Russia Proposes Tax Relief for Wildberries Following Ukrainian Drone Attacks
The Russian government has drafted tax relief measures for Wildberries and its sellers following Ukrainian drone attacks on the retailer’s warehouses and logistics centers.
The proposal would defer tax and insurance payments, freeze tax audits, and ease “administrative pressure” on businesses that suffered major losses, according to Russia’s Finance Ministry on Monday, Aug. 24.
JOIN US ON TELEGRAM
Follow our coverage of the war on the @Kyivpost_official.
The measures would apply to sellers whose losses exceed 5% of their annual revenue, in which case they would receive a 12-month deferral on value-added tax (VAT), corporate tax, and other liabilities due between August 2026 and July 2027.
Proposed tax deferrals
After the grace period, affected Wildberries sellers would be allowed to clear the deferred liabilities through monthly installments over a further 12 months.
According to The Moscow Times, a similar arrangement would be available to Wildberries & Russ (RWB) – the parent company of the e-commerce platform – with payment deadlines deferred until July 28, 2027, followed by a year-long installment plan.
The relief proposal has been sent to the Russian cabinet for final approval by Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin.
The Moscow Times reported that the measures follow instructions from Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak, who directed federal agencies and the Central Bank to organize emergency support for Wildberries and related businesses.
Ukraine inflicts heavy damage to Wildberries
The measures follow weeks of Ukrainian strikes on Wildberries’ logistics infrastructure.
Other Topics of Interest
Ukraine Through the Eyes of the World: Artists Carry War, Memory, Home Across Borders
Two Ukrainian artists, Olesia Rusinova and Valeriia Pohrebniak Bednaić use art, language and public memory to preserve Ukraine abroad.
At least 23 company facilities have been targeted since mid-July, with products worth an estimated 480 billion rubles (roughly $5.7 billion) destroyed or damaged, according to Data Insight analysts cited by The New York Times on Aug. 8.
According to the same Data Insight estimate, Wildberries has lost around one-third of its warehouse space following repeated Ukrainian drone strikes.
“Wildberries has almost run out of its biggest warehouses,” Data Insight analyst Sergei Semko told The New York Times. “Every single day one warehouse after another is getting methodically destroyed.”
Tens of thousands of businesses have been affected. Separately, Reuters reported that at least 1.18 million square meters (292 acres) of Wildberries warehouse space had been damaged or destroyed. That amounts to more than one-fifth of its total capacity.
One Moscow-based source told Reuters that his deliveries had fallen from around 400 parcels a day to about 150, adding that he was trying to sell his business.
Ukraine has described Wildberries as a legitimate target due to them selling products with possible military use, such as first-person-view drones (FPV) and fiber-optic cables.
Wildberries, however, denied supplying Russia’s armed forces, saying weapons and military equipment are prohibited from sale on its marketplace.
The company accounts for around 10% of Russian retail sales, making it a significant contributor to Russia’s wartime economy.