Co-founder of “Honest Sign” labeling system changes name

The “Honest Sign” system, which aims to combat illegal goods on the Russian market, was implemented on the basis of public-private collaboration. It was a joint project of Alisher Usmanov’s USM holding, the state corporation Rostec and the Elvis-Plus group, which at that time belonged to venture capitalist and IT entrepreneur Alexander Galitsky.

Until November 2024, Elvis-Plus Group owned a stake in the operator of Chestny Znak, Operator-CRPT LLC, through the Center for the Development of Advanced Technologies LLC (CRPT), according to the Unified State Register of Legal Entities. At this time, the ultimate beneficiaries of the labeling system are not revealed. In November, RBC reported that Alisher Usmanov’s USM holding also withdrew from the capital of the labeling system operator Honest Sign.

“At the moment, none of the shareholders of Operator-CRPT LLC has control or a 25% stake,” a CRPT representative told RBC in November 2024.

The Elvis-Plus Group company also changed owners. As of January 17, it belonged to Aaa Capital Management JSC (manages mutual funds) and Zvezda Finance LLC (issuing activities). The final beneficiaries of these structures are unknown. RBC indicated that Aaa Capital Management is part of the Gazprombank group. Until 2021, according to Contour Focus, its CEO Alexander Kirpichev was mentioned among the participants of Zvezda Finance LLC (he heads Edelweiss JSC with revenues of 89.3 billion rubles by 2023). Zvezda Finance is currently owned by different LLCs that own each other. But the participation of this company in the Elvis-Plus group is committed to Gazprombank.

Both structures received shares from venture capitalist Alexander Galitsky, who until mid-2021 owned 100% of Elvis-Plus Group LLC. In April 2022, it transferred 49% to Zvezda Finance. In December 2022, Galitsky officially retired from the equity of Elvis-Plus Group and transferred the remaining stake to Aaa Capital Management.

Galitsky is also the founder of the IT company Elvis Plus JSC. In December 2024, he closed the deal to sell it to the Rostelecom – Solar structure. In the Kontur.Focus system, which analyzes data from the Unified State Register of Legal Entities, Galitsky is no longer mentioned as the owner of assets in Russia.