Ekaterina Frolovicheva will be involved in international projects “Atomaiza”

The head of the information systems operator (OIS) Atomize, Ekaterina Frolovicheva, is leaving the company. She will be involved in scaling the business in friendly regions. This is a promising direction supported by financial authorities. However, its implementation is associated with high risks, including sanctions, and may threaten the business efficiency of Atomize itself, experts note.

The head of Atomize (one of the largest platforms for issuing digital financial assets), Ekaterina Frolovicheva, is leaving the organization, two market sources told Kommersant and were confirmed by the company. As explained at Atomize (the company is controlled by Vladimir Potanin’s Interros holding), Ms. Frolovicheva “will focus on new high-level projects related to scaling the company’s business in friendly regions.”

Alexey Ilyasov, who previously held the post of Deputy General Director for IT and Digitalization at Interros, has been appointed the new CEO of Atomaiz. They expect him to “update the business strategy, develop the product factory and automated platform solutions for the digital financial market,” they said at Atomize. As Interros CEO Sergei Batekhin explained, “Ekaterina’s experience in building the first DFA platform and participating in the development of the regulatory landscape of digital rights will be indispensable in the new projects that she will lead.”

Experts explain the changes in Atomize with several factors. Firstly, says independent analyst Andrei Barkhota, this is the implementation of current financial tasks. The company does not disclose figures. According to Mr. Barhota, the net profit of Atomize at the end of the year could amount to several hundred million rubles. Secondly, the reshuffles may be related to the professional profiles of top managers. As the analyst explains, Ekaterina Frolovicheva is “more of a root IT expert who worked for giants such as IBM and Sberbank.” In his opinion, now “despite the obvious successes of the local project, Interros is waiting not only for payback, but also for more ambitious financial results.”

At the same time, now may be a good time to scale the project outside the Russian Federation. The need to develop digital financial services, including for international payments, was announced by the head of the Central Bank, Elvira Nabiullina, at a meeting of the State Duma in early November. In February, the first deputy chairman of the Central Bank, Vladimir Chistyukhin, allowed the creation of a DFA tied to the cost of gold (a “golden” token), which “may be in demand in international payments.” “This is a new market, and all countries are moving towards this at different rates, so the appointment of Ekaterina Frolovicheva is a creative and correct strategic decision,” says Artur Shamilov, head of the board of directors of Top Contact.

However, entering foreign markets also brings certain difficulties. This can be done both by attracting potential issuers and by creating infrastructure for issuing digital financial assets, notes Maria Telegina, a teacher at the Moscow Digital School educational platform. However, this creates sanctions risks. “In addition, so far there is only insignificant interest or understanding of the local market for this product, that is, the demand is small,” the expert notes. Scaling in friendly jurisdictions “also depends on the attitude of local regulators,” says Mikhail Zhuzhalov, senior lawyer at Tomashevskaya & Partners.

As a result, risks may arise for Atomize’s current business. “The topic of fintech is very close to Interros and Vladimir Potanin personally, however, the scaling strategy in friendly jurisdictions may not justify itself, which will lead to a decrease in Atomize’s profit margin and an extension of the payback period for technological investments,” says Mr. Barhota. In the domestic market, the organization of DFA issues will be actively carried out by banking and exchange structures, he explains, and “against the backdrop of growing competition, a reduction in tariffs and commission volumes is not excluded.”

Ksenia Kulikova, Ksenia Dementieva, Olga Sherunkova