Eutelsat confirms Russian satellite status
October 6, 2022
By Chris Forrester
Eutelsat has released its Consolidated Financial Statement saying that, as at June 30th (the end of its financial year), some 6.7 per cent of its revenues were “exposed” to Russian customers.
“The Group had no significant exposure to Ukraine in terms of revenues. The Group also leases capacity on four satellites owned by the Russian operator RSCC, mainly serving the Russian customers mentioned above and representing a discounted liability of €319 million as of 30 June 2022,” states the Eutelsat document.
“While the Group has two subsidiaries in Russia, almost all transactions with Russian customers and suppliers are carried out by subsidiaries outside the Russian territory. The Group has no material payment arrears with its Russian customers as of 30 June 2022,” added Eutelsat.
As of 30 June 2022, Eutelsat was owned $37 million dollars from rocket launch business International Launch Services (ILS) a supplier to Eutelsat for its Proton rocket launches from Baikonur in Kazakhstan. The debt is owed to Eutelsat by ILS following the termination of a launcher contract. “The ability to recover this [debt] will be reassessed at regular intervals as required by developments in the situation,” says Eutelsat.
One significant addition to Eutelsat’s potential shareholding structure is Hanwha Systems, the UK division of South Korea’s Hanwha Group. It spent $300 million to increase its shareholding in OneWeb to 22.91 per cent. Eutelsat is in the process of buying OneWeb.
Eutelsat also revealed its status in broadband-by-satellite operator BigBlu Operations, and its European satellite broadband activities; it has paid £40 million (€44m) to buy the operator outright.