Russia's only domestic television manufacturer, Kvant, has been declared bankrupt, dealing another blow to Vladimir Putin's regime. The company's total debt has reached 4.15 billion rubles (£38 million), according to court-approved claims.
Bankruptcy Proceedings and Creditors
Consumer electronics retailer DNS filed a bankruptcy petition against Kvant in June over an unpaid debt exceeding 654 million rubles (£6 million). DNS owns the in-house TV and electronics brand Irbis, which Kvant stopped producing last year due to high costs and low demand.
Following DNS's initial petition, 24 additional creditors joined the bankruptcy proceedings. Sberbank and Yandex are listed among Kvant's largest creditors.
Financial Collapse and Sanctions Impact
Kvant, founded in 2016 in the Moscow suburb of Zelenograd, saw its business unravel in 2024 when Chinese suppliers TCL and Xiaomi halted shipments of components to avoid secondary sanctions, according to The Moscow Times.
The company's revenue plummeted from 13.1 billion rubles (£120 million) in 2023 to 4.9 billion rubles (£45 million) in 2024. Last year, revenues collapsed to just 45 million rubles (£412,000), leaving a net loss of 387 million rubles (£3.5 million) and tens of millions of rubles in unpaid wages.
Broader Context of Ukrainian Drone Strikes
In recent weeks, Russia has faced intensified Ukrainian long-range drone strikes on infrastructure, heavily targeting logistics warehouses belonging to Russia's largest online retailer, Wildberries. Recent strikes have hit facilities across multiple regions, killing at least nine people.
Ukrainian targeting of energy infrastructure has caused a severe domestic fuel crisis. Estimates indicate that strikes have knocked offline between 20% and 40% of Russia's oil refining capacity, with dozens of major refineries hit, including key facilities in Ryazan, Volgograd, Saratov, and the Omsk refinery.
Over two-thirds of Russia's regions have reported disruptions to gas and diesel supplies. The occupied Crimean peninsula has been hit particularly hard, with state-of-emergency protocols, strict limits on petrol sales—down to 20 litres or full temporary bans for ordinary consumers—soaring prices, and rolling blackouts. Elsewhere, long queues, fights at the pumps, and crowdsourced fuel-tracking apps have become common.
