Russian E-commerce Group Formed

Last week, around 200 attendees from five Russian cities came to St. Petersburg to take part in the Russian Conference on Electronic Commerce. Some 112 companies and other organizations - including Russia's Central Bank and the State Duma (Russia's lower house of parliament) - participated in discussions of Russian e-commerce projects, Internet payment systems and national e-commerce challenges.

At the conclusion of the conference, the show organizers founded the Russian Association of Electronic Commerce, with plans to make the conference an annual event with international participation. The next conference is planned for November next year.

"E-commerce is booming all over the world, and we are trying to make it real here in Russia," said Michael Novikov, CEO and founder of ADMIN, and one of the conference's two sponsors.

Considering the ailing state of the Russian economy and a banking system that is in disarray, the group is sure to have its work cut out for it.

However, support for e-commerce in Russia has already been voiced by the European Union, which last month signed an agreement with the country to cooperate in the fields of e-commerce and telecommunications. Under the auspices of the agreement, the EU will cooperate with Russia to boost public-sector cooperation and private-sector collaboration on e-commerce.