Rostelecom consolidated 100% of the developer of the mobile OS Aurora
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Rostelecom received 100% in the developer of the mobile operating system (OS) Aurora, having exercised an option to buy out 25% from the structures of Grigory Berezkin. Under the terms of the agreement, the operator could buy out the share from March 2021 to March 2028 at the seller’s option for no less than RUB 606 million. Market participants estimate the transaction amount at 1 billion rubles. At the same time, experts believe that Rostelecom will need another “billions of rubles” to finalize the Aurora mobile ecosystem.
Rostelecom has exercised an option to buy out the remaining share of Open Mobile Platform LLC (OMP), which is developing the Aurora OS, a source in the IT market told Kommersant. According to SPARK-Interfax, PJSC Rostelecom still owns 75% of Open Mobile Platform LLC, another 25% belongs to Open Mobile Platform Development Center LLC, owned by Olga Berezkina, the sister of the co-owner of the RBC publication and the ESN group Grigory Berezkin. But a source close to the deal party confirmed that the businessman had exited the asset, “the agreement to exercise the option has already been approved by the board of directors.”
Rostelecom explained to Kommersant that the deal to purchase weapons of mass destruction was initially concluded in such a way that the partner could sell the remaining share at any time. “We are actively developing the OS and will continue to invest in creating a national mobile ecosystem, consolidating manufacturers and developers around Aurora,” the company added. The UST noted that the option and its implementation were part of the deal with Rostelecom, for the conclusion of which a directive from the Federal Property Management Agency was received. The OMP declined to comment.
In April 2022, Grigory Berezkin was included in the EU sanctions list. But after filing a lawsuit with the European Court of Justice in Luxembourg in September 2023, the businessman’s sanctions were lifted (see Kommersant on September 14). Kommersant’s interlocutor among electronics manufacturers believes that Mr. Berezkin sold his stake in WMD, since the asset “can be considered as related to the state.”
In 2015, Grigory Berezkin became the main owner of Jolla, a Finnish developer of the Sailfish operating system, created by ex-Nokia employees. In 2016, WMD was created to adapt the OS to the Russian market. In 2018, Rostelecom bought 75% for 3.3 billion rubles, and Sailfish was renamed Aurora. At the end of 2019, the operator wrote off 2.3 billion rubles as losses. investment in the project.
Rostelecom agreed on the option three years ago (see Kommersant dated April 20, 2020). Under the terms, 24.9% could be purchased from March 2021 to March 2028 at the seller’s choice for no less than RUB 606 million. But even after this, Grigory Berezkin should have had 0.1% left, which would have allowed him to receive a share of the proceeds from projects on the Aurora OS for 20 years. Rostelecom and the Unified Social Tax did not specify whether this point has been implemented. A Kommersant source on the market claims that the businessman has withdrawn from the asset completely.
According to SPARK-Interfax, in 2022, sales revenue from OMT amounted to 66 million rubles, and a net loss of 1.1 billion rubles. According to a source among IT developers, the cost of the option could be about 1 billion rubles, “since the WMD is unprofitable, it can be estimated at 3–4 billion rubles in total for growth.” taking into account the need to invest in the development of the ecosystem.”
The repurchase of the share means that Rostelecom is ready to continue investing and developing the Aurora OS, says Alexey Smirnov, head of the board of directors of Basalt SPO. “Efforts are required to create a full-fledged mobile software ecosystem and ensure compatibility with a large number of devices, and the total investment can reach several billion rubles,” he says. In the summer, the refinement and adaptation of the Aurora OS was estimated at 300 billion rubles. until 2027 (see Kommersant, August 14). According to Mr. Smirnov, the main segments that Rostelecom can count on when implementing Aurora are the public sector, state corporations and critical information infrastructure facilities. For Grigory Berezkin, notes Nikolai Komlev, director of the Association of Computer and Information Technology Enterprises, Aurora was not the main area of investment, and given the unprofitability of the asset, “the sale is justified.”
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