Two people were killed in a shooting on the Moscow office of Russian retailer Wildberries on Wednesday; the CEO blamed the incident on a botched takeover attempt by her estranged husband.
According to Wildberries, armed men accompanying Vladislav Bakalchuk, the husband of CEO Tatyana Bakalchuk, illegally entered the corporate’s office constructing in central Moscow and opened fire.
Videos on social media showed a scuffle at the doorway to the office while shots were fired within the background. In one video, a person could possibly be seen with a gun.
The incident occurred just a few weeks after Wildberries, Russia’s largest online retailer, signed a merger deal that Vladislav had criticized and that Chechen ruler Ramzan Kadyrov vowed to stop.
Wildberries announced a merger plan with billboard and promoting operator Russ Outdoor in June, a month before Tatjana filed for divorce from her husband Vladislav. Tatjana said this may spur the corporate to future growth because the e-commerce giant looks to compete with rivals corresponding to Amazon.
“Today, a group led by Vladislav Bakalchuk, Sergei Anufriev and Vladimir Bakin attempted to occupy Wildberries’ offices in Moscow,” said CEO Tatyana Bakalchuk, who can also be Russia’s richest woman.
“To my great regret, a security guard from our office was killed in the armed attack on Wildberries,” she said. A second security guard later succumbed to his injuries, Russian state media reported.
A complete of seven people were injured, including two cops, the Russian Investigative Committee said.
The Russian Investigative Committee, which investigates serious crimes, said it had initiated criminal proceedings.
An eyewitness, Nadezhda, told AFP she heard screams and gunshots contained in the constructing, a business centre that houses offices of other firms.
“The injured were taken out of the building and transported by ambulance. Some of them were carried,” she said.
Vladislav denied that he and his men were armed. On social media, he stated that he had come to the office to participate in negotiations and that the shots got here from “the building itself.”
“Some may think that we came with threats, but this is a lie! We came to discuss business matters. In response, we were shot at,” Vladislav wrote on Telegram.
Wildberries denied his testimony, saying his men “opened fire first” and that as a former worker he had no right to enter the constructing.
It also said there had been illegal attempts to enter two of its addresses at the identical time, but didn’t provide details.
Brazen attack
Tatyana Bakalchuk described her husband’s allegations as “absurd”.
“Nobody agreed to any negotiations,” she said on Telegram.
AFP spotted several police vehicles near the office in central Moscow. Ten people were arrested in reference to the incident, Russian state news agency RIA reported.
Bakalchuk founded Wildberries in 2004 together with her then husband, an IT technician, but in July she announced their separation and divorce.
Vladislav owns one percent of the corporate, while his wife Tatyana owns the opposite 99 percent.
The company accomplished a merger with Russian outdoor promoting giant Russ last month, a deal that has the Kremlin’s blessing but which her husband Vladislav called a “huge mistake.”
In July, the leader of the Russian republic of Chechnya, Ramzan Kadyrov, condemned the deal as a “blatant and brazen” corporate raid and vowed to place an end to it after meeting Vladislav personally.
Forbes Reports that Wildberries transferred a big portion of its useful assets to Russ as a part of the merger, reducing Tatyana’s net value by $3.4 billion.
Vladislav owns about 0.65% of Wildberries, while Tatyana owns about 99%. The estranged husband said he and his wife didn’t sign a prenuptial agreement, adding that he’s entitled to half of her assets. This likely added to his opposition to the take care of Russ.
