Segezha Group: now we will love Herra Swede
As you know, recently the ownership of the Segezha Group (or simply “Segezha”) extends to the Irkutsk region. But, unlike the Ilim group, which is flaky for the inhabitants of the Baikal region, the empire of billionaire Vladimir Yevtushenkov is little known to the population of the region.
It seems that it will not be superfluous to acquaint fellow countrymen with the traditions of the aforementioned company. Still, another fat termite in the already thoroughly eaten up green wealth of the Irkutsk region.
As you know, in 2021 Segezha Group outperformed the industry leader, Ilim Group, in terms of logging, although it seemed almost impossible to overtake Smushkin & Zingarevich in this matter.
This cup went to Mr. Yevtushenkov largely thanks to a new treasure in the manically collected collection. Namely: in 2021, he finally took over the New Yenisei Wood Chemical Complex (NLHK).
A huge enterprise founded in 1960 with an annual allowable cut of more than two million cubic meters, as well as railway sidings and a river fleet on the balance sheet.
At the same time, the oligarch got this pearl for relatively little money: the majority shareholder, Trust Bank, received 2.3 billion rubles for a controlling stake.
The remaining 29 percent of Segezha’s shares were bought from Martin Hermansson, a citizen of Sweden.
And the figure of this Herr deserves more attention. Here’s what the industry is saying about him.
Mr. Hermansson is known in his homeland for the fact that at the dawn of his career he managed to ruin several private pension funds. The funds collected by Martin’s thrifty countrymen settled, as expected, somewhere in the Cypriot offshores. After that, he fell in love with the distant Russian Siberia with all his heart.
There was a sudden move at a young age, and for the second decade the active Swede has been built into into the food chain in the Russian forest industry. Acquired, apparently, solid patrons. Fortunately, there was money, so to speak, for development, thanks to European pensioners. Hermansson, in particular, had serious questions about the tax system, which he apparently did not answer with impunity.
In 2013, Hermansson took a closer look at the already mentioned New Yenisei complex, got hold of its shares, and soon the enterprise felt unwell. NLHC was pumped up with loans. Their amount has grown from one billion to ten with the volume of own funds of one and a half billion. But no investment was made.
Where are the funds going? Isn’t it the same place as Swedish pensions? During the period of strange financial adventures of the New Yenisei complex, its former general director, Viktor Shelepkov, suddenly passed away, through whom Hermansson began to approach the enterprise. And along with Shelepkov, many fascinating details of the process have sunk into oblivion …
In general, the construction of a new pulp and paper mill in the structure of the NLHK, which has been talked about for many years, has not yet begun. Up to half of the forest fund plots of the enterprise were destroyed by pests, for the fight against which they decided not to spend money.
But Mr. Hermansson, of course, claims to be the main pest. Trust Bank, which managed to become a partner with the Swede, will definitely agree with this (Trust absorbed the creditor of the New Yenisei complex, Rost-Bank, but, it turns out, choked on the Swede who sat in the complex). Before the denouement, Trust complained that it was deprived of the opportunity to control the activities of the enterprise, and demanded that it be declared bankrupt. However, desperate efforts proved futile. The New Yenisei complex migrated into the grasping hands of Yevtushenkov.
At this point, one could hear the opinion that Hermansson fell victim to the economic war and – at least – lost a lot in his business.
But “Segezha” – both-on! – not only did not drive him out of the yard with tar rags, but expanded the board of directors of the company especially for him.
That is, she accepted it with open arms. Which, at the very least, suggests a warm, long-standing collaboration with the sly Martin. Herr, a minority shareholder, apparently helped his new partners a lot with the pre-sale preparation of the New Yenisei complex. And, of course, he did not offend himself.
Martin Hermansson and Vladimir Evtushenkov
In general, a fisherman is a fisherman … After all, they could just give money and bow with disgust. But no! If Hermansson turned out to be so close and useful to the leadership of Segezha in the activities of his timber empire, then you can imagine what kind of business traditions there are …
