Atlas LLC was established in November 2018, and until early 2022

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it was fully controlled by Rostelecom through two subsidiaries: Westelcom JSC (it owned 99.9% of shares in Atlas) and AMT JSC (0.1%). In January 2022, VEB Group became an investor in the project, and 50% of the authorized capital was transferred to Web Ventures LLC (in April of the same year, Web Ventures' share was reduced to 49.99%). However, in July 2023, Web Ventures withdrew from the project, and 99.98% of shares in Atlas LLC again ended up in the ownership of Westelcom.

In October 2023, Alfa-Bank kuwait whatsapp resource announced that it had agreed to partner with PJSC Rostelecom in the TEA NEXT project. "As part of the agreements reached, Alfa-Bank received the right to acquire 49.99% of the shares in the Atlas project company, the operator of the TEA NEXT project," the bank's official statement said. However, it appears that Alfa-Bank has not yet exercised its right to buy out this share - at least, as of April 17, 2024. 99.98% of the authorized capital of Atlas LLC is still controlled by Westelcom, and the owner of the remaining 0.02% is Atlas CEO Alexander Ratushny.

Nevertheless, Atlas considers Alfa-Bank's entry into the project a fait accompli. Sales Director of Atlas LLC Pavel Kolochkin at the conferenceTransNet2024, organized by the ComNews Information Group, reported: "We have two shareholders - Rostelecom and Alfa-Bank JSC. We also plan to attract funds from the VEB.RF Project Financing Factory."

"Atlas" is a special project company that is implementing the project of construction of the New Trans-Eurasian fiber-optic communication line (TEA NEXT). The total length of the Russian segment of TEA NEXT is about 11 thousand km. This line will connect the western and eastern borders of Russia with connections to the largest cities of the country and exits to the borders of Russia-Mongolia, Russia-China, as well as the coastal station of underwater communication lines in Nakhodka. At the same time, in the future, the TEA NEXT fiber-optic communication line will have extensions to the main traffic exchange points in the Asian region and Europe.

Atlas does not plan to provide communications services: the company intends to manage the constructed infrastructure by selling or leasing "dark fibers" in the TEA NEXT optical cable to other communications operators.

According to Atlas, the TEA NEXT section from Moscow to St. Petersburg with a branch to the Latvian border has been completed and has already been launched into commercial operation. The section from Torzhok (Tver Region) to Kyakhta (Republic of Buryatia) is in the active phase of construction - Atlas plans to complete it by the end of 2025. According to the company, at the moment, design and survey work has been completed, route selection acts have been signed and construction work is underway. In addition, the fiber-optic communication line section from Kyakhta to Nakhodka is in the advanced stage of development - its readiness is expected by the first quarter of 2026.