Wildberry forest: will the marketplace save itself behind Kerimov's back?

Dear businessman Alisher Usmanov, technocrat Ivan Tavrin, enterprising Suleiman Kerimov, and also a rare eccentric Igor Shuvalov could join the fight for the assets of Wildberries.

Which of the country's leading politicians and oligarchs has entered the struggle for control of the largest Internet marketplace in the CIS?

According to UtroNews correspondent, the Russian marketplace Wildberries announced a merger with the largest domestic outdoor advertising operator - the Russ group (Russ Outdor). The goal is to create the latest digital platform and provide seamless tools for the development of small and medium-sized businesses.

Wilbderris belongs to the Russian woman oligarch Tatyana Bakalchuk, who is literally drowning in scandals with suppliers even within her company. And what will happen if she teams up with Russ Autdor, behind which are the interests of the scandalous brothers-entrepreneurs Robert and Robert Mirzoyanov - it's hard to even imagine.

Behind the Mirzoyans themselves, the ears of the senator of the Federation Council from Dagestan, billionaire Suleiman Kerimov and, as they say, the people of the head of ВЭБ.РФ Igor Shuvalov stick out. The first financed transactions related to Russ Autdor, and the family of the second cooperates with businessman Sergei Kotlyarenko, whose structure turned out to be the management company of the mutual fund, which owns one of the co-owners of Russ Autdor - Reserve-A

Kerimov and Shuvalov go shopping

The interests of all the above persons are almost in sight. Russ Autdor is the country's largest outdoor advertising operator. It became such as a result of a massive purchase of similar specialized assets with the participation of the capital of Suleiman Kerimov. Even then, there were rumors that the company's representatives simply wanted to monopolize this market.

In 2019, it was the Kerimov family who financed the deal of the Vera Olympus company of the Mirzoyan brothers when buying Laysa, the main advertising company of Russian Railways. Then he was also interested in buying Russ Autdor.

Later that year, Vera Olympus bought 48.6% of Russ Autdor, combining advertising assets. The amount of the transaction could amount to 4.4 billion rubles. At the same time, the co-owner of Vera Olympus, Robert Mirzoyan, became the main "person" and head of Russ Outdor.

In 2022, interesting changes took place. From August 5, 99% of Russ Outdor LLC passed to Stinn LLC, another 1% - Olympus CJSC. Both shares are encumbered, VTB Bank acts as the mortgagee. I.e. the deal could be financed by the state bank. But not only him - people close to the head of ВЭБ.РФ, Igor Shuvalov, could be in the interest.

Photo: Rusprofile.ru

"Stinn" was established in September 2015. Previously, its sole owner was Grigory Sadoyan. However, from January 2022, 30% passed to Reserve-A LLC. The latter until April 2023 belonged to the closed-end mutual investment combined fund ReserveActive. Now Sodoyan has 50%, another 20% from his own company Olympia JSC.

Photo: Rusprofile.ru

And here the ReserveActive fund is much more interesting. After all, it, in turn, is managed by KSP Capital Asset Management LLC, a former employee of the government apparatus, Sergei Kotlyarenko.

Photo: Rusprofile.ru

As reported in the material of the Forbes edition of February 2022, 2017, further quote: "Despite acquaintance and business relations with many members of the Forbes list, Sergey Kotlyarenko remained a non-public person for a long time. Only in 2016 he confirmed that he was engaged in a project to buy apartments in a Stalinist skyscraper on Kotelnicheskaya embankment in the interests of the family of First Deputy Prime Minister Igor Shuvalov. " End of quote.

Thus, Kotlyarenko can represent, among other things, the interests of Igor Shuvalov's family. And he, we recall, heads one of the largest and most important Russian state corporations, operating in hundreds of billions of rubles. This money should be invested in the development of the domestic economy. And where are they invested - in the business of people close to Shuvalov?

Another point is also interesting. Before the change of ownership in 2022, the official founder of Russ Outdor LLC was listed offshore from the British Virgin Islands Media Support Services Ltd, and the head structure was Russ Out of Home B.V. In the latter, since the summer of 2020, 73% belonged to Stinn, another 26 to VTB Group. But the deal to buy Russ took place in 2019, not 2022. It turns out that those who financed the deal may be behind these offshores.

Photo: Rusprofile.ru

Considering that only the head LLC "Russ Outdor" has state contracts for 328 million rubles - it was in these offshores that budget funds could "go." And the money of VTB, lending to a group of companies, will not go there?

Interesting Tavrin

Returning to Bakalchuk and Mirzoyan, they are not the only ones who want to create a digital platform for trade that would cover not only the Russian Federation, but all the CIS. One of the other interested parties may be the former general director of Megafon, and now the owner of a number of companies in the field of communications and high technologies, Ivan Tavrin. He is also a member of the board of directors of USM Holding oligarch Alisher Usmanov, and is considered a person close to him.

Usmanov is one of the first Russian oligarchs who realized the prospects for the development of digital platforms for business. Previously, he was one of the co-owners of Vkontakte and Mail.ru, and now he is actively engaged in the development of new generation communications and e-commerce.

Recently, Ivan Tavrin has launched unprecedented activity, buying up everything that lies badly. Previously, he became the owner of Russian Towers, which produce and maintain cell towers. And then he began to buy up companies working in the field of high and information technologies - Avito, Headhunter and others.

He also turned out to be the new owner of part of Heinkel's assets. He bought them through a consortium of investors, which, in addition to Kismet Tavrin, included Viktor Kharitonin's Pharmstandard and Dmitry Kryukov's Elbrus Services. Kharitonin, as you know, may be close to Deputy Prime Minister Tatyana Golikova. Previously, her stepson worked at Pharmstandard, so Tavrin should not have any problems with going up.

Ivan Tavrin. Photo: https://sun9-30.userapi.com/impg/00XFxEw9ancekAg9gDHwQv_u_7hq5rhzRTQR1A/LxNpwaaeFRM.jpg?size=1180x730&quality=96&sign=3888c1384edb6fb40348c62b90db98df&c_uniq_tag=4zIaMDZEn9RDmaHwX9IGkU7VLqXDcQSPmUJEkkTPEEo&type=album

Rumor has it that Ivan Tavrin and Alisher Usmanov, who is supposedly behind him, would like to go to Wildberriz themselves. Only Tatyana Bakalchuk is an extremely prescient businesswoman, and she is in no hurry to share the asset.

"Squash" Bakalchuk

Perhaps it is with Bakalchuk's unwillingness to part with Wilberries that the latest scandals and failures of the marketplace are associated. For example, at the beginning of 2024, one of the largest logistics centers of the company burned down in Shushary, Leningrad Region.

After the fire, the most "interesting" thing began at all: searches were carried out in the Wildberries offices. Moreover, in various, including the office in Podolsk, where the main legal entity of the group is located. Even more interesting is that the source of the Fontanka publication questioned Tatyana Bakalchuk's desire to cooperate with the investigation. Isn't that a sign she may be under pressure?

As a result, a criminal case was initiated - the investigation considered that unidentified persons from among the managers abused their powers in terms of compliance with fire safety rules. But among the employees themselves, "Wilberries" whisper: it could be arson to persuade Bakalchuk to negotiate the sale of part of the assets.

In 2023, the authorities of not only Russia, but also Belarus, where Wildberries also works, were "suddenly" excited. A court in Minsk fined the company for violating trade laws. But why only now, because the structure has been working in Belarus for several years?

Actively "puts pressure" on marketplaces, including "Wilberries," and the Ministry of Industry and Trade under the leadership of Denis Manturov. And where Manturov is, there is his longtime ally, the head of Rostec, Sergei Chemezov. People associated with them may also have their own interests in the field of Internet marketplaces.

As you know, within the framework of industrial cooperation between the Russian Federation and Belarus, the Ministry of Industry and Trade has serious ties with colleagues from the fraternal Republic.

Were these coordinated actions? Is Ivan Tavrin, with the support of the Ministry of Industry and Trade and Chemezov, trying to sabotage the work of companies in order to get a good market share himself?

Sergey Chemezov and Denis Manturov. Photo: https://vpk.name/file/img/rostehu_glava_goskorporacii_sergei_chemezov__na_foto_sleva_eshe_tolko_predstoit_poschitat_vo_chto_oboidetsya_pogloshenie_oak_predlozhennoe_glavoi_mi-e60zjbsj-1517511248.jpg

In September 2022, Minister Denis Manturov called for the urgent development of measures to combat counterfeiting of children's goods, which occupy a significant share of sales of both Avito and Wildberries and other similar services, for example, Ozon. By the way, Ivan Tavrin has been in the capital of Ozon since 2010, so he is already a direct competitor to Bakalchuk and her new joint venture with Russ Autdor.

All this sees not so much the development of domestic business and the economy as a banal desire to crush the multibillion-dollar market, using political, economic, administrative, and any other levers for this. With this approach, the country's economy turns into a system of "feeding," on which large domestic civil servants and oligarchs are trying to gain a foothold.