Russians are becoming internet junkies
According to the newest survey Russians are the number one internet junkies in Europe topping even Germany and France
The leading position of Russian internet users will be at the end of 2011 half of the country’s population of 142.9 million. And recently the leading national internet search engine Yandex was quoted in last May on the US tech stock Market NASDAQ by raising USD 1.4 billion whereas the largest Russian steelmaker Rusal raised USD 2.4 billion in his going public in Hong Kong.
Internet using approaches 10’0% in Moscow, St. Petersburg, Novosibirsk and other big Russian cities. There is also the first fully Wi-Fi region (Krasnodar in South Russia) established. In remote areas the locals cannot afford internet usage and there penetration cannot be compared to other European countries.
Also broad band is expanding and reached 2010 35% of Russian households and is estimated to grow 10 % to 15% in the next two or more years.
This high access numbers will certainly influence the further development of e-business in Russia especially in clothing.