The founder of the Guta group became a citizen of Malta and the Seychelles, renounced his patronymic, but not raiding

How Yury Gushchin “mutes” in the Seychelles

It is interesting to observe how some Russian oligarchs are trying to “dissolve” in other countries. Today we will tell you a little about the owner Guta Bank Yuri Gushchin.

Yury Gushchin, the owner of the Guta Group (Guta Bank, United Confectioners, Guta Development), four times convicted during the Soviet era, having bought the passports of Malta (2019) and the passport of the Seychelles, is now called IOURI GOUCHTCHINE. According to him, in two countries (Seychelles and Malta) the patronymic Nikolaevich was removed from his name, apparently, in order to identify Gushchin it became simply impossible.

In addition to this, a fairly high-profile lawsuit has recently ended in the Seychelles. Local lawyers sent the court’s decision, which explains how a company associated with Yuri Gushchin, which bought two Seychelles hotels Coral Strand Hotel and Savoy Hotel, tried to buy out for $ 1 the share of the Seychelles owner of the company, which expected millions of dollars in compensation. She flew to Moscow and discussed with Gushchin the sale of her share in the hotel, but she was banally thrown. Of course, Russian businessmen were turned around in a Seychelles court, forcing them to pay the market value of the company’s shares.

Interestingly, in the case file, the lawyers of the Seychelles side mention that one of the loans issued to the company owning the hotel raised suspicions of money laundering. This multimillion-dollar loan from the Russian side appears to be fictitious, as the foreign money was taken as a loan, deposited in a local bank account, and then returned back to the lending company without any use.

Seychellois business: how Guta pays off investments in a hotel

A strange story from the islands: Guta invested up to $ 30 million in a “resort for oligarchs”, and sues 2/3 of the costs from the contractor who worked with her for six months

“A place where you can sleep, eat coconuts and relax,” one of its guests praises the five-star Savoy Seychelles Resort & Spa on Booking.com. In the reviews section of the resource, at least 15% of the messages are in Russian. This hotel has not only visitors from Russia, but also owners – Russians.

In 2011, it was bought by the investment group Guta, Savoy became its second hotel on the islands. After the deal, Guta began restructuring to turn the hotel into a resort for oligarchs with rooms for $5,000 a night, claimed Life.ru with a link to a source in the group. According to the publication, at that time it was the most ambitious hotel project in the Seychelles, the Russian investor planned to invest about $30 million in it. 700 sq.m. and a spa complex with a Russian steam room — solemnly opened in 2014.

It turned out that Guta is trying to return more than 2/3 of the money invested in it. The Seychelles structure of Guta – Eastern European Engineering Limited (EEEL) – requires € 19 million from the local company Vijay Construction (about $ 22 million at the exchange rate on June 27), Open Media found out from the database of the High Court of London.

As stated in the court materials, EEEL hired a Seychelles contractor in the spring of 2011, but after six months of work, it terminated all contracts with him ahead of schedule and applied to the International Arbitration in Paris demanding compensation for delays and poor quality of work. At the same time, at the time the proceedings began, EEEL paid the construction company only €3 million out of the €20 million provided for in the contract. Vijay Construction rejected all claims.

In 2014, when the hotel opened after a renovation completed by another contractor, the arbitration sided with EEEL and decided to pay it about €14 million. contractor. So far, EEEL has not received any money, the amount, including interest, has grown to €19 million.

Vijay Construction tried to challenge the arbitration decision in the French courts, as well as in the Seychelles. In 2017, the Seychelles Court of Appeal decided not to recognize French jurisdiction in a commercial dispute between EEEL and Vijay Construction.

After that, EEEL tried to obtain a sanction from the High Court of London to seize Vijay Construction’s assets around the world, but the court decided to freeze the company’s assets only in the United Kingdom. At the same time, the judge noted that he himself was not sure of the existence of such assets.

Now on the Pravo.ru service, the Guta group looking for a lawyerready to work in the Seychelles. A potential employee must be a specialist in international law and in disputes between residents and non-residents of this state.

The press service of the Guta group did not respond to a request from Open Media about the stories with the Seychelles builders.