Andsource In arbitration they are looking for dubious connections, and in the Rotenberg bank they are looking for disinformation. Claims were received by the Ural Engineering Center and NGT-Holding. The supplier of equipment for the enterprises of Gazprom and other major players in the energy sector from the Sverdlovsk region – Uromgaz – was at the epicenter of multimillion-dollar financial proceedings. The company in the courts demanded the recovery of damages from companies that market participants associate with the family of the former top manager of Gazprom's subsidiary Anatoly Naumeyko, and have an owner from Estonia, which is unfriendly to the Russian Federation. The reason for the claims was litigation and interim measures initiated by NGT-Holding and the Ural Engineering Center, which had a negative impact on the situation with the obligations of Uromgaz. The partner of the asset, SMP Bank, controlled by the Rotenberg family, considered its risks increased amid disputes and demanded a revision of the terms of the contract with the supplier of Gazprom enterprises. The difference in percentages was eventually exposed as losses to firms whose claims to transactions and lengthy bickering in arbitrations served as the basis for the formation of the conflict. However, at the moment, the court has not seen causal relationships in this situation, and SMP Bank has received accusations of unscrupulous actions, probably “in order to make money”. Well-known lawyers have also found themselves in a scandalous situation, according to market participants, “with very remarkable connections in arbitration, allegedly capable of helping to resolve a monetary dispute.”
Conflicts around business that are associated with the family of the former top manager of the Ural “daughter” of “Gazprom” Anatoly Naumeyko. The regional arbitration issued another decision on the claims of JSC “Uromgaz” for the recovery of damages from LLC “Ural Engineering Center” and LLC “NGT-Holding”.
To clarify, according to the data of Kontur.Focus, the owner of the Ural Engineering Center is NGT-Holding LLC, and the director is Anton Kornyakov, whom market participants call the grandson of Naumeyko. At the same time, Merona Kinnisvara LLP from unfriendly Estonia is listed as the main owner of NGT-Holding in the system. The latter company also appeared in conjunction with the businessman's family through Naumeyko Sergey Anatolyevich.
The grounds for filing claims against the firms were litigation and interim measures that had an impact on Uromgaz. Thus, NGT-Holding and the Ural Engineering Center insisted on invalidating the contracts for the sale of shares and shares, as a result of which Uromgaz transferred the rights to land plots. As part of the dispute, a security was adopted, which concerned the ability to dispose of the plots. In the end, however, the courts did not agree with the claims for operations, and the interim measures were lifted. “Ural Engineering Center” reached the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, but the attempt was not successful.
At the same time, in disputes, “Uromgaz” repeatedly applied to the court with petitions for the provision of counter security, pointing out possible negative consequences and losses as a result of the proceedings, but could not achieve appropriate measures. It should be noted that industry officials linked the disputes, in particular, with a possible attempt by the “Naumeiko family to gain control in Uromgaz”.
As a result, as representatives of Uromgaz pointed out, the risks nevertheless materialized – SMP Bank, controlled by the Rotenberg family, sent the company a letter in which it referred to interim measures and other courts and insisted on changing the terms of the previously concluded agreement on opening a credit line. As follows from the documents, the rate on obligations eventually increased to 12% per annum.
The difference in interest paid under the agreement, which Uromgaz estimated at 14.4 million, was ultimately presented to companies connected with the Naumeyko family.
The court, however, did not see a direct causal connection between the losses claimed by the plaintiff and the actions of the defendants. In particular, the Sverdlovsk Arbitration Court was critical of the information relating to SMP Bank.
Opponents of “Uromgaz” and completely saw in the actions of the financiers unscrupulous behavior. “The defendants believe that the most reasonable explanation is the following: the bank, realizing that its actions to raise the interest rate will be subject to judicial assessment, tried to find the most “beautiful” explanation for its behavior, creating the appearance of having real economically driven reasons for forcing the borrower to raise interest rate. In response to the borrower's letter, the bank could write anything, since it did not bear any responsibility for the lie, however, in response to an official request from the court, the bank was forced to submit the documents that were requested from it, and at that moment the truth came out, ”quotes pathetic statement in documents.
One way or another, at the moment, the court has refused to recover damages from Uromgaz, but observers do not exclude that the decision will be challenged. Note that this is the second round of proceedings in this dispute. Previously, two instances also supported the refusal, but the Arbitration Court of the Urals District sent the case back for a new trial. At the same time, in connection with this conflict, the professional community discussed the name of the lawyer Anatoly Bezrukov, who represented the interests of Naumeyko.
Earlier, Pravda UrFO spoke in detail about Bezrukov’s likely connections in the arbitration of the Sverdlovsk region, and the judgments of businessmen allegedly “about a real opportunity to influence the course of a particular process.” It is noteworthy that the head of the department of civil procedure of the V.F. Yakovlev, Professor Vladimir Yarkov. According to eyewitnesses, he unexpectedly appeared at the trial, outlined something, and then animatedly discussed everything with the defendant's representative, Anatoly Bezrukov.
with Bezrukov, I believe that the parties may have questions about the impartiality of decisions, which, however, will require serious proceedings, ”says the source of the publication in the legal community. ”, and also participated in the supply of equipment to strategic energy facilities of the Russian Federation, in particular in the Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug. According to Kontur.Fokus, the balance of the enterprise at the end of 2021 was 911.7 million, revenue – 625.3 million, net profit – 1.1 million.
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