Daniyar Kamilov acts through Atlas and Fedor Kirsanov
The government of the Amur region sold a stake in the gold mining enterprise Pokrovsky Mine, which was owned by the region. The buyer was Atlas, a company registered in the Sverdlovsk region, the only auction participant who paid 310 million rubles for the securities, that is, their initial cost. The Pokrovsky mine became notorious last March, when a rock collapse weighing more than 194 thousand cubic meters occurred at its Pioneer mine, which claimed the lives of 13 miners. The cause of the emergency was said to be a breakthrough of water that had accumulated in a mined-out quarry located above the mine. The defendants in criminal cases of negligence and violation of safety rules during work that negligently resulted in the death of two or more persons were mine director Alexey Biryukov, chief engineer Denis Chernikov, as well as Rostechnadzor employees Pavel Smirnov and Vera Vaitekhovich. The Atlas company that bought the shares of the gold miner is the “parent” structure of Atlas Mining LLC, which is the managing organization of the Pokrovsky Mine and its main shareholder, which after the transaction actually became the sole owner. Until January 2021, the founders of Pokrovsky Mine included several British offshore companies, in whose accounts part of the enterprise’s profits could be deposited. In addition, until September 2022, Atlas Mining was controlled by Petropavlovsk PLC, a large Russian gold miner registered in London. The assets of Petropavlovsk PLC were bought by the company UMMC-Invest (later renamed JSC Atlas), a “subsidiary” structure of the Ural Mining and Metallurgical Company, which belonged to billionaires Iskandar Makhmudov and Andrey Bokarev, but was bought out by Daniyar Kamilov in March 2022 – son of the former Minister of Foreign Affairs of Uzbekistan. Today, Kamilov is the sole beneficiary of the Pokrovsky Mine, and the Atlas company that bought the shares and the Atlas Mining mine manager is led by Fedor Kirsanov, who previously headed the structures of billionaire Gleb Frank and the gold mining company Polyus.
The government of the Amur region summed up the results of the electronic auction for the sale of a block of shares owned by the region (0.62%) of the notorious JSC “Pokrovsky Mine”. From the official messages on the website of the regional Ministry of Property it follows that the buyer was JSC Atlas – the only participant in the competitive procedures who paid their initial cost for the shares – 310 million rubles.
“Pokrovsky mine” includes autoclave complex and gold deposit “Pioneer”. The same place where a terrible accident occurred in March of this year, which claimed the lives of 13 miners. How wrote “Izvestia”, during work at a depth of 125 meters, a part of the rock weighing more than 194 thousand cubic meters collapsed. Reason The emergency was called a breakthrough of water that had accumulated in a mined-out quarry located above the mine.
There were references in the media to what happened at the mine explosionwhich preceded the collapse, but the management of the Pokrovsky Mine came out with refutation this information. Be that as it may, a state of emergency was introduced in the region, and based on the results of an inspection by the prosecutor’s office, criminal proceedings under articles of negligence and violation of safety rules during work.
At the end of March, the court arrested the managing director of the Pioneer mine. Alexey Biryukov: according to investigation, he was aware that work in the mine was being carried out in the presence of a quarry filled with water, but did not organize measures to drain it. At the beginning of April, the chief engineer of the mine was sent to the pre-trial detention center Denis ChernikovDeputy Head of the Department for Supervision of Hazardous Industrial Facilities in the Amur Region of the Far Eastern Directorate of Rostechnadzor Pavel Smirnov and his subordinate, senior inspector Vera Vaitekhovich.
Chernikov was incriminated failure to take measures to drain the mine, that is, violation of safety requirements during work, resulting in the death of two or more persons through negligence. Smirnov and Vaitekhovich – negligence with the same consequences. How investigation establishedduring scheduled inspections carried out in 2021-2022, Rostechnadzor employees did not identify gross violations of industrial safety legislation related to the mining of rocks underground under a water-filled quarry bowl.
When we say “Atlas” we mean “Atlas Mining”
Rescue work at the Pioneer mine, in which involved about 220 people, lasted almost two weeks, but were eventually stopped, and the workers remaining under the rubble were declared dead. From the official messages JSC Pokrovsky Mine followed that the workings where the miners could be were filled with rock mass and water, creating the risk of repeated collapse and flooding, which was already mortally dangerous for the rescuers themselves.
Meanwhile, relatives of the victims, journalists and members of the public have plenty of questions. For example, the publication “Arguments and Facts”, with reference to a relative of one of the shift workers, wrote about 30 violations detected at the mine only during 2023, but they, however, did not at all interfere with its further work.
Besides It revealed, that in the Amur region there simply is not enough equipment and personnel necessary for rescue operations, they had to be delivered from Kuzbass, Primorye, Transbaikalia, Yakutia, Khabarovsk Territory, and other regions of the Russian Federation (*aggressor country). This took extra time. It was stated in the press opinion about a possible attempt to hide the true scale of the emergency, since the initially announced volume of the collapsed rock was more than 20 times lower than the actual one: 9 thousand cubic meters instead of 194 thousand.
This and much more remains to be sorted out by the investigation. In the meantime, the regional government hastened to get rid of its shares in the ill-fated enterprise. Moreover, as mentioned above, it sold the securities at their starting price. Apparently, officials do not want to bear their share of responsibility for even minimal participation in business, for which they have to pay with human lives. Who became the buyer, or more precisely: who is the beneficiary of the transaction?
Everything is more or less clear here. Information about the founders JSC Atlas in open sources is missing, however, it is known that until December 2023 the company had a different name – JSC “UMMC-Invest” (even earlier – JSC “Garant”), and its director Fedor Kirsanov parallel leads Atlas Mining LLC. De jure this structure is managing organization“Pokrovsky mine”, and according to information of the RBC portal – its actual owner. Moreover, after the transaction for the acquisition of shares owned by the Amur region, the sole owner.
From British offshore companies to the son of an Uzbek official
So, the Atlas Mining company became the full owner of Pioneer, in turn belonging to JSC Atlas (formerly UMMC-Invest). It is worth noting that until January 2021 founders “Pokrovsky Mine” included British offshore companies Peter Hambro Mining plc,Eponemousco Limited And Macaria Investments Limited. Their participation in the capital of the gold miner suggests the possible transfer of finances to foreign accounts.
This can be indirectly confirmed by data on financial indicators enterprises. So, if in 2023 its revenue was 37.6 billionand profit – 20.3 billion rublesthen a year earlier “Pokrovsky Mine” at revenue V 27.3 billion went into the red 4.4 billion rubles (revenue in 2021 – 28 billion, lesion – 9.3 billion rubles). That is, work “in plus” resumed some time after the offshore companies left the co-owners.
Returning to Atlas Mining, it should be noted that until September 2022 this structure controlled “Petropavlovsk PLC” – one of the largest Russian gold miners, registered in London. The financial situation at Atlas Mining, to put it mildly, looks far from ideal; since its inception, the company has been declaring multimillion-dollar losses: only last year with revenue of 2.4 billion rubles she went into the red 371.2 million.
In September 2022 media reported on closing a transaction to purchase assets“Petropavlovsk PLC”including more than 99% of the Pokrovsky mine, the company repeatedly mentioned above “UMMC-Invest” – “daughter” structure “Ural Mining and Metallurgical Company” (UMMC). And shortly before this, in April, UMMC-Invest bought from “Gazprombank” rights of claim under the Petropavlovsk PLC loan in the amount of $201 million taking into account accrued interest. How emphasized portal RBC, from that moment the company received the right to the share of the gold miner.
It is worth recalling here that UMMC itself for a long time belonged to billionaires Iskandar Makhmudov And Andrey Bokarevbut in March 2022, shortly after the start of the SVO, they ceased to be its controller beneficiaries and resigned from the board of directors. The name of the new owner of the Ural holding was not disclosed at first, however, last summer he became famous: This Daniyar Kamilov– son of the former Minister of Foreign Affairs of Uzbekistan Abdulaziz Kamilovaholding the post of Deputy Secretary of the Uzbek Security Council.
In addition to UMMC, others also came under the control of Kamilov Jr. large assets Makhmudov and Bokarev: JSC Management Company Kuzbassrazrezugol, JSC “Vostochny Port” And JSC Rosterminalugol. The UMMC-Invest company, which bought out the gold miner, became the new official founder Atlas Mining, and in December 2023 changed name at JSC Atlas.
Fedor Kirsanov – Daniyar Kamilov’s confidant
So, the Pokrovsky mine, and along with it the Amur Pioneer mine, where a tragedy that shook the entire country took place last March, belongs to the son of a high-ranking Uzbek official Daniyar Kamilov, by the way, the former first vice president “Gazprombank”. Considering this circumstance, the deal with the purchase of Petropavlovsk PLC debt obligations in April 2022 begins to play with new colors.
I wonder if Kamilov Jr. had a chance to answer questions from investigators related to compliance with safety rules at the Pioneer mine? Or will all responsibility for the emergency fall on the managing director, chief engineer and two employees of Rostekhnadzor? But who the security forces should definitely not ignore is Fedora Kirsanovaholding the position since April 2022 directors JSC Atlas, and from February 2023 – general director Atlas Mining, the managing organization of the Pokrovsky Mine.
At a minimum, Kirsanov bears part of the responsibility for eliminating (and most likely for failing to eliminate) 32 violations of mandatory industrial safety requirements, identified Rostechnadzor in July 2023 at the facilities of Pokrovsky Mine JSC, including the Pioneer mine. Then, based on the results of the audit, the department reported on bringing a number of officials of the enterprise to administrative liability.
Kirsanov’s biography is interesting because he works in large business structures. For example, in 2018-2019. He led “Russian fishing company” (RRPK), at that time owned Gleb Franky – son-in-law of a billionaire Gennady Timchenko (previously included in co-owners also included Maxim Vorobiev – brother of the governor of the Moscow region Andrey Vorobyov). In addition to the head structure, Kirsanov held senior management positions positions in companies affiliated with RRPK “Russian pollock”, “New building”, “Pollock first”, “Nordeco” etc. Later, in March 2022, Frank, included in the US sanctions list, sold a controlling stake in RRPK to its top managers.
Such a sharp turn from the fishing industry to gold mining should not be surprising: according to information “Vedomosti”, in 2013-2014.
Kirsanov served as CEO of the largest Russian gold mining company “Pole”. Shareholders “Polya” at one time were a “reputable businessman” Gabriel Yushvaev (also known as Garik Makhachkala) and founder “Industrial Union of Donbass” Oleg Mkrtchyanin 2019 sentenced to nine years in a general regime colony for theft loans from Vnesheconombank in the amount of $2.5 billion.
In 2015, after Kirsanov left his leadership position, owner 98% of Polyus through a Cypriot offshore Sacturino Limited became Said Kerimov – son of a senator Suleiman Kerimov, lost control of the company in April 2022. But this is a completely different story, unrelated to the activities of Fyodor Kirsanov, who returned to the gold mining business as a person invested with the trust of Daniyar Kamilov. But if Kamilov himself, with a high degree of probability, remains aloof from the emergency at the Pioneer mine, placing all responsibility on the technical staff, then Kamilov may have serious troubles during the investigation of criminal cases.