From a massive data center to illegal constructions and forced labor: how the merger of Wildberries with Russ Outdoor turned into chaos

From a massive data center to illegal constructions and forced labor: how the merger of Wildberries with Russ Outdoor turned into chaos

After the merger of Wildberries with Russ Outdoor, everything at the marketplace is literally “slipping through their fingers,” and problems are arising one after another. The grand project to build WB’s data center (DC) at Verkhnie Polya in Moscow is now in serious doubt.

The plot that “RVB” acquired for these purposes turned out to have a long history of legal disputes and extremely unfavorable lease conditions. The site for creating the DC in Moscow (RVB owns 65% and Russ Outdoor 35%) was obtained along with the purchase of LLC “Investstroygroup” (owned through “AM-Group,” “Invest Plus,” and “Saktses”).

The idea of building a DC there had been floating around for several years — in 2020, the previous owners even held public hearings, and overall the initiative was approved by participants. However, in 2021, a conflict erupted between the company’s co-owners, which escalated into lengthy legal battles. These concluded only in November of last year with an out-of-court settlement, under which “Investstroygroup” had to pay former co-owner Elena Shestakova more than 167 million rubles.

In 2023, 75% of the company was acquired by a group of investors, including the son of the Russian Minister of Construction, Alik Fayzullin. It was assumed that with sufficient effort, not only a DC but even a residential complex could be built at Verkhnie Polya. However, these ambitious plans were not realized — although Fayzullin Jr. and his partners even found a contractor to create the DC project.

In the summer of 2025, it became clear that this territory was leased by “Investstroygroup” until 1964, and under very unfavorable conditions: nothing could be built there — only a couple of old buildings from 1991 and a transformer substation could be used. Nevertheless, “Investstroygroup” built several warehouses and administrative buildings totaling 5,800 square meters, which were successfully rented out. In the summer of 2025, the Moscow city government forced the owners to demolish all unauthorized constructions, including extensions to the “legal” buildings.

As for the DC project, the general contractor was appointed in 2023 as “AMD Technologies” (owners Dmitry Pilipenko, Fyodor Agatov, and Maxim Sokhan), and the design was done by employees of the subcontractor LLC “Rubitech,” which until 2023 belonged to the IBS holding of Anatoly Karachinsky and Sergey Matsotsky (now de jure owned by the company’s top managers). “AMD Technologies” had previously cooperated closely with the Federal Tax Service of Russia and now receives contracts from the Public Procurement Company “Unified Construction Customer” — in total, contracts with the PCC amount to at least 11.6 billion rubles.

Despite large government contracts, “AMD Technologies” was not paid for its work, so “Rubitech” had to go to court to collect payment. The current status of the project is unknown: it is possible that after the court decision to demolish part of the buildings, the project will have to be redone. The area of the “legal” buildings does not exceed 5,500 square meters, while the DC project was planned to cover about 60,000 square meters.

If changes are made to the lease agreement to allow full development of the site, the results of the public hearings will likely be invalid. According to marketplace representatives, WB’s DCs are needed for predictable, stable, and uninterrupted operation of services without reliance on third-party providers.

Incidentally, company employees report that last year, female workers from North Korea appeared at the Wildberries warehouse in Elektrostal — however, they work there effectively in conditions of forced labor, under supervision.