Russia's only TV manufacturer goes bankrupt
Photo: Russian rubles (Getty Images)
The Moscow Arbitration Court has declared Kvant bankrupt, the only Russian television manufacturer listed in the official registry of Russia's Ministry of Industry and Trade, Kommersant reports.
The bankruptcy case was initiated by electronics retailer DNS, which claimed the company owed more than 600 million rubles (about $7.6 million). Another 24 creditors later joined the proceedings.
The total claims against Kvant reached nearly 4.15 billion rubles (about $53 million). Major creditors include entities affiliated with Yandex and Sberbank, as well as Sitronics Group, Ozon, steelmaker Severstal, and Chinese electronics giant TCL.
Why the production venture failed
Kvant LLC was established in 2016 in Zelenograd. Televisions sold under the Irbis brand were assembled at facilities in Voronezh and Zelenograd, including a former Soviet-era factory site.
The company's problems had been building for years, and it completely halted operations last year. The main reason cited was a lack of demand, including from Russia's public sector.
Russian consumers also largely ignored Irbis televisions, opting instead for cheaper Chinese alternatives. Even a Russian Industry Ministry directive requiring state institutions to purchase domestically made equipment failed to boost sales.
Recently, Ukrainian presidential sanctions adviser Vladyslav Vlasyuk said that despite optimistic claims by Russian President Vladimir Putin about the resilience of Russia's economy, key indicators suggest otherwise.
According to Vlasyuk, the Russian economy is showing increasing signs of a systemic crisis that some experts have already compared to the condition of a bankrupt state.
