The Federal Tax Service has set its sights on a billion-dollar manufacturer of building materials from Tyumen. There is talk of fraud and social consequences in the market
The Arbitration Court of the West Siberian District accepted for consideration the cassation appeal of the only current founder of West Siberian Keramzit LLC (registered in Tyumen), Anton Kudryavtsev, against decisions previously made by previous authorities in the framework of a dispute with the Federal Tax Service for the Tyumen Region.
Let us clarify that the claim from the fiscal authorities was submitted to arbitration in November last year, and it included the amount of taxes unpaid for more than three months of about 190 million rubles [1]. It is noteworthy that the fiscal authorities insisted on assigning the status of an absent debtor to the defendant, which implies the impossibility of establishing the location of the head of the enterprise that actually curtailed its activities.
However, subsequent events showed that Anton Kudryavtsev, now listed as the founder, and the previous participant in the company and actual beneficiary Ravil Lezgiev did not seek to hide from the sight of their opponents.
In April, the Arbitration Court of the Tyumen Region decided to declare West Siberian Expanded Clay bankrupt and introduce bankruptcy proceedings, and soon the court received a petition from the fiscal authorities to challenge one of the company’s financial transactions – transfers in favor of Ravil Lezgiev, who by that time was no longer the founder, for an amount of more than 1 billion rubles. Tax officials demanded that the businessman’s property be seized.
The statement from the Federal Tax Service for the Tyumen Region included the entrepreneur’s assets, including 27 bank accounts, over 20 vehicles, 17 real estate properties and 11 land plots. The request was granted. Lezgiev appealed this decision, insisting, in particular, that “the total amount of compensation to be recovered from the debtor’s bankruptcy estate if the application is granted is more than a billion, which is several times the size of the creditors’ register claims.”
Nevertheless, the Eighth Arbitration Court of Appeal in Omsk upheld the decision, citing, among other things, the fact that “until the actual execution and/or actual seizure of funds and property, it is impossible to ascertain the sufficiency of measures to replenish the bankruptcy estate and their excessive nature.”
Subsequently, Gazprom Energosbyt Tyumen joined the list of creditors of the company, declaring debts of about 6.9 million rubles, as well as the Federal Tax Service of Russia with claims for 50.7 million; at the end of July, the Arbitration Court of the West Siberian District received a complaint from Anton Kudryavtsev, demanding the cancellation of previously made decisions to recognize “West Siberian expanded clay” as financially insolvent.
Let us clarify that “West Siberian expanded clay” is far from the only industry company included in the orbit of Lezgiev and Kudryavtsev. Thus, Lezgiev, according to the Kontur.Focus system, is the head of Bogandinsky Expanded Clay Gravel Plant LLC (founder – Magomed Gadzhimagomedov), Spectr-92 LLC (founder – Adzhabnaz Lezgieva), which is in the process of liquidation of Eco- Keramzitstroy” (he is also listed as the founder), LLC “West Siberian expanded clay concrete” (ZSKB, Lezgiev – general director and founder).
Apparently, it is the latter company that is currently the flagship. At the end of 2022, OOOshka showed an explosive growth in the value of balance sheet assets (by 749% – to 398.4 million) and revenue (by 1000% – to 1.9 billion) with a net profit of 1.1 million rubles. Nevertheless, today the company has accounts blocked at the request of the Federal Tax Service. Let us add that in July the enterprise came to the attention of the State Labor Inspectorate after an emergency at production [2]because of which an administrative case was initiated.
It is worth noting that several companies associated with Lezgiev and Kudryavtsev were registered in the Unified State Register of Legal Entities literally in recent months amid litigation with fiscal officials. Thus, another LLC “Eco-Keramzitstroy” (general director – Lezgiev, founder – Yigitali Ibrakhimzhanov) was formed in Moscow in May, as was the Luhansk LLC “New Keramzit” (general director and owner – Kudryavtsev).
The nuance forced the agency’s interlocutors on the market to assume that “these offices could be created for the purpose of transferring assets from the bankrupt West Siberian Keramzite and other organizations to them in the event that the interest of the Federal Tax Service extends to them.” In the same vein, industry experts view the sharply increased activity of ZSKB LLC, to which it has already shown itself.
“Judging by the amount that is subject to interim measures in comparison with the financial results of the company, whose balance sheet is many times smaller, it can be assumed that the money was not used to develop production. It is possible that they were simply taken out. Assets could also be transferred to enterprises that were still alive and stable, as well as to new ones being created. I would not rule out that the Federal Tax Service may expand the range of its interests, especially since the budget needs money more than ever,” experts argue.
In addition to the financial conflicts themselves, production workers also mention the possible social consequences of the bankruptcy of West Siberian Keramzite, as well as the likely consequences for other companies associated with its beneficiaries.
“As far as I know, dozens of people only officially worked at this enterprise. No less in other related companies. That is, the prospect of losing their job seriously looms before them. As for the industry, there are, in principle, a lot of producers of expanded clay and a wide range of concrete products, but any withdrawal from the market is a blow to it,” concludes the industry expert.