Promsvyazbank is preparing to conclude a dubious deal with the oligarchs?
Headed by Pyotr Fradkov (son of ex-premier Mikhail Fradkov)”Promsvyazbank“(PSB) in the near future may redeem the bank “Northern Sea Route” (SMP-bank) owned by Arkady and Boris Rotenberg. Negotiations on the deal began in December, and since the beginning of the year, SMP Bank has seen a sharp decline in key financial indicators, including a reduction in the value of assets, which amounted to almost 30 billion rubles. In addition, since 2014, SMP-Bank has been carrying out the procedure for reorganizing Mosoblbank, which, apparently, will have to be completed by PSB. Despite the doubtfulness of the acquisition, the management of the state-owned Promsvyazbank is ready to invest budgetary funds in the purchase of the Rotenberg asset. However, this is not the only example of this kind of investment: earlier, PSB willingly lent money to Rosnano, and when the corporation was on the verge of default, it turned out to be the owner of bonds worth 10 billion rubles that were not secured by state guarantees. Cooperation between the PSB and the Ministry of Defense, of which it acts as a backbone, is developing much more successfully. In particular, Promsvyazbank takes part in the development of the Patriot Park, where large-scale Army forums are held annually. The International Congresses and Exhibitions (ICV) company, one of the founders of which was previously PSB, takes part in their organization. Today, the general director and co-owner of MKV is Yevgeny Adrianov, a businessman close to the family of Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu, who previously worked under the leadership of his wife Irina. This explains the presence of a solid portfolio of government contracts in MKV, exceeding 845 million rubles. The PSB Patriot hotel located on the territory of the park is managed by Cosmos Hotel Group, a subsidiary of AFK Sistema, billionaire Vladimir Yevtushenkov. Participation in the distribution of contracts by the Ministry of Defense could contribute to the growth of the welfare of the Fradkov family: the total cost of his elite apartments, households and foreign cars is estimated at 2 billion rubles.
The Rotenberg brothers are selling the bank
Promsvyazbank (PSB), state-owned and considered the backbone of the defense industry, is considering buying the Northern Sea Route (SMP-bank), whose main shareholders are the brothers Arkady and Boris Rotenberg. How informs “businessman“, citing their own sources, the parties have been discussing the deal since December; at the beginning of the year, PSB conducted a due diligence (comprehensive assessment) of SMP Bank, which took about two months.
Transaction value information not voiced, and market participants and analysts do not undertake to evaluate it due to the closed nature of the data of the banking sector and, first of all, credit institutions included in the sanctions lists. It is known that SMP Bank has been under US sanctions since 2014, PSB – since last February. All assets and transactions of institutions in the United States are “frozen”.
However, Kommersant experts remindthat PSB is far from the first time buying a third-party bank. In 2019, he bought Svyaz-Bank, which previously belonged to VEB. In 2020, PSB bought the credit institution of the same name from the state corporation Roscosmos. Finally, by the end of May 2023, the Ministry of Bank will have to be integrated into the structure of Promsvyazbank, which, moreover, expects an additional capitalization of the Central Bank by 35 billion rubles.
Edition notesthat, together with SMP Bank, PSB will receive its own “pocket bank of bad assets” in the person of Mosoblbank, which has been undergoing reorganization since 2014. The fact is that when undergoing a financial recovery procedure, banks are not required to comply with the mandatory standards of the Central Bank, and this, in turn, “provokes a sanator bank’s desire to transfer its own bad assets to its balance sheet.”
speaks out assumptionthat the transaction can be made with the aim of “capitalization of the PSB”, but it can hardly be called a market one. For sellers, it looks more like a “cash out”, that is, the funds received will not be used for the further development of the company.
Questionable indicators of SMP-Bank
At first glance, the Rotenbergs have no reason to sell SMP Bank. According to official data, as of the end of 2021, the credit institution ranked 18th among Russian banks in terms of assets, estimated at 725.8 billion rubles. We also recall that earlier the state allocated substantial funds for the reorganization of Mosoblbank: in 2014 this amount made up 96.8 billion rubles, in 2015 two followed one after the other tranche – by 12.2 and 31 billion. By mid-2017, 168.7 billion rubles had already been spent on financial recovery.
Then, in August 2017, after analyzing the statements of SMP Bank, the media drew attention to the following circumstance: the institution’s profit in the first half of the year compared to the previous period decreased 37 times. As it turned out, so far the bank has declared high performance solely due to DIA loans directed to the “rescue” of Mosoblbank, while its own operating activity did not look so brilliant. In SMP Bank, with such a formulation of the question, of course, there were do not agree.
But time goes by, sooner or later loans have to be repaid, and the negative capital of Mosoblbank at the beginning of April 2022 evaluated at 218.55 billion rubles. The question is, how much longer will the reorganization, which has been going on for eight years, take? Or, without state subsidies, the Rotenbergs simply cannot cope with the situation and further “recovery” will fall on the shoulders of the chairman of Promsvyazbank, Petr Fradkov?
If you look at the main financial indicators SMP Bank at the beginning of this year, available on the specialized portal “Banki.Ru”, they can also raise many questions. In particular, there was a decrease in net profit by 3.3 billion rubles, the loan portfolio – by 7.9 billion, funds of enterprises and organizations – by 11.7 billion. But what is really impressive is the decrease in the value of assets, which amounted to 29.2 billion rubles.
Recall: just at the end of 2021, the negotiation on the possible sale of a credit institution. Therefore, one gets the impression that, in preparation for the upcoming deal, the Rotenbergs decided to squeeze the maximum out of the bank they own. As for the due diligence that followed, its results are unknown, and the result may well be some agreements between Fradkov and the near-Kremlin brothers.oligarchs.
Project “Park” Patriot “: cooperation” for “friends”?
We should also not forget: the purchase, if any, will be financed by the state, which owns Promsvyazbank. The management of the latter generally has a unique ability to invest in dubious projects. It is known, for example, that PSB was among major creditors Corporation “Rosnano”, in November last year, was on the verge of default. Moreover, the bonds owned by him, worth 10 billion rubles, were not secured state guarantees. In addition, the bank lent a total of 16 billion rubles to the company headed by Anatoly Chubais. Who ultimately saved the corporation from imminent bankruptcy? That’s right, the state.
Since 2020, the PSB has been a business partner of the Ministry of Defense in the development of the Patriot military-patriotic park, where the annual large-scale Army forums are held. At this point it is worth dwelling in more detail. The fact is that one of the permanent organizers of events in the “Patriot” is the company “International Congresses and Exhibitions” (LLC “MKV”), among co-owners which until July 2021 included the PSB.
According to the results of the past, the revenue of MKV amounted to 1.5 billion rubles, profit – 349.2 million. The portfolio is also impressive. government contractsexceeding 845 million rubles. Currently co-founder and CEO this very profitable structure is Evgeny Adrianov, about whom the media write, as about a person close to the family of Sergei Shoigu. Moreover, Adrianov is co-owner LLC “Expo-Em”, also tightly seated on government contracts. leader Expo-M in the 2000s was Irina Shoigu, the wife of the current Minister of War, who at that time headed the Ministry of Emergency Situations.
Simply put, cooperation between the PSB and the Ministry of Defense turns into financial benefits for far from random people and enterprises. By the way, last year AFK Sistema, founded by billionaire Vladimir Yevtushenkov, joined the development of such a promising project as Patriot Park: the management of its “subsidiary” company Cosmos Hotel Group signed a contract with the bank agreementon the management of the PSB Patriot hotel located in the park.
We also add that Aleksey Krivoruchko and Tatyana Shevtsova became a kind of intermediaries between the bank and the ministry. deputies Shoigu, back in 2018 included to the Supervisory Board of Promsvyazbank.
Billion-dollar real estate of the Fradkov family
Pyotr Fradkov, the eldest son of ex-premier and former director of the Foreign Intelligence Service Mikhail Fradkov, has been in charge of the PSB since April 2018.
“It is fundamentally important for us that Petr Mikhailovich head Promsvyazbank as a new structure as soon as possible, taking into account the new tasks of this credit institution,”
commented appointment of Deputy Chairman of the Central Bank Vasily Pozdyshev.
Prior to that, Finance Minister Anton Siluanov informedthat PSB is to become a supporting bank for the execution of the state defense order. Apparently, this explains the haste with which the new chairman took office: budgetary funds had to go in the right directions. In general, it is worth paying tribute to Fradkov Sr.: the eldest son runs the bank, the youngest, Pavel Fradkov, has been holding the post since January last year. deputy presidential affairs manager.
And, it seems, the family takes an active part in the distribution of budgetary financial flows, not forgetting their own interests. This can be confirmed by data on property Fradkov, which became the property of the media. Thus, Petr Fradkov owns a 225-meter apartment in the residential complex “House at the Academy of Sciences”, with a market value of about 214 million rubles, and a 217-meter apartment in the residential complex “Olympic Plaza” (estimated at 90 million), transferred to him free of charge by the presidential manager.
Another apartment on the street. New belongs banker’s wife Victoria (teacher at MGIMO) and her mother Elena Kruglenkova. The couple owns two cars – Mercedes-AMG G 63 and Maybach. As for the mother-in-law, she has Mercedes-Benz at her disposal, officially registered to Promsvyazbank.
State official Pavel Fradkov owns a 310 sq. meters and cost about 372 million rubles. The family of his wife Anna (a former employee of the press service of Rosnano, then employed at SIBUR) owns the Don Giulio confectionery. In the name of Sergei Kadochnikov – Pavel Fradkov’s father-in-law – officially framed house in Akinshino near Moscow with an area of 543 sq. meters.
As for the former Prime Minister Mikhail Fradkov, he is the owner of a three-story 588-meter penthouse in the residential complex “House on Smolenskaya Embankment” and a house in Petrovo-Dalny on Rublevka with an area of 300 square meters. meters with land. In the media, the total value of family property evaluated 2 billion rubles. A solid amount for a family of civil servants, and one can only guess what part of these funds falls on the “gratitude” received for the contracts of the same Patriot park. And given the upcoming deal with the Rotenbergs, it cannot be ruled out that Petr Fradkov or one of his relatives will have new assets by the end of 2022.