Bread niche of businessman Tulupov

Information that BKH “Kolomensky”, which is owned by the owner of the Sminex developer Alexei Tulupov, decided to buy a controlling stake in Volzhsky Pekar, the largest bakery enterprise in the Tver region, was held back in August. Now the FAS has approved the purchase.

If the businessman is able to carry out other transactions to buy back core assets, he will be able to fully occupy the “bread niche”. Will the scandalous native of the Rosbuilding structure succeed, and will this step not “ditch” the grain market, the correspondent figured out The Moscow Post.

Bread King

Tulupov’s expansion into the bakery market looks rather strange. OJSC “Moscow Bakery and Confectionery Plant (MBKK)” Kolomenskoye “was acquired by his development company Sminex. Moreover, the company got it for only 70 million rubles. Considering that this is one of the largest players in the Moscow bread market, the amount is negligible.

Then he also got the territory between the Warsaw and Kashirskoye highways, 3 hectares in size. The most interesting thing is that the territory of the plant was initially considered from the point of view of development: after renovation, several production buildings were sold for offices. The bakery business was also planned to be sold, negotiations were held, but no buyer was found.

Things did not go well for the enterprise, as soon as Tulupov acquired it. So, the plant worked at a loss, which at the end of 2019 amounted to 1.4 million rubles. However, Tulupov himself could easily “bleed” him. It can be seen that from 2020 to 2021 there was also a sharp financial decline.

A photo: rusprofile.ru

Despite this, Forbes wrote that in 2021 Kolomenskoye is the market leader in monetary terms. After him came Fazer and Stoilenskaya Niva. There is something interesting in this story.

In April, the company received the Russian business of the Finnish group Fazer, which stopped working in the country due to sanctions. Meanwhile, the deal was estimated at 4 billion rubles. In 2021, the company’s revenue amounted to 14 billion rubles, so Tulupov definitely needed this player. It’s just interesting how long it will take, like the past, to “bleed out”.

As for Tulupov’s new asset, it is already unprofitable. Judging by the data of Rusprofile, last year the loss amounted to 11 million rubles. And this means that the businessman bought out the enterprise in order to thoroughly capture the niche.

A photo: rusprofile.ru

In 2018, the Dedovsky Khleb plant in Istra, Moscow Region, joined the Kolomensky holding. Things went surprisingly well there.

A photo: rusprofile.ru

Let’s add here the story about how Tulupov bought the Balashikha Khleb enterprise near Moscow for just 204 million rubles at auction. The latter went bankrupt, and the Kolomensky holding “sheltered” it just in time. Previously, the structure was part of the Nastyusha group of Igor Pinkevich, who was arrested in the case of embezzlement of 40 billion rubles from equity holders of the Tsaritsyno residential complex.

No money, but need a business

It would seem that what is wrong with the fact that Tulupov wants to “crush” bread for himself? But here it should be noted his background, he comes from the scandalous Rosbuilding structure, where he worked together with another character with an ambiguous reputation, the owner of the PIK development group Sergey Gordeev.

In addition, Rosbuilding is an openly raider structure. In conversations about a hostile takeover, the company is one of the first to be remembered, writes the Sekret Firmy publication. At the beginning of the 2000s, the name “Rosbuilding” appeared in the press with the adage “notorious”.

According to rumors, Tulupov and Gordeev quarreled with Yuri Luzhkov, at that time the mayor of Moscow. Yuri Mikhailovich did not like the “grabbing” carried out by businessmen. And Gordeev and Tulupov soon decided to divide the assets. Therefore, the latter is now trying to somehow “straighten” things in business.

We also add that among the “achievements” of Tulupov is the liquidation of such structures as the Scientific Research Institute of Vitamins LLC, which he bought out in 2011 for 491.5 million rubles. At that time, Sminex said that the facility was of interest to the company in terms of building an office center on its territory, however, in 2018, the institution that specialized in preclinical study of drugs and examination of scientific and technical documentation of vitamins was liquidated.

The same fate also awaited the Ginalmazzoloto Research Institute, which is engaged in research in the field of secondary processing of precious metals, which Tulupov bought out for 227.56 million rubles.

Life beyond the means

To the whole list of Tulupov’s cases, the main question arises, where does Tulupov get the money for the “bread” business? If you look at the head structure of Sminex Holding LLC, then it generally resembles not a development company, but a one-day company. In addition, she has serious financial problems.

Let’s take a closer look: at the end of 2019, the company went into a giant minus, received losses of 593 million rubles. The proceeds amounted to 200 thousand rubles, and the value of assets was negative – minus 2.1 billion rubles.

In 2021, the situation did not improve dramatically, moreover, it only got worse. With revenues of a miserable 321 thousand rubles, a loss of 1.6 billion rubles, and the value of assets has completely become – minus 6.9 billion rubles.

A photo: rusprofile.ru

This proves that the firm is in big trouble, and has been on the verge of collapse for years due to debt. From this follows a completely logical question, where, then, does the money for doing business come from? Or does the whole business consist in hostile takeovers, and then, perhaps, in the withdrawal of assets from the “swallowed” companies?

Despite all these problems, Tulupov actively continues to develop both construction and bread details. All this looks like just an attempt to get into other regions in order to develop a business there.

The purchase of a Tver manufacturer by Kolomenskoye will be the largest in the bakery industry, but it is hardly worth counting on good product quality. It is possible that the enterprise will rather “outlive” or become a “purse” for withdrawing funds from other assets.