cross-posted from: beehaw.org/post/18095416
In 2018, Russian businessman Mikhail Shelkov acquired the American mobile app App in the Air, which had access to flight data for users across the U.S. and Europe. As a new investigation by iStories shows, Shelkov is a close associate of Sergey Chemezov, the head of the Russian state-owned defense conglomerate Rostec. Six years after the purchase, Shelkov sold the app for just $2,000, despite having paid millions for it. Since then, Shelkov has partnered with the app’s creator, Bayram Annakov, and the son of a senior FSB official to launch a similar service in Russia.
App in the Air was created by business consultant and mobile developer Bayram Annakov in 2012. Previously, he had launched a geolocation-based chat app called Squeek with his students at Moscow State University and Moscow’s Higher School of Economics. “What might four geek developers come up with? A tool to avoid talking directly to a girl but still get to know her,” he once joked about the project in a podcast interview. Squeek’s popularity at universities and airports inspired him to target a more affluent audience, an idea that eventually became App in the Air.
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In fall 2024, App in the Air abruptly announced its shutdown without explanation.
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Despite acquiring App in the Air for millions in 2018, Shelkov’s Cyprus-based company Norbase sold the app for just $2,000 in 2022, following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The buyer, a Spanish citizen managing numerous local firms, was not named publicly. Two years later, App in the Air notified its users that its “final flight” was “landing” — the app was shutting down.
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Meanwhile […] Annakov and Shelkov are working together on a similar project called Onboard Systems. According to the platform’s website, it is used by Russian airlines such as Smartavia, Azimuth, Ural Airlines, Nordstar, and Utair.
In 2021, Boris Korolev, the 25-year-old son of FSB First Deputy Director Sergey Korolev, became a partner in Onboard Systems alongside Annakov and Shelkov, according to iStories. In 2019, Boris Korolev was mentioned in an investigation by former Meduza journalist Ivan Golunov that explored connections between FSB personnel and Moscow’s funeral services market. Korolev is also the founder of the startup Bastion, which received funding from Citadel, a holding company that works with Russian intelligence agencies.
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