Aerospace company «Bureau 1440» (part of «Iks Holding») may not receive the planned 93.5 billion rubles of preferential loan at 3% in 2025 for the creation of a low-orbit satellite constellation. The reason is the high key rate of the Central Bank (21%), due to which the budget cannot compensate for the difference in interest. This is evidenced by a letter from the director of the Ministry of Digital Development Ruslan Khairullin, sent to the ANO «Digital Economy».
Since the key rate of the Bank of Russia in 2025 was 21%, it is not possible to provide a loan in 2025 at a preferential rate, taking into account the financial model.
For the project, this may mean the following:
- It was planned that by 2027 292 satellites would be launched, and by 2030 — 383. Now the company is asking to adjust the indicators for 2025, reducing the number of devices from 18 to 16;
- In 2025, the budget has already returned 3.85 billion rubles allocated for preferential lending. In 2026–2027, 13.43 billion are planned, but now their receipt depends on the revision of the conditions;
- If government support is not restored, «Bureau 1440» will have to look for private investors or take commercial loans, which will increase the cost of the project;
The project of the aerospace company «Bureau 1440» is part of the national project «Data Economy», one of the goals of which is to provide 97% of households in Russia with high-speed Internet by 2030. Without a preferential loan, the deployment of the constellation may slow down, which will postpone the launch of a commercial satellite Internet service.
At a key rate of 21%, attracting commercial financing will be extremely expensive, which means that either the project will become less profitable, or its scale will have to be reduced.
The Ministry of Digital Development still calls the letter «a proposal, not a final position», leaving room for negotiations. «Bureau 1440» may revise the financial model in order to obtain a loan in 2026, or look for alternative financing (for example, through banks in China or the UAE after the lifting of sanctions).
Representatives of ANO «Digital Economy» and «Bureau 1440» declined to comment.
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