According to media sources, AliExpress Russia, Alibaba’s e-commerce joint venture with three Russian companies, has eliminated 40% of its personnel.
According to Alibaba-owned media source South China Morning Post, which quoted a Russian daily newspaper, the layoffs come as Chinese IT businesses scale back operations in Russia in the wake of Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine. Those let off were said to be working on non-core business segments that had become obsolete as a result of Western sanctions against Russia.
Alibaba’s major Russian market exposure business is AliExpress Russia. Alibaba founded the firm in 2019 with three Russian partners: Megafon, an internet corporation (previously known as Mail.ru Group), and the Russian Direct Investment Fund, a sovereign wealth fund.
According to Reuters, the joint venture generated $3 billion in gross merchandise volume in the 2020-2021 fiscal year and had explored going public.
