A subsidiary of one of Russia’s largest online stores Ozon.ru opened in Yekaterinburg recently. The company explains the decision to set up a branch in Yekaterinburg had to do with a 40% increase in the sales in the provinces, Kommersant reports.

According to Ozon.ru’s press service, the Yekaterinburg subsidiary of the online mega-market is actually a hub.

‘The hub will consolidate all the orders coming from Ozon’s primary warehouse in Tver; the orders will then be streamlined along their destinations. This particular node is responsible for the entire territory of Ural Federal District,’ the press service says.

‘We decided to set up a subsidiary in Yekaterinburg because sales in the Russian provinces play an important part in our development. In 2009, the share of provincial sales amounted to slightly less than 30% of the total turnover, a year later, the figure rose to nearly 40%, and in 2011, we expect the sales to go even further up. Ural Federal District is a strategically important region for us, as the sales here increased by 2.5 times compared with 2009,’ says Ozon.ru’s Director-General Maelle Gavet.