Russia's Ozon asks government for loan after warehouse fire -Ifax cites source

Ozon Holdings

31/08/2022 08:04

MOSCOW, Aug 31 (Reuters) - Russian e-commerce company Ozon
 OZON.O  wrote to the government asking for a preferential loan
to improve fire safety at its facilities days after a huge blaze
at its warehouse near Moscow, the Interfax news agency reported
on Wednesday, citing a source. 
    At least one person was killed and 13 injured in the blaze,
the RIA news agency quoted a source in the emergency services as
saying on Aug. 3. 
    Ozon at the time said the fate of two people in the
warehouse was not known.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL1N2ZG0WB
    Ozon sent a letter to Deputy Prime Minister and Industry and
Trade Minister Denis Manturov, asking for a loan and for a plot
of land in the Moscow region to build a new logistics facility. 
    Ozon declined to comment on the matter. 
    The company said the incident at the Novaya Riga warehouse,
which accounted for about 7% of the company's total logistics
space, posed no significant risks to its liquidity or
operations.
    "Nevertheless, the question of the further area expansion
and space 'replenishment' of Novaya Riga will be relevant in the
future," Ozon said. 
    "There is no exact assessment of the scale of the damage
yet," Ozon said. Around one third of goods stored at the
warehouse avoided being damaged. 

 (Reporting by Olga Popova; writing by Alexander Marrow; editing
by Jason Neely)