Russian Post Denies Taking Over Wildberries—But They Are Eyeing Your Wallet
The boss of Russian Post, Mikhail Volkov, is busy dismissing rumors about absorbing the broken remnants of Wildberries. It turns out even a dinosaur wants a slice of the e-commerce pie while drowning in historical debt.
Mikhail Volkov, the man steering the ship at Russian Post, finally broke his silence on rumors that the government might hand over the infrastructure of the state postal service to support Wildberries sellers. Spoiler: he claims there are no such orders, calling the recent warehouse disasters a tragedy while carefully separating the post office's 'clean floor' logic from the complex fulfillment needs of a massive marketplace.
Instead of a merger, the strategy is all about Ecom+, a digital platform designed to let small-time sellers list their goods across multiple platforms at once. The company claims to have hit operational profitability while trying to trim down a massive historical debt that’s been lingering like a bad smell. They are even selling off non-core assets, hoping to bring their debt-to-EBITDA ratio down to a point where they aren't just paying interest to survive.
Volkov is also pushing for a 'level playing field' where state-mandated security requirements are applied to every private competitor. He insists that if the state wants strict package identification, then Ozon, Yandex Market, and Avito should play by the same rulebook. Whether this is a sincere attempt at modernization or just a plea for a regulatory edge, it's clear the state behemoth is desperate to stay relevant in the age of rapid courier delivery.
It’s a classic move: tell everyone you aren't trying to monopolize the market while simultaneously building a digital platform that aims to be the gatekeeper for every package in the country. If the goal is to make the post office a lean, efficient tech giant, someone should probably tell the people still waiting three weeks for a simple letter.
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