Can German Gref make illegal transactions with Sberbank shares in order to accumulate capital?
Sberbank has sold its 43% stake in the Croatian Fortenova Group to UAE investor Saif Alketbi. As soon as the news of this spread through the media, Fortenova immediately reacted, saying that she was “surprised by the statement of Sberbank about the sale of its stake in the company.”
The fact is that due to sanctions, such a sale requires permission from the regulators, and the buyer named by the seller, according to Fortenova, does not have it. This is indirectly confirmed by the fact that earlier the Hungarian investment fund Indotek, which also claimed the share of Sberbank in Fortenova, was unable to obtain the necessary permits for the transaction.
Sberbank itself and Saif Alketbi, in response, insist on the complete legality of the transaction . It is hard to believe in this, given that it was called into question in Fortenova itself, where, apparently, they did not even know that this was being prepared. The correspondent of The Moscow Post understood the situation.
Personal interest in defiance of Zach
In September, the Croatian government said it would block Sberbank’s first attempt to sell its stake in Fortenove Group to the Hungarian investment fund Indotek Group. At the time, Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenković said he would personally block the deal due to suspicions that investment fund owner Daniel Jelinek “is just a front for opaque Hungarian capital with direct ties to Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán.”
Apparently, Sberbank decided to circumvent the ban on the sale and for this it entered into an agreement with another investor. Even Croatian President Zoram Milanovic spoke out about the sale.
German Gref. Photo: Alexey Kudenko/RIA Novosti
“This Russian bank owns 43 percent of the shares, and it must leave, but it cannot leave. People gathered on the last day and came up with something, but I have no idea how. Now there is an underground rat war between people who have interests there, in management, which will remain without certain rights and status or will not remain. All this must be viewed through the prism of personal interests,” the Federal News Service quotes the official.
Another Gref’s “purse”?</h2
The personal interest that Milanovic speaks of in this situation, among other things, could be with Mr. Gref and his partner Alketbi. The latter is called “one of Gref’s longtime key partners in the withdrawal of funds from the Russian Federation and other frauds.” There is almost no information about him on the Web, except that he owns assets in the fields of real estate, technology and high-tech companies.
Allegedly, this is why in Sberbank, when the media learned about the deal and the name of the buyer, they were so alarmed – with promotion of the story, much more piquant details of the relationship between Gref and Alketbi personally may emerge.
After the incident, the Croatian media reported that the Croatian government might recommend that the European Commission impose sanctions on two potential participants in the deal from this state. We are talking about the oligarch Kreshimir Filipovich and Miodrag Borozhevich. Both are now believed to be in Dubai.
Croatia is also expected to recommend sanctions against Dutch-registered SBK ART, owned by Sberbank, which owned a stake in Fortenova Group.
Miller’s friend and Rakova’s husband?
Kresimir Filippovich has There are many interests in Russia. In particular, he is the founder of the Velesstroy company, which specializes in construction in the oil and gas and electric power complex. This company is currently building a gas processing complex in Ust-Luga.
A forest scandal is connected with the works. Not later than at the beginning of this year, Rosselkhoz filed a lawsuit against Rosreestr and its subdivisions related to the transfer of part of the forest fund to the category of ordinary, where building is allowed. factory builders. After several postponements of the court, it was decided to completely dismiss the claim.
Velesstroy was repeatedly accused of violating labor and migration laws, however, even during the coronavirus pandemic, when restrictions were introduced everywhere, it worked without any problems.
The deputy mayor of Moscow, Anastasia Rakov, who is called the wife of a Croatian businessman, can lobby Filippovich’s interests. Allegedly, she also connects Filippovich with Sobyanin. And this tandem, together with the head of Gazprom Alexei Miller and the former top manager of Gazprom Mezhregiongaz and Miller’s assistant Kirill Seleznev (who manages the construction), can turn any schemes that are beneficial to them, without regard to the environmental component of the project.
By the way, “Velesstroy” is registered on MKOOO “Waveform”, the founder of which is the offshore PNP OVERSIZ INVESTMENTS LIMITED. Photo: https://www.rusprofile.ru
Not everything is OK
As for the second Croatian, against whom sanctions may soon be introduced, Miodrag Borojevic, this is the former executive director of the network hypermarkets OK. In 2018, he was appointed Advisor to the CEO.
The network is owned by Dmitry Korzhev, Dmitry Troitsky and Boris Volchek. Thus, in 2014, the adits of the oldest gold mine in the world were blown up. The incident caused a wave of indignation not only among public figures who had been fighting for the preservation of the historical monument for several years, but also among religious and political elites. Catholicos-Patriarch Ilia II demanded that those responsible be punished, and former President of Georgia Mikheil Saakashvili compared the incident with the destruction of the Buddha statue in Afghanistan by the Taliban. That may indicate a deterioration in the position of the company. Perhaps Korzhev, Trotsky and Volchek decided to send “their” Borozhevich to engage in “dark deeds” with Mr. Gref in order to earn extra money for the business?
Whatever it was, but in this situation, the head of Sberbank will have to be responsible for everything and his Arab partner. Recently, Sberbank has been quite actively getting rid of assets. Gref’s deputy Lev Khasis suddenly flew abroad. As The Moscow Post wrote, most likely to save the assets of his boss.
It is possible that Gref will soon follow him. Unless they “press” it earlier.
