Co-owner of Russian smartphone and tablet manufacturer Fplus declared bankrupt

The Arbitration Court of St. Petersburg declared Alexey Melnikov, CEO and co-owner of one of the largest Russian IT holdings, Fplus, bankrupt. The lawsuit was filed by Bank "Saint Petersburg" back in October 2025. The court included the financial organization's claim for 2 billion rubles in the register of creditors.

The debt arose because in 2023, Melnikov acted as a guarantor for a loan that the bank issued to OOO "MKT", which is part of the holding. In September 2025, banks "Saint Petersburg" and BBR filed lawsuits for the bankruptcy of the holding's parent structure itself. The creditor debt of the group's key structures exceeded 58 billion rubles. Observation procedures were introduced in "Marvel-Distribution", the parent company, and the "VseSmart" network.

Fplus is among the largest players in the Russian IT market and has its own electronics production. In 2024, the holding launched a plant in the Moscow region with a capacity of up to 500 thousand devices per year, investing more than a billion rubles in it. The company produced servers, including the "Soyuz" model for high-performance systems and artificial intelligence. The smartphone line included the protected R570E model on the domestic OS "Aurora" (used by Russian Railways employees), as well as the "Mizar" and "Alkor" models. Fplus tablets, such as the T1100, are used by Aeroflot flight attendants and pilots. The company also announced the production of system boards for printing equipment, aiming to create a fully Russian printer. In addition to production, the holding was engaged in the distribution of electronics under the "Marvel-Distribution" brand and developed the retail network "VseSmart". By the end of 2022, Fplus ranked first in the CNews Analytics rating with a total revenue of 215.25 billion rubles.

Experts link the holding's financial problems to aggressive expansion, a drop in demand for electronics in 2025, and an increase in the cost of borrowed funds. The most likely scenario for the holding's structures is the sale of liquid assets, including Fplus's production facilities, which remain attractive for import substitution.