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Wildberries owner Bakalchuk becomes richest woman in Russia

According to Forbes, her fortune reached $1.4 bln

Tatyana Bakalchuk Alexander Ryumin/TASS

Tatyana Bakalchuk

© Alexander Ryumin/TASS

MOSCOW, February 20. / TASS /. The founder of the online retailer Wildberries Tatyana Bakalchuk topped the list of Russia's richest women, Forbes magazine said in a statement on Thursday.

According to the publication, her fortune reached $1.4 bln. Bakalchuk pushed off the permanent leader of the list of past years, Elena Baturin, the head of Inteco Management and widow of Moscow's former mayor Yuri Luzhkov, with the fortune of $ 1.2 bln.

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Wildberries owner becomes second female dollar billionaire in Russia, says Forbes Magazine

It is noted that a new assessment of Bakalchuk’s condition was the result of changes that occurred with her main asset, the Wildberries online store. According to the magazine, in 2019, Wildberries turnover grew by 88% and amounted to 223.5 bln rubles.

According to Forbes, for the first time Bakalchuk entered the list of the richest people in Russia in 2018, and then her fortune was estimated at $ 600 mln. A year later, it almost doubled, which allowed her to take second place after Baturina.

In 2019, Wildberries turnover increased by 88% and reached 223.5 bln rubles ($3.63 bln), according to the company’s statement.

"In 2019, Wildberries turnover increased by 88%, to 223.5 bln rubles compared to 2018," the company said, noting that 67% of Wildberries turnover, or 150 bln rubles ($2.44 bln) was accounted for by clothes, shoes and accessories. At the same time, the "Food" category in 2019 expanded 6-fold to over 1,500 brands. The most significant dynamics of sales growth was noted in the Q4 of 2019, when the turnover grew by 96% to 82.7 bln rubles ($1.34 bln), and the number of daily orders in December reached 750,000. In 2019, the company completed 164 mln orders, which is twice more than in 2018. A total of 226 mln goods were sold (+ 111%), while 75% of orders were made from mobile devices (in 2018 - 61%).

At the highest rates, the turnover grew in such categories as tools (+797%), food (+699%), electronics (+558%), pet goods (+522%), health products (+284%), automotive products (+256%), books and stationery (+222%), sporting goods (+152%), beauty products (+150%), and goods for home and garden (+138%). The leaders in the growth dynamics of Wildberries turnover in 2019 were the Moscow region (+179%), the Republic of Karelia (+173%), the Leningrad region (+168%), the Republic of Adygea (+121%) and the Amur region (+120%).

Wildberries is an online retailer in the EAEU countries that has been operating on the market for 15 years. The company is present in the markets of Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Armenia, and Poland. The range of Wildberries includes over 3.6 mln products, about 40% of which are produced in Russia. Wildberries turnover in 2018 increased by 72% and reached 118.7 bln rubles ($1.93 bln).

Wildberries is an online retailer in the EAEU countries that has been operating on the market for 15 years. The company is present in the markets of Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Armenia, and Poland. The range of Wildberries includes over 3.6 mln products, about 40% of which are produced in Russia. Wildberries turnover in 2018 increased by 72% and reached 118.7 bln rubles ($1.93 bln).

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