Russian consumer electronics and appliance retailer M.Video named Vladislav Bakalchuk, the co-founder of Russia’s largest e-commerce platform Wildberries, as its new chief executive on Friday.
“My goal is to transform M.Video into a universal, multi-category platform,” Bakalchuk said in a statement published on the company’s website. “We rely on a strong brand, a nationwide retail network and an 80 million-strong customer base.”
He said the company is expanding beyond consumer electronics into categories including sports equipment, furniture, motorcycles and automobiles, while also “attracting new partners and strengthening our logistics infrastructure.”
Bakalchuk replaces Felix Lieb, who briefly served as M.Video’s CEO in 2025 as the company pushed to expand its online marketplace.
Lieb has since been elected chairman of the board of the M.Video‑Eldorado Group, formed through the 2018 merger of M.Video and Eldorado. In his new role, he said he will focus on the group’s long-term strategy.
M.Video-Eldorado is one of Russia’s largest electronics retail chains, operating more than 1,000 stores across 250 cities and employing around 30,000 people.
Bakalchuk said the retailer’s turnover reached 14.1 billion rubles ($175.3 million) in 2025.
Bakalchuk’s appointment as CEO comes after his tumultuous departure from Wildberries. He sold his 1% stake in the e-commerce giant last year after founding it in 2004 with his ex-wife, Tatyana Kim, who is Russia’s wealthiest woman.
The sale followed a highly public dispute over Wildberries’ 2024 merger with outdoor advertising firm Russ Group. The conflict spilled into the open, drawing in powerful political figures including Ramzan Kadyrov, who backed Bakalchuk, and billionaire senator Suleiman Kerimov.
At the height of the dispute, a shooting outside Wildberries’ Moscow office left two people dead and several others injured. Bakalchuk was briefly arrested on murder charges, though his lawyers later said the case was dropped.
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