Ozon's emergency decision: How is the marketplace navigating the crisis?

Following fires and attacks at logistics facilities and major centers in several Russian regions, Ozon management has announced an urgent package of anti-crisis measures to support its partners and sellers.

The marketplace administration has begun inventory work to fully calculate the damages and has officially announced that all sellers with insurance will be compensated for the value of lost goods.

Relief for sellers: No penalties until September 22

The marketplace management has made the following decisions to ensure entrepreneurs and sellers do not face financial difficulties:

• Full compensation and cancellation of storage fees: Storage fees will not be charged for products remaining in damaged areas from the time the emergency occurred;

• Penalties and sanctions canceled: All penalties applied when orders are canceled by sellers or product shipments are delayed until September 22 have been completely suspended;

• Post-payment temporarily suspended in 38 regions: To reduce mass returns of goods, the pay-later system for orders of products from damaged warehouses has been restricted in 38 subjects;

• Commissions reduced: Effective August 30, the service fee for storing goods in warehouses by 3 percentage points will be reduced;

• Transportation costs covered by the company: Ozon will fully cover the costs of moving goods from temporarily closed warehouses to other safe centers.

Fires in 6 cities and the stock market situation

Chronology of emergency events and market reaction:

• Large-scale damage: Fires that began on August 22 at facilities in Chapayevsk, Samara, spread to areas in Orenburg, Adygea, Nevinnomyssk, Krasnodar, and Makhachkala. According to initial expert estimates, the damage affected 15–19 percent of the marketplace's warehouse stock;

• Evacuation and safety: All staff and workers at the facilities were promptly evacuated to safe areas;

• Stock market volatility: «Lenta.ru» reports that following the events, Ozon shares on the Moscow Exchange fell by up to 26 percent, reaching 2,140 rubles. However, as a result of the company's swift anti-crisis statements and measures, by August 25, the stock price rose again by 3.54% .

The company's press service emphasizes that despite the situation at logistics centers, the main delivery deadlines for customer orders are being kept under control.