USM exits operator of Russian product marking system

MOSCOW. Nov 29 (Interfax) - Billionaire Alisher Usmanov's USM Holdings has divested its stake in CRPT-Operator LLC, the operator of Russia's digital product marking system, USM told Interfax.

The company's current shareholder structure is not being disclosed, according to the Unified State Register of Legal Entities. At the beginning of 2022, USM Technologies owned 50% of CRPT, state corporation Rostec owned 25% through Avtomatika and Alexander Galitsky's Elvis-Plus Group held 25%.

"The project has several investors, the initial composition [of which] has changed. Specifically, USM, the shareholder of which is Alisher Usmanov, who has steadily been pulling out of his business assets for a long time in favour of the group's employees, has exited the ranks," a USM spokesman said.

As a result of these changes, the shareholders do not have control or 25% stakes, he said, without providing other details about the deal.

CRPT was founded in 2017 and became the operator of the drug marking system in 2018. It is now responsible for marking 24 groups of products, such as tobacco, caviar, dairy products and fur products.