VEB.RF left the TEA Next project
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Structures of VEB.RF withdrew from the joint venture with Rostelecom Atlas for the construction of a backbone fiber-optic line Europe-Asia. Now, according to Kommersant, the state corporation is considering project financing for Atlas. Experts note that the project, despite the actual severance of relations between the Russian Federation and the EU, has retained its potential, taking into account the strengthening of ties with Asia and the Middle East. However, political difficulties may arise in this direction of data transfer.
It follows from the data of SPARK-Interfax that VEB Ventures (formerly a structure of the state corporation VEB.RF, now the owners are hidden) left the joint venture with Rostelecom Atlas, established at the end of 2021 for the construction of a backbone fiber-optic communication line (FOCL ) TEA Next (“Transit Europe – Asia of the new generation”). Now the share of Vetselkom (100% from Rostelecom) is 99.98%, another 0.02% from Vladimir Koryagin. VEB.RF and Rostelecom declined to comment.
The cost of TEA Next was estimated at $650 million until 2025 (63.1 billion rubles at the exchange rate of the Central Bank on August 8). Atlas planned to lease FOCL to communication organizations in the Russian Federation and for transit between Europe and Asia (see Kommersant dated December 9, 2021). “The project included, among other things, the laying of FOCL through European countries. With the introduction of sanctions in 2022, there was an obvious need for adjustments, including in terms of financing instruments, ”says a Kommersant source familiar with the situation. The parties agreed on VEB Ventures’ exit from the project company “on mutually beneficial terms,” he adds, emphasizing that Rostelecom “continues to successfully lead the project.” According to Kommersant’s source, VEB.RF is considering the possibility of project financing for Atlas.
Kommersant’s interlocutor in the IT market believes that the reason is the sanctions against the state corporation (VEB.RF is included in the US SDN list): the project may be adversely affected by restrictions on making payments and the extension of potential sanctions to partners of VEB.RF.
At the end of 2022, Rostelecom reported that Atlas had completed the construction of the first stage of TEA Next, which connected the cities of Idritsa in the Pskov region and Torzhok in Tverskaya. The length of the section was about 560 km. The construction of the Moscow-Torzhok-St. Petersburg section was in the active phase, and in 2023 it was planned to begin construction of the Torzhok-Yekaterinburg-Russian border with Mongolia section.
In the TEM Next project, it is not so much the Asian but the Middle East direction that is promising, says Alexei Slukin, editor of the profile Telegram channel Telecommunalka: “But for traffic, sources of its generation are needed, and the main sources now in the EU and the USA are online services. The Asian side is connected with the United States through sea channels, in addition, a branch is stretching towards the EU through Canada in the Arctic in exchange for the Russian Arctic Connect project.” In the direction of the Middle East, the transit market is smaller, but in the potential it can grow strongly, the expert believes. However, another international project, the ITC North-South, will compete for this traffic (see Kommersant of July 7).
Statistics show a significant increase in traffic in the Asian direction, and this is facilitated by the development of economic ties between Russia and Asian countries, adds Alexander Sivolobov, Deputy Head of the NTI Competence Center based on Skoltech for wireless communication technologies and the Internet of things. But due to political reasons, the transit route through Russia will face various difficulties and prohibitions, he believes: “The key problems may be related to interaction with Western partners.”
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