VK to divest RuStore to platform CEO after EU sanctions over Kremlin-backed messaging app

In a move that has raised eyebrows in Russian business circles, the tech conglomerate VK announced on Thursday its intention to divest RuStore, the country’s state-backed Android app marketplace, selling its entire 100 per cent stake to Dmitry Pankrushev, the chief executive of Mnogo Prilozheniy, the company that developed the platform, a decision that comes just days after the European Union imposed sanctions on VK for its role in creating the Kremlin-aligned messaging application Max. The divestment, the financial terms of which were not disclosed, marks a significant shift for the marketplace, which was established as a domestic alternative following Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine, stepping into the void left by Apple and Google after those companies curtailed their services for Russian users. Last year, the Russian government mandated that RuStore be pre-installed on all smartphones sold within the country, a legal requirement that underscored the strategic importance Moscow attaches to maintaining control over digital infrastructure, with the platform now boasting over 110,000 apps and games and drawing 68 million monthly users.

Mr Pankrushev, who has overseen the platform’s day-to-day operations for several years, will assume full ownership of the marketplace, though VK, which took complete control of RuStore in 2023, declined to elaborate on the reasons behind its sudden decision to offload the asset three years after its launch, merely promising that the platform would continue to operate as usual during the transition period. The timing of the announcement, however, has invited speculation that the sale may be connected to the EU sanctions imposed this week, which targeted VK over its development of Max, a messaging app that Western officials have characterised as a tool of Russian influence operations. Later on Thursday, Russian media reported that applications for VK platforms, including the social media websites VKontakte and Odnoklassniki, had been removed from Google Play and Huawei’s AppGallery, having earlier been removed from Apple’s App Store, suggesting a coordinated effort to isolate Russian tech firms from global distribution channels.

The RuStore sale also comes amid recent controversy regarding the platform’s security practices, with reports surfacing last month that alleged the marketplace secretly tracks users by simultaneously monitoring GPS data, cell towers and nearby mobile base stations, while also being accused of logging installed applications, accessing user photo galleries and downloading software without explicit consent. RuStore has denied these allegations, maintaining that its access permissions are standard industry practices employed by all major app storefronts, though the claims have done little to assuage concerns about the platform’s role in Russia’s digital ecosystem. As the transition to new ownership proceeds, the marketplace faces the dual challenge of navigating the reputational damage from the tracking allegations while adjusting to a geopolitical landscape in which its parent company has been explicitly sanctioned by the EU, a predicament that will test the resilience of Russia’s efforts to build a self-sufficient digital infrastructure. Whether Mr Pankrushev can steer RuStore through these turbulent waters remains to be seen, but the sale marks the end of a brief but consequential chapter in which VK served as the steward of a platform that has become an indispensable component of Russia’s technological sovereignty.