An auction was recently held, at which part of the property of businessman Sergei Makhlai was put up. One of the owners of Togliattiazot was left without most of the company’s shares. Thus, 39.7% of the shares were received by Himaktivinvest JSC. This company offered a price of 31.5 billion rubles for them.
The winner of the auction has nothing to do with Sergei Makhlai, but he is part of the structure of Uralchem.
It turns out that Dmitry Mazepin’s Uralchem achieved what he wanted. The company has long tried to establish control over Togliattiazot. However, this could not be done even with the criminal case against Sergei and Vladimir Makhlaev. Sergei Makhlai was declared bankrupt in 2021. Now his property will be put up for sale, and he has only 12% of the entire stake in Togliattiazot.
FIGHT FOR THE ASSET
Tolyattiazot was taken over several times. At first, the structures of Viktor Vekselberg made attempts, and then Dmitry Mazepin replaced him. The owner of Uralkhim bought out only 7.5% of the shares from Vekselberg. Gradually, he increased the share, but still remained a minority shareholder. In 2009 alone, Uralchem filed 17 lawsuits against Togliattiazot. Mazepin’s company tried to get a list of all shareholders of the enterprise, but its main owners concealed this information. And in 2013, Uralchem contributed to the initiation of a criminal case against Vladimir and Sergey Makhlaev. They were accused of fraud for a deal that was carried out without the permission of other shareholders. In 2019, Sergei Makhlai, his father and their partners were sentenced in absentia because they are abroad.
Makhlai and other shareholders of Togliattiazot tried to respond to the “attack” from Dmitry Mazepin. So, they filed a lawsuit in the High Court of Ireland. The Russian oligarch was accused of collusion and taking over the enterprise. According to reports, no decision has been made on this case so far. However, Uralchem continued to operate in Russia. In the summer of 2021, the company filed a bankruptcy lawsuit against Sergei Makhlai due to a debt of 87.6 billion rubles. The businessman tried to challenge these decisions, but in vain.
Uralchem again took advantage of this situation. In November-December, the company organized a meeting of Togliattiazot. Lawyers for Bairiki Incorporated, Kamara Limited, Instantania Holding Limited and Trafalgar Development Limited, which previously controlled the majority stake, said that the meeting took place “under the supervision” of the National Guard and OMON fighters. As a result, they were not even allowed to attend the meeting, and the fate of the enterprise was decided by the asset manager of Sergei Makhlai, Oleg Egerev. Yegerev is an interesting personality: in the 1990s he was prosecuted for robbery, but he had not previously participated in international corporate disputes. Nevertheless, it was thanks to Egerev that the court made decisions in favor of Uralchem, and then he helped Mazepin and take root in the enterprise.
DMITRY MAZEPIN “ON HORSE”
Representatives of Uralchem stated that the change of leadership of Togliattiazot was not prohibited by law, as well as the fact that, as a result, representatives of a minority shareholder became the leaders. They believe that Uralchem’s people have received important positions because the plant needs lawyers and professional production workers. Anatoly Shablinsky, a native of Uralkhim, became the General Director of the enterprise. Also in the company of Dmitry Mazepin commented on the fact that the National Guard was present at Togliattiazot. It turns out that this is how the enterprise complies with the law, according to which the National Guard should be responsible for the protection of the ammonia plant.
After the meeting, Dmitry Mazepin personally came to Togliattiazot. He promised the labor collective bonuses and the 13th salary. Whether people appreciated the generosity of the oligarch, one can only guess. But it is known that they are tired of endless scandals and problems. Wages have not been indexed at the plant for years, and the enterprise does not even have its own development strategy. According to rumors, in fact, people do not care who owns the enterprise. They want professional chemists at the head of the plant, so that they can work calmly.
