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Russian E-Commerce Leader Sees Rapid Growth In Armenia


Russia - A man walks past a pickup point of Russia's e-commerce giant Wildberries in Moscow on March 24, 2021.
Russia - A man walks past a pickup point of Russia's e-commerce giant Wildberries in Moscow on March 24, 2021.

Russia’s largest online retailer, Wildberries, has rapidly expanded into the Armenian market since 2022, making it to the list of the South Caucasus country’s top ten taxpayers.

The company is currently eighth on that list released by the Armenian government’s State Revenue Committee (SRC), having paid 21.3 billion drams ($54 million) in various taxes last year. Its tax contributions totaled almost 26.5 billion drams in 2023.

Wildberries was only 346th in the SRC’s nationwide taxpayer rankings in 2022, with less than 762 million drams ($1.9 million) in taxes paid.

The company has since dramatically expanded its presence in Armenia despite crippling Western sanctions imposed on Russia following the 2022 invasion of Ukraine. It sells everything from electronics to kitchenware, including Western-manufactured products that are covered by the sanctions and can only be delivered to Russia through parallel imports.

Armenian firms have heavily re-exported such goods -- notably cars, cellphones and consumer electronics -- to Russia in the last three years, significantly accelerating economic growth in Armenia. This is the main reason why Russian-Armenian trade has skyrocketed since 2022.

“Residents of Armenia bought laptops, office equipment and car accessories the most from Wildberries in 2024,” the Russian e-commerce leader said in a statement released this week.

“The company continues to adapt its offerings to the growing needs of Armenian buyers, expanding the range [of online products] and improving shopping convenience,” added the statement.

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