A house in London rolled up on the Ust-Luga “Horizon”
Bentley under bail, the most expensive house in London under the threat of arrest, and money to suppliers under the status of debt. This is how the fate of one large Krasnoyarsk company, which has its own interests in Ust-Luga, unfolds.
After the article about the eloquent gazelle calling on Baltkond to pay its debts, our editorial office began to receive new details about the unfolding events near the port of Ust-Luga in the Kingisepp district of the Leningrad region. One of the most important events of recent weeks was the appointment to the position of general director and the transfer of the entire authorized capital of a large Krasnoyarsk company LLC SK Gorizont in favor of a restaurateur and jewelry distributor from Yekaterinburg. And multibillion-dollar turnovers lead to multimillion-dollar losses.
It should be reminded that at the end of May our editorial office received a photograph showing a peculiar act of vandalism near the Ust-Luga plant. On a piece of tarpaulin attached to a gazelle, an unknown author, using a red spray can, called on Baltkond to pay the debts under the contracts. We then noted that the Arbitration Court for St. Petersburg and the Leningrad Region was preparing to consider a claim from Polygon Ecostroy LLC, which is required to recover from the company mentioned on the truck 12.7 million rubles under the contract and 3.5 million rubles fine. Nevertheless, in the conversation that took place with the general director of Baltcond, Artem Daineko, we were told that our assumption about the connection between the two events was far-fetched.
However, other people familiar with the situation hinted to us to look at the level above. At the same time, at the end of May, we clarified that Baltcond was operating on the territory of the Baltic Chemical Complex through a subcontract with OOO SK Gorizont. In turn, this organization also has a general contract with Rushimalliance LLC. That is, the construction company works at two key facilities in the Leningrad region.
If you take a closer look at the construction company, then perhaps a couple of years ago it would have caused only admiration. Indeed, over the past few years, Horizon’s revenue has noticeably jumped. So, if in 2019 the turnover was estimated, according to Kontur.Focus, at the level of 966.4 million rubles, then in 2020 they already amounted to 5.5 billion rubles, and in 2021 they exceeded 16.3 billion rubles. In parallel with this indicator, the company’s balance sheet also grew, jumping from 1.9 billion rubles in 2019 to 18.7 billion rubles in 2021. But it was not possible to give out profit from such results. Three years ago, the organization earned 44.1 million rubles in a year, a year later the profit was estimated at 566.5 million rubles, and in 2021 there was a sharp jump in “negative growth”: a net loss amounted to 937.8 million rubles.
Against the background of such a delta, reaching 1.5 billion rubles, the company decided to change the management and the beneficiary. But first, let’s look at the previous key figures. From the day the company was founded in June 2015, the founder was Anton Volynkin, also known as the owner of the Krasnoyarsk mining company Avrora, which recently went through red tape with a bankruptcy petition (the proceedings were terminated in 2020). Under him, Horizon did not show any special outstanding financial performance.
In March 2019, Andrey Goncharenko acquired 90% of the authorized capital. And already in August of the same year he bought out the remaining tenth share. And the fact that with the advent of this businessman Horizont began to expand its assets does not look accidental. Andrei Goncharenko is better known in the media as a former top manager of Gazprom. The most loudly his name thundered in 2014, when The Daily Mail told about the purchase of the most expensive house in London. Describing what else the businessman is known for, Kommersant journalists noted that in addition to the post of Deputy General Director of Gazprom Invest Yug CJSC, he was involved in the construction of the Lotos City trade and exhibition complex in New Moscow through the Flame LLC company. Kommersant also mentions (without reference to the material) an article by Izvestia from 2013 that a top manager and his subordinates were suspected of extorting Gazprom contractors. It was about non-payment to businessmen of more than 3 billion rubles. However, the story ended with a visit by operatives to businessmen who wrote a statement against Goncharenko.
Today, the former top manager of Gazprom has little to do with business, at least in Russia. Unless Goncharenko is the president of the cultural and charitable foundation named after himself. True, in December 2021, he deleted himself from the founding of this organization. Maybe this is due to the fact that back in the fall of 2019, the capital branch of the Federal Tax Service suspended operations on the fund’s accounts without indicating the basis code.
However, the “Horizon” is a thing of the past. In early April, an entry appeared in the Unified State Register of Legal Entities stating that Ekaterina Zmeeva would become the sole founder of a construction company with a multi-billion dollar turnover. In mid-May, she also took over as CEO. Changes were preceded by several events. For example, Gorizont sold two companies purchased under Goncharov, LLC Priluzhskaya and LLC Vyborg Non-Metal Company, which brought, albeit not big, but profit. By the way, the firms have gone through several hands and now both belong to Pavel Zagorulko, who was not previously seen in other businesses in key positions.
Also, since 2020, Horizont has begun to actively enter into pledge agreements as a pledger. Today there are 111 such records. Basically, the mortgagee is LLC “Residential microdistrict” – a design organization created for the construction of a residential microdistrict in the city of Svobodny, Amur Region. However, one of the latest treaties raises particular concerns. On May 11, Gorizont transferred 33 cars on bail in favor of the Interregional Inspectorate of the Federal Tax Service for Debt Management. The list includes both trucks and pickups, as well as passenger cars, including executive class. For example, among the Renault Duster and Hyundai Sonata there are Bentley Bentayga V8 Dies and two Toyota Land Cruiser Prados.
As for the new leader Ekaterina Zmeeva, we know little about her. A 41-year-old entrepreneur registered in Yekaterinburg previously managed the restaurant business of Ibiza LLC and Elena LLC, and also owned part of the authorized capital of #TVOYLICHNYJUVELIR LLC. She was also seen in the wholesale trade in construction and timber products at Complete Service LLC. She did not conduct business in Krasnoyarsk or the Leningrad region. And all the mentioned companies, with the exception of the jewelry store, have ceased their activities today, and the operations on the accounts of the “personal jeweler” were also suspended by the decision of the Federal Tax Service due to non-payment of taxes, failure to provide declarations and other documents.
Considering personnel changes, existing data on allegations of deliberate non-payment of obligations under contracts, albeit not confirmed, and collateral manipulations, the situation in Ust-Luga may seem tense. In addition, according to information provided by market participants, for which the editors of Delta.News cannot vouch, the amount of Horizon’s debt to its partners can reach 700 million rubles. And the recent events with the arrests of large real estate of Russian oligarchs in Europe and the UK do not add optimism.
We tried to call the numbers provided in open sources as contacts by the construction company, but one of them was declared non-existent, and the second was temporarily unavailable. Our editors will continue to monitor the “Horizon” in order to spot new signals, however, the observed band is more and more like a sunset.