Vladislav Bakalchuk staged a 90s-style showdown at the Wildberries office.
Photo: Personal archive of the hero of the publication.
WHERE IT ALL BEGAN
The story of the family conflict between Wildberries founder Tatyana Bakalchuk and her husband Vladislav, which led to an armed confrontation, forces us to pay special attention to the personality of the “head of the family.” And how family and business conflicts are sometimes resolved…
It all started with the fact that Tatyana left home in the spring and then filed for divorce, without announcing family problems. Later it became known that Wildberries was going to merge with Russia’s largest outdoor advertising operator Russ into a single company, RVB.
And in July, Vladislav did not even wash his dirty linen in public, but kicked him out: he recorded a video with the head of Chechnya, Ramzan Kadyrov. The interlocutors in the framework call the merger of companies a “raider takeover” and demand “to return Tatyana to the family.”
Tatyana commented on all this simply: “This is not a raider takeover, it is a scam.” And Vladislav knew about the merger of companies and participated in the signing of documents.
However, Tatyana’s husband (yes, the couple is not divorced yet) continued the offensive. In every sense of the word. Rapper Timati and producer Joseph Prigozhin recorded a video in support of her. And he himself has developed unprecedented activity on social networks.
And on the evening of September 18, he appeared at the Wildberries head office in Moscow’s Romanov Dvor business center. As Vladislav later said, he came “to negotiate peace.” True, for some reason he was not alone or with lawyers, but with a crowd of athletes, champions of Russia and Europe in various types of martial arts. No wonder they refused to let such an “unusual” company into the office. Word for word…
A shootout broke out at the entrance to the office. Two security guards of the office were killed. Seven people were injured (among them law enforcement officers), about 30 people were taken to the police. Vladislav Bakalchuk was detained and charged with four counts: “murder”, “attempted murder”, “attack on the life of a law enforcement officer” and “arbitrariness”. A set like this could get you 20 years.
An armed clash took place near the Wildberries office in Moscow.
Photo by: TASS.
IN THE SHADOW OF A SUCCESSFUL WIFE
“The incident with Wildberries is an extreme degree of barbarism, an example of how corporate conflicts can spiral out of control if one of the parties chooses inappropriate methods of resolving disagreements,” career growth expert Harry Muradyan told KP.RU. – In normal practice, corporate conflicts are resolved through legal mechanisms: litigation, arbitration or negotiations. When one of the parties starts using force, it not only ruins its reputation, but also nullifies all the results and achievements it had previously achieved.
According to the expert, forceful methods put people in a vulnerable legal and negotiation position: they violate the very basis of trust and professionalism in business.
“Such actions, as we see in this situation, push the level of interaction back to typical ‘criminal disputes’ that are not typical for modern companies,” Muradyan said.
The expert admitted that Bakalchuk’s actions were caused by deep emotional experiences and a personal crisis.
“A person who decides to risk his life and the lives of others often does so out of desperation or a desire to change his fate,” says Muradyan. – Bakalchuk, being in the shadow of his successful wife, could feel humiliated and insecure. In such circumstances, the response may involve seeking external support and approval. This manifested itself in the appeal for forceful support. Psychologically, this may look like a desire to regain control and recognition in situations where the person feels excluded or vulnerable. This behavior is often seen in people seeking protection from more powerful figures, like a resentful child seeking support from the “cool kids.”
– The confrontation at the Wildberries office reminded us of the 1990s. It would seem that domestic businessmen have already moved beyond that era of adrenaline. But it turns out that not all of them have. How typical is this kind of all-round attitude in the business world?
“This type of behavior in the business environment is not typical for mature leaders and experienced entrepreneurs,” says Muradyan. – In the business world, strategic thinking, the ability to control emotions and find constructive solutions in difficult situations are often valued. Resorting to forceful methods to solve personal or professional problems is often perceived as a sign of weakness or insecurity. In a normal business environment, a person, even when faced with personal difficulties, will act professionally, moderately and rationally. Especially when it comes to maintaining reputation and further business development. Entrepreneurs with a high degree of maturity and confidence try to minimize the impact of personal problems on work processes, keeping a focus on strategic development and effective management.
DOMINATED IN FAMILY RELATIONSHIPS
The whole story of family conflict, subsequent divorce proceedings and tragedy occurred solely because of Vladislav’s arrogant attitude towards his wife, lawyer Alexander Treshchev, who is familiar with the conflict situation in the Bakalchuk family, told KP.RU.
“He called her words that I will not give,” Treshchev said. – It was at least a psychological humiliation. The situation at home was in sharp contrast to the treatment she received in business life, especially from her new partners. This is one side of the story.
The other side is business, the lawyer continued.
“Vladislav’s side says that the Russ outdoor advertising operator was taking over the Wildberries company and that Tatyana did not know what she was doing,” Treshchev said. – I know their business and I know that this is not entirely true. Tatyana understood: in modern conditions, being just a market is no longer enough. We need a step that will qualitatively improve the business. For example, make people know more about you than about your competitors, and do it without huge expenses. Therefore, a merger with a large advertising company turned out to be extremely profitable for Wildberries, despite the fact that this company significantly surpassed Russ in capital. In conditions where you have to run fast, they showed themselves to be professionals, and now the whole city is covered with advertising, for Wildberries this is a definite plus, its performance has increased. So it turned out to be a very good alliance, the business entered a new orbit.
– What about Vladislav?
“She was inert,” says Treshchev. – Initially, she was a fairly literate person, lived a family life, then the family became the center of attention and Tatyana fell more light. Not to say that this offended him; they had a distribution of roles: he was in charge of operational management, she was the face of the company. He did not want to come to the fore, but dominated her in family relationships. But when his wife, who was always under his control and following his advice, suddenly began to behave independently, his male pride surged in him and a chain of events occurred that led to tragedy.
I LOST ALL MONEY AND HOPE
“It was the stupidest and most wrong decision on his part,” says the lawyer. – Not only from a legal and moral point of view. He lost all hope of recovering his capital. In the previous situation, he could have claimed half of Wildburys. Because although he only owned one percent of the company, in the absence of a prenuptial agreement, the company is marital property, so he can claim half. Now, after having harmed the company, he, as a shareholder, is deprived of his rights to all payments from the company.
As for the division of joint property, he will most likely get little as well, the lawyer says.
“Vladislav may end up in prison for a long time,” Treshchev said. “In fact, he will be removed from participation in the management of the company, he will not be able to claim any assets either in the joint venture or in Wildberries, and it will be almost impossible for him to divide the property acquired during the marriage. It is very difficult to recover property from places of deprivation of liberty.
