The Leninsky District Court of Yekaterinburg received a lawsuit from the Prosecutor General’s Office of Russia against a Ural businessman Maliku Gaisin on the recovery of the shares of OJSC Uralbiopharm owned by him and the commercial bank Vyatich, as well as shares in the authorized capital of the companies Vagran and Aktai-M, to the state’s income. The court took interim measures in the form of seizure of assets belonging to the businessman.
Deputy Prosecutor General of Russia Igor Tkachev filed a lawsuit with the Leninsky District Court of Yekaterinburg against the Ural businessman Malik Gaisin and persons controlled by him to recover the shares of the company for the production of medicines JSC “Uralbiopharm” and commercial bank “Vyatich”, as well as shares in the authorized capitals of LLC “Vagran” and LLC “Aktai-M”.
As the press service of the supervisory agency explained, while being a State Duma deputy, Malik Gaisin was engaged in entrepreneurship from 1995 to 1999, in violation of anti-corruption prohibitions.
The man personally and through proxies bought up shares of one of the oldest pharmaceutical companies in the country – Uralbiopharm OJSC. After that, according to the Prosecutor General’s Office, he illegally participated in its economic and financial activities.
As a result of the transactions, Malik Gaisin became the monopoly owner of Uralbiopharm, increasing his share of beneficial ownership in the enterprise to 99.9%. According to the Prosecutor General’s Office, in order to hide information from regulatory authorities, Malik Gaisin transferred securities to the Vyatich commercial bank affiliated with him, which he also secretly acquired, being a member of the State Duma Committee on Budget, Taxes, Banks and Finance.
“Having limited access information, he bought up assets in the very industry in which he oversaw the implementation of the powers of federal government bodies and made legislative decisions as a member of the relevant committee,” the department noted.
OJSC “Uralbiopharm” – a plant in Yekaterinburg. Production began in 1930. The plant specializes in the production of medicines and dietary supplements. According to the data on the company’s website, OJSC “Uralbiopharm” has been a member of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of the Russian Federation, the Ural Chamber of Commerce and Industry since 1966. Malik Gaisin has been the CEO since 2010.
According to the report, at the same time, Malik Gaysin established Vagran LLC and Aktai-M LLC (according to SPARK-Interfax, the companies each own 24.9% of Uralbiopharm shares) to carry out entrepreneurial activities and play the role of “nominal holders” of shares of commercial organizations that have come under the full control and management of the Ural businessman.
As a result, the Prosecutor General’s Office came to the conclusion that these assets worth more than 3 billion rubles. were the result of the “corrupt behavior” of Malik Gaysin and his receipt of illegal enrichment in the conditions of “a continuous conflict of interests in public office and his own well-being.”
At the request of the department, the court took interim measures in the form of arrest of shares belonging to Malik Gaysin. 34 writ of execution were issued in the case. The court session on the civil suit is scheduled for August 14.
Lawyers for Malik Gaysin did not respond to a request.
At the end of March, the court satisfied the claim of the Prosecutor General’s Office of the Russian Federation on the seizure of the property of the Iset electrical connectors plant, the general director of which is Malik Gaysin, to the state’s income. According to Kommersant, a stake in Iset was turned into state revenue due to the fact that Malik Gaysin managed the enterprise, being a people’s choice, and then used his participation in state authorities to obtain a controlling stake in the plant. According to the Prosecutor General’s Office, this violates anti-corruption laws.
According to the information disclosure service, the grounds by virtue of which Malik Gaysin ceased to have the right to dispose of the plant’s votes came on July 27, 2023.
Now the Ural businessman is under investigation on charges of abuse of authority (part 1 of article 201 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation) and embezzlement on an especially large scale (part 4 of article 160 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation). The investigation believes that Malik Gaysin, being the head of Iset, issued loans to companies controlled by him, which caused damage to the enterprise by 333 million rubles. As part of the investigation, Malik Gaisin was removed from the management of the plant and began to pay him a living wage of 15.6 thousand rubles.
At the end of May, businessman Dmitry Svetlolobov initiated a bankruptcy case, in which the court seized the businessman’s accounts, property, shares in 13 companies, as well as shares of Vyatich Bank PJSC owned by the Iset CEO. In June, the Prosecutor General’s Office of the Russian Federation entered the bankruptcy case of Malik Gaysin. At the end of July, the court ruled to remove the arrest from the property of the general director of the Iset plant.
