The National Agency on Corruption Prevention has included the Chinese conglomerate Alibaba Group Holding Limited in the list of international sponsors of the war. Alibaba Group continues to operate in Russia and provides its platforms for selling goods from the occupied territories of Ukraine.
This pertains to several companies. In 2023, the company announced a restructuring plan, which involves dividing Alibaba Group into six groups:
- Cloud Intelligence Group,
- Taobao Tmall Business Group (Taobao, Tmall, Taobao Deals, Taocaica\i, 1688.com),
- Local Services Group (Amap, Ele.me),
- Global Digital Business Group (Lazada, AliExpress, Trendyol, Daraz, Alibaba.com),
- Cainiao Smart Logistics,
- Digital Media and Entertainment Group (Youku, Alibaba Pictures).
The most popular online platform in Russia is AliExpress, managed by the Russian subsidiary of Alibaba Group, "Alibaba.COM (RU) LLC," owned by Aliexpress Russia Holding Private Ltd, registered in Singapore. The company continues to conduct business with Russia.
In 2022, "Alibaba.COM (RU) LLC" reported a profit of 16.3 billion rubles (approximately $160 million).
Additionally, in April 2023, Reuters reported that the Chinese company Quzhou Nova purchased at least 3,220 tons of copper alloy for a total amount of $7.4 million from the Debaltseve Metallurgical Engineering Plant in 2022-2023. This plant is currently located in the Russian-occupied territory. According to customs data, the copper was shipped through the port of Novorossiysk. The company produces goods from the copper exported from the occupied territories, which are then sold on Alibaba's platforms.
Furthermore, Alibaba censors Ukrainian content related to the Russian war on its platforms, according to NACP. In March 2022, Alibaba blocked the profile of a Ukrainian streamer on AliExpress, who had over 268,000 subscribers, due to a post about the war. Pro-Russian posts on the platform, however, are not removed.
