The family drama in Russia’s largest e-commerce operator Wildberries continues as the founder of the company and country’s richest woman Tatiana Bakalchuk confirmed officially filing for divorce from her husband Vladislav.

As followed in detail by bne IntelliNews, Russia’s largest e-commerce operator Wildberries continues to be rocked by controversy surrounding a merger deal with Russ Group, an outdoor advertising operator that is a tenth of the size of Wildberries. The founder of the company is getting divorced from husband, who has turned to Chechen President Ramzan Kadyrov for help.

Since day one, the e-commerce major has been managed by its founder and the richest woman in Russia, Tatiana Bakalchuk, who holds 99% in the company, and her husband, Vladislav Bakalchuk, who only owns 1%. But Vladislav Bakalchuk claims as there was no prenuptial agreement or marriage contract between the pair, all of the assets should actually be split 50:50, as per Russian divorce laws.

Vladislav continued his media offence on Tatiana, appearing in another video with rapper and businessman Timati, close to Ramzan Kadyrov, in which they reiterated the narrative that Tatiana was under the influence of some ill-intended actors and urged her to stop the “hostile takeover deal” and return to the family.

In the meantime unconfirmed reports claim that Dagestan senator and controversial billionaire Suleiman Kerimov is behind the merger of Russ and Wildberries, with two main interpretations of the merger emerging. According to one of them, "Tatiana fell in love, and her love has something to do with Russ," unnamed sources close to Bakalchuk told Forbes.

Other sources claim that Tatiana has been coming under heavy administrative and possibly even criminal prosecution pressure after a recent fire incident at the Wildberries sorting hub in Saint Petersburg, which was rushed into operation with the necessary regulatory approvals. Reportedly, to deal with the matter at the highest level she could have turned to Kerimov, a Kremlin insider, and Russ Group, in exchange for a share in Wildberries.

bne IntelliNews speculated in a recent opinion piece, the deal could also be part of a move by Russian President Vladimir Putin to increase the Kremlin’s influence over Wildberries, Russia’s answer to Amazon, as part of a broader move to enhance the Kremlin’s control over Russia’s answer to Facebook (VK) and Google (Yandex).

In the meantime, the merger appears to be moving ahead, with Wilderries online domain registration transferred to the newly established joint venture, which Vladislav Bakalchuk intends to challenge in court, according to Vedomosti daily.

Unnamed sources told Vedomosti that Vladislav intends to protect intellectual property rights to the domain names WB.ru, Wildberries.ru, and others. 

Operational activities continue as usual, despite reports of manager exodus from Wildberries, as the company signed a sublease agreement with marketplace Vseinstrumenty.ru for 52,000 square metre logistics park by the city of Zelenograd, Vedomosti said in a separate report. The new facility will allow it to maintain fast delivery in Moscow and the Moscow region, as well as to optimise logistics to other regions, a representative of the company told Vedomosti.

Even prior to Russia’s full-scale military invasion of Ukraine, bne IntelliNews reported that Russian e-commerce space is expected to consolidate around two-three largest players, similarly to developed markets.

The consolidation intensified in 2022, with Wildberries and Ozon Holdings taking the lead, and some players, such as AliExpress Russia, falling far behind. Both Wildberries and Ozon have strengthened their supply chain capabilities.