Russian technology company Astra Linux plans to make an initial public offering (IPO) on the Moscow exchange, but CEO Ilya Sivtsev declined to disclose a timetable or terms of the agreement, Reuters reported.
IPO activity in Russia is starting to gather pace in 2021, with at least 10 companies planning to go public in 2022 ahead of the events in Russia’s Ukraine, which erupted and triggered Western sanctions that hurt Russia’s local financial sector.
Finam analyst Leonid Delitsyn said Astra is initially valued at around 17 billion rubles (about $1.819 billion).
Raiffeisenbank analyst Sergei Libin puts Astra’s valuation at 1 billion rubles (about R107 million) to 15 billion rubles (about R1.605 billion).
The exodus of Western technology companies and their avoidance of the Russian market in general has put particular pressure on local imports, and the Russian government acknowledges the need to improve domestic IT production.
“Our mission is to ensure Russia’s technological sovereignty and leadership in the global IT industry by creating core technologies as well as special and customized software,” Astra Linux said on its website.
