Rusnano v. Chubais: bailiffs pursue nearly 20 billion rubles over a failed school tablet and MRAM chips

Russia's Federal Bailiff Service (FSSP) is enforcing court-ordered damages against Anatoly Chubais, the architect of Russia's 1990s privatisation and head of the state technology investor Rusnano from 2008 to 2020. According to TASS, citing the FSSP database, 14 enforcement proceedings have been opened against him for a combined total of nearly 20 billion rubles — roughly $240 million at the current exchange rate. Of that, about 17.74 billion rubles is compensation owed to Rusnano and about 2.13 billion rubles is an enforcement fee. Ten proceedings were opened between June and October 2026 on the basis of Moscow Arbitration Court documents; three relate to asset freezes.

The parties. The claimant is Rusnano, the state-owned corporation created in 2007 to build a Russian nanotechnology industry. The defendants are Chubais and a group of his former top managers. Rusnano's case is that funding decisions on several projects were taken on terms unfavourable to the corporation and caused losses that the executives who approved them must now cover.

First dispute: Plastic Logic. Launched in 2009, the project was meant to produce flexible electronic tablets for Russian schoolchildren. In Rusnano's words, it "did not achieve its original goals". The claim was filed in March 2025 (case No. А40-76398/2025) for 3.892 billion rubles and $20.4 million against Chubais and seven other former executives. In April 2025 the court froze assets of the eight defendants worth 5.6 billion rubles.

In April 2026 the Moscow Arbitration Court partly granted the claim, ordering Chubais and six former top managers to pay about 5.5 billion rubles (roughly $65 million) jointly. They are Yuri Udaltsov, Boris Podolsky, Dmitry Pimkin, Oleg Kiselev, German Pikhoya and Vladimir Avetisyan. The claim against Nikolai Tychinin, former president of Plastic Logic, was dismissed. The Ninth Arbitration Court of Appeal upheld the ruling, and the cassation court rejected the defendants' appeals, making the decision final at those levels.

Second dispute: Crocus. Approved in 2011, this project was to manufacture magnetoresistive random-access memory (MRAM) chips in Russia. The claim was filed in December 2025 (case No. А40-342036/2025). Rusnano argues that the money allocated was used to set up and finance project companies on terms that were unfavourable to it. In December 2025 the court froze about 11.9 billion rubles of Chubais's funds. In July 2026 the claim was partly granted; claims against former Rusnano director Andrei Trapeznikov were dismissed. Hearings were held behind closed doors, and there is no public information on whether the ruling has been appealed.

Why the extra 2 billion. In Russia, an enforcement fee is charged when a debtor fails to pay voluntarily within the set deadline. By law it equals 7% of the amount being recovered — which matches the 2.13 billion rubles here.

The criminal track. Rusnano's lawsuits are civil: the courts found an obligation to compensate losses, not criminal guilt. Separately, several former Rusnano executives face criminal cases. According to Russian media, Oleg Kiselev was arrested in absentia in August 2024 on embezzlement charges; Boris Podolsky was arrested in February 2025 for abuse of office; Yuri Udaltsov and Nikolai Tychinin were arrested in absentia in summer 2025 on fraud charges. Guilt can only be established by a court. Chubais himself is not named as a defendant in any criminal case in these reports.

The defendant's position. Chubais has not commented publicly on the rulings. His defence has taken the form of appeals: in the Plastic Logic case the defendants went through both appeal and cassation. In March 2022 Chubais stepped down as the Russian president's special envoy for sustainable development and left Russia.

What next. The Plastic Logic ruling is final at the appeal and cassation levels; the defendants can still petition Russia's Supreme Court. How much is actually recovered will depend on what assets of Chubais and the other defendants can be found in Russia. Kurs Media sent questions to Rusnano on 27 October; any response will be published on this page.

Kurs Media editorial team. Corrections and statements from the parties: press@kursmedia.com. Read in Russian.