Russia's Rostelecom, VEB Ventures form JV to build new Europe-Asia cable

Russia's Rostelecom PJSC entered into an agreement with VEB Ventures to create a joint venture that will develop a new backbone fiber-optic cable network.

Rostelecom and VEB Ventures will each initially invest about 6 billion Russian rubles in the joint venture, according to a Dec. 9 news release.

The new cable line will link Russia's western and eastern borders with major cities as well as Mongolia and China. The line will also be extended from Russia's borders with Europe to the main European traffic exchange centers in Frankfurt and Stockholm.

In addition, the new line will connect the Russian city of Vladivostok to Tokyo, Hong Kong and Busan through underwater communication channels.

Construction of the new line's main segment is expected to start in 2022.

VEB Ventures is the venture capital arm of VEB.RF.

As of Dec. 9, US$1 was equivalent to 73.68 Russian rubles.