One of Ukraine's largest arms manufacturers named the purpose of strikes on Wildberries

Denis Shtylerman, chief designer and co-owner of the Ukrainian defense company Fire Point, stated that continued strikes on Wildberries and Ozon warehouses could lead to the collapse of the Russian banking system, «Agentstvo» noted. On Tuesday, it became known that the marketplace is discussing possible financial assistance with authorities and state banks.

«Now we need to finish off Wildberries and Ozon, it's essential. This will lead to the collapse of the banking system, as they are among the main borrowers,» Shtylerman said in an interview with Dmitry Gordon. The interview was published on July 27.

According to Shtylerman, the possible collapse of Wildberries should hit VTB: «VTB made its entire bet on Wildberries. They expected to automatically acquire Wildberries' entire 60-million client base as their own customers. VTB's affairs were not great anyway, and now... trillions of rubles in loans will be irreversibly lost. And this could bring down Russia's second-largest bank.»

In the interview, Shtylerman called Wildberries the largest borrower in Russia and suggested that the company's collapse would lead to the downfall of a large number of banks.

How Ukraine previously explained the strikes

Officially, Kyiv explained the attacks on Wildberries by its involvement in supplying the Russian army, including components for drones, navigation equipment, and gear.

Initially, the strikes appeared to be an attempt to create tension among entrepreneurs working with the marketplace. Shtylerman's explanation may indicate that the strikes could have other goals.

How large a borrower is Wildberries?

According to financial statements under Russian standards, Wildberries' debt amounts to 830 billion rubles (more than 10 billion dollars).

This is indeed one of the largest figures among private Russian retail companies, but significantly less than the debt of the largest companies — Gazprom, Rosneft, and Russian Railways, whose debt obligations are measured in trillions of rubles.

The amount of loans issued directly by VTB to Wildberries group companies is not publicly known. By the end of August, VTB is expected to close a deal to acquire 5% of WB Bank. VTB shares fell by 2.5% on Tuesday. Pressure on the shares was exerted by uncertainty related to the bank's partnership with Wildberries, Reuters writes.

Who will help the marketplace?

A high-ranking industry source told Reuters that Wildberries is in a difficult situation and the company may have to seek state support, most likely from state banks.

A source close to the company and familiar with ongoing negotiations told Reuters that Wildberries CEO Tatyana Kim is in contact with authorities, discussing possible assistance measures for business owners. The Kremlin confirmed that such consultations are underway, but a decision has not yet been made.

Dmitry Pyanykh, First Deputy Chairman of VTB, stated that the bank is ready to consider assisting its partner: «If we receive such a request, we will, of course, be open to various forms of credit support.»

UAVs damaged at least seven Wildberries warehouses and incapacitated, according to Reuters estimates, about 10% of its storage capacity. Tens of thousands of entrepreneurs suffered losses due to operational disruptions. Wildberries stated that a full damage assessment would take at least 30 days.

Wildberries began issuing initial payments to the most vulnerable sellers, announced discounts on storage, and free transit deliveries to regional warehouses. WB Bank and MFO WB Finance provided affected small and medium-sized businesses with three-month credit holidays. Sellers complained that compensation covered only a small part of the value of lost goods.

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