Added to the basket: the authorities are preparing new rules for Russian trade
New requirements for sellers and marketplaces, incentives for retail markets, and a special format for beer festivals similar to wine festivals are just some of the initiatives outlined in the draft national trading model. The document of the Ministry of Industry and Trade includes 12 legislative proposals, each of which regulates network and non-network retail in one way or another. The idea has already caused a serious resonance in the business environment - many companies believe that the proposed measures can seriously affect the market, and some of them need to be finalized. Izvestia investigated why a new trading model was needed, what business thinks about it, and how the changes will affect consumers.
Trade Transformation
In the roadmap of the Ministry of Industry and Trade (available to Izvestia) It is said that the national model of trading activity was developed on behalf of the president following the results of SPIEF 2025.
"The development of the project is due to a significant transformation of the trading industry," the explanatory note says. — In particular, marketplaces have appeared and are developing; modern players have begun to use omnichannel (simultaneous operation in offline and online space); a significant part of the trading business has matured, including small businesses, which, unlike the situation of the 1990s and 2000s, has become quite civilized."
According to the document, the main purpose of the action plan is to form a "modern model of trade regulation" that will combine online retail and platform formats. According to the Ministry of Industry and Trade, it should ensure fair competition in the market, reduce the volume of smuggling and trafficking of substandard or unsafe products, ensure the availability of socially important goods, and strengthen support for small businesses and domestic manufacturers.
In the document, the Ministry of Industry and Trade provides its own assessment of the current state of Russian trade. The agency emphasizes that in 2024, retail trade turnover reached 55.8 trillion rubles, which is 27.6% of GDP. There are currently over 895,000 stores and retail facilities in the country, employing about 8.6 million people.
The Ministry also points to the significant impact of trade on related industries: the sector stimulates the development of the processing industry, the agro-industrial complex, logistics, the real estate market, housing and communal services and banking services. It is also noted that the largest retail companies are simultaneously leading IT players and are among the top 50 employers in the information technology market. The share of online commerce, according to the document, is 15.2% of the total turnover and reaches 8.5 trillion rubles.
Separately, the roadmap identifies key trends that, according to the Ministry of Industry and Trade, will determine the development of the industry in the coming years. Among them are the unification of various trading formats into a single ecosystem around the consumer, the rapid growth of online sales and platform trading, the expansion of the segment of hard discounters, as well as further consolidation among manufacturers and suppliers.
Based on these trends, a concept for the modernization of legislation has been prepared. It includes five key areas: equalizing the competitive environment between traditional retail and online commerce, eliminating legal gaps and imbalances in the regulation of trading activities, improving consumer protection legislation, developing consumer cooperation, and updating the rules of retail markets and fairs. In total, the document contains 12 measures that can be implemented in the format of draft federal laws, government orders or mandatory industry standards.
Trading model: basic offers
A significant part of the initiatives concerns the regulation of online commerce. In particular, it is proposed to oblige marketplaces to coordinate discounts on goods with sellers. As noted in the document, today the seller is effectively deprived of the ability to manage the price of his own goods, and instead of reducing the cost, he receives bonuses that can only be used inside the platform. The Ministry of Industry and Trade believes that this practice restricts competition, and suggests that the seller should be given the right to independently determine participation in promotions. This measure can be implemented both through industry standards and through federal law. It is also planned to prohibit online platforms from forcing the owners of pick-up points to open single-brand facilities.
In order to create equal conditions for competition between marketplaces and traditional retail, it is proposed to exclude the cost of logistics from the 5% remuneration that suppliers pay to retail chains. According to the authors, all this will allow online retail to compete more effectively with online platforms that charge separate payments for delivery, storage, promotion and placement of goods and at the same time do not face similar restrictions. The Ministry of Industry and Trade believes that the relevant norms can be fixed in a separate law.
In addition, it is planned to introduce antimonopoly restrictions for marketplaces, similar to those that are already applied to online retail when selling food products and are fixed in article 13 of the law on trade. In particular, we are talking about the inadmissibility of limited or unequal access of sellers to the platforms, as well as the prohibition of imposing conditions on sellers that limit their ability to conclude supply contracts with other platforms.
Among other things, the authorities want to abolish the obligation of regional authorities to maintain trade registers, databases that contain information about companies that have been legally verified. Currently, inclusion in such registers means that businesses need to pay a trade fee. In the future, it is planned to leave this practice only in those regions where it is really in demand.
Izvestia sent a request to the Ministry of Industry and Trade with a request to clarify the essence and possible deadlines for the implementation of the proposed changes.
The position of online commerce
The document needs to be supplemented, and a number of provisions need to be deleted, Artyom Sokolov, president of the Association of Internet Commerce Companies (AKIT), told Izvestia. He has already sent a review of the organization to the ministry.
— AKIT considers it necessary to exclude the ban on single-brand PVZ. This contradicts the principles of competition development, since it effectively prohibits the promotion of the site's own brand through a franchise and minimizes the possibility of quality control of the order delivery service. Moreover, it will stop the development of infrastructure in the regions, as companies will lack motivation. The ability of point owners to issue orders from third-party online stores and marketplaces has already been implemented in current standards in the self-regulatory format. The platforms coordinate the possibility of issuing online orders to third-party online commerce with operationally stable PVZ," the business representative explained.
The Association also proposes to exclude the application of Article 13 of the Law on Trade ("Antimonopoly Rules") in relation to marketplaces. Such a measure is unnecessary, since online platforms are already subject to special antimonopoly regulation introduced by the fifth antimonopoly package.
— A very small part of food products is sold through marketplaces (less than 4% of all food sales in the Russian Federation), while the bulk of deliveries are made from retail stores of retail chains. Thus, this is a far-fetched problem and the risks of imposing unfavorable delivery conditions on the supplier do not arise, since the online product market has developed differently," he noted.
Also, according to Artyom Sokolov, a comprehensive revision of the methodology for calculating the market shares of grocery retail is needed. Consumers today buy food through a variety of channels, so it is economically feasible to consider all ways of selling food as a single competitive space.
"The revision of the share calculation, taking into account the turnover of the online market and the catering market, will allow retail chains to allocate resources more efficiently between regions, directing investments to where there is the greatest growth potential and the need for modern trading infrastructure, including allowing for the development of trade in remote regions," he is confident.
At the same time, the representative of AKIT added, it is necessary to provide support measures for companies that operate in foreign markets. This will not only stimulate the development of production in the country, bring foreign exchange earnings, but will also promote the image of Russia abroad.
At the same time, the issue of discounts and promotions on marketplaces has already been regulated by the law on the platform economy, the press service of the united Wildberries&Rus company reminded Izvestia.
"From our point of view, this regulation is optimal and takes into account both the interests of the seller and the interests of the platform," the company explained. — In our opinion, any regulatory restriction on discounts due to platforms is simply superfluous, since they are beneficial to both the seller and the buyer: the seller increases sales at their expense, maintaining profits, and the buyer gets the opportunity to buy goods at an affordable price and pick them up at a convenient delivery point.
At the same time, the mechanism for providing the seller with the opportunity to refuse to apply such a discount to his goods as a whole may turn out to be a positive measure that will contribute to greater consideration of sellers' interests, the company added. In addition, there is currently no compulsion for PVZ owners to open only single-brand outlets on the platform, according to Wildberries& Russ. The main condition is to adhere to the necessary branding for proper customer navigation. At the same time, representatives of the platform, like AKIT, consider the requirement to create multi-brand PVZS to be rather controversial.
"This may limit the platforms' ability to develop their brand and provide the level of service expected by the consumer," the company believes.
Moreover, there simply is not enough suitable space to implement this approach, and the lack of uniform standards can make it difficult to control the infrastructure, worsen the customer experience and create additional technological difficulties. Therefore, the opening of multi-brand PVZ carries certain risks, the marketplace's press service noted.
Wildberries&Russ believes that the application of equal regulatory conditions for offline trading and digital platforms is ineffective and simply technically impossible. It should be based on an understanding of the business model of marketplaces - in fact, the existing law on the platform economy is based on this, the company said.
The decision to provide discounts to customers on online platforms should be made by the seller, the Ozon press service noted. This platform already has a mechanism that allows any entrepreneur to opt out of participating in promotions.
"But it is not popular: only 2% of sellers refused discounts, and six out of ten of those who refused later turned on discounts at the expense of Ozon in their personal accounts," the representatives of the platform clarified.
They believe that additional revenue opportunities are very important for the owners of pick-up points, so it is allowed to conduct any additional business in the marketplace's PVZ.
— There are points combined with coffee shops, dry cleaners and even food chain franchises, there is a practice of delivering parcels to various logistics companies. The only wish on our part in this case is to provide an acceptable level of service to customers," the company stressed.
Having implemented such a program at home, Ozon is ready for additional discussions on the topic of multi-brand pick-up points. At the same time, they agree that the law on the platform economy has turned out to be balanced due to the willingness of the state to work on it together with the market. It is important to continue this joint work, which is why the company is an active participant in the government's platform economy working group, they stressed.
Retail position
The roadmap of the Ministry of Industry and Trade is a timely and important initiative, the press service of the Association of Retail Companies told Izvestia.
ACORT generally supports the proposed measures to create a unified approach to regulating retail and platform trading. They noted that when developing the national model, it is important to focus on two areas — reviewing restrictions for online omnichannel retail and improving regulation regarding digital platforms.
The fact is that the current law on trade regulates mainly the turnover of food and the operation of retail chains. The chains buy food products from suppliers, comply with strict requirements on the terms of payment for goods, refunds, restrictions on bonuses and many other norms, AKORT emphasized. Digital platforms, which are positioned as intermediaries, do not have such restrictions — they are not required to conclude direct supply contracts for the sale of food, like retail chains. However, platforms are becoming major participants in food turnover, and there is an imbalance that needs to be addressed, according to the organization.
In this regard, according to ACORT, it is logical to extend the provisions of the law on trade to large digital platforms when selling food products. At the same time, it is possible to leave the possibility of selling goods on platforms under an intermediary agreement for small producers and farmers. This will allow us to harmonize working conditions for all market participants and support small businesses.
The main thing is that consumers should not suffer in the process of this trade regulation, Georgy Ostapkovich, head of the HSE Center for Market Research, told Izvestia.
— Business can come to an agreement with the authorities. At the same time, both marketplaces and online retail will be able to maintain their interests, while customers will remain without discounts. This should not happen," the expert believes.
In addition, in his opinion, any regulation in the current difficult economic situation should be introduced only after a thorough analysis of the possible consequences and risks.
Innovations for markets and beer festivals
The roadmap contains a separate block of measures to remove excessive restrictions on the operation of retail markets — they are invited to return investment attractiveness. However, the document does not specify how this will be done. In addition, it is planned to introduce a format of specialized beer fairs (festivals) similar to wine fairs. A separate federal law will regulate their activities.
The press service of Baltika told Izvestia that the company is aware of the preparation of the document and supports the initiative to introduce beer fairs there.
— The domestic brewing industry has a unique history of development that allows it to successfully compete with the world's leading producers. But, unfortunately, Russian brewers are experiencing a shortage of opportunities to present the merits of their products to consumers and effectively counteract the myths about beer that have been spread for a long time in favor of various interests, the company said. — In this regard, we support initiatives that can change this situation and return this opportunity to the industry.
By itself, the organization of specialized fairs and festivals is aimed not so much at obtaining an immediate economic effect, as at forming a culture of beer consumption in our country, representatives of Baltika say. It will also give an incentive to manufacturers and brands that are already making a significant contribution to the economic development of the country and regions — their potential can increase significantly if favorable conditions are created and government support is provided, the company believes.
In September, the Leningrad Region hosted the large-scale Baltika Fest festival, which can compete with the famous Bavarian Oktoberfest in terms of eventfulness. At the same time, proposals were made to make the event an annual event.
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