In a world without two-day shipping…….

The ‘Amazon of China’ as we like to call it… is joining forces with Russia’s sovereign wealth fund, telecom company MegaFon, and internet company Mail.Ru Group. Alibaba plans to pay an unspecified amount of money and give ownership of its existing business, AliExpress Russia to gain access to Russia.

 

Russia and China are… teaming up in business and politics to help counteract sanctions from Europe and the United States. Also, Alibaba will help facilitate online shopping growth across Russia – something the country could really use. Seems like a win-win, right?

 

If the deal goes through… Alibaba will keep 48% of AliExpress Russia, MegaFon will own 24%, and the rest will be divvied up in smaller amounts. And there is no better country to be an e-commerce company in than Russia. Why you ask? Because only 20% of the country shops online which means there are plenty of customers to be had. Online sales came in at $24 billion in 2015, which may sound like a lot – but it’s really not. Hopefully the new ‘Russian online shopping craze’ will give the trolls something else to do.

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