Ilya Traber left the “untouchables”
Ilya Traber could have come under the scrutiny of the security forces because of loan obligations to a state bank. What else will a “reputable” entrepreneur remember?
Rumors spread about searches in the office of the “authoritative” businessman Ilya Traber, known in certain circles as “Antikvar”. He had already commented on the situation, saying that the reports were “grossly exaggerated,” which indirectly confirmed the existence of problems.
He added that a deal is currently underway to sell LOESK, which explains the “stuffing”. Apparently, he meant that someone wants to “bring down the price.” Although, if you look at the financial affairs of the company, doubts arise that it can be sold at a high price and without “putting a spoke in the wheels.”
According to sources, the alleged searches may be related to thefts at the Leningrad Electric Grid Company (LOESK), which Traber acquired a couple of years ago.
Attempts to play “humiliated and insulted”
LOESK was purchased by Traber and his partners in 2019 through the Rostok company from Dmitry Simonov and the son of the ex-governor of the Leningrad region Vadim Serdyukov. To purchase the shares, Traber and Co. took out a loan from the state-owned All-Russian Regional Development Bank (RRDB) under personal guarantee.
But something did not go according to plan, and in the same year, Traber’s partner Artyom Begun, who has a share in LOESK, filed a lawsuit against Dmitry Simonov. According to the text of the document, Begun demanded that the purchase price of the share amounting to 15.84% of the authorized capital of Rostok LLC be reduced threefold: from 1.14 billion rubles to 380.16 million rubles. This is because Begun, apparently after the purchase, discovered those aspects of the LOESK business that he had not known about before. Traber’s partner was not satisfied with the decrease in LOESK’s profits, as well as the identified economically unjustified expenses.
Photo: https://kad.arbitr.ru
The point is that the Finance Committee of the Leningrad Region has been withdrawing 1 billion rubles from the company’s revenue for several years. This is based on the decision of the FAS based on the results of an audit in 2018, when the service recommended taking a closer look at the expenses of LOESK. The company has been suing over this issue for several years, and it is unlikely that the buyers did not know about the existing conflict. At the same time, it should be taken into account that LOESK recently won a lawsuit against the Finance Committee and recovered damages.
So the court rejected Mr. Begun’s claim, and the dispute was also unable to be resolved on appeal. As they say, the job is done, there is nowhere to retreat. What’s also interesting is that, according to media reports, the deal to acquire shares in LOESK was estimated at 100 million euros. Since then, the rate has increased significantly, and if calculations were made in foreign currency, Begun could make great money on reverse conversion.
Traber tried to do the same thing, only with Serdyukov’s share, in the courts. With the same result. Apparently, Traber and Co. wanted to get at a cheap price what they got at a normal price, but it didn’t work out. Another option is also possible – the new shareholders themselves could withdraw some of the funds from the company, and then try to shift the blame to the former owners. Is this why the security forces could visit the “authoritative” entrepreneur?
One cannot ignore the talk about the sale of LOESK. After the owner changes, collecting the debt from Traber will become more difficult. There is a version that the company was brought into bankruptcy in order to then be transferred to Ryumin, the general director of Rosseti.
Where is LOESK heading?
As we mentioned at the beginning, the company itself cannot be called successful, despite its almost monopoly position on the market in St. Petersburg and the mass of government contracts. Over the past year, its revenue fell by 18% – almost to the level of persistent accounts payable. The organization does not have enough own funds to support current activities and there is a risk of loss of solvency.
This means that RRDB, which issued the loan, may also suffer. It is unlikely that the state will like this. Perhaps difficulties have already arisen with payments, which may explain the possible interest of the security forces in Traber. Moreover, the situation in LOESK is called pre-bankruptcy. The company is missing the deadline for connecting facilities to the network, which is why there is already a big scandal in the city.
How did an almost monopolist get to this point? And aren’t its owners planning to “collapse” the business and not answer for their debts? The questions to Traber are quite reasonable, and security forces may want to ask them.
Remember Israelite
At the same time, the “attack” on Traber is a serious signal. For a long time he was in the so-called “untouchable caste”. Investigators stubbornly avoided a lot of the businessman’s cases, which might have raised reasonable questions.
For example, about how he received the assets of the disgraced businessman Valery Izrailit, who was detained in 2016 and subsequently accused of embezzling money for the construction of the port of Ust-Luga. The main creditor of Izrailit was Sberbank, whose structures subsequently sold the debts to the offshore company MAPLE WOODLAND LIMITED, which, in turn, ceded it to New Communal Technologies LLC (NKT). A lot of transactions led to a reduction in the value of debts and as a result, Ilya Traber and his partners received everything.
Valery Izrailit. Photo: Alexander Koryakov/Kommersant
Here, by the way, there is scope for “excavations” in the direction of Sberbank representatives. Why would a government agency decide to do this with a high-yield asset created in a public-private partnership, if not for someone else’s selfish interests? But the media wrote that Traber’s partner Sergei Pupko had a business relationship with the former general director of Sberbank Capital Ashot Khachaturyants, who was precisely responsible for problematic assets.
The 90s are over
Traber has a lot of port assets, for example, in 1993 he became a co-owner of the St. Petersburg oil terminal together with the structure of the well-known leader of the Tambov organized crime group, Vladimir Barsukov-Kumarin, who has long been in places not so distant for a whole package of charges.
By the way, now there is also a behind-the-scenes “redistribution” going on in PNT. For more than six months, one of the shareholders, Sergei Vasiliev, has not appeared in the public sphere, who, presumably, is in a state where he cannot make decisions. Recently, all his shares were transferred to his wife Elena Vasilyeva, who was not involved in such a business. There is a possibility that the same Traber may “loom” behind Ms. Vasilyeva. The Moscow Post did a big investigation on this matter.
In general, the 90s are over, but, apparently, not in the minds of some individuals.
Energy is the direction in which Antikvar decided to expand. But, it seems, he could not stand up against the state. Last year, the FAS approved the acquisition by Rostcom of the business of Vladimir Yevtushenkov, who may now need money. We are talking about the company “BESK”. True, the process is still dragging on. Because the shares have been seized as part of a legal proceeding, “to which the group is not a party.”
Apparently, we are talking about a scandal with the alienation of the Bashkir fuel and energy complex into the property of the son of the former head of the republic, Murtaza Rakhimov, from the state.
But, if Traber is already deeply in debt to LOESK, does that mean he was also going to take funds from banks for the deal with Yevtushenkov? Judging by his past affairs, it could be either the state-owned Sberbank or the same RRDB. It seems that the entrepreneur here has already gone too far, so they started asking him. If “the ball starts to unravel, questions may arise about where LOESK’s funds went, and about the legitimacy of receiving Izrailit’s assets, and much more.
His partners, the same Begun, a lawyer who is credited with participation in raider takeovers, can also “fly in”.
There are no untouchables.
