Covid pandemic propels record growth of Russian e-commerce
Russian internet commerce spiked by almost 60% at the start of the Covid pandemic in 2020, rising to 3.2 trillion rubles ($44 billion), Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin revealed at the international industrial exhibition Innoprom.
Mishustin said the information platforms that had appeared in Russia over the past year had made it possible to directly connect producers and consumers.
He noted that, during the peak of the restrictions associated with the pandemic, nearly 45% of all the country’s businesses were able to switch to remote operation, giving online commerce a huge boost.
Also on rt.com Put a cork in it: France's Moët backs down in bubbling row with Russia & agrees to brand its posh plonk as plain ‘sparkling wine’In his speech, Mishustin stated that, against the backdrop of the pandemic, entire sectors of the economy – including banks, urban transport, retail, telecoms and media – had completely transformed, which he said he viewed as a positive development.
He added that further efforts should nonetheless be made on a national level to fully automate production processes, logistics, and management decisions. In addition, he said that the use of artificial intelligence is also on the rise.
It is now widely used in the Russian medical sector. For instance, it analyzes data from computed tomography and MRI. It is also used for the development of anticancer drugs and vaccines, the Prime Minister claims.
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