Rosatom bought 50% of the Parus Electro company, one of the large manufacturers of chargers for electric vehicles

Rosatom bought 50% of the Parus Electro company, one of the large manufacturers of charging stations for electric vehicles, as well as inverters for renewable energy sources and energy storage systems. Rosatom calls the deal “mutual development of competencies.” The state corporation is developing its production of electric vehicles and lithium-ion batteries, so the purchase will complement the portfolio and create a unified ecosystem. There are doubts in the industry about the quality of Parus Electro products, although the company assures of the reliability of its own production.

JSC Rusatom Automated Control Systems (RASU, part of Rosatom) acquired 50% in the authorized capital of the Parus Electro company, as follows from the Unified State Register of Legal Entities. The structure of the state corporation became the owner of the stake in November 2023. Parus Electro had only two shareholders: Vladimir Khlebnikov owned 55%, and Denis Pavlyuk – 45%. Now each of them has 25% of the company left, according to the accounting statements of Parus Electro.

Parus Electro is one of the largest Russian manufacturers of charging stations for electric vehicles (EVS), based in Moscow. More than 1 thousand fast electric filling stations of the company have been installed in 43 regions of the Russian Federation. Parus Electro also produces electric charging stations for Energy of Moscow (a mayor’s office project to create a city charging infrastructure). The company also produces inverters for solar generation (the market share, according to Vladimir Khlebnikov, is about 50%) and uninterruptible power supplies (UPS, energy storage systems).

In 2023, Parus Electro’s revenue increased immediately by 106.9%, to 5 billion rubles, and net profit by 47.6%, to 708 million rubles, follows from the company’s reporting under RAS. The sales of charging stations for electric vehicles brought the company RUB 452.3 million, which is only 0.8% more than in 2022. The main increase occurred due to the production of electrical distribution and control equipment (by 140.7%, to 4.2 billion rubles).

Rosatom says that the main goal of creating the partnership is to unite and mutually develop competencies in the field of high-tech electrical equipment. Parus Electro, in addition to power supply systems and UPSs, also produces other power converter equipment, which is used in industry and various energy sectors, including at energy generation and distribution facilities, the state corporation explained. Within the framework of the partnership, joint projects are already being implemented and solutions are being developed for use in new projects in the nuclear industry, Rosatom says. “Synergy of technological developments and capabilities” exists within the framework of ensuring “uninterrupted operation of data processing and storage centers”, application in the production of electricity from renewable energy sources, as well as electromobility (for example, the development of charging infrastructure can stimulate demand for electric vehicles).

“We saw in the state corporation a system partner with an existing strategy until 2045 and with broad export prospects, which fit into our own strategy – to become an industry national champion and export to a number of non-CIS countries, where we will also occupy a significant market share,” said “Kommersant” Vladimir Khlebnikov.

Dmitry Babansky from SBS Consulting notes that synergy of the new business is possible both with Rosatom’s sales business (electricity sales) and with battery production (continued operation of lithium-ion batteries in EPS). The production of electric charging stations is a promising direction, taking into account existing plans for the electrification of transport, the analyst says.

Since 2022, the Russian Federation has been implementing a program to subsidize the installation of fast electric power stations with a capacity of 150 kW or more – all stations installed under it must be Russian. According to the Ministry of Economy, since 2022, more than 1.1 thousand fast electric charging stations have been installed in the Russian Federation. About 1.4 thousand more are expected to be installed in 2024. In 2023, according to Autostat, sales of new electric cars increased fivefold, to 14.1 thousand units. The cost of fast EPS “Parus Electro” from 150 kW is 2.5–3.9 million rubles. (with VAT) depending on the configuration, clarifies Mr. Khlebnikov, pointing to a localization depth of more than 60%.

Russian EPSs periodically have operational problems, which users write about in industry chats. At the beginning of 2022, failures occurred in the operation of connectors of the Chinese GB/T protocol at the Parus Electro EPS, but now such interruptions are not observed. Mr. Khlebnikov clarified that in 2022 the company promptly redesigned the EZS design, adding a GB/T connector and released a new controller.

Polina Smertina, Olga Nikitina