Sources cited by Novaya Gazeta Europe say the public reconciliation between Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov and Dagestan senator Suleiman Kerimov was the result of a closed settlement worth nearly $2 billion.
The conflict stemmed from the struggle over Wildberries, which began after the June 2024 announcement of the marketplace’s merger with outdoor advertising operator Russ Outdoor, linked to the Mirzoyan brothers. Kadyrov backed Vladislav Bakalchuk, while Kerimov, the paper writes, stood behind the camp of Tatyana Bakalchuk and her partners.
After the shooting near the Wildberries office at the Romanov Dvor business center on September 18, 2024, where two guards were killed, the Chechen side’s position became more difficult because of the criminal case. Later, however, the newspaper says defendants gradually disappeared from the case, charges were reduced, and some participants were released.
On October 10, 2024, Kadyrov publicly declared Kerimov, Bekhan Barakhoev and Rizvan Kurbanov his blood enemies, alleging a plot to assassinate him. Kerimov later disappeared from public view, while, according to the journalists, his interests were protected at the highest levels.
On November 6, 2025, Tatyana Kim announced a settlement with Vladislav Bakalchuk, and on December 10 Russia’s corporate registry showed that Kim had become the owner of 100% of Wildberries shares. After that, according to two sources cited by the outlet, Kadyrov was granted compensation of nearly $2 billion in exchange for dropping further claims.
“Kerimov proposed the amount of compensation... Putin endorsed the decision, and the first cash tranche was received by the Chechens in December last year,” the outlet quotes one source as saying.
According to the sources, Kadyrov was dissatisfied with the size of the payment and hoped to discuss an additional amount, but health problems and family circumstances interfered. There has been no official confirmation of these claims.