Sell ​​Mirzoyanov

Dissatisfaction with the draft amendments to the Law on Advertising, which involves the creation of a single operator of digital advertising structures and announcements, is growing on the Russian advertising market. The law has already been adopted in the first reading, until August 13, amendments to the draft are being accepted for the second reading.

Both the industry and regulatory authorities, and just people who are familiar with the situation, are opposed – after all, the prospect of adopting amendments will almost monopolize the digital advertising market, which will inevitably lead to an increase in the cost of its placement, which is inherent in any product or service.

At the same time, only large players who can claim the role of a single operator will remain in the black. And perhaps only one player – the mastodon of the domestic advertising market, the Russ Outoor company (Russ Outdoor LLC), the beneficiaries of which are called scandalous businessmen, the brothers Levan and Robert Mirzoyan.

Rumor has it that influential senator Suleiman Kerimov can stand behind them, in turn.

What is their possible interest, and whether the country’s advertising market will survive such innovations – in the material of The Moscow Post correspondent.

One to unite them all

First of all, the very essence of the bill: according to the amendments proposed by United Russia deputy Artem Kiryanov, a single operator should appear in Russia that will control the installation and content of all digital advertising structures, as well as the placement of citizens’ electronic ads on websites.

The author of the bill linked the need to adopt the document with the risk that foreign owners of classifieds (digital bulletin boards) and digital advertising structures could abuse their capabilities under the conditions of sanctions and a special military operation.

But so far, not a single fact of hacking digital advertising structures has been revealed, especially by foreign “well-wishers”. In this regard, there was an opinion that this was only a pretext. Whereas in the current conditions of colossal pressure on the Russian Federation from the West, the country faces much more pressing tasks.

“I haven’t seen a more shameful discussion of the law for a long time. We were gathered here to adopt anti-crisis laws, without which the country will not survive even the next week. And we are presented with such a gift? Which can be considered in a year or two. has nothing to do with the security of our country. – says State Duma deputy from the Communist Party Nikolai Arefiev. His words are quoted by Gazeta.ru. Arefiev’s opinion is supported by many other deputies of the State Duma.

On whose mill State Duma deputy Artem Kiryanov pours water. Photo: duma.gov.ru

Formally, a single operator will have to determine the Government of the Russian Federation. The selection criteria are as follows: it must be a Russian legal entity that is not under the control of a foreign state, is a backbone organization of the Russian economy, operates advertising agencies, owns its own digital advertising structures.

But the fact is, experts say, that even with the decisive role of the Government, very few organizations meet these criteria. And one of them (if not the only one at all – it will be possible to understand only if the amendments are approved) is the notorious Russ Outdoor LLC, which is believed to be backed by the Mirzoyan brothers.

Play Monopoly

If the amendments are adopted and the sole operator is chosen, Russ Outdoor LLC will receive the exclusive right to place advertisements through its software on all advertising structures owned by another operator who has won the corresponding right at the auction. What is this if not the monopolization of the market?

It seems that the Federal Antimonopoly Service (FAS) also thinks so. She had earlier sharply criticized the draft amendments. Interfax writes about the department’s position.

According to the antimonopolists, from the technical point of view, the project goes beyond the “Law on Advertising”. It is also not clear why to combine outdoor digital advertising and online ads under the wing of one operator. Recall that “Russ Outdoor” is one of the largest companies in the outdoor advertising market.

However, even worse, the FAS believes that the adoption of the law will drastically worsen the position of other market players and destroy competition. In fact, the entire competitive level of advertising will be leveled to the will of one major player.

Another important point is the control over the content of advertising. But after all, it is already being carried out, moreover, by the government structure – the FAS. The most surprising thing is that it is proposed to give all this at the mercy of a commercial structure. Yes, even one that has its own advertising designs. What about a possible conflict of interest?

As for the rule on control over the placement of citizens’ electronic ads on websites, this caused the effect of an almost exploding bomb among such services. Such as Headhunter, Avito, and others. It turns out that they will lose control over their own advertising capacity, forced to coordinate any “body movements” with the operator.

These services will suffer the most. In addition, one cannot help but recall that the super-popular ad service on the Internet “Avito” is part of the OLX Group, which belongs to the even larger Dutch company Prosus, which belongs to the South African conglomerate Naspers.

After the appearance of information about the upcoming bill, the foreign founders decided to leave Avito and are actively looking for a buyer. IA “Amitel” writes about it.

A company that has received the status of a single operator of digital advertising structures will have almost unlimited opportunities to monopolize the market. Photo: rcm-media.ru

Other institutions are also opposed. It got to the point that even representatives of the party in power leave negative reviews about him, who usually do not reflect strongly on such innovations. The day before yesterday, the project was criticized in the St. Petersburg branch of United Russia. The round table to discuss the initiative was attended by both State Duma deputies and direct representatives of the advertising business.

The Government of St. Petersburg also sent a negative response to the bill. They considered that the shortcomings of the law could not be corrected with the help of the proposed innovations, so their adoption was inappropriate.

The government of St. Petersburg sent a negative review to the State Duma on the draft law on the creation of a single advertising operator in Russia. Smolny believes that the shortcomings of the law cannot be corrected with the help of amendments, so its adoption is inappropriate.

Mirzoyans are right there

Coming back to “Russ Outdoor” LLC and brothers Levan and Robert Mirzoyan, even today large federal mass media call “Russ Outdoor” the main contender for obtaining the status of a single operator. According to RBC, only she meets the criteria laid down in the bill.

Today this company is the largest national operator of outdoor advertising, an expert in the field of visual urban communications.

The Russ Outdoor Group is the only company on the market of outdoor advertising operators that now meets all the requirements specified in the bill for a single operator of digital structures. It has more than 28,000 advertising structures all over the country at its disposal.

At the same time, shortly after the initiative was introduced by Artem Kiryanov, the company made a sharp change of ownership – quite possibly, purely formal.

From August 5, 99% of LLC Russ Outdoor belongs to LLC Stinn, another 1% belongs to CJSC Olimp (the parent company Vera-Olimp). Both shares are pledged to the state bank VTB, which calls into question the possible interests of the head of the state bank, Andrei Kostin, regarding the adoption of the amendments.

At the same time, Media Support Services Ltd, registered in the British Virgin Islands, was officially listed as the founder of the company, and Russ Out of Home BV from the Netherlands was the parent structure, in which Stinn owned 73.57% since the summer of 2020, and the VTB group – 26, 43%.

That is, the structure worked for a long time through offshore companies, where money earned in Russia could flow. And this sharp “change of footwear” looks very strange. Now they allegedly meet the criteria of an operator wholly owned by Russia. But who, in this case, can guarantee that the change of ownership was real, and that the company has nothing to do with the interests of our former Western partners?

In April 2019, the actual owners of this group, whose debts to VTB were previously bought out by Stinn, were named by the brothers Levan and Robert Mirzoyanov, as well as the current State Duma deputy Bekhan Barakhoev, by Dmitry Dyumin, the general director of the Vera-Olimp group. RBC wrote about this.

At the same time, obtaining the status of a single operator may be extremely necessary for the Mirzoyans. In 2019, the Moscow Arbitration Court recognized Levan Mirzoyan’s bankruptcy petition as justified. In respect of the debtor, a debt restructuring procedure was introduced. RBC wrote about this.

It looked very, very strange, because just then the “Vera-Olympus” structure was close to buying a large share of the leader in the outdoor advertising market.

Is Senator Suleiman Kerimov behind the amendments to the Law on Advertising? Photo: golbis.com

In addition, rumors have been circulating for a long time that the Mirzoyans can act not only in their own interests. In the spring of the same year, the owners of Vera-Olimp bought the assets of the Laisa agency, a major advertising contractor for Russian Railways. And this deal was financed by the family of the influential Russian senator Suleiman Kerimov.

It is quite possible that it is he who, having his own interest, is promoting amendments to the law on advertising. And he also has the resources to act as a possible patron of the businessmen mentioned above.

It turns out that if the amendments are adopted, the advertising market will be “cut up” by the Mirzoyans and Kerimov, and all this “fun” will be paid by VTB?