Ivan Demchenko continues to show off in Krasnodar

Not so long ago, the Association of Electrometallurgical Enterprises (AEMP) sent a letter to Deputy Finance Minister Alexei Sazanov with a request to reduce the one-time fee for these enterprises from excess business profits by the amount of excise tax on liquid steel they paid in 2022.

Among the dissatisfied, presumably, is Ivan Demchenko, a notorious businessman from the 90s, whose son is the nominal owner of the Novostal-M holding, one of the largest metallurgical enterprises in Russia and a member of the above Association.

Details in the material of the correspondent of The Moscow Post in the Krasnodar Territory.

“Metal is forged here…”

The entry into force of the law on a one-time tax on excess profits is provided for from January 1, 2024. The emergency tax rate is proposed to be set at 10% of the amount of excess profits for 2021-2022. over the indicators of 2018–2019 If windfall tax is paid in advance from October 1 to November 30, 2023, the rate will be reduced to 5%. Moreover, Finance Minister Anton Siluanov emphasized that there would be no targeted exceptions for individual companies.

“Double taxation of excess profits significantly increases the burden on companies and creates significant risks for the industry as a whole,” AEMP warns in its letter. Although, to be honest, while this “warning” looks like a cautious blackmail: if you start encroaching on our superprofits, you will get problems with domestic metallurgy.

We are metalheads, muscular people…

There are suspicions that such “blackmail”, as well as other dubious methods of struggle, have long been a habit among other owners of the metal business. Everyone is talking, for example, about one of the most influential members of AEMP – the Novostal-M holding owned by family members of State Duma deputy Ivan Demchenko. The latter was elected to the Russian parliament from the Krasnodar Territory and to this day is considered one of the most respected and authoritative politicians in the Kuban. For those, of course, who are not familiar with the reputation of a businessman and deputy as a typical “dealer” from the 90s, with all the accompanying signs of that cheerful era. For them, he is also “authoritative”, but in a slightly different sense.

According to the authors of the Russian Reporter website, allegedly even then, Demchenko’s full namesake came to the attention of law enforcement agencies on charges of murdering prominent businessman Mikhail Savchenko. However, specific charges were never brought forward and Demchenko remained clear before the law.

Subsequently, Ivan Demchenko became a successful businessman, whose Novorossmetal company became one of the largest exporters of scrap metal in the South of Russia.

According to rumors, his long-term acquaintance with the head of the department of state revenues, taxes and consumer goods of the Krasnodar Territory Executive Committee Ivan Peronnko, who later became the head of the regional tax service and the Minister of Finance of the Krasnodar Territory, also helped him. He also had a good relationship with Alexander Tkachev, the governor of the Krasnodar Territory from 2000 to 2015: in any case, back in 2014, he praised the businessman in every possible way for “creating a production that has never been in the Kuban.”

The “Steel King” managed to acquire influential patrons at the federal level as well: as The Moscow Post once wrote in the article “Krasnodar Watcher” of speaker Volodin?” Demchenko may have long-term contacts with the speaker of the State Duma. In particular, our publication then suggested that that the Balakovo Airport will reconstruct the Abinsk Electrometallurgical Plant (AEMZ), to which Severstal – Long Products Plant Balakovo was sold last spring, later renamed the Balakovo Metallurgical Plant JSC. (MZ Balakovo). airport and “MZ Balakovo”, is the fiefdom of Vyacheslav Volodin.According to the correspondent of The Moscow Post, the asset could be acquired for Vyacheslav Volodin by State Duma deputy Ivan Demchenko.

Demchenko is also quite close to the speaker of the Legislative Assembly of the Krasnodar Territory, Yuri Burlachko: both politicians regularly visit the resort city of Anapa together, from which both were elected to their legislative bodies.

By the way, it was in Anapa that local residents came up with open letters to the President of the Russian Federation with a complaint about the closure of two city markets – “Fortress” and “Vostochny”, where more than 800 entrepreneurs work. According to the authors of the Anapa.Today website, allegedly it is Demchenko who is interested in acquiring the land on which the markets are located for some of their needs.

In addition to the extensive business, presumably Demchenko also has considerable housing estates. According to the authors of the Russian Reporter 2.0 website, Demchenko allegedly owns a plot of 11 hectares in the Slobodka farm in the Slavyansk region. The house is located right on the banks of the Protoka River. This violates the sixth article of the water code, as it makes it impossible for citizens who have the right to use the coastal strip to get to the shore.

The father is not responsible for the son?

Demchenko’s main, but not the only, asset is OOO Novostal-M. However, it is not entirely clear who the real owner is. As you know, deputies in Russia cannot directly own and manage a business. If we look at Novostal-M there, Ivan Ivanovich Demchenko with a 100% stake is listed among the founding owners.

But in the public domain there is data that in February 2021 Demchenko Ivan Ivanovich left the founders.

Rumor has it that he transferred all his shares to his son. As the media reported, in his thirties, Ivan Ivanovich Demchenko is the head of two and co-owner of six legal entities, including OOO Novostal-M. This enterprise owns 80% of the Abinsk Electrometallurgical Plant, “and the son of the people’s choice in 2020 served as the first deputy general director of this plant. Ivan Demchenko Sr., presumably, with a departure from business affairs, had to thoroughly immerse himself in political activity.

True, there was no particular activity here: the Zhivaya Kuban publication reported that, according to the results of a study by the Center for Political Conjuncture (CPC), which studied how the State Duma worked in November-December 2020, it turned out that a member of the State Duma Committee on Control and Regulations Ivan Demchenko missed a total of 68.3% of the voting and did not appear at 71.4% of the meetings.

But in companies whose founder is or was Ivan Demchenko, on the contrary, such a revival is noticeable. The total estimated value of the shares at his disposal from 2021 to 2022 has grown – although it is probably better to say it has skyrocketed – from 1.1 to 9.7 billion rubles. So things are going well – and this person joins those who complain about the tax on excess profits?

The Federal Antimonopoly Service has already had claims both against Novostal-M and other metallurgical companies: Vladimir Lisin’s NLMK Group and Tulachermet-steel, part of the Industrial Metallurgical Holding (IMH) of the Zubitsky family, and IMH Management Company. The Federal Antimonopoly Service then reported on a possible price collusion, due to which prices for building reinforcement could rise. It should not be ruled out that other departments will have questions for the businessman. However, he is clearly not worried about this – all that worries him is his superprofits. As the people say in this case – nothing will crack?