The draft budget for 2025-2027 includes a new fee for the distribution of online advertising

The draft budget for 2025–2027 implies the emergence of a new fee for the distribution of online advertising and an increase in the rates of existing contributions for mobile operators. Due to this, the authorities expect to increase funding for the national project “Data Economy”. Business representatives from both industries note that their costs are rising even without these innovations.

“Kommersant” studied the provisions of the draft federal budget for 2025–2027 (see “Kommersant” dated October 1) regarding possible additional financing of national projects. It follows from them that, by decision of the government, additional funds from the federal budget can be allocated to the implementation of the project “Data Economy and Digital Transformation of the State” in the event of decisions to increase the rate of mandatory contributions (non-tax payment) of public communication network operators to the universal service reserve, and also introducing a fee for “distribution of advertising and promotion services” on the Internet. There is no such fee now.

Internet advertising in Russia is already subject to labeling. Its distributors, as well as advertisers and intermediaries, must transfer information about campaigns to the Unified Register of Internet Advertising (ERIR). In the first half of 2024, the system took into account placements with a total budget of 381 billion rubles, RBC reported on October 1, citing a report from Roskomnadzor (operator of ERIR). Information can be transferred to ERIR only through advertising data operators (ORD; available from VK, Sber, MTS, etc.), which from the moment of their appearance began charging for services. Roskomnadzor redirected Kommersant to the Ministry of Digital Development; the ministry did not respond to the request.

The initiative will lead to a forced increase in prices for online advertising, and “Internet players are obviously at a disadvantage,” Yandex told Kommersant. They added that if the fee is introduced, advertisers will be forced to compensate for additional costs, which could lead to an increase in prices for the goods and services themselves: “In addition, the burden on small and medium-sized entrepreneurs may increase.”

The appearance of the fee “will hit the pockets of the entire industry,” says Alexander Shokurov, CEO of the advertising group Kokoc Group. According to him, the group’s expenses for compliance with the labeling law alone reach about 200 million rubles. per year, and the positive effect of the last two years has already faded away: “Costs are rising significantly, margins from the largest advertising platforms are falling, all this against the backdrop of declining purchasing power.” Mr. Shokurov separately noted that from the project “it is not clear how the system will work.”

If we talk about non-tax payments from telecom operators, then since 2004 all telecom operators have paid universal service contributions on a quarterly basis. This money is used to finance a project to eliminate the digital divide in the regions of the Russian Federation, which is being implemented by Rostelecom. At t2 (formerly Tele2), Kommersant was told that the rate is now set at 1.2% and has not changed since 2006 (previously operators paid 2%). VimpelCom, MegaFon, MTS, and Rostelecom declined to comment. A Kommersant source in the telecom market explains that the rate has not been increased over the years of the reserve’s existence, but its possible increase will increase the “already increased burden” on operators: “We are talking about increasing the profit tax from 20% to 25%, canceling benefits to pay for frequencies for LTE." A possible increase in the rate will have a greater impact on regional telecom operators, which “have a smaller margin of safety,” adds Oleg Grishchenko, president of the Rosteleset association (which unites more than 200 regional telecom operators).

Yuri Litvinenko, Alexey Zhabin