Two individuals had been killed in a capturing on the Moscow workplace of Russian retailer Wildberries on Wednesday, an incident the CEO blamed on a botched takeover try by her estranged husband.
Wildberries stated armed males accompanying Vladislav Bakalchuk, the husband of CEO Tatyana Bakalchuk, illegally entered the corporate’s workplace constructing in central Moscow and opened fireplace.
Movies on social media confirmed a scuffle breaking out on the entrance to the workplace, whereas gunshots rang out within the background. A person may very well be seen wielding a handgun in a single video.
The incident got here weeks after Wildberries, Russia’s largest on-line retailer, finalized a merger deal that Vladislav criticized and that strongman Chechen chief Ramzan Kadyrov vowed to cease.
Wildberries introduced a plan to merge with billboard and promoting operator Russ Out of doors in June, a month earlier than Tatyana filed for divorce from her husband Vladislav. Tatyana stated this is able to spur the corporate to future progress because the e-commerce big tries to rival opponents like Amazon.
“Right this moment a bunch of individuals led by Vladislav Bakalchuk, Sergei Anufriev and Vladimir Bakin tried to grab Wildberries’ places of work in Moscow,” stated CEO Tatyana Bakalchuk, who can be Russia’s richest girl.
“To my deep remorse, because of the armed assault on Wildberries, a safety guard at our workplace was killed,” she stated. A second guard later died of his wounds, Russian state media reported.
Seven individuals had been injured in whole, together with two regulation enforcement officers, Russia’s Investigative Committee stated.
Russia’s Investigative Committee, which probes main crimes, stated it had opened a felony case.
One eyewitness, Nadezhda, informed AFP she heard screams and capturing contained in the constructing, a enterprise heart that hosts different places of work for different corporations.
“The wounded had been moved out of the constructing and brought away by ambulance. A few of them had been being carried,” she stated.
Vladislav denied that he and his males had been armed, saying on social media he got here to the workplace to participate in negotiations and that the capturing got here from “contained in the constructing”.
“Some would possibly suppose that we got here with threats, however that could be a lie! We got here to debate enterprise issues. In response, we had been shot at,” Vladislav wrote on Telegram.
Wildberries disputed his account, saying his males had been the “first to open fireplace” and that he had no proper to enter the constructing as a former worker.
It additionally stated there had been unlawful makes an attempt to enter two of its addresses without delay, with out offering element.
‘Brazen’ raid
Tatyana Bakalchuk referred to as her husband’s claims “absurd”.
“Nobody agreed to any negotiations,” she stated on Telegram.
AFP noticed a number of police autos close to the workplace in central Moscow. Ten individuals have been detained in reference to the incident, Russia’s state RIA information company stated.
Bakalchuk based Wildberries collectively together with her then IT technician husband in 2004, however in July she introduced the 2 had separated and had been getting a divorce.
Vladislav owns one p.c of the corporate, whereas his spouse Tatyana owns the opposite 99 p.c.
The corporate had final month finalized a merger with Russian out of doors promoting big Russ, a deal that has the Kremlin’s blessing however that her husband Vladislav referred to as a “big mistake”.
In July, the chief of Russia’s Chechen Republic, Ramzan Kadyrov, denounced the deal as a “blatant and brazen” company raid and vowed to place a cease to it, after assembly with Vladislav in particular person.
Forbes experiences that the merger led Wildberries to switch an enormous chunk of its helpful belongings to Russ, inflicting Tatyana’s web value to plunge by $3.4 billion.
Vladislav owns round 0.65% of Wildberries, whereas Tatyana holds round 99%. The estranged husband stated he and his spouse didn’t signal a prenup, including that he’s entitled to half her belongings. This probably added to his opposition to the cope with Russ.