OREANDA-NEWS. The head of AliExpress in Russia, Liu Wei, and the first deputy general director of Mail.ru Group, Dmitry Sergeyev, became candidates for the post of co-general directors of a joint venture in the field of electronic commerce in AliExpress Russia. This is stated in a joint message Mail.ru and Alibaba. Liu Wei and Dmitry Sergeev will enter new positions after receiving all necessary approvals and completing transactions under the terms of the transaction.

On June 5, Alibaba Group, Mail.ru Group, Megafon and the Russian Direct Investment Fund agreed on the parameters of the joint venture AliExpress Russia and signed the binding documents. The creation of a joint venture to integrate key consumer online platforms was approved by the Federal Antimonopoly Service (FAS). The share of Alibaba in the capital of the joint venture will be 55.7%, MegaFon - 24.3%, RDIF - 5%, Mail.ru - 15%. AliExpress Russia will be managed by two co-directors from the Russian and Chinese sides. It clarifies that the partners plan to combine their resources, in particular, to promote the services of AliExpress Russia on Mail.ru platforms.

Earlier it was reported that the Chinese Alibaba Group agreed to establish a joint venture in the field of e-commerce with Mail.Ru Group, MegaFon and the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF). This was announced at the Eastern Economic Forum in Vladivostok.

“The Russian economy is not in the best condition right now. It means it's time to enter the market”, said in an interview with the Russian media in 2015, the founder of Alibaba Group, Jack Ma. Then, three years ago, he made his first official visit to Russia and a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Within a few months, the first public discussion of possible cooperation began. In particular, Ma supported Putin’s initiative to create a joint Internet platform.