Russian e-commerce major Ozon Holdings said on July 28 its American Depositary Shares (ADS) have been admitted to trading on Kazakhstan's Astana International Exchange (AIX), in a bid to maintain liquidity as Ozon struggles to keep its primary Nasdaq listing, Reuters reported.

"Admission of the ADSs to trading on AIX could potentially increase liquidity of the ADSs and provide investors, including international investors, with an opportunity to trade the ADSs," Ozon said as cited by Reuters.

To remind, in March 2023 NASDAQ Stock Exchange has announced that it will delist Ozon along with other Russian tech majors such as internet giant Yandex, classifieds portal Cian, e-payment operator Qiwi and online recruitment platform HeadHunter (HHR). Ozon is contesting the decision.

Trading in all the names has been suspended since February 28, 2022 following Russia's full-scale military invasion of Ukraine, which triggered default clauses on the exchange bonds issued by Yandex and Ozon.

Now AIX said 81,782,028 shares would be tradable and the issue price would be provided prior to the start of trading. Ozon also previously said it intended to keep its listing on Moscow Exchange.

To remind, Ozon has recently boosted its presence in Kazakhstan. The company started the construction of a logistics complex in Kazakhstan with an investment of approximately KZT15bn ($33.7mn). The project is expected to be completed within 12 months and will span an area of 42,000 square metres, creating around 2,000 new job opportunities.

Ozon's business has been thriving in Kazakhstan, and the new logistics complex aims to meet increasing demand from sellers and buyers for the platform's services. Located in Almaty, near the Chinese border, the facility will serve as a fulfilment centre, providing comprehensive services for online orders from local sellers.

Ozon Holdings and its peer Wildberries are leading the Russian market in the ongoing e-commerce consolidation, and both have strengthened their supply chain capabilities.  Apart from expanding its operations to Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan, Ozon snapped up logistics assets from Aliexpress, and closed a major distribution deal with Russian Post.

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