Major Russian online marketplace will not compensate sellers for goods damaged in drone attacks
Wildberries has added a clause to its seller agreement shielding the marketplace from liability if it fails to meet its obligations because of a drone attack, the independent Russian TV channel TV Rain reported.
The clause appears in a new product sales offer on the Wildberries website, which takes effect on July 7. A section covering compensation for lost and damaged goods states that Wildberries “is released from liability for failure to fulfill its obligations if such failure is caused by force majeure circumstances.”
Force majeure circumstances are defined to include, among other things:
any consequences of the use, impact, falling, launch, or activation of weapons, military equipment, aircraft (including UAVs), munitions, ammunition and their components, as well as shelling, explosions, and other means of destruction, including objects considered neutralized, notwithstanding the existence of issued certificates (or other documents) confirming the absence of explosive items in the given area.
The previous version of the offer, in effect from June 18 through July 6, does not specify force majeure circumstances. TV Rain noted that the offer is a contract between the company and its sellers, without which it is impossible to “launch sales and receive payment for goods sold.”
In June, Ukrainian drones that attacked the Moscow region struck a multi-story residential building in Elektrostal. The same attack wounded four men in the Sluchayny settlement near Elektrostal. One of Wildberries’ largest logistics complexes is located in the area. The company stated that a “partial evacuation” of employees was carried out at the warehouse, but did not directly confirm the drone attack.
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