RUSSIA'S 2005 INTERNET SALE MARKET TO INCREASE BY A THIRD

MOSCOW, April 19 (RIA Novosti) - In 2004 the volume of the Russian retail Internet sale market was about 600 million dollars' worth. In 2005 it will increase to 800 million dollars. In the estimate of the analytical company iKS-Consulting, in 2004 the number of regular users of web shops increased by 43 percent to 7.6 million. This year it will be nine million users, the daily Vedomosti reports.

For the first time in its history, a net profit of 1.2 million dollars has been drawn by the largest Russian Internet shop Ozon, selling books, videotapes, laser disks, software, toys and electronics. Its PR director Mikhail Yatkovski links the sales increase to the growing number of Internet users and a broader range of items on sale. "Internet sale is yielding us two thirds of profits and its share will continue to increase", Yatkovski said. In 2005 Ozon plans to double the turnover to between 40 and 45 million dollars.

"Internet shops do not require heavy investments to be made and rapidly become profitable", general director of the Russian search portal Yandex Arkadi Volozh believes. In his opinion, Ozon invested much in its development in a bid to be a leader on the Internet trade market. "This is why our company has become profitable only now", Volozh explains.