The manufacturer of power electronics Optron-Stavropol is on the verge of bankruptcy. Production has been stopped, and employees have been allowed to return home. The plant is unable to fulfill the state defense order. The company's management says that the implementation of the State Budget led to its problems, under which the price of products was greatly underestimated, which is why the plant began to operate at a loss. The industry confirms the problem and notes that it is extremely unprofitable to fulfill the State Defense Order due to the fact that the military representative office sets low prices for dual-use products.
As it became known to CNews, in March 2025, the Optron-Stavropol microelectronic enterprise announced its downtime. During the execution of the state defense order, the plant lost more than 149 million rubles, its director Pavel Borodanenko told CNews.
Optron-Stavropol manufactures dual-use silicon diodes that are used in military products. The company is also the only supplier of diodes for aircraft generators of Sukhoi Superjet and MS-21 aircraft.
As of June 2025, the company's accounts payable amount to 230 million rubles. The accounts of Optron-Stavropol have been arrested, and there are arrears in tax payments, wages, and utility bills, says Pavel Borodanenko.
According to the Kontur database.Focus", Optron-Stavropol JSC was established on March 9, 2005 in Stavropol. The founders of the legal entity are hidden.
According to Borodanenko, in order for Optron-Stavropol to fulfill orders on time and ensure product quality, its price should be 3.6 thousand rubles. "This is exactly the price that covers the costs," he said.
According to Law No. 275-FZ "On the State Defense Order" (GOZ), the "recommended" price of products supplied under the state defense order is set by the military representative office. VP are military units attached to military departments established for quality control and acceptance of military products at enterprises.
"The VP agreed on the price of Optron-Stavropol diodes in the amount of 2.6 thousand rubles, using a fixed coefficient," the head of Optron—Stavropol continues. "As a result, the company suffered a loss of 102 million rubles in 2023, and 149 million rubles by the end of 2024."
"The military mission believes that with a fixed labor intensity, the cost of our products is 2,600 rubles per unit," Borodanenko told CNews. Such a price would allow us to achieve payback if the plant had an order larger than it actually received. According to him, in fact, the plant produced a large number of products with a loss of 1 thousand rubles each.
"In these circumstances, it is not possible to fulfill the obligations assumed for the shipment of products under the State Defense Order," Borodanenko notes. "Circumstances force us to dismiss staff."
Production has been stopped since March 2025, employees are being laid off, and supplies of GOZ have been disrupted. "Despite the fact that the prices agreed by the EAP are considered recommended, the cooperation partners refuse to purchase our products at a commercial price, although this measure is clearly the only one that has made it possible to fulfill the State Defense Order and not disrupt supplies for the Ministry of Defense," says the CEO.
"Instead, everyone is frantically trying to find analogues to replace our diodes," says Borodanenko.
According to the CEO of Optron-Stavropol, following an appeal to the Ministry of Industry and Trade, nine meetings and an audit of the Prosecutor General's Office were held. "The prosecutor's office's check did not find any crime in our actions, there are no signs of misuse of state defense order funds in the company's actions," Pavel Borodanenko said.
"The management of the Department of Radioelectronic Industry of the Ministry of Industry and Trade has not made any decisions," Borodanenko concluded.
"The Ministry is aware of the current situation at the Optron-Stavropol JSC enterprise and is in close contact with the main customers of the enterprise and the government of the Stavropol Territory," a representative of the Ministry of Industry and Trade told CNews. — Issues related to the organization's activities are under the control of the relevant departments of the Ministry of Industry. All necessary measures are carried out within the framework of current legislation and regulations."
Requests were also sent to the Ministry of Defense and to buyers of Optron-Stavropol products.
CNews industry interlocutors among manufacturers of dual-use products confirm the problem of pricing and unprofitability of work within the framework of the State Budget.
Pricing under the GOZ is regulated by the order of the Ministry of Industry and Trade dated February 8, 2019 No. 334 "On approval of the procedure for determining the composition of costs included in the price of products supplied under the GOZ," Alexey Novoselov, CEO of PKK Milander, told CNews. This order determines the pricing procedure, including the costs that can be included in the product price.
According to Novoselov, the cost of a product manufactured under the State Defense Order is calculated not as a percentage of cost, but as a percentage of direct labor and overhead costs. And if they are small, then the profit is insignificant. At the same time, labor costs are reduced due to automation and optimization of production. "And all this leads to the fact that it is simply not very profitable to fulfill the state budget," he notes.
"In addition, the Ministry of Defense sets the task for the VP to reduce the costs included in the price as much as possible," Novoselov continues. — And sometimes VP abuse their opportunity to cut the cost. Sooner or later, this leads to the fact that the products simply become unprofitable. At the same time, enterprises cannot abandon the state budget. And that's why we have to work at a loss."
A loose interpretation of the order of the Ministry of Industry and Trade actually brings enterprises to the brink of survival, Novoselov notes. "Setting prices by comparing the cost of products from competitors will help solve this problem." But sometimes it can be difficult to identify competing products for unique products manufactured under the State Defense Order, he concluded.
"In practice, there are cases when enterprises operate at zero or even at a loss," says Olga Kvashenkina, head of SNDGLOBAL Holding, contract electronics development. Among the reasons, she identified errors in pricing, discrepancies in the interpretation of the regulatory framework, etc.
In her opinion, given the strategic importance of Otpron-Stavropol as the only manufacturer of unique products for the defense industry, the preservation of the enterprise is a priority.
Therefore, it is necessary to preserve the team and technology, establish communication with the military representative and initiate a dialogue with the Ministry of Industry and Trade and the Ministry of Defense to obtain support and resolve controversial issues, Kvashenkina believes.
