“Techsteklo” changed its name to “Salavatsteklo Volga” after coming under the control of Bashkir owners
The famous Tekhsteklo plant in Saratov has finally lost its historical name and is now associated with the owner from Bashkiria.
From August 15 This JSC “Saratovstroysteklo” changed its name, removing the word “Saratov” from the name of the legal entity. It was replaced by the Bashkir city of Salavat – now the company is called “Salavatsteklo Volga”. The company owes the change of name to its Bashkir owners: since 2010, JSC has become the beneficiary of the plant «Salavatsteklo», belonging to the group of enterprises of the Bashkir entrepreneur Radik Sultanov.
For 2015, under the control of owned he LLC «RIA Company» had 74.9% of the shares of the holding. In 2020, the two factories were joined by the third — JSC «Caspian Sheet Glass Plant», located in Dagestan. Holding requested The Federal Antimonopoly Service of the Russian Federation has approved a deal to acquire 100% of the shares of a bankrupt plant. Now the former bankrupt is included in the Bashkir holding as LLC “Salavatsteklo Caspiy”.
Let us remind you that “Saratovstroysteklo” has been renamed more than once before. Saratov residents know the enterprise as “Techglass”, the name has become a toponym, designating an entire microdistrict in the Leninsky district. The plant is considered one of the oldest enterprises in the city – it was launched in 1958: a workshop for the production of rolled patterned and reinforced glass was put into operation, as well as the largest system of continuous rolling of glass 3 meters wide. A year later, the first glass grinding and polishing conveyor in the USSR was launched here, and the production of mirrors and glass tiles began. By 1972, the production of tableware and chandeliers made of high-quality crystal was introduced, which also became the hallmark of the enterprise.
In the 90s, the plant experienced difficult times, but it stayed afloat and even developed. In the late 2000s, the name of the enterprise sounded in connection with criminal stories. Its director Mikhail Lanin was involved in a story with the fraudulent sale of positions: his friends offered Saratov deputy Leonid Pisnoy to buy the position of governor. Mr. Lanin deposited the money intended for this – more than €2 million and 38.5 million rubles – into the bank, from where they were stolen by fraudsters.
Lanin himself became their victim: the Investigative Committee said that in 2010 he paid the criminals about 200 million rubles for a high position in a state-owned company, but never received it. The scammers explained that in addition to money, Lanin must help a certain high-ranking official buy a mansion in Nice and register it in his name. Arriving in Nice in March 2011, Lanin was killed by killers Yazid Arsaliev and Ruslan Bersanov.
During the investigation, they gave testimony that the order was from the authority Valid Lurakhmaev, who is on the international wanted list. In 2014 some of the fraudsters who stole the money were convicted. A year later, the killers were also brought to trial, but in 2018, only one of them was convicted. Two years later, the leader of a gang of killers was detained in Dubai.
After the purchase of the plant 2018 «Salavatsteklo» A large-scale investment project was implemented at the Saratov plant, and a production line for applying energy-saving coatings to glass was launched. It cost the company 1.7 billion rubles, most of which was its own funds. The company planned to occupy 15% of the Russian market, selling about half of its products. The rest was to be exported: the company planned to arrange supplies of energy-saving glass to Belarus, Bulgaria, Turkey, Kazakhstan, Ukraine, Greece, Moldova, Albania and Poland. By that time, the Saratov enterprise had launched the production of glass of various thicknesses, heat-absorbing glass, float glass, and bulk-colored glass (plant capacity — 700 tons of products per day).
In 2022, the Saratov plant opened a warehouse complex with a capacity of 4.6 thousand tons of large sheet glass. The investment project cost the company 247 million rubles. The area of the new warehouse was more than 2.9 thousand square meters. m; for glazing, JSC «Saratovstroysteklo»s own products were used. – multifunctional glass with coating.
In 2024 «Salavatsteklo» lost the battle with the Federal Antimonopoly Service of the Russian Federation, which started back in 2021. The agency accused the holding of having a dominant position in the market. From the case materials it is clear that the FAS RF claims arose both against Salavatsteklo and its Saratov enterprise. As the antimonopoly agency concluded, in 2021 «Saratovstroysteklo». and its head structure have raised prices for uncoated clear flat glass. The joint-stock company did not dispute the price, but asked to reduce the fine; the company’s arguments were that it had prevented harmful consequences from its offense. In addition, the company hinted at exceptional circumstances related to its financial situation.
However, the trial court did not accept any objections. He concluded that the company had not proven that the harm from price gouging was somehow minimized. References to the financial situation of the arbitration also did not convince. The amount of the fine was 190.2 million rubles. RIA” Mr. Sultanov. The JSC borrowed money – 3.7 billion rubles – from its Saratov subsidiary. Even earlier, Salavatsteklo additionally capitalized the Saudi branch of the holding Salavat Glass Company LLC for an amount that then corresponded to 2.8 billion rubles. In addition, this year Salavatsteklo opened a credit line for 2 billion rubles with Sberbank. It also paid shareholders 2.49 billion rubles in income for 2023.
BV also wrote that in June of this year JSC Salavatsteklo became the owner of 60% of the shares of the Bashkir telecom operator JSC Ufanet, the transaction is being assessed 6 billion rubles. Previously, Deputy of the State Duma of the Russian Federation Alexander Khinshtein spoke out against their owners who have citizenship of unfriendly countries. After signing the purchase and sale agreement, he advocated that the proceeds from the transaction be turned into state income.
BV Help. «Salavatsteklo Volga» at the end of 2023 amounted to 5.3 billion rubles, net profit – 1.7 billion rubles. «Salavatsteklo» last showed revenue in 2021: it reached 12.8 billion rubles, net profit 5.6 billion rubles. In 2022, the JSC’s revenue decreased to 10.86 billion. Net profit that year fell almost twice – to 2.86 billion rubles.