Kazakhstan's Trade and Integration Minister Arman Shakkaliev said at a briefing that Wildberries is building warehouses in the republic with a total area of about 260,000 square meters. He specified that a facility of roughly 160,000 square meters is under construction in Almaty, and another of 100,000 square meters in Astana.
The warehouses are scheduled to be commissioned in the first quarter of 2027. According to Shakkaliev, the company currently rents about 46,000 square meters of space in Kazakhstan.
The minister noted that his ministry has not received any official requests from Wildberries regarding the placement of new warehouses. He suggested that companies may negotiate directly with property owners without government involvement.
Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Galuzin said that Moscow and Astana began work on integrating marketplaces before Ukrainian drone attacks on Wildberries warehouses. He said that hundreds of thousands of Kazakh suppliers are registered on Ozon and Wildberries, but did not provide details of the deals.
Earlier, Kommersant reported, citing sources, that Wildberries was looking for warehouses in Kazakhstan after drone strikes on logistics centers in Russia and was ready to occupy all available space. The company continues to search for new warehouses in Russia as well: property owners are unwilling to sign lease agreements due to the risk of drone attacks.