Ozon

Background

Ozon Holdings PLC is a Russian e-commerce marketplace platform that began in 1998 as an online bookstore and expanded into one of the country’s largest online retail businesses. It operates as a digital marketplace connecting consumers with third-party sellers and also offers related services, including travel booking through an affiliated platform. The company matters in the Russian economy because it has been one of the leading online retail platforms in the country and is frequently cited as a benchmark for the scale and development of Russian internet commerce.

The company is part of Ozon Group, which also includes the online travel booking business Ozon Travel and a stake in Litres, Russia’s largest digital bookstore. Its chief executive officer is Alexander Shulgin, who previously served as chief financial officer and later chief operating officer of Yandex. Ozon’s structure reflects a broader internet-platform business model rather than a state entity, and its activities span e-commerce, digital content, and travel-related services within the private sector economy.

Founded in the early period of Russian internet retail, Ozon grew from a bookstore into a major marketplace and was described by 2019 as one of the three biggest online retail platforms in Russia. Forbes ranked it as the third most valuable Russian internet company in 2020. The company went public on Nasdaq in November 2020 after plans for a U.S. IPO were reported earlier that year, but trading in its securities was later suspended following the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. After unsuccessful appeals against delisting, Ozon announced a voluntary delisting in October 2023.

Timeline

1. Mar 5, 2026

   The Bank of Russia said it planned to introduce new competition rules for financial services on marketplaces, including Ozon.

   Remarks by Elvira Nabiullina at the Meeting of the Association of Banks of Russia