Element sinks to loss after $2B chip spending

Russia’s Element holding, described as the country’s largest player in domestic microelectronics, invested more than $2 billion in assets over six years and still ended 2025 in the red. According to CNews, the company, with about 51% of the Russian microelectronics market, posted a net loss of 2.3 billion rubles, while its shares dropped to 8 kopecks each. The slide has already triggered market talk of a possible delisting.

Since 2019, the group’s total investment has exceeded 155 billion rubles. Its most expensive project is Kubik, where 22 billion rubles went into serial production of power electronics. Another 7.6 billion rubles was directed to Fab200, focused on 180/90 nm production on 200 mm wafers. Element also spent 3.9 billion rubles to rebuild JSC ZPP facilities for metal-ceramic package production, and 1.7 billion rubles on the Electro project for power modules and units.

Spending stayed high in recent years:

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• 17.8 billion rubles in 2023
• 22 billion rubles in 2024
• 20.3 billion rubles in 2025

Of the 2025 total, 11.4 billion rubles went to technology development.

Revenue, however, moved the other way. Element reported 38.6 billion rubles in revenue for 2025, down 12% year over year. The decline is attributed to weaker demand for electronic components. The company also will not pay dividends for 2025.

How far $2 billion goes in chips

For the Russian market, those sums are unusually large. In global semiconductor terms, they are far more limited. Roman Tinyaev, a partner at Strategy Partners, estimates capital spending by global chipmakers in 2025–2026 at $185–200 billion.

That puts Russia’s $2 billion in perspective: enough to launch selected production lines, power electronics, packaging, and mature-node capacity, but not enough for a full-cycle fab at leading-edge process nodes. Fab200 fits that model exactly. Its 180/90 nm process is aimed at industrial, automotive, energy, and specialized electronics, where those nodes are still widely used.

The comparison is stark. TSMC’s Arizona factory program alone is valued at about $65 billion, while Samsung previously announced roughly $17 billion for a plant in Texas.

Ownership changes after Sberbank deal

Element’s shareholder structure is also shifting. At the start of 2026, Sberbank bought 41.9% of the holding for 27 billion rubles, while AFK Sistema exited. Another 41.66% remains with Rostec.

That is more than a paper reshuffle. A new shareholder mix often changes investment priorities and tolerance for long payback periods. The immediate question is no longer how much money has been spent, but when those investments will start producing stable revenue. If demand for components does not recover in 2026, pressure on the stock — and delisting speculation — is unlikely to fade, especially just months after Sberbank paid 27 billion rubles for its stake.