The Russian manufacturer of sapphires for iPhone and other electronics, JSC Monocrystall, has filed for bankruptcy. His debts have reached almost 15 billion rubles. Thus, Russia may lose the manufacturer of artificial sapphires for electronics, which held a leading position in the global market back in 2022.
The sapphire manufacturer JSC Monocrystall appealed to the Arbitration Court of Stavropol with a statement declaring it insolvent (bankrupt). The amount of the company's debt obligations to creditors has reached almost 15 billion rubles, writes TASS.
Monocrystal is part of the Energomera concern. The headquarters is located in Stavropol. "The reason for applying to the court was the debtor's debt to creditors in the amount of 14.995578 billion rubles. The debtor refers to the insufficiency of property to satisfy creditors' claims in full," the court ruling says.
Synthetic sapphire is used in the electronics and fiber-optic industries. For example, it is used in the manufacture of glasses for Apple iPhone smartphones and Apple Watch smartwatches. On its website, the company claims to be a global leader in the production of sapphire for the industry of light-emitting diodes and consumer electronics, as well as metallization pastes for solar energy.
CNews wrote about the intention of JSC Monocrystal to apply to the Arbitration Court of the Stavropol Territory to declare itself bankrupt in mid-May 2026. The management explains the deterioration of the situation at the enterprise by interruptions in the supply of raw materials, the closure of the European market, a decrease in demand for electronics in Asia and damage to the plant in the Belgorod region as a result of shelling, which CNews reported in May 2023
The report of the Energomera holding for 2024 stated that in 2023 the Belgorod sapphire growing plant of the Monocrystall Group of companies was significantly damaged and it would take about two years to fully restore. In the report for 2025, the reduction in the capacity of production facilities that have not yet been restored was estimated at 25% of the installed ones.
However, there is probably another reason for Monocrystal's problems. According to the agency, a criminal case has been opened in the Stavropol court on fraud against the managers of the Monocrystall group of companies. There are four defendants in the case who are in custody.
Vladimir Polyakov, President of the Energomera Concern, owns 86.1% of Energomera and 81.8% of the plant. In its report for 2022, Monocrystal reported revenue growth of 17% to 6.4 billion rubles due to increased sales of smart watches and other devices to China, as well as the development of the LED market. By the end of 2022, Monocrystal occupied a third of the global market, ahead of the largest technological countries in the world — the United States, China, Taiwan and Japan.
The company estimated its revenue losses in 2024 at more than 3 billion rubles due to the suspension of sapphire cultivation. In 2025, according to the explanations to the accounting statements published by the company itself, revenue from the sale of products and services fell by more than 500 million rubles, from 1.8 billion rubles to 1.2 billion rubles. The staff was reduced by 250 people, to 512 employees.
By the end of 2025, the assets of JSC Monocrystal decreased from 15.7 billion to 13.3 billion rubles, the volume of short—term borrowed funds increased to 5.15 billion rubles, accounts payable amounted to 639.4 million rubles, long-term liabilities - more than 9.4 billion rubles.
