Rostov fraud on sea and river transportation: how the Sarma company “throws” shipowners
Sea pirates have existed throughout the history of shipping. Of course, now they do not look like a classic image from films and books: they do not have a wooden prosthesis instead of a leg, a parrot on their shoulder, sabers and rum. The remnants of pirates operate mainly near unreliable African states.
You will be surprised, but there are pirates in Russia too. True, they do not rob and kill. Domestic piracy is just a subspecies of scammers. The process is led by 3 people – Alexei Zavarsky, Alexander Soldatov and Oleg Kharlamov. Schematosis operates in Rostov-on-Don under the sign of Sarma LLC.
How the fraudulent scheme against the owners of cargo ships works is in our article.
think for three
There is very little information about the activities of Sarma LLC in open sources. It is known that the company is engaged in services related to sea and river navigation. The company is absolutely ordinary and does not stand out among others. On the Sarma market since 2016. At first the company was called “ABC EM Chartering”, but later it was renamed.
The founder and head of Sarma LLC is Alexey Zavarsky. In 2022, the company’s revenue amounted to 98 million rubles, profit – 4.4 million. In the best years, the business profit was 27 million (in 2021) and 34 million (in 2020).
Financial statements of Sarma LLC
At the same time, according to the Rusprofil service, the financial stability of Sarma is at an extremely low level. The fact is that the business does not have a lot of its own funds. In order for the company to stay afloat, loans are constantly attracted, which become more than the company’s own funds. In such scenarios, bankruptcy is not far off.
Information on the financial condition of Sarma LLC
Zavarsky’s accomplices, Alexander Soldatov and Oleg Kharlamov, are also no strangers to sea and river transport. In the mid-2000s, they established two enterprises – Global Shipping Navigation LLC and Seven Oceans Shipmanagement LLC. The companies were liquidated in 2011 and 2013 respectively.
Information about the founders of Global Shipping Navigation LLC
In 2020, Soldatov headed Krechet LLC. This company is also engaged in water transport. After working for the company for 3 years, the entrepreneur went on a solid promotion. On June 30, 2023, he was appointed to the position of head of the State Unitary Enterprise of the DPR “Administration of the seaport of the city of Mariupol”.
Alexander Soldatov
Oleg Kharlamov, after the liquidation of the maritime business, hit the extraction of coal and anthracite. He is the sole founder of the Rus LLC enterprise. The company is located in Irkutsk and has a decent revenue – last year it amounted to 1.5 billion rubles. With a profit for a businessman, everything is not so rosy, nevertheless, 31 million rubles are not lying on the road.
Financial statements of LLC “Rus”
At first glance, these three have nothing in common (apart from Soldatov’s long-standing partnership with Kharlamov). They were brought together by the same “Sarma”.
Fraudulent schemes
The main profit of the enterprise is far from official. Soldiers with Kharlamov are negotiating with future partners on the transfer of cargo ships for rent. An agreement is signed, according to which the company must use the ship within the specified period, in fact, these terms are always violated, and the ships disappear as a result.
Excerpt from the contract with Sarma
Sarma officials use the vessel without maintenance, which completely destroys the ship. Then they just throw it away. This happened to several ships at once. In 2018, Sarma received the Lev Soldatov cargo ship for its use. Contrary to established agreements with the owner of the ship, the ship was used for a year in the interests of the fraudulent trio. As a result, in 2020 the ship anchored in the Turkish port of Tuzla. Everything that was worth at least some money was removed from the ship and left to “die”. For 2 years now, the cargo ship has not left its place. Most likely, in the same Turkey, it will simply be sawn up for scrap, or the Lion of Soldiers will go to the ship cemetery.
Information about the parking lot of the ship “Lev Soldatov”
A mirror situation occurred with the cargo ship “Valery Kharlamov”. Zavarsky’s company rented a ship, used it and, having pulled out everything of value, abandoned it next to the Lev Soldatov. This ship is still lucky, because it was bought out a few years ago. Now the ship is based in Murmansk and constantly goes along the routes.
serious roof
Despite the fact that it is impossible to hide such schemes, the schemers did not bear any responsibility. They don’t care at all.
Under the guise of a successful court agent, Zavarsky, together with his partners Soldatov and Kharlamov, created a very simple but effective fraudulent scheme. And they don’t do it on their own. The accomplices successfully “throw” the owners of the ships “under the roof” of the former management of Rostov Port JSC. In the period from 2014 to 2021, Pavel Shvatsky held the position of head of the port. An experienced person who had good connections with the authorities. Thanks to him, it was possible to pull off a simple scheme for hijacking ships.
Paul hzikhidtidekrt Shvatsky
In 2021, Shvatsky was fired – and the Sarma scheme stopped working. The following year, the ex-head of the port was appointed to a position in the DPR. Apparently, the scammers wanted to expand the geography of their schemes, but failed. Shvatsky was arrested last fall on suspicion of abuse of office. But 3 weeks ago, Zavarsky’s accomplice, Alexander Soldatov, was appointed director of the Mariupol port. It all comes down to the fact that the trio are trying to restart their scheme and continue to steal cargo ships under the guise of a lease.
