MOSCOW –
The Kremlin on Monday said it did not want to comment on a deadly shootout last week at the Moscow office of Russia’s largest online retailer, Wildberries.
Two people were killed in the shooting just a few blocks away from the Kremlin, as a dispute over the company’s future took a violent turn. Seven others were wounded, including police officers, and dozens were detained.
The dispute centers around Tatyana Bakalchuk – Wildberries’ founder and majority shareholder, and Russia’s richest woman – and her decision to merge the company with outdoor advertising firm Russ Group.
Bakalchuk’s estranged husband, Vladislav Bakalchuk, opposed the merger and said that his efforts to speak to Tatyana were ignored.
Each side blamed the other for the shooting incident. Vladislav, who said he had arrived at the office with peaceful intentions, was detained for 48 hours last week.
Tatyana, who previously said she had filed for divorce, said on Monday she was reverting to using her maiden name, Kim.
The Kremlin said in July that the merger had won President Vladimir Putin’s backing, but that it had not interfered in the process and would not do so.
“We do not think it is for us to comment on this topic,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Monday. “These events are now being investigated. This is being dealt with by law enforcement.
“The actual process of merging companies is also outside our remit. These are business processes that do not require us to comment.”
Forbes Russia reported in June that Maxim Oreshkin, deputy head of the presidential administration, had been appointed to oversee the deal’s implementation, citing a letter.
(Reporting by Filipp Lebedev; Writing by Alexander Marrow; editing by Guy Faulconbridge and Mark Trevelyan)
