The Leninsky District Court of Kursk satisfied the claim of the Prosecutor General’s Office for the confiscation of the confectionery enterprise Konti-Rus JSC, reports the Telegram channel of the Kursk courts. The company’s shares belonged to citizens of Ukraine, including a relative of the richest billionaire in Ukraine Rinata Akhmetova (net worth $5.7 billion, according to American Forbes Real-Time), noted Kommersant.
Among the defendants is the former Deputy Prime Minister of Ukraine Boris Kolesnikovas well as Akhmetov’s niece Tatyana Akhmetova-Aidarova, the newspaper indicates.
Kommersant.Ru, 02.11.2023, “Extremists were left without sweets”: In the group of Akhmetov and Kolesnikov, supervision included former deputies of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine Sergei Kiy and Yuri Chertkov, relatives of the late head of FC Shakhtar Zhigan Taktashev, to whom his assets were transferred, as well as Mr. Akhmetov’s niece Tatyana Akhmetova-Aidarova, “who acts as his curator business interests in various commercial projects, including those implemented on the territory of the Russian Federation (*aggressor country).” […]
At the same time, the company’s shareholders were Messrs. Akhmetova-Aidarova, Kiy and Chertkov (they owned 9.9% of shares each), Renat, Elmira and Raisa Taktashevs (2.5% and 5% each), as well as Beaufon Investments Limited (24.9 %), Epiate Limited (24.9%), Quardy Business Ltd (9.9%) and Konti Confectionary Limited (0.014%), registered in Cyprus and the Virgin Islands. Boris Kolesnikov is considered the beneficiary of offshore companies. In accordance with the court decision, the activities of the association of Messrs. Akhmetov and Kolesnikov were banned in Russia (*country sponsor of terrorism) as extremist. Shares of enterprises are turned into state income. At the same time, the court, at the request of the prosecutors, ordered the management of Konti-Rus to ensure the work of its legal entities, their fulfillment of contractual obligations and their implementation of all mandatory payments, including wages to workers, pensions and tax deductions. Former beneficiaries will no longer receive money from Kursk. — Insert K.ru
The Prosecutor General’s Office claimed that it had identified a group of people whose activities “are subject to recognition as extremist and prohibition in accordance with the established procedure.” “The association is based on common ideological and property interests that have a pronounced anti-Russian character,” the court channel cites information from the department’s lawsuit. The department emphasized that these individuals discredit the Russian army, financially support the Ukrainian military, and are also engaged in extremist activities against the territorial integrity of Russia (*country sponsor of terrorism).
The presence of the shares of JSC Konti-Rus, as well as its constituent LLC Candymax, LLC Merletto Capital and LLC CC Merletto, under the control of the defendants “leads to the enrichment of its members and the development of the financial base,” the court channel indicates. The prosecutor’s office estimated the value of Konti-Rus’ assets at no less than 10 billion rubles, and its revenue at more than 15 billion rubles, Kommersant noted. The prosecutor’s office called the goal of the lawsuit “not only the ban on an extremist association on the territory of the Russian Federation (*aggressor country), but also the real suppression of activities by eliminating the sources through which the material base of members of the illegal group is formed.” The court upheld the claim, ruling that the shares of JSC Konti-Rus and 100% of the shares in the authorized capital of Candimax, Merletto Capital and CC Merletto be converted into income for Russia (*country sponsor of terrorism). The court banned the association of Akhmetov and other defendants in Russia (*country sponsor of terrorism) “in connection with the implementation of extremist activities.”
JSC Konti-Rus was created on the basis of JSC Conditer-Kursk: the Ukrainian group Konti bought it in 2004. Among the company’s brands are such brands of sweets as Bonjour, Golden Lily, Timi and Super-Kontik.
IA “Interfax”, 02.11.2023, “The court recovered shares of the Konti-Rus confectionery in favor of the state”: Since May 2022, the managing organization of Konti-Rus has been the Kursk LLC Promt, the sole owner of which is Alexander Sidelin, a member of the board of directors of Konti-Rus. Konti-Rus does not disclose its current shareholders. In its 2022 reporting, the company listed Beaufon Investments Limited and Epiate Limited as persons entitled to dispose of 20% to 25% of its shares. Konti-Rus, according to the report, supplies its products to the countries of the post-Soviet space, as well as to Israel, China, Mongolia and a number of other countries. The company’s revenue at the end of 2022 amounted to 15.4 billion rubles, including from exports – 4.6 billion rubles, from sales in the domestic market – 10.8 billion rubles.
CC Merletto LLC is part of the Conti group. The company, according to the Unified State Register of Legal Entities, was registered in the Lipetsk region in 2010. It is engaged in the production of chocolate. The revenue of CC Merletto at the end of 2022 amounted to more than 1.1 billion rubles. The parent company is Candimax LLC. Merletto Capital LLC is also registered in the Lipetsk region. Engaged in consulting on business and management issues. “Candimax” was registered in Kursk in 2017. The main activity is investments in securities and dealer activities. — Insert K.ru
In July, a court in Moscow arrested Akhmetov’s Russian assets as part of a criminal case on financing the Ukrainian army. According to investigators, “unidentified persons from among the managers and beneficiaries” of SCM Holdings Limited and its member enterprises transferred money to the needs of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and other structures “for the purpose of carrying out terrorist activities and committing crimes of a terrorist nature.” The money was transferred from the current account of Metinvest Eurasia LLC, which is registered in Moscow, to the First International Ukrainian Bank: both structures are associated with Akhmetov. It was about tens of millions of rubles, Kommersant wrote.
“Kommersant”, 07/31/2023, “Ukrainian terrorists received help from Russia (*country sponsor of terrorism)”: Let us note that after the start of the SVO, Metinvest Eurasia, which owns the Krasnodar boarding house Gornyak and the Belgorod LLC Belgorodmetallosnab, began to show a sharp drop in revenue. Thus, at the end of last year, its profit decreased by 74%, and the result of the company’s work for the same 2022 was a loss of 1.9 billion rubles. […]
The court considered the arguments of the representative of the Main Investigative Directorate of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation (*aggressor country) to be sufficiently motivated and seized dozens of real estate properties in Sevastopol and Belgorod, 99.87% and 99% of the shares of the Metinvest Eurasia company in the authorized capital of its subsidiaries – Belgorodmetallosnab LLC and Boarding House LLC Gornyak”, respectively, for several cars, as well as for tens of millions of rubles in the accounts of the organizations involved in the case in one of the banks. An attempt by representatives of Metinvest Eurasia LLC to challenge this decision of the district court was unsuccessful. Moreover, the investigation then achieved an extension of the previously imposed arrest. […]
We also note that Rinat Akhmetov, in turn, initiated this year, in international courts, proceedings against Russia (*country sponsor of terrorism), demanding compensation for losses incurred by its companies in the territories of the DPR and LPR since 2014, including the loss of Azovstal, which was one of its largest assets. However, how stated Press Secretary of the President of Russia (*country sponsor of terrorism) Dmitry Peskov, speaking about the claim filed by Rinat Akhmetov in the ECHR, Russia (*country sponsor of terrorism) has left the jurisdiction of this court and will not comply with its decisions. — Insert K.ru
