Major Russian online retailers, including Ozon, Wildberries, SberMarket and others, publicly challenged the Ministry of Digital Development’s plan to create an infrastructure fee payable to Russian Post. Forbes reported the dispute.
In an open letter to Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin, leaders of prominent e-commerce platforms warned that the proposed law would levy 0.5% of turnover on companies with annual revenue of 1 billion rubles or more, a financial burden they say would severely harm the national economy and likely push prices higher for end users.
Retailers argued that this charge functions as a hidden tax on buyers, and its size bears little relation to the real financial capacity of the businesses. For instance, Ozone, which has struggled with profitability, could face a 4.2 billion ruble payment that would deepen its losses. Wildberries might endure a similar impact; if enacted in 2022, a marketplace that reported last year a net income of 11 billion rubles would face an 8 billion ruble payment based on turnover to Russian Post.
The letter also contends that directing funds from the private sector to a state entity would not resolve Russian Post’s ongoing unprofitability. The signatories call for abandoning the legislative proposal in its current form.
Experts aligned with the retailers criticize the idea of direct subsidies from competing firms to Russian Post as unacceptable. They view the state monopoly as needing reforms that streamline operations and foster partnerships with private players, rather than imposing a de facto tax on online commerce.
In late August, Russia saw continued growth in online commerce despite these debates.
Additionally, the discussion highlighted changes previously applied to Russian Post, signaling a broader push to reform how state logistics interact with private sellers in the digital marketplace.