Sergei Bondarenko “attacks with clones”
Is the bankrupt “tire king” hiding from creditors behind the backs of his son and denominations?
The Arbitration Court of the Far Eastern District upheld the decisions of the first and appeal instances, refusing to satisfy the cassation appeal of Trade House Redtyre LLC from Tolyatti, which seeks to cancel the decision of the Vladivostok customs on bringing to administrative responsibility. Trade House Redtyre is owned by Alexander Bondarenko, the son of the infamous Togliatti businessman Sergei Bondarenko, who was declared bankrupt in 2020 and, together with his wife Svetlana, brought to subsidiary liability for billions in debts of one of his former enterprises, the bankrupt Togliattinskaya Maslosyrbaza. Not only creditors, but also the businessman himself filed a lawsuit on the financial insolvency of Bondarenko Sr., which became part of the cunning strategy he developed. In addition, starting in 2017, he registered new legal entities for nominal owners, which he then changed their names, turning them into “understudies” of their own commercial structures that are on the verge of or in the process of bankruptcy. “Clones” appeared at the once founded by him “Volga Tire Company” (PShK), Maslosyrbaza “Togliattinskaya” and other enterprises. TD “Redtyre” was previously called first “Volga Tire Company”, and then TD “Bontyre”. In turn, the trading house “Bontyre” also had an understudy enterprise, registered in the name of Larisa Kolesova, the owner of the next “clone” of “PShK”. One of the denominations of Sergei Bondarenko was Maria Rebenko, who previously, together with Bondarenko-son, was one of the founders of Trust LLC, which trades in automotive parts. On Rebenko, “understudies” of “Trust”, as well as Maslosyrbaza “Togliattinskaya” are registered. With rare exceptions, “clones” do not bring a solid profit, but they have a multi-million dollar value of assets previously “pumped out” from debtor enterprises. The “duplication” scheme used by Sergei Bondarenko makes it much more difficult to pay debts to creditors, which include VTB, Absolut and Zenit banks.
Tires dealt with in Khabarovsk
Last week, the Arbitration Court of the Far Eastern District ruled on the cassation complaint of Trading House Redtyre LLC (formerly Trading House Bontyre LLC) from Togliatti against earlier court decisions on the company’s claim against Vladivostok customs. As follows from the case file, the company is seeking the abolition of the decision of the customs department of September 6, 2022 on bringing to administrative responsibility. This document became the basis for additional charges to the enterprise of customs payments in the amount of 456.1 thousand rubles and an administrative fine in the amount of 228 thousand rubles.
The reason for the confrontation was the demand of customs officials to make adjustments to the declarations for imported goods, declared as pneumatic rubber tires “for special vehicles and machines used in construction, mining and industry” in a total of 444 pieces. As it turned out after the customs examination, in fact, it was about “tires and tires” used by “buses or motor vehicles for cargo transportation.”
The change in the classification code of the Commodity Nomenclature for Foreign Economic Activity of the Eurasian Economic Union automatically entailed an increase in the import customs duty from 5% to 10%, while maintaining 20% VAT. It is noteworthy that the declarant voluntarily reimbursed the underpaid customs payments in full. But Trade House Redtyre did not agree with the administrative fine, trying to appeal the relevant protocol and resolution in court. The attempt, however, was unsuccessful: last February, the Primorsky Territory Arbitration Court denied the company’s claims, in April the decision was upheld in the appeal instance, and now in cassation.
I twist and turn, I want to rename!
The litigation described above and seemingly insignificant at first glance due to tires for vehicles, is actually a fragment of a much larger story, in the center of which is the famous businessman Sergei Bondarenko, the founder and sole owner of the Volga Tire Company, which is in the process of bankruptcy ( PShK).
Let’s return to the Togliatti trading house “Redtyre”, registered in February 2020 and specializing in the wholesale trade in automotive parts. Its founder and director is Alexander Bondarenko, the son of the aforementioned “tire king”. At the end of last year, the company declared a colossal revenue of 557.5 million rubles, a profit of 8.4 million and an asset value of 41 million.
Before us is just one of the commercial structures included in the branched and intricate “empire” of the Bondarenko family. The same trading house “Redtyre” changed its name several times during the three years of its existence. Initially, it was registered as Povolzhskaya Tire Company LLC (the twin of the other, which is in the process of bankruptcy and, as we will see, several more), in August it was renamed to TD Bontyre LLC and, finally, in December 2022- got its current name.
At the same time, in September 2017, another LLC Trade House Bontair was registered in Tolyatti, with a similar type of activity – “wholesale trade in automotive parts, assemblies and accessories.” Its owner and director since its inception is Larisa Kolesova, who will be discussed below. The situation with the financial performance of TD is much worse than that of its former “namesake”: last year’s revenue is zero, losses in the amount of 648 thousand rubles, but assets are estimated at 6.5 million.
But it was not always so. For example, in 2020, the company’s revenue amounted to 267.4 million rubles, profit – 1.2 million, asset value – 7.1 million. Here it is worth paying attention to one important circumstance. According to information from open sources, the trading house “Bontyre” also experienced more than one sign change. It turns out that it was registered as KVANT LLC, in May 2019 it became Povolzhskaya Tire Company LLC (PShK) and only in August 2019 was renamed Bontyre.
An indirect indication of in whose interests the trading house was created and operates can be the fact that the above-mentioned Larisa Kolesova is the owner, and until the end of August 2022 was also the head, Volga Tire Company LLC (PShK), which is currently in the process of bankruptcy. That’s just it’s not about the “PShK” Sergei Bondarenko, but about its full “namesake”, engaged in the “activities of advertising agencies.” The mention of the words “tire company” in the title should not be embarrassing.
Where there are losses and bankruptcies, there is a change of sign
The owner of the trading house “Redtyre” Alexander Bondarenko is not legally connected in any way with his father’s business. However, there is one small catch. Until December 2019, he was one of the founders of Trust LLC, which trades in automotive parts, registered in Tolyatti in September 2017. Today this firm belongs to its director Maria Rebenko. The financial achievements of the company can hardly be called outstanding: last year its revenue amounted to 1.8 million, profit – 153 thousand rubles. Assets are estimated at 19.3 million rubles.
It is noteworthy that in February 2020, Ms. Rebenko became the sole owner and director of another newly created legal entity with the same name – Trust LLC, specializing in the rental and leasing of cars. So, we have another “clone”. In addition, in September 2017, Maslosyrbaza Togliattinskaya LLC was registered to Maria Rebenko with the main activity being wholesale of dairy products. The revenue of this enterprise is impressive: last year it exceeded 149 million, but the profit clearly “let us down”, amounting to only 667 thousand rubles with an asset value of 6.1 million.
And again, we are faced with the already familiar procedure for changing the sign: it turns out that until June 2019 the company was called Krisma LLC. In addition, at the Togliattinskaya Maslosyrbaza, we find a legal entity-double – the maslosyrbaza of the same name, owned by Sergei Bondarenko and currently in the process of bankruptcy. In recent years, Bondarenko’s enterprise has not generated revenue, but it declares multimillion-dollar losses, and in 2020 it generally went “minus” by 1.7 billion. Assets also have a negative value – “minus” 1.8 billion rubles.
What kind of strange processes are taking place in Bondarenko’s “empire”? And why, since 2017, firms with duplicate names began to appear en masse, from which he de jure distances himself? The answer to these questions, in fact, lies on the surface: the business of the once influential merchant, as they say, is “bursting at the seams”, companies are going bankrupt, and bankruptcy trustees are trying to collect property re-registered as “twins”. The latter circumstance clarifies the origin of the multimillion-dollar assets of Trust, Trading House Bontyre, Trading House Redtyre, and others. m.
Bondarenko-son is not responsible for his father?
And now the main thing. In December 2020, the Samara Regional Arbitration Court declared Sergey Bondarenko bankrupt. It follows from the court materials that the businessman himself, as well as the bankruptcy trustee of Povolzhsky Tire Holding LLC, previously controlled by him and in the process of bankruptcy, filed a relevant application with the court, indicating in the application that there was a debt of 3.7 million rubles and petitioning for its restructuring.
When deciding on the bankruptcy of Bondarenko, the court pointed out that he did not have “a permanent source of income, due to the bankruptcy of the organizations in which he worked (was a director).” These were already familiar to us “Povolzhskaya Tire Company” and Maslosyrbaza “Tolyattinskaya”, as well as LLC “Povolzhskaya Tire Company-Export” and LLC “Fayance”. The arbitration estimated the total debt of Bondarenko Sr. to creditors at more than 1.3 billion rubles.
The situation was aggravated by the conflict between the businessman and credit institutions. The media wrote about his frankly adventurous attempts to bankrupt banks VTB, Zenith and Absolut. Of course, nothing came of these ventures, but VTB demanded through the court the collection of debt in the amount of 965.9 million rubles, Zenit – 104.1 million, Absolut Bank – 220.8 million rubles.
It is known that Andrey Zlobin, the bankruptcy trustee of the Togliattinskaya Maslosyrbaza, which is in the process of bankruptcy, applied to the Arbitration Court of the Samara Region with a statement on bringing Sergey Bondarenko and his wife Svetlana to subsidiary liability for the obligations of the enterprise, collecting from them jointly and severally in the bankruptcy estate of the debtor 1.9 billion rubles. In the course of the proceedings, there was a procedural replacement of the claimant – LLC Maslosyrbaza Togliattinskaya – with PJSC Bank Zenit (claims in the amount of 104.1 million rubles) and LLC RNGO (claims for 988.3 million).
The application of the bankruptcy trustee of the butter and syrbaza was satisfied by the arbitration, the Bondarenko spouses were brought to subsidiary liability. It was then that the businessman needed numerous “understudy” firms issued at face value and legally independent of him. Of the large number of enterprises owned by him, today only the next Volga Tire Company “keeps afloat”, but its latest financial indicators available in open sources date back to 2018. In another PSHK, Bondarenko holds the position of director (this structure was registered in November 2017 for Vladimir Makarenko, who, together with Bondarenko Jr., was one of the co-owners of the aforementioned Trust company, today owned by Maria Rebenko).
It turns out that there is practically nothing to collect. Unless TD “Redtyre”, but it officially belongs to Bondarenko-son, to whom the claims of creditors do not yet apply. In this context, Bondarenko’s father’s statement about self-bankruptcy looks like a well-thought-out and well-calculated step. In the meantime, the courts are dealing with the complex commercial “web” he has woven, reports appear on the network about the departure of the wife of a bankrupt merchant to a new residence in a sunny hzikhidtidekrt Spain.