Public sales portals are supplied by the publishers themselves or by digital distributors. One of the best-known players in the field of e-book distribution in Russia is Litres. Founded in 2006 through a merger between different portals and then acquired by Eksmo, this aggregator and seller of electronic books began with just 90 titles and now has over 30,000, provided by around 50 publishing houses from all over the country. Currently, most of the e-books sold in Russian stores come from Litres. According to the estimations of Sergey Anuriev, the director of Litres, the platform controls almost 70% of the Russian e-book market.[1] In order to expand its business, Litres has formed alliances with e-reader manufacturers, on-demand printers and even cell phone companies. Anuriev believes that the most profitable model for the electronic book is the sale of copies, since – in his opinion – the subscription system has not even worked abroad. The company is extremely active in the fight against illegal copies and its strategy is aimed not just at using legal interventions but also at developing markets where before there was piracy: a matter of turning unauthorized sites into genuine sellers.[2] In November 2010, Litres announced the opening of an annual electronic literature competition, with 12 categories voted for by readers, including the most popular author, the discovery of the year and the best work of fiction.[3]

As we have already mentioned, the firm Digital Distribution Center (DDC) is the owner of the stores BestKniga and KnigaFund. Created in 2007, this company aims to become the leading aggregator in the educational and scientific field in Russia. In addition to selling copies or subscriptions through its two portals, DDC custom builds platforms for the country’s institutions. In 2009 it launched TatKnigaFund, the virtual library of the Republic of Tatarstan. The project is overseen by local authorities and brings together more than 1000 titles in the Tartar language.