BCS (Safe Communications System)

SBK is a company created by the sole legal owner of the Russian communication server CommuniGate ProAnna Butenko for the further development of the business and product.

Performance indicators

2025: Revenue growth 3.5 times, up to 1.1 billion rubles

The revenue of SBK, the developer of the communication platform for business CommuniGate Pro, in 2025 increased 3.5 times, to 1.115 billion rubles. Such preliminary financial results were announced at a meeting with the press on February 12, 2026 by the chairman of the board of directors of SBK Alexander Kalinin. He also clarified that SBK is profitable.

The dynamic growth of the business against the background of a not very favorable situation for the IT market as a whole in the company is explained by the complex transformation of the business. SBK "was formed as a real vendor of the Russian software solution," says Alexander Kalinin. For 2.5 years, after all disputes over product rights were closed, which required "great diplomatic skill," the SBK created and scaled the development and support of CommuniGate Pro.

"We have breathed new life into the development. This is not the product that was 27 years ago, it is constantly improving, "- said the chairman of the board of directors of the SBK.

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Фото: From the corporate presentation of the BSC

The team, which includes more than 50 developers, is engaged in the evolutionary development of the platform's source code. Boris Moiseev, director of the development department, clarified that the company with great caution affects the core of the product itself. And among the key changes made, he names a significant improvement in the user interface.

An important role in business growth in 2025 was played by the fact that the departments of sales, marketing, technical support were built, which are headed by immigrants from the largest organizations. A partner network has also been formed, including companies from among the largest distributors, such as Merlion, OCS Distribution, Mont, Axoft, as well as partners providing services in the field of digital transformation and system integration, such as K2Tex, Rostelecom, Softline, Lanit and others. Actually, the former vice-president of Lanit Viktor Serebryakov was engaged in the development of product and sales, said Alexander Kalinin.

The main driver of growth in 2025 was the large business segment. According to the SBK, more than 400 contracts have been concluded and 250 thousand new users have been attracted. Among them are the largest Russian banks from the top 10, industrial holdings and state customers. One of the famous customers is the Prosecutor General's Office. In December, TAdviser wrote in detail about this project at the time of the conclusion of the state contract.

Our growth is the result of two factors: on the one hand, we really started from a relatively low base. On the other hand, our indicators, such as revenue growth and its historical maximum, speak for themselves. This confirms that we have chosen the optimal business model, - said Dmitry Starovoitov, General Director of SBK.

According to Alexander Kalinin, the situation with a high key rate on SBK, unlike many other companies, did not affect in 2025: "The key rate interferes with those who live in debt, and our company has a cache." And, having money, SBK does not mind buying some third-party developments on the market in the future in order to strengthen its product offer. However, specific points of interest have not yet been voiced here.

Together, at the beginning of 2026, the SBK employs more than 100 employees, some of whom are remotely in different cities of Russia, and plans for the year include an increase in staff by about half.

The company calls its main next goal the transformation of CommuniGate Pro from a mail server to a "leading UC platform in the country." The plans also include deepening integrations with domestic IT ecosystems, the development of a partner network.

In addition, plans to enter international markets, primarily friendly countries, are crystallized. Previously, the product was already actively sold abroad - moreover, the bulk of sales were generated there. But with the beginning of the SVO, the situation changed, and Russia became the main market for CommuniGate Pro.

History

2026: TAdviser interview with CEO Dmitry Starovoitov

Two and a half years ago, the CommuniGate Pro story could have ended. The new SBK team inherited the legendary product in the form of source code, in fact, "on a flash drive." Today, at the end of 2025, the company announces a historical record, revenue exceeding 1.1 billion rubles. This is a story of growth and a complete re-assembly of the business "from scratch." The CEO of CommuniGate Pro, Dmitry Starovoitov, spoke about how this became possible, the trust of the most demanding clients and the future of the platform for corporate communications in March 2026 . Read more here.

2025

SBK investor Alexander Kalinin told how he plans to consolidate around CommuniGate Pro

One of the projects in which NCC co-founder Alexander Kalinin invested is CommuniGate Pro. The development of this product with a long history is carried out by SBK. It is planned to make a consolidation center around CommuniGate Pro, focusing on classic Microsoft. Alexander Kalinin revealed the details related to these plans in an interview with TAdviser editor-in-chief Alexander Levashov in July 2025.

The IT entrepreneur noted that CommuniGate Pro is a strong, technologically mature product created by Russian programmers. It has been written for almost 20 years, easily replaces Microsoft Exchange and, importantly, "it is completely domestic, not open source."

When the conflict began in CommuniGate, Alexandra Kalinina, according to him, was first invited by one of the parties - the opposition:

I got into the situation, realized that they were not quite right, and took part in a peaceful settlement. It was important for me to act as a peacemaker and extinguish the conflict between the heirs of the founder of the company, Vladimir Butenko, and a group of developers and sellers. Now I am close to resolving this conflict. Against this background, an updated CommuniGate Pro platform was created, the product is developing.

The idea of ​ ​ consolidation is to grow the ecosystem of the classic Microsoft model, when the company earned mainly on the OS, office software and mail. From this you need to start, believes Alexander Kalinin. And only then go to the clouds, AI. Therefore, in fact, we are talking not only about the development of Communigate Pro itself, but also about the consolidation of other software products around it. At the same time, consolidation can follow the type of NCC: "There is experience."

We already have companies that are doing well in the market, making money. They can be combined using the NCC method: through synergy, without giant investments. Just stop duplicating efforts, - explains Alexander Kalinin. - In software companies, the main costs are programmers. They stopped writing the same thing ten times - they freed up resources for development. But for this you need to have the power to agree. Admit that you are not the only one and not the main one.

He is sure that it is real to agree, and calls it one of his tasks in CommuniGate Pro. Just like in the mobile initiative, "where it is planned to create an ecosystem based on the new mobile OS.

Yes, the projects are different - but both there and there consolidation is required. These are two ambitious tasks that I would like to do. I turned 70 this year. I have been in the profession for almost 50 years. I would like to do something else - good, useful. For IT, for the country, for people, - summed up Alexander Kalinin.

Watch the podcast on VK Video and RuTube.

A text interview is available via the link.

Participation in TAdviser Summit

On May 29, 2025, CommuniGate ProAnton Shport, Director of Commercial Department, spoke at TAdviser SummIT. He spoke about the situation in the Russian unified communications market after the departure of foreign vendors, about the advantages of working on Russian UC platforms and shared the case of the successful transition of the domestic company from foreign manufacturers' platforms to the Russian secure corporate communications platform CommuniGate Pro.

In his speech, Anton Shport elaborated on the competitiveness and advantages of switching to domestic solutions for corporate communications, in particular, the unified platform for business communications CommuniGate Pro, which includes all the tools necessary for communication of employees within the company and for the exchange of data with external contractors. The solution includes mail, contacts, calendars, document storage, contact center, internal telephony, chats and video conferencing services.

The product exists and has been successfully operating on the market for many years, this is a world-famous solution. Product creator Vladimir Butenko began to develop the platform when the concept of "import substitution" did not yet exist, but there was a trend towards creating solutions for corporate communications from one vendor. The platform works for more than 155 million users worldwide. Over the past year and a half, the product has been developing by the forces of our team, we are constantly working on improving it and making it better. Our goal is to increase the presence of the platform in Russia, - said Anton Shport.

In the continuation of the speech, the speaker spoke about the successful migration cases of Russian companies to the CommuniGate Pro platform not only from the solutions of Western vendors, but also from the products of other Russian companies.

2024

Revenue growth to 309 million rubles

The annual revenue of SBK JSC, the developer of the communication platform for business CommuniGate Pro, reached 309 million rubles in 2024. The company announced this on February 20, 2025.

As specified TAdviser in the press service of the SBK, the company's annual revenue has grown several times. In 2024, the SBK entered into more than 270 partnership agreements. By February 2025, the company has 7 technology partners, 6 distributors, 5 cloud partners, 2 training centers for training and certification of partners. The number of personnel of the SBK is about 70 people.

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Фото: Freepik

In July 2024, the board of directors of the SBK was created, headed by Alexander Kalinin, ex-president and co-founder of the National Computer Corporation (NCC). The tasks of the board of directors are to develop a common business strategy for the company and determine the long-term prospects for its development, the press service of the SBK specified.

They also said that in 2024, the release of planned releases was carried out every quarter, and, if necessary, intermediate updates to CommuniGate Pro. The web application has been completely updated and a new version of the desktop client software has been released. During the year, 41 innovations were implemented in eight versions and 116 errors were fixed.

As part of the development of CommuniGate Pro, it is planned to launch new mobile applications and introduce the function of safe removal of data from user devices. It is also planned to regularly update the MAPI Connector to work with desktop clients Microsoft Outlook with the CommuniGate Pro server.

In addition, the company plans to add support for the TLS 1.3 protocol to implement additional protective mechanisms. The features of automatically setting up an account in the desktop client at the address and password will be implemented, as well as the ability to recall and send letters. A filter based on the analysis of the message content will also be added to the system.

CommuniGate Pro: results of the first year of operation of the legal copyright holder

SBK JSC began in 2023 and in fact as a startup with a non-trivial task: not the launch of a new project, but the reanimation of a long-existing, very successful software product, which, long before the fashionable import substitution, provided Russian companies with a domestic postal service.

Understanding the source code of CommuniGate Pro was a condition of existence, the main task. In parallel, a support service was created, which, in addition to its main function, provides feedback to users and helps to form a product development plan, sales division, marketing. Read more here.

Participation in TAdviser SummIT

At the IT in the public sector section of TAdviser SummIT on November 28, 2024, Dmitry Starovoitov, General Director of Secure Communications System JSC, spoke about the prospects for using the Communigate Pro universal communications platform to ensure the activities of state organizations. Read more here.

Ex-President of NCC Alexander Kalinin invested in SBK

On July 19, 2024, it became known that the former president of the National Computer Corporation (NCC) Alexander Kalinin invested in the IT company "Secure Communications System" (SBK). It owns the rights to the CommuniGate Pro corporate mail platform - this is the Russian analogue of Microsoft Exchange.

According to the Kommersant newspaper, under the terms of the deal, Kalinin will become a member of the SBK shareholders and will head the board of directors of this company. The general director of the SBK, as of July 2024, is Dmitry Starovoitov, who worked at the Voskhod Research Institute from 2004 to 2020, and previously held positions in the Ministry of Digital Development and Rostelecom structures.

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Фото: A. Kalinin's personal archive

The SBK company was established by Anna Butenko, daughter of the creator of the Russian communication server CommuniGate Pro (includes a mail service, an IP telephony service, a contact center, an internal chat, etc.), as stated on the project website. The Board of Directors of the SBK was formed on July 16, 2024: in addition to Kalinin, Starovoitov entered it. The Management Board will deal with the company and product development strategy, communication with customers, coordination of budget and personnel decisions, as well as cooperation with other market participants. Kalinin does not disclose the volume of investments in the project, but notes that the funds "will go to expand the development team and develop and update the key IT product."

Daria Nosova, partner at O2 Consulting Law Firm, considers investments in CommuniGate Pro justified against the background of active import substitution of foreign software, especially "when it comes to complex products with high commercialization potential." Market participants believe that financial support from Kalinin will help the CommuniGate Pro server to increase its market share.^[1]

Stalkersoft complaint in CommuniGate Pro rights case not upheld

The Second Cassation Court of General Jurisdiction announced the decision on the cassation appeals of StalkerSoft JSC and a group of society programmers on the decisions of the courts of the two previous instances, which were previously recognized by Anna Butenko, daughter of the creator of the Russian communication server CommuniGate Pro Vladimir Butenko, the legal heiress of the CommuniGate Pro program.

As the representative of Anna Butenko and the exclusive rights company created by her to the communication server CommuniGate Pro of SBK JSC Anna Bolshakova told TAdviser on February 9, 2024, the court decided to leave without satisfying the complaint of StalkerSoft JSC and programmers.

During the life of Vladimir Butenko, StalkerSoft distributed the product he created, and its employees provided technical support to Communigate Pro users, according to the terms of the agreements signed with Butenko.

In court, StalkerSoft and its employees tried to prove that they allegedly recognized the creator of CommuniGate Pro as co-authors and co-owners of the product. StalkerSoft and its programmers simultaneously declared demands for recognition of rights to the same versions of CommuniGate Pro against each other, as well as against Anna Butenko.

2023

Postponement of the date of consideration of the cassation appeal "Staltersoft" in the case of rights to CommuniGate Pro

On December 14, 2023, the Second Court of Cassation of General Jurisdiction postponed the consideration of the cassation appeal of Stalkersoft against the decisions of the courts of the two previous instances, which had previously recognized Anna Butenko, daughter of the creator of the Russian communication server CommuniGate ProVladimir Butenko, the legal heiress of her father. The next hearing will take place on January 18, 2024. This was announced on December 14, 2023 by a representative of SBK JSC.

"15 volumes of the case indicate that until the death of Vladimir Butenko there was no doubt that he is the sole author and creator of all programs. This is evidenced by the registration in Rospatent, and the contracts concluded by the cashiers themselves with Vladimir Butenko on the provision of services, licensing agreements, according to which JSC Staltersoft took the right to sell this program from Vladimir until the death of Vladimir Butenko. And the Cassators, including Dmitry Akindinov (one of the authors of the cassation - ed.) Personally participated in the preparation of materials for the Ministry of Digital Development. And these materials say that Butenko is the sole creator and owner of CommuniGate Pro. All disputes began solely because of the reluctance of the cashiers to do business with the heiress of Vladimir Butenko, "commented Anna Bolshakova, lawyer of SBK JSC (Secure Communications System).

Dmitry Starovoitov, General Director of SBK JSC, told how Communigate Pro is developing. As of mid-December 2023, the company's development team is preparing to launch the next release of Communigate Pro, which should be released by the end of 2023.

"Communigate Pro is sold through a number of partners. These are the largest integrators, ecosystems. OCS Distribution also offered CommuniGate Pro to its partners. We have technology partners. For example, data backup from Communigate Pro will be carried out through the "Cyberprotect" solution, "Starovoitov shared.

TAdviser interview with CEO Dmitry Starovoitov

In the summer of 2023, a dispute over the rights to the CommuniGate Pro computer program was completed between the daughter of the product developer Vladimir Butenko, who died in 2018, and the team of the Staltersoft company, which has been promoting and selling this product in Russia in recent years. The dispute was completed in favor of Anna Butenko, who became the sole legal owner of this product. For its development, Anna organized the SBK company and transferred the rights to CommuniGate Pro to it. Headed by SBK Dmitry Starovoitov. In an interview with TAdviser in October 2023, he spoke about the current situation in the company's business and further plans for the development of the product. Read more here.

Obtaining exclusive rights to the computer program CommuniGate Pro

On October 23, 2023, SBK JSC (Secure Communications System) announced that the Federal Intellectual Property Service (Rospatent) had completed re-registration of exclusive rights to the product and version here.

Creation of the company and appointment of the CEO

In October 2023, Anna Butenko, who, by the decision of the appellate instance of the Moscow City Court on July 10, 2023, was recognized as the sole legal owner of the Russian communication server CommuniGate Pro, told TAdviser about the completion of negotiations with StalkerSoft regarding who will continue to develop the CommuniGate Pro product.

After my father's death , I planned to continue his work, keep the company and develop the product in the way that was done during his lifetime. I respected people who worked side by side with him and developed CommuniGate Pro. But in response, she met a sharp confrontation from the management of StalkerSoft, which denied my right as an heiress to participate in business. I had to prove this right in court, and for the further development of the business and product, I initiated the creation of a new SBK company. The court confirmed that I am the legal copyright holder of CommuniGate Pro, and now I am conducting large-scale work to restore my father's business together with the management of SBK. I appreciate the contribution of every employee who worked with him, and I would be glad to see these professionals in the new SBK company, which will legally develop the product, said Anna Butenko.

Dmitry Starovoitov became the general director of the SBK, from 2004 to 2020 he worked at the Voskhod Research Institute - first as the head of the software development department, then as deputy director for technical development of the Voskhod Research Institute and first deputy director for innovative development. After Voskhod, Starovoitov worked at the Ministry of Digital Ministry of Digital Development of the Russian Federation and Rostelecom.

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