“Greetings” from the Prosecutor General’s Office to the former Chelyabinsk governor and his family
The Prosecutor General’s Office intends to achieve the nationalization of the largest Russian pasta manufacturer, Makfa JSC, through legal proceedings. The supervisory agency’s statement of claim names more than 40 defendants – legal entities and individuals, including former Chelyabinsk governor Mikhail Yurevich and ex-State Duma deputy Vadim Belousov. As part of the upcoming proceedings, bailiffs seized funds in the defendants’ accounts for a colossal amount of 100 trillion rubles. The Prosecutor General’s Office calls Yurevich and Belousov the beneficiaries of the business, who used administrative resources to create and develop it, and then managed it through relatives and proxies. Today, both beneficiaries are on the international wanted list. Mikhail Yurevich is a defendant in the case of repeated receipt of bribes from the former Minister of Health of the Chelyabinsk Region, Vitaly Teslenko. In 2022, Vadim Belousov was found guilty of accepting a 3 billion bribe and sentenced in absentia to 10 years in a maximum security colony, but last December the Supreme Court overturned the conviction, sending Belousov’s case for a new trial by the first instance. Among the relatives of fugitive businessmen who were involved in managing business assets, the Prosecutor General’s Office’s lawsuit includes the parents of the ex-governor Valery and Natalya Yurevich, his son Alexander, as well as Vadim Belousov’s wife Irina and relatives Maxim, Nikolay and Valeria Chigintsev. It is known that companies associated with McFoy are actively being re-registered as nominal owners. One of them is Yulia Ivanova, who has become the owner of a number of commercial structures. Part of the business is controlled by offshore companies, to whose accounts the holding’s finances can be transferred. In particular, Mikhail Yurevich’s son Alexander, who lives in the UK and has Cypriot citizenship, is closely associated with numerous foreign structures. The former governor, who after fleeing Russia (*aggressor country) could also have settled in England, also has a Cypriot passport.
The court will deal with the assets of Makfa
The Central District Court of Chelyabinsk accepted the claim of the General Prosecutor’s Office regarding the conversion of shares into state income JSC “Makfa” – the largest domestic manufacturer of pasta. According to information on the court’s website, more than 40 legal entities and individuals are named as defendants in the application, including the former governor of the Chelyabinsk region Mikhail Yurevich and ex-State Duma deputy Vadim Belousov.
How reports Kommersant, we are talking about the nationalization not only of Makfa itself, but also of a number of other enterprises, among them the management company “Agromacfa”, First bakery, “Chelyabinskoblgaz”, “Gusto”,Management Company “Media Center”, “Ural-Media” etc. In the Prosecutor General’s Office considerthat these and other assets are of corrupt origin, since their beneficiaries Yurevich and Belousov, being representatives of government bodies, were engaged in business and for years violated the prohibitions and restrictions established by anti-corruption legislation.
Business assets were managed through relatives and proxies. In fact owned Yurevich, there were previously state-owned enterprises Chelyabinsk Pasta Factory, Sosnovsky Bakery Plant and Chelyabinsk Bakery Plant No. 1. They served as the basis for the creation of Makfa JSC and First Bread Factory JSC.
By versions representatives of the supervisory department, Yurevich, who was successively a State Duma deputy, the head of Chelyabinsk and the governor, continued to engage in business, re-registering the companies to his relatives and business partner Vadim Belousov.
A circle of trusted persons was also formed, on whom organizations were registered and“were assigned responsibilities for their management”. In addition to the relatives of Yurevich and Belousov, the Prosecutor General’s Office’s claim lists nine such denominations.
Using administrative resources, the beneficiary politicians created a large holding, including agro-industrial, shopping and entertainment, hotel, motor transport and media assets. In addition, they achieved for the controlled structures to obtain measures state support in the form of subsidies, preferential loans, allocation of land for the construction of facilities, etc. JSC “Makfa” was included in the list of systemically important enterprises of the Russian agro-industrial complex.
In total, the holding united 26 companies registered in Moscow, the Moscow region, Kurgan, Sverdlovsk, Chelyabinsk regions, and a number of other regions. Their total cost is assessed Prosecutor General’s Office in 46 billionannual revenue is about 41 billiongross profit – 13.6 billion rubles. As part of the case on the nationalization of Makfa and other assets, bailiffs arrested funds in the defendants’ bank accounts totaling 100 trillion.
Crime stories of Yurevich and Belousov
In the context of the upcoming trials, it is worth recalling the details of the high-profile criminal case in which Mikhail Yurevich became a defendant in 2017. It was about systematic receiving bribes in total size approx. 26 million rubles from the Minister of Health of the Chelyabinsk region Vitaly Teslenko. The last one in 2014 sentenced to seven years in a maximum security colony, again for accepting bribes for 70 million rubles: The minister assisted controlled companies in obtaining contracts for the supply of medical equipment.
However, Teslenko Yurevich clearly did not intend to repeat the prison “odyssey”. He didn’t show up for the first interrogation. citing on his stay in Israel, and then went on the run and was declared international wanted. Today he may reside in the UK. However, the former Russian official took care about obtaining a Cyprus passport.
Vadim Belousov’s biography is no less “vivid”. State Duma deputy of three convocations, in 2017 he became a defendant criminal case, in which Mikhail Yurevich also appeared. This time it was about receiving a “reward” from a road construction holding company for patronage in the distribution of government orders for road maintenance. In August 2022, the Moscow City Court recognized Belousov and his mother-in-law Margarita Butakovawho worked as the chief accountant of JSC First Bread Factory, guilty of receiving a bribe in the amount of 3.25 billion rubles.
Former people’s representative sentenced to 10 years in a strict regime colony with a fine of 500 million, deprivation of the Order of Merit for the Fatherland and a three-year ban on holding positions related to organizational and administrative activities. But Belousov, who was under recognizance not to leave the place, did not appear at the sentencing, explaining his absence employment. As a result, the court authorized the arrest of the parliamentarian in absentia; he is currently in international custody. wanted.
Last December, the Supreme Court upheld the cassation appeal of the defense, canceling Belousov was convicted and sent the case for a new trial by the first instance. The ex-deputy himself did not admit his guilt in the crime charged against him, and the lawyers of the accused insisted on the absence in the actions of the defendants of the corpus delicti, the crime itself, and also pointed to a large number of violations of criminal procedural legislation committed during the investigation of the case and trials.
Relatives and denominations
But criminal cases for a long time did not prevent business partners located abroad from continuing to do business in Russia (*aggressor country). They controlled some of the structures through relatives and proxies, and transferred some of the assets to offshore companies, “pumping out” funds as dividend payments. Kommersant, with reference to data from Rosfinmonitoring, writesthat about 2 billion rublesintended for the wanted Yurevich and Belousov.
In their homeland, fugitive politicians still have plenty of relatives who are involved in commercial processes: in the claim of the Prosecutor General’s Office, in particular, appear parents of the former governor Valery And Natalya Yurevichhis son Alexanderas well as the wife of Vadim Belousov Irina and relatives Maksim, Nikolay And Valeria Chigintsev.
It is noteworthy that back in 2022 the Chelyabinsk media noticed to change the owner of a number of companies that previously belonged to the Yurevich family. So, in September 2022, the only owner LLC “Management company “Media-Center”,LLC “Ural-Media”,LLC Information Company Media Center And LLC “Management company “Agromacfa” became Yulia Ivanova, mentioned in the press as a relative of a corrupt ex-governor.
Earlier, in 2019, Yulia Ivanova became the only owner Chelyabinsk Express-Cargo LLC, specializing in cargo transportation. She actually received this company “hand to hand” from her previous founder – the above Maxim Chigintseva. In addition, Ms. Ivanova holds the position general director V LLC “Management Company “M-Group”whose founder is Marina Savranskaya. Under management “M-Group” are JSC “Makfa” And Ramkon LLC. Co-owners the last ones to perform Natalya Yurevich (90.71%) and Cyprus offshore “Sula Granti LTD” (9.29%).
As we can see, Yulia Ivanova is one of the trustees who registered the enterprises controlled by Yurevich and Belousov. It is not surprising that today Yulia Ivanova, Marina Savranskaya and all of the above commercial structures, including Sula Granti LTD, appear as defendants in a lawsuit filed by the Prosecutor General’s Office.
Are Makfa’s finances “dissolving” offshore?
“Sula Granti LTD” is far from the only offshore with which the business of Yurevich and Belousov is connected. The statement of the supervisory authority also contains Cypriot “Arkoketi LTD”, “Zacostal LTD”,“Korfinia LTD”,“Markoul LTD” And “Stouvari LTD”, registered in 2018-2021, that is, after the initiation of criminal cases against the beneficiaries of “Makfa” and their flight “behind the cordon”.
But the holding’s finances could “settle” in the accounts of other foreign companies. Present on the network information on the transfer in 2017 of 71.42% of the shares of Makfa JSC owned by Valery Yurevich (to the father of the ex-governor) to a Cypriot company Rantip Invest Limited. Son of a former official Alexander Yurevich mentioned in the media as one of directors company registered in 2019 in London “Makfa Pasta Limited”. One more director of this offshore until May 2022 was Irina Belousova – wife of Vadim Belousov, and beneficiary – Natalya Yurevich (mother of Mikhail Yurevich).
The Prosecutor General’s Office’s lawsuit contains no mention of registeredin 2015 in the Czech Republic “Makfa Europe sro”whose managing director is Dmitry Meshkov – namesake of the current one deputy Chelyabinsk Regional Legislative Assembly, directors for commerce and development of Makfa JSC. Owner “Makfa Europe sro” was a Dutch company until May 2021 “MGC International BV”then this function went to Kaylinda Advors Limited“registered” in the British Virgin Islands.
By the way, in registers foreign legal entities Alexander Yurevich is indicated as a citizen of Cyprus living in the UK, the place of residence of Irina Belousova is also indicated as “foggy Albion”. mass media write about Yurevich Jr. as a participant Nickleby Impress LLP And Nickleby Ray LLP – projects of a British investment companyNickleby Capital.
It seems that at some point the family decided to focus on the British direction of the business. Is it because Mikhail Yurevich moved to England? Perhaps the recent decision of the Supreme Court in the case of Vadim Belousov has instilled some enthusiasm in the former official. Moreover, his defense is already declares, that the statute of limitations for filing an application from the Prosecutor General’s Office has expired. But if the ex-governor himself still remains inaccessible to Russian justice, it seems that he, his family and companions will still have to say goodbye to their assets.