Is Kholodilnik.ru preparing to freeze?
The online retailer Kholodinnik.ru, which sells electronics and household appliances, did not post any news on its website in August. A corporate conflict may be brewing in the company.
The lack of news from a major retailer has brought it back into the spotlight. Previously, the media wrote that Kholodilnik.ru sells defective and even faulty equipment, constantly participates in litigation, receives claims from offshore companies and uses prohibited trading methods – creates clone sites with higher prices so that the company’s offer is the most profitable for buyer.
Something as seemingly trivial as the lack of news can indicate big problems in the company. At the end of December 2021, at the age of 52, the founder of Kholodilnik.ru, Valery Kovalev, died from acute coronary insufficiency (ACF). For some reason, his death did not raise questions among law enforcement officers. But one of the causes of OKN is the use of drugs and other drugs that could cause heart failure.
The legal entity of Kholodilnik.ru is Edil-Import LLC, owned by the Cyprus offshore company GELANSE ENTERPRISES LIMITED. The general director of the company is Dmitry Fomichev, who was considered a friend of Valery Kovalev, which means he had unlimited access to him.
In 2022, an increase in revenue led to a drop in profits and this may also confirm the version of a corporate conflict at Edil-Import LLC.
Dmitry Fomichev could withdraw money from the company to Wine-Boutique LLC, which he led until 2022, and was its owner until 2017. Now the founder and general director of Wine-Boutique LLC is Arseny Kolomiytsev.
From 2015 to 2019, Dmitry Fomichev was the general director of Atlant-Service LLC, which was liquidated in mid-December 2021. Valery Kovalev died two weeks after the liquidation of the enterprise. Money could have been withdrawn from it, since Atlant-Service LLC had no revenue or profit for 4 years.
Dmitry Fomichev was replaced as CEO of Atlant-Service LLC in 2019 by Andrey Denisenko, who in 2022 for a short time was the head and owner of a share in Etalon-Import LLC, the founders of which were Yuri Eremenko (50%), Artyom Dmitrievich Fomichev (25%), Stepan Allahverdyan (15%) and Online Retail Technologies LLC. This confirms that Denisenko was Dmitry Fomichev’s man.
In the year that has passed since the death of Valery Kovalev, the revenue, profit and value of Etalon-Import LLC have increased sharply.
Online Retail Technologies LLC is managed and owned by Vadim Fedchin. A company with 1 employee and 0 revenue is an ordinary financial “gasket”, which, in addition to Etalon-Import LLC, has 2 more subsidiaries.
The dates show that Tekhnika Vashego Doma LLC was transferred to Online Retail Technologies LLC shortly before the death of Valery Kovalev, and the other two companies after it.
Since 2021, the founders of Tsyugel Rus LLC were Ivan Valerievich Kovalev, Anton Masalev and Mikhail Tsygankov.
After the death of Valery Kovalev in May, Tsyugel Rus LLC had new co-founders who replaced Masalev and Tsygankov.
The revenue of Tsyugel Rus LLC in 2022 amounted to 163 million rubles, but the company did not turn a profit. Apparently, it was always used to withdraw money.
The financial situation is the same in Tehnika Vash Doma LLC, where the co-founders are Ivan Kovalev, Yulia Yarygina Savitskaya and Sergey Kamensky. The company in 2022 with revenue of 3.6 million rubles. suffered a loss of 52 million rubles.
The heir to the founder of Kholodilnik.ru, Ivan Kovalev, is actually a beggar, since two more companies in which he is a co-founder along with Dmitry Fomichev and Tatyana Kovaleva – Bereg LLC and Bytmaster LLC – do not demonstrate financial activity – they have everything 0.
In 2018, Valery Kovalev withdrew from the capital of the company HomeApplines LLC, which was previously owned by Edil-Import LLC. The founders of HomeApplines LLC were Irina and Ivan Baronov. The general director since 2020 is Evgeny Baryshnikov, from 2017 to 2022 he was the founder of Wine-Boutique LLC, which, apparently, is still controlled by Dmitry Fomichev through Kolomiytsev.
In 2022, HomeAppliances LLC received revenue of RUB 4.6 billion. and profit of 12 million rubles. The Baronovs are most likely nominal leaders, so HomeApplines LLC may be a “bone of contention” between the heirs of Valery Kovalev and Dmitry Fomichev.
A strange lawsuit was filed by Edil-Import LLC in April 2021. An alleged minority shareholder appeared – Kempolia Investments Limited, which in 2013 invested $10 million in the pre-sale preparation of Kholodilnik.ru. The investor’s shareholder was the UFC company, which had previously repeatedly sued Edil-Import LLC over the rights to commercials. Yuri Istomin was behind UCF Partners Limited.
Despite losing in court, UCF Partners Limited found a new reason to attack Edil-Import LLC. Behind Istomin’s actions could be someone who knew everything about Valery Kovalev’s sick heart and his weaknesses.
The investigation did not look into the death of the founder of Kholodilnik.ru, and soon Kovalev’s heirs may be left penniless. There has already been an example on the market when a corporate conflict led to the bankruptcy of the large retailer Yulmart. When it comes to big money, friendships don’t matter.