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Wildberries terminated contracts with Bakalchuk's company
Wildberry continues to build the facility, but terminated the contract with Vladislav Bakalchuk's VB Development, which acted as a contractor at the market. The company of the husband of the founder of Wildberry stated that this decision was illegal.
Information from Vladislav Bakalchuk's VB Development company about the suspension of construction of the Wildberry logistics complex in Shushary, St. Petersburg, is not true, the market's press service told RBC.
“The construction of the facility’s ‘box’ has been completed according to plan; interior finishing work and installation of utilities are currently underway,” the online retailer reported.
As VB Development previously stated, the construction of the warehouse in Shushary was stopped because the project owner stopped paying the construction participants. Bakalchuk's company claims that work has been stopped on about 30 projects in Russia and Belarus, started with its participation, as well as on the St. Petersburg site.
Wildberry's press service stated that construction is proceeding according to plan, and the contract with VB Development was terminated due to missed deadlines and unilateral and unjustified suspension of construction.
"We signed a contract with the customer of the new technology for the completion of construction and commissioning of the facility. All statements by VB Development representatives to the contrary are false and are not based on factual circumstances or legal norms," the mayor points out.
Wildberry added that it had notified VB Development of the contract termination. RBC, Bakalchuk's agency, said: "We received this notification, but the online seller's decision was illegal."
"We are currently discussing further steps with legal services. After consultations, we will officially announce further measures," said Denis Kuznetsov, CEO of VB Development.
Russ and Wildberry Marketplace, the largest outdoor advertising operator in which Bakalchuk owns 1% of the shares, announced plans in June to “merge to create a digital marketplace.” Last July, the two companies registered a joint venture, RVB LLC.
Vladislav Bakalchuk, the husband of Wildberry founder Tatyana Kim, spoke out against the merger and wrote to Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov with a statement about an attempt to “capture the aggressor” of the company. Mr. Kim responded: “This is not the acquisition of a radar, this is fraud.” She filed for divorce.
In September, Bakalchuk was detained after a shootout outside Wildberry’s office in central Moscow that left seven people wounded and two killed. Ms. Kim said her husband was trying to seize the company’s land. Bakalchuk said he had come to negotiate the construction of a warehouse his company was building for a market. Wildberry said it had not planned to hold such talks. Thirty people were arrested after the clashes. Bakalchuk was detained and questioned by law enforcement officials, but the next day he said he was at home.
Shushari's warehouse burned down in January, and construction began on a new warehouse nearby. On October 16, Kim said her husband, Vladislav Bakalchuk, was preparing an "illegal media tour" of the facility. She also said, "Illegal encroachment on private property is punishable by law."