Policy, Alexander Khinshtein, writes RBC.

“Almost all companies included in the association took part in the discussion, and the total amount of such services, according to our calculations, could amount to 33.5 billion rubles, which is comparable to the annual budget of, for example, the Altai Territory and about ten other regions. Russian Post proposes to introduce a payment of 0.5% under the pretext of the need to maintain unprofitable socially important post offices in remote areas. This approach is unacceptable, so AKIT offers a civilized market way to solve the problem,” explained the president of the association, Artem Sokolov.

The authors of the letter added that the use of the Russian Post infrastructure involves loading both on the domestic market and on international shipments, as well as on other types of logistics. In addition, marketplaces allowed the use of some Russian Post branches when issuing and paying for a number of orders.

In turn, Khinshtein noted that he had not yet received the letter, but confirmed that in July the marketplaces offered to cover the necessary amount to avoid an infrastructure payment. We are talking about the proposal of Russian Post to oblige the owners of marketplaces and other participants in the e-commerce market, whose annual revenue exceeds 1 billion rubles, to pay an infrastructure payment to the postal operator in the amount of 0.5% of the quarterly turnover of goods. According to Khinshtein, this issue is being discussed. “We agreed that in September the marketplaces will come with specific options,” he said.

September 25, Speaker of the Federation Council Valentina Matvienko called urgently resolve the issue with the growing financial hole of Russian Post. She noted that in order to solve the company’s financial problems, it is necessary to develop a “correct model of existence” and take those measures that the government considers necessary. “But we urgently need to correct the situation – the further we close our eyes, the worse it will get,” Matvienko emphasized.

After this, the company’s general director Mikhail Volkov confirmed the tense situation of Russian Post, despite improved performance compared to the beginning of the year. “In six months, we managed to change the trend – reduce the loss from operating activities by almost three times, open many temporarily closed branches, and bring people back. But the situation remains very tense,” he said.