Russia without AliExpress. Payments and shipments blocked
It's over, China's Alibaba, the owner of the popular AliExpress platform, has stopped accepting rubles and delivering its orders to Russia, Kommersant reports.
Fear of US sanctions?
Experts believe that Alibaba's actions may be dictated China's fear of the threat of secondary US sanctions. During numerous restrictions resulting from the Russian-Ukrainian conflict, Alibaba became a source for Russians of numerous goods blocked by international brands. Now Alibaba resellers have been in the same situation as other companies for over 2 years, and the sanctions are actually starting to be severe for the Russians.
Of course, there are methods for every limitation. Blocked payments in Russia and shipments to Russia can be bypassed using payment cards registered in Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan or Georgia, with which the Russian state is closely linked. However, it is not clear whether the platform will be forced to seal shipments here as well. If this happens, Russians will only benefit from Alibaba's benefits during longer holidays in the mentioned destinations.
In turn, Russian business is increasingly willing to bypass sanctions using cryptocurrencies. Wherever the ruble is blocked, creative ideas appear. It is also quite possible that due to blockades by a giant such as Alibaba, a daughter company will appear soon or a more or less independent entity that will fill the gap in the absorbent Russian market. Such a company could operate in one of Russia's satellite countries and organize shipments from there, without having to worry about US pressure.
