VK holding decides to sell RuStore app store

14:29 / 16.07.2026·22·Technology

VK, one of Russia's largest technology holdings, has officially announced that it has reached an agreement to sell one of its key projects, the RuStore app store. This decision is considered an unexpected shift in the Russian technology market, as the platform was created as a primary alternative at a time when foreign services were restricted in the country. This is reported by Ixbt.com reports .

According to the company's press service, 100 percent of the platform's shares will pass to the management of the company that developed RuStore. Specifically, the platform's CEO, Dmitry Pankrushev, is named as the buyer. As a result of this deal, the store is expected to transition to fully independent management.

Independent development and new plans

The RuStore team stated that they will continue to develop the platform following this change. The main goal is to ensure the stable operation of the service for users, developers, and partners, introduce new features, and expand the application catalog. This will help maintain the platform's position in the market segment.

For now, the financial terms of the deal, the purchase price, and the exact completion dates have not been disclosed. Experts believe that selling such a major project to its management will allow VK to redirect strategic resources to other areas, particularly social networks and content services.

As a reminder, the RuStore project was launched in May 2022 by VK (formerly Mail.ru Group) under the patronage of the Russian Ministry of Digital Development. At the time, this step was seen as a measure to support local developers amid intensifying sanctions against global platforms like Google Play and App Store.

In February 2023, the platform successfully completed beta testing and began operating in full mode. Today, RuStore contains thousands of applications and has become one of the most popular local stores for Android devices in the Russian market. Now, the future of the platform will be determined by its new owners.