AliExpress Russia

The formation involved significant contributions from each partner. Alibaba Group invested \$100 million and its existing AliExpress Russia business. Mail.ru Group contributed its Pandao e-commerce platform and \$182 million in cash for a 15% stake. MegaFon exchanged its stake in Mail.ru Group for a 24.3% share of the joint venture. This structure resulted in majority Russian ownership. Boris Dobrodeev, CEO of Mail.ru Group, was appointed chairman of the board, with Liu Wei from AliExpress and Dmitry Sergeev from Mail.ru Group serving as co-CEOs.

The business model centers on operating a marketplace for both cross-border and local e-commerce, facilitating sales from small and medium-sized businesses to a broad consumer base. It leverages VK's social media platforms to create a social commerce experience, allowing users to purchase goods directly within the social network. The platform generates revenue through commissions on sales. At its inception, the company aimed to increase the proportion of local merchants on its platform and had long-term goals of reaching a \$10 billion gross merchandise volume.

In October 2023, the Singapore-based holding company for the venture, Aliexpress Russia Holding PTE. LTD., was renamed Aliexpress CIS Holding PTE. LTD. Following the 2022 invasion of Ukraine, Alibaba Group halted further investment in the venture. Reports from 2024 indicate that due to the threat of secondary sanctions, the broader Alibaba platform has restricted some operations for Russian businesses, including stopping ruble payments and direct shipping for its B2B platform. However, the consumer-facing AliExpress platform has stated its services in Russia continue to operate as usual.