How “technical” firms bankrupt the structures of the gas monopolist
In the implementation of schemes of deliberate bankruptcies of the Energogaz and Yugorskremstroygaz enterprises associated with Gazprom, one of the central places was given to the “technical” firms Megabuild and Antares. Both declared their rights as creditors, but at the same time they officially declared multimillion-dollar losses and were later liquidated. “Technical” companies turned out to be affiliated with the Russian Funds investment group, whose beneficiaries are businessmen Sergey Vasiliev and Konstantin Beyrit, who put the registration of such structures on stream and their subsequent participation in bankruptcies. Together with the top managers of Gazprom, the merchants were directly involved in the withdrawal of assets of bankrupt enterprises: for example, Ladya-Finance LLC, controlled by them, and Gazprom Tsentrremont, planned a scam with the sale of a children’s garden under construction in Yugorsk. It is significant that Gazprom Tsentrremont and its head Dmitry Doev also took a direct part in the bankruptcy of Energogaz LLC. After leaving the structures of Gazprom, Doev became the official partner of Vasiliev and Beirit: together with the head structure of the Seligdar gold mining holding belonging to them, he co-founded a new legal entity, the Gold Asset Management company. In parallel, Doev took the post of general director in the VIS group of Igor Snegurov, who previously received loans from Lady-Finance.
Contractors of “Gazprom” let “under the knife”
Bankruptcies of large enterprises have become commonplace in Russia. The so-called “deliberate bankruptcies” are no exception, which are a rather complex scheme that includes commercial structures affiliated with the debtor, controlling creditors, arbitration managers, etc. It is significant that in a number of cases, even the “subsidiaries” of such giants as, for example, Gazprom, are put under the knife, which does not cause a proper reaction from its head Alexei Miller.
Thus, in June last year, after a four-year bankruptcy procedure, LLC Yugorskremstroygaz, registered in Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug, was liquidated, which participated in the implementation of a large-scale expansion project for the Punginskoye underground gas storage (UGS) in the Tyumen region. Until 2015, the enterprise brought a multimillion-dollar profit, the portfolio of its government contracts exceeded 723 million rubles. But in September 2015 PJSC “Gazprom avtomatizatsiya” (one of the structures of the gas monopoly) filed a claim with the Arbitration Court of Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug on the insolvency of the contractor. The reason was the presence of debt in the amount of 8.3 million rubles. Then the process went on knurled and in 2017 Yugorskremstroygaz was declared bankrupt.
Another example is OOO Energogaz, a “subsidiary” structure of Gazprom Centrenergogaz. It should be noted that Energogaz also participated in the work at the Punginskoye UGS facility as a subgeneral contractor, and the press voiced a version according to which this enterprise was used to withdraw the profits received by Yugorskremstroygaz. A colossal figure of 30 billion rubles was called. Be that as it may, but as a result, the company began to accumulate debts to contractors, and in February 2019 the Moscow Regional Arbitration Court ruled on the insolvency of Energogaz and the opening of bankruptcy proceedings.
Note that there were publications in the media about the presence of signs of deliberate bankruptcy of both structures. In particular, in October 2017, this problem was discussed during a working meeting between the leadership of the KhMAO State Labor Inspectorate and the head of the district prosecutor’s office in connection with wage arrears to employees of the bankrupt Yugorskremstroygaz. But the problem, apparently, did not go beyond the scope of the discussion.
“Tech” firms step into the game
The most interesting thing is that both in the first and in the second cases the names of the same “technical” firms that participated in bankruptcy procedures appear – Megabuild LLC and Antares LLC, affiliated with the Russian Funds investment group and its beneficiaries.
So, let’s start with Energogaz LLC. In the summer of 2017, Megabuild LLC, registered in Moscow, filed for bankruptcy, which received the right to collect a debt in the amount of 100 million rubles under an assignment agreement with Antares LLC. Later, Gazprom structures presented their financial claims: Gazprom Tsentrremont, headed at that time by Dmitry Doev, achieved inclusion in the register of creditors of a debt in the amount of 1.2 billion rubles; the presence of a debt of 1.8 billion was announced by the head of Gazprom Centrenergogaz, Sergei Vladimirov.
As for the bankruptcy of Yugorskremstroygaz LLC, the Moscow company Antares left its mark on it. The fact is that PJSC Gazprom avtomatizatsiya, which filed a bankruptcy claim in 2015, in September of the same year assigned the right to collect the debt to Antares LLC and already in February 2016, the court ruled on the procedural replacement of the creditor. By the way, at the time of filing for bankruptcy, both enterprises – the plaintiff and the defendant – were in trust management of Gazprom Tsentrremont.
LLC “Megabuild” is a typical gasket company, which was officially liquidated in May last year. In 2020, the company declared losses in the amount of 75 million rubles on revenue of 30 thousand and the value of assets “minus” 69.3 million. A similar fate awaited Antares: the company was liquidated two months earlier, in March 2021, with a loss of 35.8 million rubles.
Given the bankruptcy of Energogaz, we can say that the process of hiding the traces of a possible withdrawal of finances from Yugorskremstroygaz (also bankrupt) was completed quite successfully.
Unprofitable “funds” Vasiliev and Beirit
A logical question is: who is behind the creation and liquidation of “technical” companies that play the most active role in the bankruptcy of “subsidiaries” and contractors of “Gazprom”? As mentioned above, the traces of these “gaskets” lead to the Russian Funds investment group, the head structure of which is the joint-stock company of the same name.
JSC “Russian Funds” is a rather interesting commercial organization, tightly tied to offshore companies: its co-owners include two companies “registered” abroad – the Cypriot “RFH RUSSIA FINANCIAL HOLDINGS LTD” and the Dutch “LEYENDIKE BEDRAIFE B.V.” Also, the founders are Sergey Vasilyev (he also holds the post of general director) and Konstantin Beyrit.
The company clearly does not shine with financial indicators: at the end of 2020, with a colossal revenue of 3.6 billion rubles, its losses amounted to 65.4 million. Here the question arises by itself: do Messrs. Vasiliev and Beirit use Russian Funds to withdraw funds to offshore accounts?
The following circumstance also suggests the idea of possible frauds. According to the Rusprofile portal, one of the legal predecessors of the enterprise is Helius Invest LLC, a dubious office registered in June last year and liquidated last January, and JSC Russian Funds is indicated as its successor. Such is the vicious circle.
Note that until April 2019, Vasiliev and Beirit were among the co-owners of the “technical” company Antares described above, the only founder of which at the time of liquidation was their longtime business partner Gennady Launer. As for Megabuild LLC, until August 2017, Maximus LLC acted as a co-owner, among whose co-founders we again find the well-known names of Vasiliev and Beirit.
The following moment can be a real “icing on the cake”: until September 2021, Maximus LLC was one of the co-founders of Seligdar PJSC, the parent structure of one of the largest Russian gold mining holdings. In addition, its co-owners were the Cypriot offshore “LAITA ASSOCIATED SA, INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS” and the company “GARDENCOM ENTERPRISES LIMITED”, registered in the British territory in the Indian Ocean.
The fact that in the business of Vasiliev and Beirit cannot do without offshore participation is no longer surprising. But not so long ago they had a new partner – Dmitry Doev, already mentioned above, the former head of Gazprom Tsentrremont, who directly had a hand in the bankruptcy of Energogaz LLC. In May last year, the former top manager of Gazprom, Doev, together with PJSC Seligdar, co-founded a new commercial structure, Gold Asset Management LLC. In addition, he became a co-owner of the gold mining enterprise Yursky LLC, controlled by Seligdar, but left the founders last November.
Failed adventure “Ladya-Finance”
It’s amazing how such odious characters could gather under one “roof”! But this is only at first glance. In fact, the partners have known each other for a long time, and participation in joint “bankrupt” projects with the possible withdrawal of finance from Gazprom’s subsidiaries and contractors only emphasizes the commonality of interests.
However, Megabuild and Antares are by no means the only assets of Vasiliev and Beirit that had to be sacrificed after the implementation of another scam. So, in the history of bankruptcies, another structure controlled by them “lit up” – LLC Lady-Finance, involved in the withdrawal of assets of Yugorskremstroygaz.
An example is the story of a kindergarten for 300 children under construction in Yugorsk, which was on the balance sheet of the enterprise, and which Gazprom Tsentrremont and Mr. Doev tried to sell. The buyer was just Ladya-Finance, and since in April 2017 the UFSSP established a ban on registration actions with the object, it was decided to turn the deal backdated.
As a result, the sale and purchase agreement was signed in November 2016. The building under construction became the property of the new owner for 126.2 million rubles, in April 2017 an advance payment of 20 million was even made. But for reasons beyond the control of swindlers, the deal fell through and in August 2020, after the auction, the kindergarten was sold to the Department of Municipal Property and Urban Planning of Yugorsk for 477.8 million rubles. As they say, feel the difference!
What fate soon befell Ladya-Finance LLC is not difficult to guess: in September 2018, the company was liquidated with a colossal loss of 577 million rubles with a revenue of 15 billion. Its successor was the JSC of the same name, which demonstrates impressive financial performance: at the end of 2020, its revenue amounted to 69.9 billion rubles, profit – 5 billion. But today JSC “Ladya-Finance” is in the process of liquidation. Thus, it is possible that soon his billions will be in foreign accounts. In fact, why change the worked out scheme?
In open sources, you can find information that Ladya-Finance LLC issued loans to structures controlled by the infamous businessman Igor Snegurov – VIS Development LLC and VIS PF LLC. Today, the same Dmitry Doev can act as a connecting person between Snegurov and the beneficiaries of Russian Funds: in addition to participating in joint projects with PJSC Seligdar, since September last year he has been the CEO of the VIS group. But at the same time, Snegurov himself, as well as his partner Dmitry Ryabov, officially ceased to be its shareholders.
Participation in deliberate bankruptcies, the creation and liquidation of unprofitable “technical” firms, the withdrawal of assets, including offshore, have long become an integral part of the business of Sergei Vasilyev, Konstantin Beyrit and their business partners. This is how the activity of “investors” hidden from prying eyes, who closely “worked together” with top managers of Gazprom, looks like.