Russia has nationalized the largest online platform for selling used cars
The Tverskoy District Court of Moscow ruled to confiscate the assets of the popular CarPrice service in favor of the aggressor state.
The official justification for the nationalization was the designation of the activities of Alexander Galitsky’s Almaz Capital Partners as “extremist.”
The court ruling sets a dangerous precedent, as not only the share of the sanctioned fund but also the assets of third parties have come under state control.
Among those affected were Philip Gens, owner of the Lanit Group, and Shamil Shakirov, co-owner of Aiteko, who were not formally parties to the proceedings.
CarPrice is a leading player in the Russian market, combining a large-scale online auction with an extensive network of car buyback centers.
The platform hosts about 300 auctions daily, and the total number of customers over the past ten years has exceeded 250,000.
The company’s financial results for the past year show revenue of 7.7 billion rubles, despite a reported net loss.
The service network includes 150 dealerships in 60 cities, making it a tempting target for future resale to entities close to the Kremlin.
“In fact, this is the country’s largest network for so-called ‘car buyers’—entrepreneurs who are ready to quickly buy your car,” explains one of CarPrice’s partners.
The project was founded by Artem Bolshakov, Oskar Hartmann, Oleksandr Chernyak, Eduard Gurinovich, and Oleksandr Danilov.
$2 million was raised to develop the startup in its early stages, and the investment amount later grew by another $40 million.
The main donors were the Baring Vostok and Almaz Capital funds, whose involvement has now become the formal reason for the seizure of the business.
As a reminder, in annexed Crimea, approximately 700 assets belonging to Ukrainians were “nationalized.”
Russia has also nationalized a company involved in the development of the game “World of Tanks.”
