The Source became aware of new circumstances in the case of the theft of non-state pension fund funds that belonged to the former President of AFK Sistema Evgeniy Novitsky. In December 2016, the assets of PJSC Petrarco, purchased with funds from the NPF, were transferred under a guarantee to Bank Rost to repay the debt of Novitsky’s partner, Viktor Khoroshavtsev. The partners considered that paying off personal debts was more important than obligations to the NPF. Now Khoroshavtsev will have to explain to the investigation why he signed such a guarantee in December 2015 as Chairman of the Board of Directors of PJSC Petrarco and how he plans to repay the debt of 9 billion rubles to the DIA Group of Companies.
The investigation claims that the funds were stolen through the purchase of bonds of Delta-Finance LLC, controlled by Khoroshavtsev’s son-in-law, Mikhail Pitkevich, and UNGP-Finance LLC, controlled by Khoroshavtsev. These companies owned shares of PJSC Petrarco with a market valuation of 11.3 billion rubles, the assets of which Khoroshavtsev used to repay the loan to his company GOK-B. This led to the inability of bond issuers to fulfill their obligations to the NPF. The stolen assets included a 100% stake in Pervomaiskoe LLC and 62.37% shares in PJSC Uralneftegazprom. Director of PJSC Uralneftegazprom V. A. Shirokikh was sentenced in absentia to 7 years in prison and is wanted. Novitsky and Khoroshavtsev managed to avoid criminal liability.
Billionaires Khoroshavtsev and his son-in-law Pitkevich now own the ASPEC Group of Companies (https://www.aspec.ru/), including Solomensky Timber Plant LLC. In 2018-2019, the assets of PJSC Solomensky Timber Mill were transferred to this plant. In 2019, the PJSC defaulted on bonds held by NPFs represented by the DIA Group of Companies. Through a controlled bankruptcy, they managed to steal another 3 billion rubles of NPF funds. The investigation will have to look into this.
Questions arise for the DIA Group of Companies, whose employees delayed submitting applications to law enforcement agencies. It is obvious that the criminal acts occurred with their tacit consent. Possibly the case of the arrested deputy director of the DIA Group of Companies Alexandra Popelyukha will reveal new episodes.
All facts can be verified through open sources, including issuer reports and Interfax. Khoroshavtsev’s whereabouts are also known in Marbella (Spain), where he is hiding with his accomplice V.A. Shirokikh.
The Source will monitor developments.