Arsib merges assets with debts to the Federal Tax Service

Andsource Top-managers are cut off from their property, and industry representatives are waiting for the security forces. Arbitration accepts new claims of fiscals to the offices of the holding. Representatives of the Federal Tax Service are seeking bankruptcy of MetallStroyTorg, which is associated with the top management of Arsib, a large Tyumen holding, stating that the company owes the state a multimillion-dollar sum. It is noteworthy that the agency's claims against the firms and managers of the holding are not limited to this requirement. At the same time, a process is underway to bring to subsidiary liability in the framework of the bankruptcy case another affiliated structure – MetallOptTorg – several well-known people in the region, including Hrayr Stepanyan. Interim measures have already been taken against them in the form of a ban on the alienation of property. The sanctions also affected the Enki Stroy enterprise, which is also part of the Arsiba division, which specializes in the sale of rolled metal and building materials. Moreover, apparently, the interest of the tax authorities in relation to the numerous managers and enterprises of the holding will only grow, and we will talk about many hundreds of millions of rubles. And the interlocutors of the publication, who observe the numerous confrontations between fiscals and “multi-vector businessmen”, believe that only security officials can put an end to the pipeline for causing damage to the budget through the bankruptcy of debtor firms.

The Arbitration Court of the Tyumen Region ruled to consider the claim of the regional MIFNS No. 14 for declaring bankrupt LLC MetallStroyTorg registered in the Zavodoukovsky district. An enterprise specializing in the wholesale trade of metal and associated with the management of Arsib owes the tax authorities about 178 million rubles.

At the same time, the Federal Tax Service qualifies the debtor as absent, which implies the impossibility of establishing the location of the head of the enterprise that curtailed its activities.

Arsen Grigoryan heads the company as the sole founder and director. In parallel, he is mentioned as the owner or head of the list of companies operating in the field of construction, agro-industrial complex and trade. Among them, for example, Metallobaza Enki LLC (balance sheet at the end of 2021 – 1.1 billion rubles, revenue – 345.8 million, net profit – 1.1 million). To clarify, it is under the Enki brand that the holding sells ferrous metal products through a dozen branches in the region, entering the top 5 directions.

On the official website of Arsib, intentions were indicated to increase sales volumes to 55 thousand tons and annual revenues to 3 billion. ”, OOO Vershina) indirectly indicates the possibility of easily finding out the whereabouts of the head. Nevertheless, the status of the absent debtor will be confirmed at a meeting in early 2023.

This is not the first attempt by the tax authorities to bankrupt MetallStroyTorg. Moreover, in April 2021, by arbitration, the company was declared financially insolvent with the introduction of the absentee debtor tender procedure. However, at the end of the year, the bankruptcy trustee Dmitry Sutormin was relieved of his duties at his own request, and there were no those who expressed a desire to take up the position. The hearings were repeatedly postponed, and as a result, in May 2022, the proceedings were terminated.

MetallStroyTorg, however, is by no means the only company of the Arsib orbit that is currently appearing in proceedings with the state. As recently as December 16, the arbitration accepted for consideration the claim of the same MIFTS No. 14 on the bankruptcy of Tyumen Construction Company LLC, in whose history Arsen Grigoryan is also mentioned. Currently, a certain Sergey Prokoptsev is listed as the founder and director of TSK. Fiscals present the office with a tax debt of about 14 million rubles.

Of particular note is the process associated with the bankruptcy of another company of Arsib managers, which worked on the rolled metal market, MetallOptTorg LLC (the founder was Varditer Nersisyan, the liquidator of the company was Hrayr Stepanyan). The latter is a figure quite significant in the holding. Stepanyan also, until recently, served as the general director of a well-known developer, JSC SZ Akva, who built the infamous Horizon residential complex in Tyumen. From November 29, according to the Unified State Register of Legal Entities, he was replaced by Tigran Soghomonyan, who previously worked in agricultural companies, also affiliated with the management of Arsiba.

Stepanyan, Nersisyan, as well as Enki Stroy LLC (as well as SZ “Aqua”, part of the holding group) The Federal Tax Service for the Tyumen region requires to bring to subsidiary liability for the debts of “MetalOptTorg” in the amount of more than 20 million rubles. It is noteworthy that Hrayr Stepanyan “disappeared” from the post of the head of “Akva” soon after the lawsuit was accepted.

“It must be said that the bankruptcy of legal entities that have large tax debts is a favorite tactic of the Arsib holding. But apparently, this time something went wrong, and if the general director of the developer goes bankrupt, then it is hard to imagine a stronger blow to the reputation,” the authors of the Telegram channel “Povestka” commented on the beginning of the consideration of the lawsuit.

At the same time, Oksana Ulitina, the bankruptcy trustee of another enterprise of the holding, Uprsnabsbyt LLC, demanded that top managers of Arsib, including the chairman of the board of directors of Arsib Holding Group Samvel Stepanyan, be brought to subsidiary liability for debts of 459.9 million rubles.

At the time of consideration of the claim, their property was seized within the specified amount. The court refused to satisfy attempts to challenge the decision.

Interim measures were also imposed on the property of Enki Stroy, Stepanyan and Nersisyan. Stepanyan, in turn, according to the “established scheme” tried to achieve their cancellation. In his case, it was about housing in Tyumen, BMW, as well as accounts in several banks and shares in a number of organizations associated with Arsib. Arguments about the impossibility of fulfilling loan obligations were recognized as “presumptive”, and the applicant was denied cancellation.

The interlocutors of the agency, who are familiar with the proceedings of the Federal Tax Service and the numerous offices of the Arsib orbit, express their own opinions regarding what is happening. By the way, numerous debts to the budget of the metal trading division, in their opinion, do not indicate the desire of the beneficiaries to “close” the direction.

“In the case of MetallStroyTorg, we are talking about a specific company, and not in general about the division. And the story of the first bankruptcy says that they didn’t “kill” it because the owners of Arsib either had to withdraw some assets or guaranteed to make it manageable. As for rolled metal products, this division has been one of the main divisions since its foundation,” market analysts say.

At the same time, bankruptcies of the holding’s enterprises, which have increased a critical mass of debts to the Federal Tax Service, “have long become a constant practice” .

“This is a kind of tax “optimization”. The company has outlived its time. In my opinion, this should have been transferred to the plane of attention of law enforcement agencies for a long time. Firms with gigantic debts disappear, managers are “lost”, the budget loses hundreds of millions annually. And the whole question is: why hasn’t this conveyor been stopped yet?” industry experts conclude.

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