On September 18, within the World Youth Festival Assembly arranged on behalf of the President of the Russian Federation, Avito experts gave lessons on entrepreneurship. They talked about how to launch your own start-up with a limited amount of seed funding, how to promote your brand, and what trends businessmen should be aware of nowadays.

The World Youth Festival is being held in Nizhny Novgorod from September 17 to 21. Two thousand young leaders from Russia and 120 foreign countries are taking part in it. The goal of the World Youth Festival Assembly is to strengthen the ties between vigorous and ambitious young people from all corners of the world.

In addition to an intensive business program, the festival also launched a school of entrepreneurship from Avito. Among its lecturers were Nikita Zakharov, Head of the Fashion Business Division at Avito; Denis Zubov, Head of the Strategy Unit at Avito Goods; Tamara Kvirkelia, Head of Onboarding for New Sellers at Avito; and Anna Kitaikina, Head of Brand Communications and Digital Special Projects at Avito. Nikita Zakharov and Denis Zubov held a session entitled “How Zoomers and Millennials are shaping the new consumer economy.” They talked about the key trends that are influencing business today.

According to Denis Zubov, the Russian e-commerce market is the fastest growing in the world at the end of 2024 (+33%), and today it is among the ten largest ones, ranking sixth. At the same time, resale is becoming an increasingly significant part of e-commerce, already accounting for 14% of the total market.

According to Nikita Zakharov, 58% of buyers purchased fashion items from resellers at least once during the past year, and among zoomers and millennials, the figure was 68%. The main reasons for buying second-hand items include the search for bargains and rare items, environmental friendliness, and a unique assortment. The Fashion category remains one of the leading categories on Avito, accounting for 27% of all deals on the platform, with more than 27 million visitors per month. At the same time, the share of premium brands in the GMV of the Fashion category is more than 15%, compared to 8% of the luxury segment of the total clothing market in Russia. In other words, premium brands are twice as popular in resale as in the new market. Interest in Russian premium brands in resale is growing: 12Storeez, Monochrome, and Ushatava are among the top 10 popular brands on Avito. Tamara Kvirkelia talked about “How a young entrepreneur can launch a start-up with 10,000 rubles.” She answered the question of whether it is possible to combine studying and online business.

"At the present time, teenagers as young as 14 are launching hobby projects, drawing, creating things with their own hands, and bringing them to market. 22% of novice entrepreneurs on the platform are young people between the ages of 14 and 18. They are already forming behavioral patterns that can grow into full-fledged businesses," Tamara Kvirkelia notes.

Anna Kitaykina also spoke at the festival with a lecture “Creative trends in social media that will help promote your business, and how not to burn through your budget as a novice entrepreneur.” She emphasized that when creating content, it is important to talk to people, not just your audience—to respond, react, and joke around. “Don't be afraid to make simple content: the main thing is meaning. Don't be afraid to show yourself, because people buy from people. Today, you don't need production worth millions; the key is style and idea. So be yourself, put your heart into it, and remember: first people like, and only then they buy,” Anna Kitaykina summed up.

The general partners of the WYF Assembly-2025 are the Russian Music Union, JSC Russian Railways, and Phygital Games. The general information partner is the international television channel RT, and the general media partner is ANO “Dialog Regions”. The partner for the excursion and regional programs is the “More Than Trip” program. The strategic partner is VK Tech. Co. The following have also joined the partnership program: the “New Generation” program arranged by the Federal Agency for Affairs of the Commonwealth of Independent States, Compatriots Residing Abroad and International Humanitarian Cooperation (Rossotrudnichestvo), Movement of the First, the presidential platform “Russia — Country of Opportunities”, Sovcombank, the Avito Tech. Co., State Atomic Energy Corporation Rosatom, Russian “Znanie” (Knowledge) Society, the Film Studio Soyuzmultfilm, the Government of the Krasnoyarsk Territory, the Central Bank of Russia, the program for young entrepreneurs “Rosmolodezh.Undertake” and the Knowledge Center “Mashuk”. Information support for the event is provided by Rossiyskaya Gazeta, Argumenty i Fakty publishing house, the African Initiative and the Window to Russia project of ANO “TV-Novosti”.

The organizer of the World Youth Festival Assembly is the Federal Agency for Youth Affairs (Rosmolodezh), the co-organizer of the event is the Government of the Nizhny Novgorod Region and the event operator is the World Youth Festival Directorate. The Festival pursues the goals of the Youth and Children national project.

Overview:

In accordance with the instructions of the President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin on preserving and developing the legacy of the World Youth Festival, which took place on the Sirius Federal Territory in 2024 and united 20,000 young people from 190 countries of the world, festival events on the territory of the Russian Federation will be held annually. The next World Youth Festival for 20,000 participants will be held in 2030. In 2026, there will be a smaller event, an International Youth Festival with 10,000 participants. In between, the World Youth Festival’s themed Assemblies will be held annually for 2,000 participants. The World Youth Festival Directorate continues its work aimed at strengthening international youth cooperation.