Goods worth 480 billion rubles burnt in Russia after Ukrainian strikes on Wildberries warehouses
Goods worth an estimated 480 billion rubles were destroyed by fire in Russia as a result of Ukrainian strikes on Wildberries warehouses. According to analysts, the Russian marketplace has already lost about a third of its warehousing capacity.
As reported by Censor.NET, The New York Times wrote this, citing estimates by analytics company Data Insight and Reuters.
At least 12 large warehouses almost completely destroyed
According to available estimates, at least 12 major Wildberries logistics hubs have been almost completely destroyed by fire. Data Insight analysts estimate the value of the goods stored at the warehouses that were struck at 480 billion rubles.
For comparison, this amount is comparable to the annual budgets of some of Russia’s wealthiest regions: the Krasnoyarsk Krai budget is about 527 billion rubles, while that of the Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug is 476 billion rubles.
Wildberries’ losses are already approximately 1.6 times the annual budget of the Irkutsk region and almost four times the budgets of the Smolensk or Penza regions.
"There are practically no large warehouses left. Every day, one warehouse after another is being systematically destroyed," Data Insight analyst Sergei Semko told The New York Times.
Russia expects "wave of bankruptcies"
Wildberries controls about half of Russia’s e-commerce market, so the consequences of the destruction of its logistics capacity may extend far beyond the company itself.
The Russian authorities are preparing a support package for sellers who lost their goods. Possible measures include loan repayment holidays, preferential loans and tax breaks, but no direct compensation is currently envisaged.
A Kremlin-linked Reuters source said that the Russian budget did not have the hundreds of billions of rubles needed to compensate sellers for their losses.
"This is a serious blow to the economy" that could trigger "a wave of bankruptcies," the source said.
Wildberries may need state assistance
According to the estimates cited, Wildberries itself has suffered a decline in turnover, while its direct losses could amount to between 100 billion and 200 billion rubles.
Sources previously cited by The Bell suggested that Tatiana Kim’s company might need state support. Wildberries’ total need for additional financing was estimated at up to 1.3 trillion rubles.
The situation is further complicated by Russia’s federal budget deficit, which reached 6.5 trillion rubles between January and July. Russia’s spending on its war against Ukraine remains one of the main reasons for the increase in expenditure.
