Delivery boom drawing Russians to courier jobs

Elena and Viktor’s apartment is packed with large, colourful rucksacks and the two bicycles they call their “iron horses.” They have quit their regular jobs, seeking better pay and more flexible hours to work full time as delivery couriers.

- EVGENIA NOVOZHENINA ANASTASIA BAKHUR

Demand for couriers in Russia has surged in the past few years, fuelled partly by a booming e-commerce growth in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic.

The market grew 64% in 2021 to 514 billion roubles ($6.64 billion), according to Kommersant calculations from Rosstat data.

Elena Kashayedova and Viktor Drozdov, both 28, started living together in 2021, soon after they started delivering, battle cold, snowy winters in the Siberian city of Omsk and face the daily task of hauling their bikes up and down the flights of stairs in their apartment block.

But for Ms Kashayedova, who quit her previous job as a boiler operator in January, the financial upside of being a courier makes it well worth it.