“Avtodom”, two Andreys and Marriner: cleansing and self-elimination
Two Andreys, Kostin and Olkhovsky, who are considered the owners of Avtodom, seem to have decided to get rid of the negative trail before the company goes public.
Avtodom decided to postpone its IPO to 2025. The official reason is waiting for a more convenient moment. In fact, the owners of the company may want to correct some touches in the biography of the company and their own personally before offering themselves to potential investors.
Kostin goes “to the left”
When Avtodom announced the purchase of the assets of the German automaker Mercedes-Benz, which had left Russia, the media published an investigation in which it spoke in detail about the financial position of the company, which, according to the author, leaves much to be desired, the connections of the main shareholders with officials and businessmen of “large caliber” ” and claims against the company.
Soon after our publication, Andrei Kostin (not to be confused with the head of VTB), who owned 46.82% of the company, left its capital. Immediately after, the Bridge Capital organization, owned by Kostin’s partner Olkhovsky, ended up in it.
Such a sharp movement “to the side” can be explained by the fact that the media highlighted some not very pleasant facts of his biography. For example, the fact that at the dawn of the formation of the business he became the victim of an unsuccessful assassination attempt. Which may indicate a showdown over the company. And who in this case could be the real “squeezer” of the business is an open question. There are also questions about how Kostin got the company, but evidence from that time (90s) has not survived.
The fact that Kostin could be connected with the not entirely clear business of Alexander Varshavsky, to whom the online media “Skandaly.ru” tried to attribute threats towards competitors and almost fabrication of criminal cases. A few days after the searches at Rolf, the head of the company, Petrov, suggested that the person of interest could be Alexander Varshavsky. The fact is that shortly before the criminal case appeared, Varshavsky offered Petrov to sell the company, but he did not agree.
Alexander Varshavsky. Photo: Valery Levitin/Kommersant
Avtodom and Avilon are connected through the former’s agreement with Aurus. Avilon is his dealer. In April 2022, Avtodom and Aurus signed a dealer agreement in St. Petersburg, which became a continuation of the memorandum of cooperation concluded in the fall of 2021. In addition, Avilon was also interested in Mercedes, and, presumably, would have received it if they and Avtodom had not been on the same side. Both companies often produce the same models at the same time, and both receive government orders. They work more in an alliance than as competitors, although they try to appear as such.
Operation “eraser”
In addition to the reaction of Kostin, who unexpectedly left, according to official data, the company he founded, interesting steps followed from the second partner, Andrei Olkhovsky.
There is an interesting publication circulating on the Internet, which claims that Olkhovsky was allegedly caught in a massive self-PR campaign carried out in the interests of whitewashing his reputation.
A description of Olkhovsky’s biography since 2021 can be found on Kommersant. Rumors claim that an attempt was made to publish a laudatory article on Wikipedia, but it failed. As well as the laudatory material about “Avtodom”.
There is no negativity in the biographies that have been published, although you can find more than one review on the Internet where users claim that Avtodom allegedly engages in outright fraud, increasing the mileage on used cars, attempting to impose unfavorable purchase conditions on the buyer, and so on.” delights.”
Photo: https://otzovik.com/review_6630310.html
Finance, government contracts and relations with Australian investors
As for the financial condition we mentioned, the organization, according to independent assessments, has been at risk of losing independence for a long time, it does not have enough of its own funds to ensure current activities and there is a risk of bankruptcy.
For what, excuse me, “shishi” such a company bought the Mercedes factories is an open question. Apparently, in order to prevent bankruptcy, she may engage in not entirely honest manipulations in the market?
At the same time, the company has government contracts worth 355 million rubles. Where did this money go? It is known that until recently the company’s founders included the offshore company Prusto Investments Ltd. It is owned by CL SECRETARIES LIMITED. And he, in turn, to David Marriner. This is also the name of an Australian property developer and former theater owner. Mr Marriner is a controversial figure with a checkered past that includes run-ins with the Australian Taxation Office and the Queensland government.
Against the background of the available data, the question arises: did funds leave the Russian Avtodom for Australia and invest in Marriner’s projects?
David Marriner. Photo: https://www.heraldsun.com.au
As it turned out earlier, Mr. Kostin had a hobby – he was a member of the E.B.K 50 biker club. The same biker club also featured controversial people, for example, Artur Eresko. A person with such data appeared as a Ukrainian billionaire in a high-profile scandal in Latvia in 2017. It was about a complaint from the World Jewish Congress about the appropriation of real estate from the Jewish community of Latvia.
So, perhaps, we can say that foreign contacts are not new to Kostin.