Mr Szeles announced at the end of December that Ikarus would have to declare bankruptcy, which it will do unless it finds some outside investors.

ECONOMIST: Falling to earth

Of the 41 products, only seven scanners, from Avast, F-Secure, Lookout, Kaspersky, Ikarus, Dr. Web and Zoner, detected more than 90 percent of Android malware.

MSN: Most Android anti-virus products don't work, tests find

Remarkably, he persuaded the government to give more than 80% of the country's entire export financing for 1997 to Ikarus, which promptly announced massively increased Russian sales and its first profit since the fall of communism.

ECONOMIST: Falling to earth

Ikarus will not be an easy sell.

ECONOMIST: Falling to earth

Not only would he revive Russian sales, but he would also protect Ikarus's 3, 000-odd workers by luring western companies into its acres of unused factories a tactic he had used to rescue Videoton, an old dinosaur in the electronics business.

ECONOMIST: Falling to earth