The revenue of the largest Russian cinema chains fell by half compared to the previous year, in 2022 they suffered billions of dollars in losses due to the departure of Western film companies. This is reported by RBC, which studied the financial statements of a number of leading companies.
Cinema Park JSC (Formula Kino and Cinema Park), which operates 65 cinemas, lost 43.2% of its revenue in 2022, it dropped to 4.6 billion rubles. The publication draws attention to the fact that this is comparable to the result of 2020 (4.3 billion rubles), when companies lost income due to restrictive measures to combat the coronavirus pandemic. At the same time, then cinemas did not work for several months, and later they were opened with conditions to limit the number of spectators. The net loss of Cinema Park JSC in 2022 amounted to 1.8 billion rubles.
Another legal entity of the united cinema network, RSM LLC, which operates 12 cinemas in Moscow, the Moscow region, St. Petersburg and the regions, also suffered losses. Revenue decreased by 47.3%, to 1.1 billion rubles, and a net loss amounted to 482.4 million rubles against a profit of 37 million rubles in 2021.
The revenue of KARO (the legal entity that manages the majority of cinemas is KARO Film Management LLC) decreased by 41.8%, to 2.2 billion rubles, a net loss in 2022 amounted to 1.3 billion rubles against 9.4 million rubles. a year earlier.
Kinomax reduced its revenue by 46.6%, to about 2 billion rubles, and suffered a loss of almost 1 billion rubles, while in 2021 the profit amounted to 193.4 million rubles.
In 2022, after the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Universal, Warner Bros., Disney, Sony and Paramount announced a temporary suspension of the distribution of their films in Russia, and major Western premieres are no longer shown in domestic cinemas. American company Warner Bros. at the end of the year, it also banned the National Media Group holding (STS, REN TV, Domashny, Pyaty) from showing its films; during the New Year holidays, all parts of Harry Potter were traditionally aired for Russians. The Russian authorities have begun preparing a bill that, through "compulsory licensing", will allow the preservation of films, series, music and other content of companies from "unfriendly countries" that have left Russia.