The buyback of the A101 group by the Mikhail Gutseriev family confirms the version that the family intends to regain the “lost” Inteko company, which several groups of influence have already coveted.
According to The Moscow Post correspondent, businessman Bilan Uzhakhov, Mikhail Gutseriev’s nephew, bought out 49% of the A101 development group from the state bank Trust. Thus, the family of billionaire Mikhail Gutseriev regained full control over the developer, in which they sold their stake in 2017. And it seems that now the Gutseriev family will want to get back Inteko, control over which was lost in the same 2017.
But other equally influential people, in addition to the Gutserievs, show interest in the asset. Among them – “Arcade Holding” Dmitry Mazepin and partners; the Samolet group, behind which, as it is believed, the interests of the governor of the Moscow region Andrey Vorobyov stand; LLC “Logos”, probably associated with the GC “Region” of Sergei Sudarikov, who is considered close to the head of “Rosneft” Igor Sechin.
But, according to Interfax, the current beneficiary owner of the Moscow developer Inteko, Morden Finance Limited, applied to the Federal Antimonopoly Service and the arbitration court with a demand to seize Inteko shares and prohibit Trust Bank from selling them. Will the Gutserievs, if they wish, be able to bypass the probable ban and all competitors?
Bilan Uzhakhov is Gutseriev’s nephew, a member of the board of directors of SFI (Safmar Financial Investments), he previously headed Russian Coal, the Kuzbass Fuel Company, was a member of the board of directors and was the general director of M.Video, which are also controlled by the family.
In October of this year, Bilan Uzhakhov’s New Perspective LLC became the owner of 49% of the Cypriot Balamer Holdings Ltd, which, in turn, owns the A101 group, one of the largest developers in Moscow. Previously, these 49% belonged to the state-owned bank of non-core assets Trust. The beneficiary of the remaining 51% was and remains Mikhail Gutseriev. It would not be superfluous to recall that A101 has the largest land bank in New Moscow with 2.4 thousand hectares.
As a result of the deal, the Gutseriev family regained full control over A101. Until 2017, 49% of A101 belonged to another nephew of Gutseriev, Mikail Shishkhanov. He was the main shareholder of Binbank, in which Gutseriev himself had a minority stake. Four years ago, the Central Bank announced the reorganization of a financial institution, the hole in which, as the regulator later announced, amounted to about 350-370 billion rubles.
Then, as compensation, Shishkhanov handed over to the state, including 49% of “A101”. The total amount of transactions between the structures of Gutseriev and Trust will amount to 135 billion rubles. In addition to the A101 stake, the entrepreneur agreed to buy out a stake in Slavkali and Safmar Financial Investments, bonds of Region Invest and Digital Invest, as well as restructure the assets owned by the bank for a total of 41 billion rubles.
How Mikhail Gutseriev remember the old
It is possible that now the Gutserievs and Co. will want to regain everything that was lost, including the developer Inteko. And now is the most suitable time for this, because Trust intends to sell Inteko (unless, of course, the Cypriot beneficiary interferes with it). According to some reports, we are talking about the sale of residential complexes “Vrubel”, West Garden, “Ilyinka”, “Garden Quarters” and some others. Moreover, allegedly we are talking about a “ridiculous” price for such a portfolio of 38 billion rubles. Well, who doesn’t give a damn?
Earlier, The Moscow Post put forward the version that the Gutserievs would join the fight for the asset. It is not yet clear which of the many relatives of the businessman can participate in the auction, but it is generally accepted that Mikhail Gutseriev will personally manage the asset, in which case. At least, even when Shishkhanov had Inteko, he was called nothing more than a “screen” behind his back.
It is likely that in this way Gutseriev simply wanted to disown the scandalous past of the enterprise. Recall that Inteko previously belonged to the wife of the late Moscow mayor Yuri Luzhkov, Elena Baturina. And who knows how Baturina’s activities would have unfolded in the future if her husband had not been dismissed “for loss of confidence.” That’s when a lot immediately fell down, and the entrepreneur was forced to sell the developer – so the asset ended up with Shishkhanov. But for a long time, however, did not stay.
And now Gutseriev’s direct participation in business is hardly to be expected. The main reason for this is the EU sanctions imposed on him for his support of Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko. After that, he himself began to rapidly officially withdraw from assets over which he can still retain control. The Moscow Post wrote about this in detail earlier.
Is it still close to the mayors?
Perhaps now the most important intrigue of the development market: who will end up with the long-suffering Inteko? And while the Gutserievs have not officially joined the race for the asset, their likely future rivals do not hesitate.
In particular, the anti-monopolists have already approved the application for the purchase of the developer, filed by the structures of the group “Airplane”, which is believed to be the interests of the governor of the Moscow Region Andrei Vorobyov. The fact is that one of the founders of the developer was the brother of the politician Maxim Vorobyov. Now the latter is not formally its owner, but retains a 25% stake in Airplane Two Capitals, a subsidiary that deals with structure projects outside Moscow.
Moreover, “Airplane” has already entered the land of “Inteko” – the other day it became known that the group is buying out half of the project of an elite residential complex on the territory of the Rosstroyexpo exhibition center in Khamovniki near Moscow from the former asset of Baturina. The deal, however, is not yet closed – it is necessary to obtain the approval of the antimonopoly service.
But, I think, Samolet should have no problems with this – after all, not only Andrey Vorobyov, but also the mayor of the capital, Sergei Sobyanin, allegedly stands behind him. The fact is that recently the owner of the Kievskaya Ploshchad Group of Companies, God Nisanov, who is considered a person close to Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin, and is also an adviser to Vorobyov on a voluntary basis, has recently become a partner of the Samolet Group of Companies.
Andrey Vorobyov and God Nisanov
“Oil” interests
They can be opposed by an equally influential group, probably enjoying the patronage of the head of Rosneft, Igor Sechin. We are talking about the beneficiary of the concern “Rossium” Roman Avdeev, who in recent years has been increasingly involved in real estate. He, Avdeev, is the founder of the Moscow Credit Bank, in which the state corporation is actively investing.
In 2017, Rosneft invested 22 billion rubles in the MKB, the credit institution is called the base for the state-owned company. But there are other connections as well. Another person Sechin is trying to present is entrepreneur Sergei Sudarikov, the owner of the Region Group of Companies. He is also the managing partner of the Rossium concern.
Formally, neither Avdeev’s structures, nor Sudarikov’s structures are participating in the struggle for Inteko yet. However, it is known that Logos LLC is showing interest in it. The latter owns 62% of HC Evolution JSC. In turn, 19% of this structure is owned by Roman Avdeev’s Concern Rossium LLC, and another 19% by Sudarikov’s JSC IK Region. This was previously discussed in detail by The Moscow Post.
Three from the “casket”
Inteko turned out to be so attractive that the scandalous businessman Dmitry Mazepin, along with a partner of former A1 top managers Denis Izbrekht and Felix Lyubashevsky, president of the Integra Group of Companies, “flocked” to it. All three are the founders of Arkada Holding LLC, whose application for the acquisition of Inteko has already been approved by antimonopoly officials.
As The Moscow Post previously wrote in detail, the inclusion of a trio of merchants in the race is somewhat alarming, as all of them were noted in stories with a not-so-friendly entry into the business. In particular, a confrontation between Mazepin and the beneficiaries of Togliattiazot Sergey and Vladimir Makhlai, who are under criminal prosecution in Russia, is unfolding right now. It is believed that Mazepin is behind their misadventures.
Dmitry Mazepin
Last year Izbrekht’s name figured in the story of ZAO Demetra, which is building up the Lyublino industrial zone in Moscow. In the spring of that year, Izbrekht held a general meeting of shareholders of CJSC Demetra in order to increase the authorized capital through an additional issue of shares. However, for this it was necessary to “neutralize” an independent shareholder – APK LLC, which could interfere with decision-making. That is why the classic scheme was used: the meeting of shareholders was held at the wrong address, which was indicated in the notice of the event. This was attended by the holder of the register – JSC “Industriya-REESTR”, which changed another registrar 2 days before the meeting.
Lyubashevsky, on the other hand, has allegedly gone “off the radar” lately. But many people remember how at the end of the 2000s, Integra, headed by him, began a large-scale confrontation with its parent structure, Uralmashzavod. There were rumors that in this way they could tritely try to patch up financial “holes” that could appear as a result of the implementation of some gray schemes.
Here are such interesting players who decided to get close to Inteko. But it looks like they will fight not among themselves, but with Morden Finance Limited, which is trying to prevent the sale of the asset. But if we imagine that the auction will still take place, and the Gutserievs will take part in it, then their chances of winning are very high. “Inteko” will return to the “native land”?