Zagorsk Pipe Plant (ZTZ) will take 35 billion rubles from VTB. The money can be withdrawn offshore by the company’s shareholder Nikolai Egorov.
VTB funds are needed by ZTZ Denis Safin, allegedly for the construction of an enterprise for the production of seamless pipes. However, the market does not have a special need for them. The co-owner of ZTZ is lawyer Nikolai Egorov, co-founder of the law office “Egorov, Puginsky, Afanasiev and Partners”. According to the correspondent of The Moscow Post, the money taken from the bank can be withdrawn offshore.
Lawyer Egorov, who, apparently from his own suggestion, is considered a classmate of Vladimir Putin, has become the “black crow” of Russian business – a harbinger of trouble. Egorov may be related to the collapse of the alcohol companies Status Group, Kristal-Lefortovo, OFK Bank, and the bankruptcy of the Antipinsky Oil Refinery.
Refinery owner Dmitry Mazurov and ex-chairman of the board and shareholder of OFK bank Nikolai Gordeev are under arrest. The beneficiary of the bank, ex-head of Rosalkogolregulirovanie Igor Chuyan fled to Israel and was arrested in absentia. Pavel Smetana, the owner of Kristall Lefortovo, changed his residence permit from Moscow to Birobidzhan, Jewish Autonomous Region, where he initiated personal bankruptcy proceedings.
It is not difficult to imagine what fate Denis Safin can expect. There is an assumption that in some cases Nikolai Yegorov acts against other shareholders together with the head of Sberbank German Gref. The bank is the main creditor of the Antipinsky Oil Refinery, in which Egorov has a 20% stake.
In the collapsed bank OFK, the former chairman of the board of directors Yegorov has a 25% stake. Nikolai Gordeev, who owns 15% of the bank’s shares, was arrested at the request of his lawyer. The share of Egorov ZTZ is not disclosed. The scheme by which the lawyer operates can be as follows. He helped enterprises get a loan from Sberbank, and then the money was withdrawn, and the company was on the verge of bankruptcy. Funds were withdrawn from the OFC in the form of fictitious loans and inflated deposits.
Now to Nikolai Egorov. Nikolai Gordeev and Igor Chuyan filed a lawsuit to bring them to subsidiary liability. The lawsuit was filed by Regionstroyinkom LLC (RSI), which is associated with Pavel Smetana. The amount of the claim has not yet been announced. RSI claims on the bank RUB 2.8 bn. In total, creditors want to receive 33 billion rubles from the OFC. How much can they “hang” on Yegorov? His legs won’t “bend”?
Denis Safin will have a pipe?
In September 2017, the owner of ZTZ was placed under house arrest on suspicion of fraud committed by an organized group or on a large scale. Denis Safin was suspected of misuse of subsidies allocated by the Ministry of Industry and Trade. The amount of the alleged damage was 133 million rubles. And for that kind of money Safin could sit down for a long time.
However, lawyer Nikolai Yegorov apparently got involved in the case. The money was returned in full and the very fact of the crime ceased to exist. RBC wrote about it. And Egorov could take the missing amount in his OFK-bank. After that, Safin became obliged to Yegorov for life?
Nikolai Egorov did not just “bleach” Denis Safin. The next day after the arrest, a meeting was held between the head of Gazprom, Alexei Miller, and Denis Safin. After that, ZTZ began to receive contracts from the gas giant. The organizer of this meeting could also be the lawyer Yegorov, who has connections in the upper echelons of government and business.
The most interesting thing is that even then ZTZ did not shine with rosy indicators. An analysis of the plant’s financial condition conducted in 2017 showed that it is significantly worse than that of other market players. Moreover, in 2017, things at ZTZ were even worse than in 2016.
For the entire period of its existence since 2014, Zagorsk Pipe Plant LLC has not had a profit. In addition to ZTZ, Safin owns 5 more organizations. Among them is ZTZ JSC, one of the founders of which is Pipe Trade Limited, an offshore company from the United Kingdom. Is it where the money from contracts with Gazprom “leaks”?
ZTZ already in 2017 had contracts with Gazprom structures in the amount of 13 billion rubles. The company’s revenue amounted to 14 billion rubles, but Denis Safin did not show any profit. JSC ended the year with a loss of 659 million rubles. How could this be? Probably, the profit was successfully withdrawn and divided between Safin, Egorov and Miller?
Safin’s other firms also have nothing to brag about. LLC “Indostroy” with a revenue of 42 million rubles. received a loss of 32 million rubles. JSC “Milena” brought a loss of 110 thousand rubles. The cost and revenue of JSC – 0 rubles.
Denis Safin’s father was the head of the Insulation Pipe Plant (IZT), on the basis of which ZTZ was built. 10 billion rubles were invested in the construction. Of these, 5.1 billion rubles. gave Sberbank, and 4.9 billion rubles. father and son Safina gave themselves. They earned this money by restoring old pipes. Can they be sold as new?
A used pipe costs 2-3 times cheaper than a new one. Market experts call pipe restoration a fraud, since no restoration can restore the pipe to its properties. However, the state of the pipe is not visible in the ground, and certificates can be forged. And do not care if the old pipe breaks and causes damage to the environment or explodes, which can lead to human casualties. Money for such restorers is more expensive?
ITZ was involved in a very unpleasant story with the restoration of pipes. LLC “Industrial Technologies” undertook to supply new pipes to the oil pipeline in Ust-Luga. And they themselves bought used pipes all over Russia and sold them to the customer under the guise of new ones, which caused damage of 4.5 billion rubles. Pipes were “restored” at ITZ Safinykh. And the security forces did not come to them just because the ubiquitous Nikolai Yegorov could intervene in the matter. Is it not on this order that the father and son earned money for the construction of the ZTZ?
Under the shadow of Gazprom?
Alexey Miller and Nikolai Egorov used Denis Safin for personal purposes to redistribute the pipe market. In December 2017, their plans became public and shocked market players. Then Gazprom canceled the tender for the supply of pipes in the amount of 60 billion rubles. And he was going to transfer the order to ZTZ, which promised to make a discount on pipes up to 25%.
Traditional suppliers had no choice but to “wipe themselves”. But you can’t argue with Gazprom and Alexei Miller. In fact, Safin opposed everyone. Although, probably, he is just a pawn in the hands of Nikolai Yegorov.
In November last year, it became known that Gazprom would sign a contract with ZTZ for the amount of 41 billion rubles. Market price 93 thousand rubles. per ton, and Safin offered 63 thousand rubles. per ton. Experts called this price unrealistic. For new pipes, maybe yes. And for the old ones, which should cost 35,045 thousand rubles. per ton is a very good price.
Alexey Miller looks like a zealous head of a state corporation that saves state funds and puts allegedly presumptuous pipe workers in their place. And the difference between the price of the old pipe and the price under the terms of the contract can fall into the pockets of the trio – Safin, Miller, Egorov. Competent authorities do not want to check the quality of pipes supplied to Gazprom by ZTZ?
Last year there was a rumor that Nikolai Yegorov was winding down his business in Russia and plans to withdraw from all the projects in which he took part. Doubtful schemes cannot work for a long time in front of everyone. Sooner or later they can take the “trunk”. This was confirmed by the situation at the Antipinsky Oil Refinery, which owes tens of billions of rubles to creditors. Nikolai Yegorov did not have time to get rid of his shares.
This is probably why I decided to play a combination with a VTB loan. And, perhaps, frame Denis Safin. The money received from the bank can be withdrawn from ZTZ and will wait for Nikolai Yegorov abroad. And the cunning lawyer will leave a hole from the donut and … Safin to the bank and the security forces?
The owner of ZTZ needs to keep his ear sharp. The wings of the “black crow” have already cast their shadow. So trouble is near.