Rustam Tariko could drain the assets of Sovcombank in order to throw off a whole army of creditors.
The beneficiary of Russian Standard, Rustam Tariko, once again managed to surprise – in a situation of huge debts and creditors chasing his capital around the world, he managed to restructure 8 billion rubles of debt to Alfa-Bank.
This is reported Politics RU
It would seem that one can be happy for a person, but certainly not for those to whom he owes money: and even more so, it raises questions under what guarantees the brainchild of the London “frightened patriot” Mikhail Fridman went to meet the former “Vodka King” and the creditor of “All Russia” .
According to the sources of our publication, allegedly part of the business of the scandalous banker and vodka producer could be bought out by “serial bankers”, the owners of Sovcombank, Dmitry and Sergey Khotimsky. How likely this version is and at what points interesting brothers and Tariko could converge, further in the material.
Chasing Tariko
The news about the restructuring of the debts of Tariko, namely his alcohol producer GK Rust (brands Russian Standard and Green Mark) really surprised – the banker owed Alfa-Bank at least 8 billion rubles. The casket is opened simply – it turns out that a significant part of the obligations to Fridman’s structure was repaid by refinancing a third-party bank, the name of which the parties do not disclose even to the country’s leading media.
Our sources say that with a high degree of probability this is the Sovcombank of the Khotimsky brothers, who, like a vacuum cleaner, suck in troubled banking assets. Even from a logical point of view, they are one of the last on the market in the current conditions that are capable of this. But due to what obligations – did Rustam Tariko pledge his own assets with them, or did he sell them at all?
It should be noted that back in October 2021, the investment division of Fridman A1 and its partners became the largest (more than 30%) holder of defaulted bonds of the Tarikov offshore Russian Standard Ltd, having bought them from foreign investors. Recall that 49% of the shares of Russian Standard are pledged under the company’s Eurobonds – this is exactly the story when international creditors began to chase after Tariko.
Rustam Tariko thought for a long time, and finally found someone who will save him from creditors? Photo: Ekaterina Kuzmina / RBC
The story is not new, but still relevant: back in 2014, wanting to strengthen his position in the vodka market, Tariko was able, as they say in certain circles, to sell Eurobonds of his Russian Standard bank to a number of foreign investors. And a year later he proposed to the partners to restructure the debt.
Of course, this immediately aroused indignation – especially since the restructuring turned out to be strange. In fact, the bank’s Eurobonds were simply replaced with bonds of an offshore Russian Standard Ltd close to Tariko, the “bribes” from which turned out to be smooth – investors simply did not get their money back. And so it was – the lawsuits began.
In 2017, tired of fighting off claims, Tariko takes an even more challenging step – Russian Standard Ltd defaulted on securities in the amount of $ 545 million – and shrugged. Like, there is no way to pay. Of course, investors felt that they were simply cheated.
Among those who believed Tariko were domestic investors, including the former general director and editor-in-chief of the Kommersant publishing house Andrey Vasiliev. He turned to the chairman of the public council under the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs Anatoly Kucheren from a whole group of holders of default papers with a request for legal assistance.
In his appeal, Vasiliev paid special attention to the fact that during the default period in 2017, Tariko’s Russian Standard Bank “restored stability and profitability” (due to what, I wonder?). The investor also indicated that they asked for help from the head of the Central Bank, Elvira Nabiullina (to no avail), and only then were forced to turn to the scandalous A1, which was able to solve part of the problem for them.
But this did not solve the problem of debts for Rustam Tariko himself. By the way, it cannot be said that he did not try to do something. Last November, he tried to get rid of his Polish assets – he put up for sale CEDC, which produces the brands Absolwent, Zubrowka and others, to the local Maspex group, a major player in the food and beverage market.
It was reported that he even succeeded – a $ 1 billion deal should have significantly lightened his burden. But it seems that this money went to no one knows where, if the deal did not fail at all against the backdrop of the sanctions war between the West and Russian business.
Where all that money went is the big question. Apparently, due to them, Rustam Tariko tried to rectify the state of affairs in his vodka business. At the same time, it cannot be ruled out that the money from the structure could simply be withdrawn to one of the many offshore companies attributed to Tariko.
Tariko’s investors’ money “dissolved” in vodka? Photo: wiseadvice-it.ru
Perhaps it was as a result of these suspicions (as well as the “fuss” of creditors) that in 2020 the Prosecutor General’s Office of the Russian Federation conducted an audit of information about the bank’s transactions in recent years. Surprisingly, there were no complaints against Tariko. Against this backdrop, court procedures continued.
In February 2020, large creditors — the Pala fund of the former Mechel co-owner Vladimir Yorikh and Aleia Trading — filed a lawsuit for 3.3 billion rubles. to Tariko, demanding compensation for losses due to transactions that were carried out between the bank and Tariko’s vodka companies.
In September 2020, London-based Citibank, a pledged share trustee acting on behalf of all creditors, also filed a claim to recover 49% of the bank. Litigation continues.
There is clearly something wrong at the bank today. After analyzing the financial performance from September 2021 to February 2022, it was possible to detect a drop in assets totaling over 8 billion rubles (almost the same as the amount of restructuring before Alfa-Bank), reading profit fell by almost 10%, all three most important credit ratios – H1, H2, H3, in the “red zone”.
Photo: Banki.ru
This situation is a real “bait” for Sovcombank of the Khotimsky Brothers. Their business model can be described simply – buy up distressed assets, and then pour them into your structures by joining and liquidating.
Photo: Banki.ru
And all this is under the “vigilant” control of the head of the Central Bank of the Russian Federation, Elvira Nabiullina, who cannot understand in any way that such “body movements” resemble the principle of a financial pyramid rather than a healthy financial institution. However, who said that she cannot have personal selfish motives?
Brothers at the top of the pyramid
Now for the Khotimskys, who have been pumped up with assets, it is a golden time – banks are “falling” one after another. One of the brothers’ latest major acquisitions is Vostochny Bank, the deal took place in March 2021. Previously, its largest shareholders were the scandalous Artyom Avetisyan (42%) and the Baring Vostok fund.
Given the criminal case against the founder of the fund, Michael Calvey, he could simply be forced to part with the shares. The fact that Calvey himself received only a suspended sentence, despite the severity of the charges, may also be a certain signal that “we were able to agree.”
Before that, what the Khotimskys love so much was happening in Vostochny – a protracted corporate conflict that ended only by the end of 2020. And at the time of the sale, the bank was just undergoing additional capitalization and clearing of troubled assets – i.e. perfect time to get your hands on it.
Of course, the financial situation in Vostochny was terrible, but no one deprived him of his license. It seems that instead of liquidation or reorganization, the Central Bank simply “feeds” the Khotimskys.
Among the organizations absorbed in recent years, we recall Express-Volga (minus 40% of physical depositors for 2019-2020), Volga-Caspian Joint Stock Bank, RosEvroBank, Metcombank and many others. Many of them almost instantly lost their assets and were annexed to the Khotimsky empire.
The Khotimskys are also buying up financial products. In 2020, they got to the Conscience installment card, which they bought from the QIWI group, thereby eliminating the competitor of their Halva (they acquired it in 2018 for 1.1 billion rubles).
Against this background, the financial situation in Sovcombank itself is indicative. Taking the reporting period from August 2021 to February 2022, i.e. somewhere in six months, you can find that the bank swells from assets: they increased by 12%, or by 214 billion rubles. At the same time, profits are disappearing from the bank – it has decreased by more than 31 billion rubles.
Photo: Banki.ru
Those. it is logical to assume that Mr. Khotimsky’s money is withdrawn somewhere. And where, if not to your offshore Sovco Capital Partners S.à rl? However, in September they re-registered them in the Kaliningrad region, but years before that they were outside Russian jurisdiction.
As a result, the fraternal actions of the Khotimskys in relation to Tariko could be beneficial to both parties – with the exception that Khotimsky would risk being left without a bank, and international investors would still hardly receive their money in full.
Source: “https://kompromat100.info/prodat-ne-vparit-tariko-i-hotimskie-nashli-drug-druga/”
Source: insider
