The forest is being cut down: “chips” will fly to Mikhail Klyuchnikov?

Against the backdrop of tense relations with the authorities of the Altai Territory, is businessman Mikhail Klyuchnikov ready to leave his own employees without earnings, so as not to answer unpleasant questions about his enterprises?

According to the correspondent The Moscow Post in Altai Krai, a scandal flared up with an attempt by the regional authorities to terminate the contractual relationship for the lease of forests with the Altailes Group. The authorities no longer want to deal with the family business of Mikhail Klyuchnikov, the former head of the region’s forest department. This is logical given the fact that the ultimate beneficiary of this business could be in Lithuania – an unfriendly NATO state to us. But, despite this, “Altailes” is trying to manipulate public opinion and speculates on mass layoffs.

Formerly news agency “Interfax” reported that Sodruzhestvo LLC (part of the Altailes holding group of companies) may lay off more than 300 employees due to a dispute with the Ministry of Natural Resources of the Altai Territory, which is trying to terminate forest lease agreements through the court.

Group “Altailes” is a family business of the former department of forests of the Altai Territory Mikhail Klyuchnikov. So, the general director of OOO “Forest Holding Company (LHK) “Altailes” is Ivan Klyuchnikov, who, judging by the patronymic “Mikhailovich”, may be the son of a former official.

At the same time, the Altailes Group has a rather remarkable ownership structure. Until March 2021, the Sodruzhestvo company, a forest leaser, was controlled by CJSC Inditsiya (Lithuania) through its 100% subsidiary LLC Vesna (Barnaul). In March, the owner of Sodruzhestvo was JSC Standard, established in August 2020, with Vera Miracles as the sole beneficiary.

The General Director of JSC “Standard” is Dmitry Loginov, who is called the son-in-law of Mikhail Klyuchnikov. He is also the director of the Vesna company. So nothing much has changed from the change of owners of the Commonwealth. The Altailes group, as it was a family business, has remained.

At the same time, for a very long time, the beneficiary from the activities of “Altailes” was in Lithuania – a NATO country. Information about who is now the beneficiary of Standard JSC is not disclosed in open sources. It is only known that on November 30, 2011, Vera Miracles, according to Rusprofile, ceased to be the founder of Standard JSC. However, taking into account the fact that, as a result of external changes, Dmitry Loginov remained with the management, it is likely that we can again talk about some kind of Lithuanian company

“masters” of the forest

Mikhail Klyuchnikov managed the Altai forests for about 7 years at the time when Alexander Karlin was the governor of the region. Klyuchnikov’s bureaucratic career continued until 2012, when he was forced to resign amid a scandal. As the publication wrote “Altapress”the investigating authorities opened a criminal case against Mikhail Klyuchnikov.

Mikhail Klyuchnikov. Photo: doc22.ru / press service of SOLO “Altailes”

He was suspected of exceeding and abusing official powers. The investigation considered that in March 2009 between the Department of Forests of the Altai Territory and OOO “Birch” a lease agreement for a forest plot for a period of 49 years was concluded, as a result of which the forest plantations of the region could have been damaged in the amount of about 6.5 million rubles. So the plants listed in the Red Book were damaged. However, according to the publication “Life”, Klyuchnikov was acquitted by the court. But, miraculously, under pressure from the security forces, he nevertheless lost his position.

True, this did not prevent his family business from retaining possession of the national wealth. After his dismissal from the forest administration, Klyuchnikov became president of the Union of Forestry Organizations of Altai. Yes, and contracts with companies from the Altailes Group are valid until recently. Although back in 2016, social activists from the Altai Territory made a film lasting more than four hours, in which they described their version of how the Klyuchinikov business allegedly uses the Altai forests and what Karlin might have to do with this. The film is available on Youtube.

It was about the fact that Sodruzhestvo allegedly assigned the right to lease forests to LLC Kamensky LDK, another company from the Altailes Group. Billions could be earned on such intermediary schemes. In 2020 alone, Sodruzhestvo’s revenue amounted to a record for this company, more than 813 million rubles. And the net profit is also a record over 561 million rubles.

“This scheme drew the attention of the Altai defender of forests, MP, activist of the ONF and Lieutenant Colonel Valery Gorbunov, who died in 2018 from heart failure (after two attempts on his life),” writes “Life”.

Revenue of Sodruzhestvo LLC. Photo: rusprofile.ru (screenshot)

Net profit (RAS) of Sodruzhestvo, OOO. Photo: rusprofile.ru (screenshot)

Financial indicators of LLC “Kamensky LDK”. Photo: rusprofile.ru (screenshot)

What is happening in the forests of the Altai Territory is known to many in detail. “Altai deputy Ivan Yalymov said that Klyuchnikov’s company cuts down specially protected rare forests of Altai every day. We are talking about ribbon forests – pine forests that stretch along rivers in strips from five to 40 kilometers. Such forests in Russia are only in Altai,” – writes “Life”. But until recently, there was essentially no reaction from the authorities.

Manipulation and distortion

Alexander Karlin was governor until 2018. And Viktor Tomenko, who replaced him, seems to have got his hands on the Klyuchnikov business only now. After the local authorities finally began to restore order, the Altailes group launched an informational “counteroffensive”.

Alexander Karlin. Photo: kremlin.ru

Press releases were sent to the media, in which the management of “Altailes” reported on the possible mass layoffs of forest industry employees working in LLC “Sodruzhestvo” and “Kamensky LDK”. Also, “Altailes” convenes press conferences, where, for sure, “crocodile tears” will be shed. At the same time, the company is modestly silent about the role of Mikhail Klyuchnikov in creating a business and obtaining many hectares of forest plantations by Altailes.

The leadership of Altailes went so far as to involve its employees (just those who, as can be concluded from press releases, could be under threat of dismissal) to record a video message for the country’s top leadership. It looks like an attempt to shift from a sick head to a healthy one.

Apparently, Klyuchnikov and his associates understand that their prospects in the courts are not the brightest. In this situation, manipulation of public opinion could be a way out, but it is always a double-edged sword. Indeed, even before this scandal, many people in Altai assumed that the beneficiaries of Altailes were much less concerned about the fate of their workers than the billions that could be lost.