After Removal from App Store, Shares of Russian VK Collapsed to a Historic Low
Shares of the Russian internet holding VK on the Moscow Exchange dropped to a historic low after the company's main services were removed from the App Store mobile app store. The price of one share fell to 183.4 Russian rubles (about 2.45 dollars) during trading, writes The Moscow Times.
Illustrative photo. Collage: popsters.ru
In one day, the company's shares fell by 5.5%, and since the beginning of the week, they have lost about 23% of their value. Compared to the beginning of 2026, the holding's capitalization decreased by almost 40%. Since its IPO in December 2021, VK shares have lost about 80% of their value.
Services like Dzen, VK Video, VK Messenger, and Odnoklassniki were removed from the App Store. VK stated that the decision was made without prior notice. For its part, Apple explained its actions by the necessity to comply with sanction requirements and the legislation of the countries where it operates.
Earlier, the state messenger Max, whose development is financed by the Russian authorities, was also removed from the App Store. Approximately 4 billion rubles (about 53 million dollars) were allocated from the Russian budget for this project. Another almost 40 billion rubles (about 528.4 million dollars) were directed by the state to develop services intended to become an alternative to YouTube.
Despite state support, VK's financial performance remains weak. The company has been operating at a loss for the sixth consecutive year. Last year, net losses amounted to almost 25 billion rubles (about 333.3 million dollars). Over the period from 2020 to 2025, the holding's total losses approached 200 billion rubles (about 2.64 billion dollars).
Experts believe that the company will remain unprofitable in 2026 as well. According to analysts' forecasts, losses could amount to another approximately 8 billion rubles (about 106 million dollars). However, in its report for the first quarter of 2026, VK did not disclose information about its profits and losses.
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