Prosecutors “came” to Melnichenko
Andrey Melnichenko, who is associated with the former head of the Ministry of Energy, and now Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak, is seized by the Prosecutor General’s Office’s Sibeko shares. Has the bell rung for Novak?
The case of the ex-minister of the Open Government, Mikhail Abyzov, echoed in the wallet of the oligarch Andrey Melnichenko, who, at the suggestion of the Prosecutor General’s Office, can be deprived of shares in the large generating company Sibeco. The Melnichenko case may become the thread that leads to Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak, who was previously in charge of Russia’s energy assets as head of the Ministry of Energy.
Recall that ex-minister of the Open Government, Mikhail Abyzov, is charged with creating a criminal community using his official position, fraud, illegal business and laundering of criminally acquired money and property. It was about a scam for 4 billion rubles. It was this amount, according to the investigation, that was stolen from Sibeco and Regional Electric Networks and taken abroad. Earlier, the Prosecutor General’s Office collected 32.54 billion rubles from Abyzov and offshore companies affiliated with him to the budget.
The “Abyzov case” dragged along a whole chain of stories – from Andrei Severilov, the parent company of the FESCO group, associated with the head of the board of directors of FESCO, to the deal to buy out Sibeco shares by companies affiliated with the founder of Eurochem and SUEK Andrey Melnichenko.
The fact is that the shares of JSC “Regional Electric Networks” (RES) had previously returned to the state, now it’s the turn for Sibeco.
Recall that in May 2023, by decree of the President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin, the shares of RES were included in PJSC Federal Grid Company – Rosseti.
But there is one fact that can play by no means on the side of the Prosecutor General’s Office. The deal in 2018 for the purchase of Sibeko shares by SGC structures was approved by the Federal Antimonopoly Service, that is, it will not work to pretend that the deal went quietly, and no one has canceled the statute of limitations. But let’s wait and see. It is unlikely that the supervisory authority does not have any well-developed strategy for this case.
Prosecutor to lighten Melnichenko’s business portfolio
On September 7, 2023, the Sverdlovsky District Court of the city of Krasnoyarsk plans to begin consideration of the claim of the Prosecutor General’s Office of the Russian Federation to recover in favor of the state the shares of JSC Siberian Energy Company (Sibeko), registered to the Kuzbass Joint-Stock Company of Energy and Electrification. The defendant in this lawsuit, in addition to JSC Kuzbassenergo, are JSC Khakass Service and Repair Company and Andrey Melnichenko, whom the plaintiff in the lawsuit calls the beneficiary of the assets.
According to the lawsuit filed on August 17, interim measures were also announced in the form of arrest of shares, property of Sibeko, as well as blocking a number of powers of the company’s management bodies.
Photo: documents provided by The Moscow Post source
In its lawsuit, the supervisory authority clarified that these claims arose in connection with the sale and purchase of shares by Melnichenko’s companies from offshore companies associated with ex-Minister Mikhail Abyzov, as part of the supervision of a criminal investigation against the latter.
Photo: documents provided by The Moscow Post source
As follows from the lawsuit, the deal took place in 2018 and Sibeco shares (95.52%) from Alinor Investments LTD, Besta Holdings LTD, Cullen Holdings LTD, Lisento Investments LTD, Vantroso Trading LTD “, affiliated with Abyzov, were bought out by Kuzbassenergo JSC and Khakass Service and Repair Company JSC (HSRK). The total price of transactions amounted to 32.51 billion rubles.
Already in 2019, Abyzov was detained on charges of major fraud, since, as an official, he did not have the right to do business, and the legalization of illegally obtained funds. Then the promotion of the entire chain began.
Later, according to the prosecutor, the management company, LLC SGK (Siberian Generating Company), in the interests of Kuzbassenergo, sent a mandatory offer to buy back the securities to the nominee management of KhSRK, which was accepted. As a result, the shares were concentrated in the hands of Kuzbassenergo.
Photo: document provided by The Moscow Post source
The claim for the recovery of shares was substantiated by the fact that Melnichenko and legal entities controlled by him committed violations of anti-corruption legislation.
“Melnichenko A.I., realizing and understanding that the implementation of entrepreneurial activities by the Federal Minister Abyzov M.A., his discussion of the conditions for the sale of shares, control of their sale and, as a result, his enrichment are activities prohibited by anti-corruption legislation and give rise to an act of corruption, from participation I didn’t refuse the planned shady deal,” says Deputy Prosecutor General I.V. Tkachev in a lawsuit.
Photo: document provided by The Moscow Post source
Since July 2018, Sibeco has been managed by Siberian Generating Company LLC.
Golden energy reserve of Russia
To understand the weight of the asset, we present some facts.
At the end of 2022, Sibeco’s revenue amounted to 38 billion rubles, an increase of 11%, and net profit, having increased by 72%, reached 4.8 billion rubles. For all the years, the company has also been a supplier in more than 16.3 thousand government contracts for a total amount of about 20 billion rubles and a customer in 9.7 thousand contracts worth more than 227 billion rubles.
“Sibeco” is the largest enterprise in Siberia, engaged in the production and sale of thermal and electrical energy, its division included six thermal power plants in the Novosibirsk region and JSC “Razrez Sereulsky”.
In general, the SGK division includes Primorskaya GRES, Krasnoyarskaya GRES-2, Novosibirsk Thermal Grid Company, Reftinskaya GRES, Yuzhnaya Thermal Station, Novosibirsk – CHPP-2, CHPP-3, CHPP-4, CHPP-5, as well as Siberian Engineering -Analytical Center”, “Siberian Heat Supply Company”, “South Siberian Heat Network Company”, “Interregional Heat Network Company”, “Barnaul Heat Network Company”, “Kemerovo Heat Network Company”, “Krasnoyarsk Heat Network”, “Barabinskaya CHPP”, “Biyskaya CHPP” “, “Abakanskaya CHPP”, “Kyzylskaya CHPP”, “Minusinskaya CHPP”, “Barnaulskaya CHPP-2” and CHPP-3, “Belovskaya SDPP”, GTPP “Novokuznetskaya”, “Kemerovskaya SDPP”, “Kemerovskaya CHPP”, “Kuznetskaya CHPP”, “Novo-Kemerovskaya CHPP”, “Tom-Usinskaya SDPP”, “Kanskaya CHPP”, “Nazarovskaya SDPP”, “Krasnoyarsk” – CHPP-1, CHPP-2 and CHPP-3. That is, in fact, under the heel of Melnichenko – the lion’s layer of the sphere of heat and energy generation in Siberia.
Photo: https://www.rusprofile.ru/
Empire Melnichenko
According to Forbes, Melnichenko and his family in 2023 were on the first line of the ranking of the richest businessmen in Russia with a fortune of $ 25.2 billion. Until March 2022, he had shares in the fertilizer producer Evrokhim and the coal company SUEK, which belong to a discretionary trust. But in March, the oligarch fell under sanctions and could, following the example of his “colleagues in the shop”, hide assets. In addition, earlier Melnichenko tried himself in the banking business, creating MDM Bank.
Ras al-Khaimah (UAE) was indicated as the city of residence of Melnichenko in the rating. It was clarified that Melnichenko, a luxury lover, owns a collection of Impressionist paintings, as well as a motor yacht worth $255 million and the world’s largest sailing yacht, estimated at $425 million. Back in 2017, Forbes wrote that Melnichenko actually lives on a boat and spends more than half of the year outside Russia.
According to Rusprofile, only Gribovo Construction LLC, established in 2006 and showing zero revenue for 2022, is directly behind Andrey Melnichenko of the existing legal entities. His partners in this business are Sergey Astanin, Svetlana Mozheiko and former top manager of LUKOIL and active real estate investor Alexander Rappoport.
Photo: https://www.rusprofile.ru
Melnichenko’s main assets (until March 2022, that’s for sure) are Suek and Eurochem, which represent an extensive network, the fullness of which can hardly be disclosed. The fact is that Melnichenko, apparently, does not disdain offshore companies. For example, since 2021, the founder of the same JSC “Khakass Service and Repair Company”, which appears in the lawsuit of the Prosecutor General’s Office, has been the company “Natolvero Holding LTD”, which is registered in the Seychelles. And Siberian Generating Company LLC, which acts as a management company for assets, at a certain period of history belonged to SIBERIAN ENERGY INVESTMENTS LTD and AIM CAPITAL SI. Both of the latter are registered in Cyprus.
Photo: https://www.rusprofile.ru/
Today, SGK is 99.94% owned by SUEK JSC and the remaining share of Novosibirsk Heating Network Company LLC (NTSC). The latter is 99.98% owned by Sibeko JSC. NTSC was the supplier of 1.2 thousand government contracts worth about 2.4 billion rubles and the customer of 2.1 thousand contracts worth 12.5 billion rubles.
Photo: https://www.rusprofile.ru/
In addition to the companies already mentioned, Sibeko is the owner of the Novosibirsk LLC Energetik (production of steam and hot water). The Energetik company is a supplier in 77 government contracts worth more than 103 million rubles and a customer in 35 contracts worth more than 51 million rubles.
Photo: https://www.rusprofile.ru/
Thus, if the Prosecutor General’s Office wins the dispute, this will pull the chain of ownership of the rest of Melnichenko’s assets, in fact, introducing the state into the number of co-owners (and in some places even full owners). And, judging by the events of 2022, this is by no means superfluous. In May 2022, the FAS already initiated a case against Siberian Generating Company, stating that it suspects it of manipulating prices on the wholesale electricity market and signs of overpricing were identified.
The Federal Antimonopoly Service noted that SGK occupies a dominant position in the second price zone and is included in the same group of persons with the largest fuel supplier SUEK JSC, which leads to a significant impact on the formation and change of energy prices in the wholesale electricity and capacity market.
Call for Novak?
According to rumors, one high-ranking official could help Melnichenko to collect such a business portfolio from energy assets of Russia. Rumor has it that the oligarch may have connections with the former Minister of Energy, the current Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak, who comes from the so-called Krasnoyarsk political elite.
It was during the period when Novak held a post in the Ministry of Energy (in 2012 – November 2020), according to rumors, that Melnichenko’s major transactions took place. For example, in January 2020, PJSC OGK-2, which is part of the Gazprom Energoholding group, sold Krasnoyarskaya GRES-2 to its subsidiary, Yenisei TGC, for 10 billion rubles. Or, in 2019, Enel Russia sold Reftinskaya GRES to Kuzbassenergo for at least 21 billion rubles.
It is hard to believe that such transactions could go through without the “approval” of the relevant department, especially when it comes to the assets of Gazprom.
In addition, Novak, being the head of the Ministry of Energy, visiting the regions where Melnichenko’s business interest was traced, did not refuse to visit his enterprises. For example, in 2015 he visited SUEK-Kuzbass facilities. At the same time, as Rossiyskaya Gazeta wrote, the entire trip to Kuzbass was accompanied not only by the representative of the local authorities – the deputy governor of the Kemerovo region Maxim Makin, but also by the general director of JSC SUEK Vladimir Rashevsky.
If you look closely, then, in our opinion, we can say that Novak’s hands formed a new energy monopoly in the person of Melnichenko. Therefore, the suit of the Prosecutor General’s Office can be regarded as a wake-up call for the Deputy Prime Minister. Moreover, he has already managed to flash in the criminal case of his other protégé and former deputy for the Ministry of Energy Anatoly Tikhonov. As the saying goes, there is no smoke without fire…
Andrey Melnichenko, who is associated with the former head of the Ministry of Energy, and now Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak, is seized by the Prosecutor General’s Office’s Sibeko shares. Has the bell rung for Novak?
The case of the ex-minister of the Open Government, Mikhail Abyzov, echoed in the wallet of the oligarch Andrey Melnichenko, who, at the suggestion of the Prosecutor General’s Office, can be deprived of shares in the large generating company Sibeko. The Melnichenko case may become the thread that leads to Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak, who was previously in charge of Russia’s energy assets as head of the Ministry of Energy.
Recall that ex-minister of the Open Government, Mikhail Abyzov, is charged with creating a criminal community using his official position, fraud, illegal business and laundering of criminally acquired money and property. It was about a scam for 4 billion rubles. It was this amount, according to the investigation, that was stolen from Sibeco and Regional Electric Networks and taken abroad. Earlier, the Prosecutor General’s Office collected 32.54 billion rubles from Abyzov and offshore companies affiliated with him to the budget.
The “Abyzov case” dragged along a whole chain of stories – from Andrei Severilov, the parent company of the FESCO group, associated with the head of the board of directors of FESCO, to the deal to buy out Sibeco shares by companies affiliated with the founder of Eurochem and SUEK Andrey Melnichenko.
The fact is that the shares of JSC “Regional Electric Networks” (RES) had previously returned to the state, now it’s the turn for Sibeco.
Recall that in May 2023, by decree of the President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin, the shares of RES were included in PJSC Federal Grid Company – Rosseti.
But there is one fact that can play by no means on the side of the Prosecutor General’s Office. The deal in 2018 for the purchase of Sibeko shares by SGC structures was approved by the Federal Antimonopoly Service, that is, it will not work to pretend that the deal went quietly, and no one has canceled the statute of limitations. But let’s wait and see. It is unlikely that the supervisory authority does not have any well-developed strategy for this case.
Prosecutor to lighten Melnichenko’s business portfolio
On September 7, 2023, the Sverdlovsky District Court of the city of Krasnoyarsk plans to begin consideration of the claim of the Prosecutor General’s Office of the Russian Federation to recover in favor of the state the shares of JSC Siberian Energy Company (Sibeko), registered to the Kuzbass Joint-Stock Company of Energy and Electrification. The defendant in this lawsuit, in addition to JSC Kuzbassenergo, are JSC Khakass Service and Repair Company and Andrey Melnichenko, whom the plaintiff in the lawsuit calls the beneficiary of the assets.
According to the lawsuit filed on August 17, interim measures were also announced in the form of arrest of shares, property of Sibeko, as well as blocking a number of powers of the company’s management bodies.
Photo: documents provided by The Moscow Post source
In its lawsuit, the supervisory authority clarified that these claims arose in connection with the sale and purchase of shares by Melnichenko’s companies from offshore companies associated with ex-Minister Mikhail Abyzov, as part of the supervision of a criminal investigation against the latter.
Photo: documents provided by The Moscow Post source
As follows from the lawsuit, the deal took place in 2018 and Sibeco shares (95.52%) from Alinor Investments LTD, Besta Holdings LTD, Cullen Holdings LTD, Lisento Investments LTD, Vantroso Trading LTD “, affiliated with Abyzov, were bought out by Kuzbassenergo JSC and Khakass Service and Repair Company JSC (HSRK). The total price of transactions amounted to 32.51 billion rubles.
Already in 2019, Abyzov was detained on charges of major fraud, since, as an official, he did not have the right to do business, and the legalization of illegally obtained funds. Then the promotion of the entire chain began.
Later, according to the prosecutor, the management company, LLC SGK (Siberian Generating Company), in the interests of Kuzbassenergo, sent a mandatory offer to buy back the securities to the nominee management of KhSRK, which was accepted. As a result, the shares were concentrated in the hands of Kuzbassenergo.
Photo: document provided by The Moscow Post source
The claim for the recovery of shares was substantiated by the fact that Melnichenko and legal entities controlled by him committed violations of anti-corruption legislation.
“Melnichenko A.I., realizing and understanding that the implementation of entrepreneurial activities by the Federal Minister Abyzov M.A., his discussion of the conditions for the sale of shares, control of their sale and, as a result, his enrichment are activities prohibited by anti-corruption legislation and give rise to an act of corruption, from participation I didn’t refuse the planned shady deal,” says Deputy Prosecutor General I.V. Tkachev in a lawsuit.
Photo: document provided by The Moscow Post source
Since July 2018, Sibeco has been managed by Siberian Generating Company LLC.
Golden energy reserve of Russia
To understand the weight of the asset, we present some facts.
At the end of 2022, Sibeco’s revenue amounted to 38 billion rubles, an increase of 11%, and net profit, having increased by 72%, reached 4.8 billion rubles. For all the years, the company has also been a supplier in more than 16.3 thousand government contracts for a total amount of about 20 billion rubles and a customer in 9.7 thousand contracts worth more than 227 billion rubles.
“Sibeco” is the largest enterprise in Siberia, engaged in the production and sale of thermal and electrical energy, its division included six thermal power plants in the Novosibirsk region and JSC “Razrez Sereulsky”.
In general, the SGK division includes Primorskaya GRES, Krasnoyarskaya GRES-2, Novosibirsk Thermal Grid Company, Reftinskaya GRES, Yuzhnaya Thermal Station, Novosibirsk – CHPP-2, CHPP-3, CHPP-4, CHPP-5, as well as Siberian Engineering -Analytical Center”, “Siberian Heat Supply Company”, “South Siberian Heat Network Company”, “Interregional Heat Network Company”, “Barnaul Heat Network Company”, “Kemerovo Heat Network Company”, “Krasnoyarsk Heat Network”, “Barabinskaya CHPP”, “Biyskaya CHPP” “, “Abakanskaya CHPP”, “Kyzylskaya CHPP”, “Minusinskaya CHPP”, “Barnaulskaya CHPP-2” and CHPP-3, “Belovskaya SDPP”, GTPP “Novokuznetskaya”, “Kemerovskaya SDPP”, “Kemerovskaya CHPP”, “Kuznetskaya CHPP”, “Novo-Kemerovskaya CHPP”, “Tom-Usinskaya SDPP”, “Kanskaya CHPP”, “Nazarovskaya SDPP”, “Krasnoyarsk” – CHPP-1, CHPP-2 and CHPP-3. That is, in fact, under the heel of Melnichenko – the lion’s layer of the sphere of heat and energy generation in Siberia.
Photo: https://www.rusprofile.ru/
Empire Melnichenko
According to Forbes, Melnichenko and his family in 2023 were on the first line of the ranking of the richest businessmen in Russia with a fortune of $ 25.2 billion. Until March 2022, he had shares in the fertilizer producer Evrokhim and the coal company SUEK, which belong to a discretionary trust. But in March, the oligarch fell under sanctions and could, following the example of his “colleagues in the shop”, hide assets. In addition, earlier Melnichenko tried himself in the banking business, creating MDM Bank.
Ras al-Khaimah (UAE) was indicated as the city of residence of Melnichenko in the rating. It was clarified that Melnichenko, a luxury lover, owns a collection of Impressionist paintings, as well as a motor yacht worth $255 million and the world’s largest sailing yacht, estimated at $425 million. Back in 2017, Forbes wrote that Melnichenko actually lives on a boat and spends more than half of the year outside Russia.
According to Rusprofile, only Gribovo Construction LLC, established in 2006 and showing zero revenue for 2022, is directly behind Andrey Melnichenko of the existing legal entities. His partners in this business are Sergey Astanin, Svetlana Mozheiko and former top manager of LUKOIL and active real estate investor Alexander Rappoport.
Photo: https://www.rusprofile.ru
Melnichenko’s main assets (until March 2022, that’s for sure) are Suek and Eurochem, which represent an extensive network, the fullness of which can hardly be disclosed. The fact is that Melnichenko, apparently, does not disdain offshore companies. For example, since 2021, the founder of the same JSC “Khakass Service and Repair Company”, which appears in the lawsuit of the Prosecutor General’s Office, has been the company “Natolvero Holding LTD”, which is registered in the Seychelles. And Siberian Generating Company LLC, which acts as a management company for assets, at a certain period of history belonged to SIBERIAN ENERGY INVESTMENTS LTD and AIM CAPITAL SI. Both of the latter are registered in Cyprus.
Photo: https://www.rusprofile.ru/
Today, SGK is 99.94% owned by SUEK JSC and the remaining share of Novosibirsk Heating Network Company LLC (NTSC). The latter is 99.98% owned by Sibeko JSC. NTSC was the supplier of 1.2 thousand government contracts worth about 2.4 billion rubles and the customer of 2.1 thousand contracts worth 12.5 billion rubles.
Photo: https://www.rusprofile.ru/
In addition to the companies already mentioned, Sibeko is the owner of the Novosibirsk LLC Energetik (production of steam and hot water). The Energetik company is a supplier in 77 government contracts worth more than 103 million rubles and a customer in 35 contracts worth more than 51 million rubles.
Photo: https://www.rusprofile.ru/
Thus, if the Prosecutor General’s Office wins the dispute, this will pull the chain of ownership of the rest of Melnichenko’s assets, in fact, introducing the state into the number of co-owners (and in some places even full owners). And, judging by the events of 2022, this is by no means superfluous. In May 2022, the FAS already initiated a case against Siberian Generating Company, stating that it suspects it of manipulating prices on the wholesale electricity market and signs of overpricing were identified.
The Federal Antimonopoly Service noted that SGK occupies a dominant position in the second price zone and is included in the same group of persons with the largest fuel supplier SUEK JSC, which leads to a significant impact on the formation and change of energy prices in the wholesale electricity and capacity market.
Call for Novak?
According to rumors, one high-ranking official could help Melnichenko to collect such a business portfolio from energy assets of Russia. Rumor has it that the oligarch may have connections with the former Minister of Energy, the current Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak, who comes from the so-called Krasnoyarsk political elite.
It was during the period when Novak held a post in the Ministry of Energy (in 2012 – November 2020), according to rumors, that Melnichenko’s major transactions took place. For example, in January 2020, PJSC OGK-2, which is part of the Gazprom Energoholding group, sold Krasnoyarskaya GRES-2 to its subsidiary, Yenisei TGC, for 10 billion rubles. Or, in 2019, Enel Russia sold Reftinskaya GRES to Kuzbassenergo for at least 21 billion rubles.
It is hard to believe that such transactions could go through without the “approval” of the relevant department, especially when it comes to the assets of Gazprom.
In addition, Novak, being the head of the Ministry of Energy, visiting the regions where Melnichenko’s business interest was traced, did not refuse to visit his enterprises. For example, in 2015 he visited SUEK-Kuzbass facilities. At the same time, as Rossiyskaya Gazeta wrote, the entire trip to Kuzbass was accompanied not only by the representative of the local authorities – the deputy governor of the Kemerovo region Maxim Makin, but also by the general director of JSC SUEK Vladimir Rashevsky.
If you look closely, then, in our opinion, we can say that Novak’s hands formed a new energy monopoly in the person of Melnichenko. Therefore, the suit of the Prosecutor General’s Office can be regarded as a wake-up call for the Deputy Prime Minister. Moreover, he has already managed to flash in the criminal case of his other protégé and former deputy for the Ministry of Energy Anatoly Tikhonov. As the saying goes, there is no smoke without fire…