VK offloads state-backed app store RuStore after EU sanctions
What's the deal? Russian tech group VK has sold 100% of RuStoreDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, the state-backed Android app marketplace, to Dmitry Pankrushev, chief executive officer of the company that develops the platform. VK did not disclose the price or explain its reasoning.
What does RuStore do? RuStore launched as a domestic Android alternative after Apple and Google restricted access for Russian users following the invasion of Ukraine. The marketplace now hosts more than 110,000 apps and games and draws 68 million monthly users.
Why now? The sale closely follows European Union sanctions on VK over its role in developing Max, a Kremlin-backed messaging app. VK had taken full ownership of RuStore shortly before the sale and is exiting a few years after launch.
What's the controversy? Recent reports accused RuStore of covertly tracking users by monitoring GPS data, cell towers, and nearby mobile base stations. The platform was also accused of logging installed apps, accessing photo galleries, and downloading software without explicit consent.
RuStore denied the tracking claims, calling its permissions standard industry practice used by all major app marketplaces. VK said the platform will keep operating normally during the transition.
The signal: The handover moves a strategically important marketplace — mandatory on all smartphones sold in Russia — out of a sanctioned company and into private hands. That distance may shield RuStore's operations from Western pressure, but questions remain over what changes for its users and Russia's app market.
Read more: Notizie.it
