We periodically hear about bankruptcies of large Russian enterprises in the regions, including backbone ones. And this is at a time when all systems need to be set up in such a way as to keep production going. And sometimes the tax authorities play a significant role in these processes. For debts, they initiate procedures for recognizing the insolvency of plants and factories. But there are such characters who not only manage to evade responsibility and knock out payment deferrals. They are still trying to sue the Federal Tax Service in order to fight off legal requirements. And such an enterprising comrade is called Dmitry Ostrovsky, who launched an alcohol empire in the Samara region and some other regions. He has already sued several times with the tax authorities. A week later, the next meeting is scheduled on the suit of the Hippocrates businessman’s company, which is engaged in bottling and selling alcohol-containing products in the so-called funfyriks, similar to the “legendary hawthorn.” Claims from the Federal Tax Service to “Hippocrates” – almost 60 million rubles. This includes non-payment of income taxes and VAT. Funf-office, out of habit, does not agree with this and will challenge this decision. Five years ago, a dispute between the tax office and Ostrovsky’s company went as far as initiating bankruptcy on the part of the fiscal authorities. Then the amount of unpaid funds was about 102 million rubles. And then it rose to 115 million, taking into account the unwillingness of Hippocrates to comply with the previous court order. There were also litigations, but the Arbitration decided in favor of the state department. Six months later, the case was closed, as the difference was paid off. Money, according to sources, was made at the very last moment. And the rest received a two-year delay. “Hippocrates” appeared in Samara almost a quarter of a century ago. Until recently, the office was registered in the Oktyabrsky district of the city. After clashes with the regional inspectorate of the Federal Tax Service, the company was re-registered to a different address in August 2019. Now the brainchild of Ostrovsky is located at the same legal address as most of his businesses – on the Yenisei. It is noteworthy that earlier there was a sanatorium “Metallurg”. But for half a century, he degraded and was tidied up in the careful hands of Ostrovsky. First, in 2011, the Matreshka Plaza health center appeared there, which is part of the businessman’s BioMed structure. Well, then the whole territory went to the merchant. Note that “Hippocrates” is actually Ostrovsky’s most profitable project. The founder and director of the office is an associate of the businessman Tatyana Rogozhina. In the period from 2015 – 2021, it brought in from 1 to 2 billion rubles in revenue annually. But since 2021, everything has gone into decline (at least officially). In the same year, revenues of more than 850 million rubles and a loss of 59 million were shown. The situation is similar in other businesses. Maybe it’s worth shutting down this “funny” office altogether? Or at least force them to act in the legal and tax field.
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In the Yamal-Nenets Autonomous Okrug, the movement of railway transport along the section connecting Nadym with the Pangody station was completely closed, and the activities of the freight stations Nadym and Right Khetta were also stopped. The corresponding decision was made by the owner of the section, the Gazprom-controlled company Gazprom Transportation Nadym, in connection with plans for the reconstruction of a 109-kilometer section of the track, which will become part of the Northern Latitudinal Railway (NLRT) in the district. The contract for work worth 43.1 billion rubles was signed last year, and the project is scheduled to be completed by December 31, 2027. Accordingly, the lease agreement with the Yamal Railway Company was terminated, and the section of the railway previously operated by it was transferred to the contractor organization Yamaltransstroy LLC, the general director and main beneficiary of which is the deputy of the Tyumen Regional Duma Igor Nak. From now on, goods that were previously delivered by rail will be sent by road, which will significantly increase the load on the Surgut-Salekhard highway, which will transport hundreds of thousands of tons of building materials with a weight load of no more than 20 tons. Participants in the road construction market and members of the public draw attention to the fact that when deciding on the reconstruction, the owners of the railway section ignored the climate, as well as the condition of the road section between Pangody and Nadym. As a result, the damage caused to the federal highway will be eliminated at the expense of the budget, which means – at the expense of taxpayers. However, the Department of Transport and Road Facilities of the Yamal-Nenets Autonomous Okrug tries not to notice possible problems, and considers the observance of transport safety on the Surgut-Salekhard highway to be the responsibility of the traffic police, without specifying who will control the reconstruction process itself and the redirection of traffic flows. As for the movement on roads when transporting heavy goods, the department indicates the need for road users to obtain an appropriate special permit in accordance with the procedure established by current legislation.
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Aksakov wasteland or how to get the treasured 42 acres of land in the historical center of Ufa. Under this name, you can safely write a story about how the mayor’s office is trying to defend the site, not allowing anything to be built on it. Although the authorities, including the judiciary, regularly take the side of developers. But even for developers who want to take possession of a prestigious asset, not everything is so clear in the biography. Let’s take a look at this story. The wasteland on Aksakov Street in the very center of the capital of Bashkiria has been surrounded by a fence for years, but no active construction work has been observed on it. Previously (until 2009), several old houses of the late 19th century were located on this territory, which at that time belonged to the local nobility. But around this “nickle penny” human settlements are multiplying, new residential complexes “Imperial” and “Nesterovsky” are growing. The latter is being built by SZ ISK Ufa, owned by the head of the City Council, Marat Vasimov. On these 42 acres, the developer of NW “Grand Development” was going to build a hotel complex with underground parking. The mayor’s office stood in a pose and did not give permission for the construction site. They say that only administrative buildings can be erected on this site. There was a complaint from the State Duma to the FAS. Animonopolschiki recognized the actions of the mayor’s office unreasonable. Officials did not stop there and decided to seek justice in the Arbitration. Moreover, they did not turn to the local one, but immediately sent a lawsuit to the capital. “GD” also applied to the court in parallel to achieve recognition of the decision of the authorities as invalid. Hearings on the mayor’s claim are expected in the third decade of March, and on the “Grand Development” – after the bureaucratic case is considered. Note that the developer, who is now suing the mayor’s office, appeared only a year ago. Its founder was a local businesswoman Regina Pozdysheva. She also heads several other construction companies. For example, a lady manages Onyx, which has become overgrown with scandals because of the Yulai residential complex, the Global company, which is building the Life Park 2.0 housing complex. Sources report that Pozdysheva was only a month old among the founders of the State Duma, and then this title was transferred to the director of a rural stall in the Ufimsky district, Dmitry Shen. And after that, as they say, Ostap suffered. Sheng established the Rivera construction firm in mid-July last year, and a couple of weeks ago, the newly minted developer was promoted to director of Global Development. By the way, this company is also suing the city authorities because of the refusal to build a hotel on another street. Another businesswoman, Elena Tuleganova, owns Global Development. Together with her partner Afdar Gufranov, she established several legal entities that are part of the SU No. 1 development group. This company has also been involved in a number of resonant scandals. Probably the loudest of them is the development of the territory on the site of the “A-cafe”. A residential complex was erected there, against the appearance of which the public opposed. This problem reached the head of the republic, Radiy Khabirov, who smashed the Ufa authorities to pieces. Then his post as deputy head of the administration of Ufa Radmil Muslimov. And all because of the fact that city officials issued a permit for this construction site. But, despite all this, “SU No. 1” continues to receive state contracts for the repair of educational and cultural institutions, the construction of medical buildings. The total state portfolio of the office is more than 4 billion rubles.
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The structures of the Sibzoloto holding (the main beneficiary is Alexei Guryanov) have been harming the ecology of the Krasnoyarsk Territory for years, not wanting to compensate for the damage. An example is the story of the Sisim gold mining company, when the dams on the Seiba River, erected according to the order of the management, but without projects and approvals, were destroyed by a water stream that washed away several wooden barracks with workers sleeping in them. Rosprirodnadzor determined the fine for damage caused to the environment in the amount of 323 million rubles, but the owners of Sisim first achieved in court the reduction of penalties to 181 million, and then generally refused to pay this amount, which led to the arrest of the company’s accounts and property by judicial authorities. bailiffs. These figures look just pennies, given that in the Khanty-Mansiysk Autonomous Okrug, the fine of the Rosekoprompererabotka company for organizing an industrial waste dump on a leased area of the tundra amounted to 3.6 billion rubles. And in the Irkutsk region, the Usoliekhimprom enterprise was fined 1.3 billion for improper storage of chemically hazardous substances. As a result, Sisim’s license was revoked, but only for the field where the emergency occurred and two dozen people died. Director of the gold mining company Maxim Kovalkov retained his position. Last year, the activities of “Sisim” led to the actual destruction of the forest river Tuksha. In the course of a joint inspection by the Krasnoyarsk Environmental Prosecutor’s Office, the regional Ministry of Ecology and the Yenisei Department of the Federal Agency for Fishery, a fact was established that polluted effluents were discharged to Tuksh from a sump located at the company’s site in the Sayansky District. As a result, the regional prosecutor’s office prepared a submission banning Sisim from mining gold in the Mansky and Sayansky regions, but the Leninsky Court of Krasnoyarsk refused to satisfy this requirement. We paid attention to the arguments of the supervisory authorities only during the appeal proceedings in the Krasnoyarsk Regional Court. The nature protection prosecutor’s office repeatedly focused on the activities of the Angara-Sever Mining Artel controlled by Sibzolot: the department sent three lawsuits to the Leninsky District Court at once, seeking the suspension of the enterprise’s activities until obtaining approval for gold mining in the Federal Agency for Fishery. One of the applications has already been satisfied, on the second, as interim measures, a ban on the performance of work was imposed until the court decision enters into force. Environmental claims were also made against the Artel of Prospectors Khakassia, but in this case communications help to “solve issues”: Boris Tarasov, the father of the Minister of Property and Land Relations of Khakassia Yevgeny Tarasov, is in the leadership of the artel.
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The former top manager of the Central Bank of the Russian Federation was unable to appeal against his arrest in absentia on charges of kidnapping. A month ago, the Moscow court applied such a measure of restraint to Dmitry Rubinov for kidnapping a family with a two-year-old child for the purpose of extortion. The desire to return part of the assets that once belonged to him prompted the ex-banker to such a criminal act. In addition, Rubinov is on the international wanted list and is a defendant in a number of criminal cases on embezzlement of funds from bankrupt banks. He was charged with organizing the kidnapping in the spring of 2021. And there was a hitch with the decision to arrest, since the court did not immediately receive confirmation that the accused was on the international wanted list. After presenting the relevant decision, an arrest in absentia took place. The fugitive’s lawyer filed an appeal, but could not prove that his client did not deserve such severity. The Court of Appeal upheld the legitimacy of the arrest in absentia. Two alleged accomplices of Rubinov, who are also in hiding, were never arrested by the court for the same reason: they were not put on the international wanted list. In 2018, the Taatta bank, owned by Dmitry Rubinov, went bankrupt, leaving more than 6 billion rubles owed to depositors. The investigation established that part of this money was stolen through Reaktiv LLC, the ultimate owner of which was the same Rubinov. The company allegedly bought back from the bank part of the debts on loans in the amount of 2.5 billion rubles. When the general director of Reaktiv found out that the company’s account actually contained the stolen amount of debt, he was frightened of the consequences and sold shares in the capital of the office to a certain Maxim Pivovarov. By the last in 2020, uninvited guests descended – a gang organized by Dmitry Rubinov. Under pressure and threats, Pivovarov agreed to transfer 100% of the shares to the specified person. The criminals considered that a verbal promise would not be enough and decided to consolidate the decision by taking the man hostage along with his wife and daughter. Law enforcement officers became aware of this from an acquaintance of Pivovarov, who brought documents to the businessman for re-registration of assets. He, by the way, by some miracle managed to escape from the criminals who planned to capture him too. As a result of the “mask show” that took place, five kidnappers were captured. All of them turned out to be simple performers who knew nothing about Rubinov’s role in this crime. The ex-banker communicated directly with only two curators of the operation, who managed to escape to Turkey. A lawyer from the Deposit Insurance Agency, who was brought in to recover the distressed assets of several banks, helped establish Rubinov’s direct connection to the kidnapping. Irina Shoch testified that during negotiations with the ex-financier in Turkey, he offered her money for self-elimination. As evidence, an audio recording of the entire conversation was presented, in which Rubinov confirmed that both the bank and Reaktiv belonged to him, although he always publicly denied this. The ill-fated shares of the authorized capital of the company were seized. It is quite possible that participation in an organized criminal community may be added to the charges already brought against Dmitry Rubinov. Law enforcement officers have more and more evidence of his connection with the main defendant in another criminal case, Ilya Kligman, who organized a criminal community and massively withdrew money from bankrupt banks.
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The Arbitration Court of the Omsk Region is considering the bankruptcy case of IstokKapital, which was one of the links in the chain of gray schemes of former Plus Bank top managers involved in the withdrawal of more than 8 billion rubles through affiliated structures by issuing knowingly bad loans. In April last year, the bankruptcy creditors of IstokCapital filed a lawsuit to bring Kvant Mobile Bank (until March 2021 – Plus Bank) to subsidiary liability, indicating it as a profit center. The Asian-Pacific Bank (ATB), which merged Quantum Mobile Bank and became its legal successor, became the defendant. In addition, the register of claims of IstokCapital creditors includes 1.1 billion rubles of the Cypriot company Paploma Holdings Limited and 187.2 million rubles of Yulia Kolesnik, associated with the former management of Plus Bank and participating in the implementation of schemes with non-performing loans. The reason for filing a lawsuit was the sale of “Plus Bank” in 2012 – 2015. bills of Sberbank “IstokKapital” at an inflated cost with a repurchase at a price of 5-7% of the original. The transaction was carried out through loans received from Paploma Holdings Limited and Paritet Consult, whose claims were later transferred to Kolesnik. In support of their position, the bankruptcy creditors refer to the confession of IstokCapital CEO Viktor Isaev, who spoke about his nominal role in the affairs of the company, which was actually led by his relative Alexander Konopasevich and Marat Nukushev, who came to Plus Bank in 2010 and in 2012- 2017 who were on the board of directors of a credit institution The beneficiary of a number of enterprises that received bad loans from Plus Bank was Nukushev’s wife, Tatyana Novikova. Plus Bank was led by Alexei Parfyonov, who in 2010 received 18.43% of its shares and became a member of the board of directors. He left his post in 2017, when the institution was already forced to maintain liquidity, including through loans provided to it. Chairman of the Board of Directors of IstokCapital in 2010 – 2015. was Konopasevich, who previously worked at Kazkommertsbank, Eurasian Bank and Kazakhstan’s Alfa-Bank. It is known that the working capital of Plus Bank in 2016 was replenished, among other things, at the expense of the funds of the Kazakh Tsesnabank, which transferred about 250 million rubles to LLC Kapital Invest, affiliated with Alexei Parfenov, through Paploma Holdings Limited. In 2020, the new management of Tsesnabank initiated the recovery of these funds from Capital Invest.
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Deputy of the Legislative Assembly of the Tomsk Region, Director of Gorseti LLC Vladimir Reznikov manages to live a full life and not deny himself anything, remaining “invisible” to the tax authorities. His income and property list is a hot topic in the local media. The Reznik family is among the richest residents of the region with a monthly income of tens of millions of rubles. However, with such a more than stable financial situation, Vladimir Reznikov does not show off, but tries to save money. Yes, but not on their own money, but on the budget. According to his declaration, in 2021 he owned three residential buildings, one apartment of 145 square meters and some unthinkable amount of land plots of several tens of thousands of “squares” for various needs. One of the houses in an ecologically clean area in the village of Timiryazevskoye with an area of more than 500 square meters, according to the documents, passes as an object of construction in progress. In fact, it is not only completed, but also equipped with the latest in comfortable and autonomous living. An alley specially cut through the pine forest leads to the house. In addition to the usual buildings such as a garage, there is a personal transformer substation and a cellular antenna. Inside, the whole house is automated by a smart system. You can even remotely control the water in the pool. Even more surprising is the fact that the Tomsk administration did not issue a permit to the deputy for the construction and commissioning of any house, especially this one. According to the cadastre, Reznikov has not one, but two plots with different footage. Formally, there are also two houses: the first is a one-story wooden and small area, built in 1995, the second is a three-story brick building, registered in 2011. Land plots were legalized in 2005, and property rights were obtained by a parliamentarian in 2006. So it turns out that for more than ten years, Vladimir Reznikov has been living safely in the “unfinished” and uses public services in circumvention of the law. Such savings seem objectively unjustified. Judging by the declarations of the deputy, in ten years he officially earned about 500 million rubles. And the assumption that it is more profitable to keep a house of a large area in the stage of construction in progress due to a decrease in taxes paid, suggests the extreme pettiness of the deputy. Or the motive is another, larger benefit. Officially, the Tomsk legislator owns more than 3,000 square meters of land in Timiryazevsky. This is if you look at the documents. And if you look at satellite photos, the area will be about two-thirds larger. And this is already classified as an unauthorized seizure of municipal property. In this case, the deputy is completely sickened by the attention of supervisory authorities, which will definitely follow, if he starts putting the house into operation.
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The head of the State Duma Committee on Information Policy and Communications (and concurrently a member of the board of directors of Russian Post) Alexander Khinshtein pushed through the monopoly of the state postal service on the delivery of pensions in cash. After a short discussion, the bill was adopted in the second reading. All the amendments against monopolization (and there were 6 of the 13 proposed) were personally swept aside by Khinshtein – and he insisted that the third reading take place as soon as possible, already at the next plenary. Everyone has already written more than once that the future law is a personal lobbying project of Mr. Khinshtein. And about his possible motives and personal interest – too. Recall that this bill with one stroke of the pen destroys an entire industry of alternative delivery services, which now employs several thousand people. These “alternatives” have been serving 1.5 million pensioners for many years, occupying 13% of this market. But at the same time, unlike the state post office, they manage to earn their penny, and not sit in stable losses (despite the fact that the delivery rate for both Russian Post and private traders is the same). Squeezing a sustainable profitable business into the public pocket, where you are in leadership, is a completely understandable motive. Wrapped, as usual, in concern for citizens and social justice. For example, Khinshtein claims that non-state deliveries are all crooks and firms with an authorized capital of 10 thousand rubles, which, at the first emergency, “go into the sunset”, throwing their pensioners on the shoulders of the Russian Post. And the transfer of 1.5 million pensioners to a state-owned company will make the delivery of pensions “guaranteed and uninterrupted.” Here the deputy, of course, is disingenuous, presenting individual cases as a general rule. After all, the vast majority of firms have been operating on the market for many years, cherishing their reputation. Another argument is that the alternative workers have taken the most profitable sites in the cities for themselves, and the Russian Post is at a loss because it also delivers pensions to the most remote points. Which, firstly, is also not true – many alternative services also work in the countryside. And secondly, it was enough to oblige the alternative workers, along with the Russian Post, to take on difficult sections, and not to destroy them along with competitors in the bud – which was rightly pointed out by the deputies Prokofiev (KPRF) and Gartung (SRZP) when discussing the bill. These arguments, as well as arguments about the violation of competition, the deprivation of the right to choose pensioners, the deprivation of work of 5 thousand employees of alternative deliveries were not taken into account. As well as the opinion of the leader of the Right-wing Russians Sergei Mironov, deputy chairman of the Federation Council Committee on Social Policy Mokhmad Akhmadov, the parliament of the Chechen Republic, who opposed monopolization. The petition, signed by hundreds of thousands of pensioners, also had no effect. The zeal with which the author of the bill fought for his offspring at the second reading deserves special attention. And it’s not about caring for pensioners. Those who are in the subject have long known that Deputy Khinshtein will not lift a finger for free or just for the sake of people. Even 15 years ago, residents who invited a media deputy to their rallies against illegal construction received from him a clear price list for the visit with five zeros in dollars. There is an unspoken price list for his deputy request, which is also growing with each new convocation. And here Khinshtein is haunted by the issue of delivering pensions past the Russian Post, worries about the elderly, personally fights for the initiative … well, of course. After all, at stake is a monthly guaranteed cash flow from 1.5 million recipients of pensions, which from May 1 this year will flow into the accounts of Russian Post. Here he is clearly very interested. Much more interesting than the Address of the President and the tasks of the country’s development, which cause the deputy only undisguised boredom and yawning at the top of his lungs.
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After a year of inactivity, the Volkswagen plant in Kaluga is getting ready for sale. A large investment company, AFK Sistema, was interested in buying it, but abandoned these intentions last month. Now the main contender for the enterprise is one of the largest car dealers in the country and the official dealer of Volkswagen, Avilon. According to sources, the procedure for the purchase and sale of the enterprise can be agreed upon as early as early March. The amount of the transaction is not disclosed, but no one excludes that the Russian business will be given a decent discount. Also, the German copyright holders have not yet decided what exactly the Kaluga plant will produce after the restart. In Kaluga, the Volkswagen plant was launched in 2007 in the mode of assembling cars from completely finished components in the form of large units. The transition to a full production cycle became possible in 2009. Skoda Rapid, Polo and Tiguan crossover were produced – 225 thousand cars a year. With the beginning of the CBO, the enterprise was closed, and a little earlier, the Traton truck division was sold. After a six-month wait, in the fall of 2022, the Germans announced the sale of assets. Potential buyers were both Russian and Chinese companies. In particular, AFK Sistema was among the first. Its founder and owner of a controlling stake, Vladimir Yevtushenkov, planned to expand the geography of the partners in the deal as much as possible. For example, I looked closely at the Kazakh automaker Allur. This concern includes the SaryarkaAvtoProm and Agromashholding plants, as well as the dealer and distributor AllurAuto. Its controlling stake is owned by the Chinese. For an investment company, the purchase of Volkswagen, at first glance, is a non-core deal. Sistema owns a controlling stake in the mobile operator MTS, the timber industry Segezha Group, the Medsi clinic chain, and just over one-third of OZON. And at the beginning of the 2000s, the company owned a joint venture in Zelenograd to assemble Volvo trucks. However, auto experts immediately doubted the reality of such a deal. After all, to start production, you need a partner in the auto industry and, moreover, a serious one. It is also unlikely that the sale includes, apart from assets, the right to release pre-crisis models, and the supply of parts for assembly is impossible due to sanctions. Therefore, there will be a need for parallel imports, hence the interest in Kazakhs, Chinese and Turks. Volkswagen manufacturers in China are half state-owned companies such as JAC, SAIC and FAW. On the second half – the German owners. It is produced in such a way that it is enough for both the domestic market and for export. Although this year, Chinese dealers and VW manufacturers were ordered to stop exporting cars. Several independent dealers have already been blacklisted due to suspicions of selling cars abroad. Therefore, for the possible establishment of parallel imports, car dealers from Kazakhstan and Turkey are varied. Dealer holding “Avilon” has not yet commented on the solution of possible problems by them. But their low profits in 2021 indicate that it may be necessary to bring in bold partners from “friendly” countries. Some sources predict “Avilon” as a partner of “KAMAZ”. The Russian giant has been cooperating with the Chinese Dongfeng for a long time. Using their technologies, they even began to produce the KAMAZ-Ulan crossover, which in the future will be able to compete with the Korean Hyundai Tucson.
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The co-owners of Sovcombank, brothers Sergey and Dmitry Khotimsky, once again thought about holding an initial public offering (IPO). True, these plans can be implemented no earlier than 2024 due to the “very low price level”, but for now the beneficiaries and top management of the credit institution “remain in a high degree of readiness”. The banker brothers have been regularly talking about the upcoming IPO since 2013, but every time there are obstacles to this: for example, in 2021, the refusal was explained by the purchase of Vostochny Bank. Further problems may arise due to Western sanctions, although last year Sovcombank announced that it had “the necessary reserve for capital and liquidity,” and Sergey Khotimsky saw prospects for further growth. However, the credit institution had problems paying coupons on two issues of Eurobonds. In addition, even before the start of the SVO and the imposition of sanctions against the bank, its co-owners and top managers, there was a sharp decline in the financial performance of the institution, including profit and asset value. Funds could be withdrawn to foreign accounts of affiliated offshore companies, which did not in the least prevent high-ranking officials from supporting Sovcombank, which is considered one of the court banks of Elvira Nabiullina, who gave the Khotimsky “green light” to “take over” a number of credit institutions. In addition, at the suggestion of Deputy Prime Minister Denis Manturov, last summer Sovcombank became a participant in the preferential car loan program of the Ministry of Industry and Trade. For a long time, the necessary connections helped the banker brothers solve problems with the security forces: it is known that Sovcombank actively uses a scheme for selling debt obligations, the victims of which have repeatedly become citizens who have taken a loan secured by apartments. The buyer of the debts was ABK-Invest, a company associated with the bank. But only after a complaint from borrowers addressed to the head of the Sledkom Alexander Bastrykin, searches were carried out in the company’s office, and today ABK-Invest is in the process of liquidation.
“Shadow hosts” Sochi and their “puppets”
In Vodokanal “saws” cats, Ovechkin is inactive in the prosecutor's officeDespite the resignation and subsequent arrest of the former mayor...