SIBUR will invest up to 1 billion rubles. in the development of plastic construction sets together with the Rubrik brand. The partners promise to localize production, reduce the share of imports and occupy 40% of the Russian market. But the latter goal may not be achieved, experts warn.
SIBUR and the Rubrik construction set brand are planning to jointly develop the production of a line of plastic construction sets in Russia, Kommersant has learned. The partnership provides for project financing in the amount of up to 1 billion rubles. from SIBUR. The corresponding memorandum will be signed by the parties on June 5 within the framework of the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum, Rubrika reported.
OOO RUBRIC-OD is a Russian company founded in 2023 that creates construction sets, games, animated series and educational products. According to SPARK, the main share belongs to the company’s general director Ainar Abdrakhmanov (74.2%). Rubrika’s revenue in 2025 increased 3.2 times, to 570.2 million rubles. The company has currently produced about 5 million units of toys.
SIBUR is the main Russian manufacturer of basic polymers, rubbers, plastics and organic synthesis products. The holding’s revenue according to IFRS at the end of 2025 decreased by 10.4%, to 1.049 trillion rubles, net profit increased by 4.5%, to 205.14 billion rubles. According to the latest disclosure of information from 2022, SIBUR shareholders included Leonid Mikhelson (31%), Gennady Timchenko (14.45%), Chinese Sinopec and the Silk Road Fund (8.5% each), SOGAZ (10.625%), TAIF shareholders (15%), current and former top management of SIBUR (12.325%). The company does not disclose the current shareholder structure.
Among the key goals of the partnership is the complete localization of the production of Rubrik construction sets (some of the brand’s factories are located in China) and the brand’s taking up to 40% of the construction set market share in Russia by 2030, the company’s general director Ainar Abdrakhmanov explained to Kommersant. The production itself, according to the memorandum, will be launched within a year: SIBUR will become the priority supplier of ABC plastic, the annual processing volume of which will be up to 6.5 thousand tons by 2030.
The implementation of the agreement will significantly reduce the volume of imports of children’s construction sets, which constitutes about 95% of the entire market, says Ainar Abdrakhmanov.
Now, according to his estimates, sales of designer toys in retail trade alone are estimated at 60 billion rubles. Detsky Mir told Kommersant that the demand for certain types of construction sets is growing by more than 15% year on year.
Plans to take a large share of the market are quite ambitious; Rubrik today is more of a fast-growing player than a market leader, says Antonina Tsitsulina, president of the Children’s Products Industry Association. At the same time, according to her estimates, construction sets occupy one of the largest shares in the toy category: about 15% of sales, and plastic sets dominate within the segment. Thus, by the end of 2025, sales of children’s construction sets could reach 40–45 billion rubles.
According to Ms. Tsitsulina, the growth in demand for children’s construction toys will most likely continue, but the main factor will not just be import substitution, but the ability of Russian manufacturers to ensure quality, safety and assortment, she concludes.
The children’s goods industry is currently going through a difficult period. At the end of 2025, according to the OFD Platform, sales of such goods decreased by an overall 8% year-on-year. Sales of specifically creative goods decreased by 13%, toys – by 5%. This is due, among other things, to the falling birth rate and the large share of resale in this industry.
