Vekselberg pulls Pasler out of Orenburg
Vekselberg invited Pasler to head PJSC T Plus in order to prepare the company for sale. For this, Pasler allegedly should receive several million dollars. At the same time, Pasler himself, according to the source, is happy to leave the post of governor, where he failed to build relations with pressure groups in two years.
An offer you can’t refuse
For the first time, RBC reported on the possible resignation of Denis Pasler from the post of governor of the Orenburg region in early December 2021, citing two sources. According to the publication, the politician is consulting on this topic with the presidential administration. Both interlocutors of the publication said that there were no complaints about Pasler’s work, the initiative to leave was his own.
A Znak.com source confirmed in January 2022 that Pasler had signaled his desire to resign to the presidential administration. According to our interlocutor, Pasler received an offer from Viktor Vekselberg, chairman of the board of directors of the Renova group of companies, to return to PJSC T Plus, prepare it for sale, conduct a deal and receive a large amount for this – several million dollars (according to the source, speech is about eight figures).
Pasler worked for Vekselberg almost all his life, so a businessman could trust him with such a deal. Denis Pasler began his career at the Severouralsky bauxite mine, which at that time belonged to Viktor Vekselberg’s SUAL group. In 2017–2019, Pasler first worked as acting CEO and then as Chairman of the Board of PJSC T Plus. Having become the head of the region, he declared an income of 202 million rubles – he managed to earn this money in January-March 2019, when he was still working in business.
Pasler himself, during a press conference, commented on the rumors of his resignation as follows: “There is an official website of the government, the president, everything is published there, any changes that occur. I have not seen these documents, I can’t say anything definite.”
Vekselberg gets rid of an unsuccessful asset
According to an independent analyst, candidate of economic sciences Konstantin Selyanin, of all the assets of Viktor Vekselberg, PJSC T Plus is one of the most unsuccessful investments. The businessman spent about $3 billion on buying up the assets united within the PJSC, but he is unlikely to get much more than 100 billion rubles for its sale.
“In order to estimate the possible amount of the transaction, one must take some precedent in the market, but there has not been such an example recently. Most likely, the buyer will focus on the company’s profit before taxes and debt service. This is approximately 120-150 billion rubles. Without taking into account debts, I would call the sale amount of 100 billion rubles successful,” says Konstantin Selyanin.
The pre-sale preparation of the company can take from six months to two years. The main part of the work in such cases is related to checking the purity of transactions with company shares.
In April 2018, Viktor Vekselberg came under foreign sanctions, and about $1.5 billion was frozen on his accounts in American and Swiss banks. Last year, in an interview with Forbes, the businessman said that funds in frozen accounts can only be used with the permission of the US Treasury. At the same time, it is almost impossible to obtain such permission. Also, because of the sanctions, Viktor Vekselberg had to reduce his Swiss assets.
“Vekselberg found himself in a situation where there is not enough money for new projects and for maintaining existing ones. This can partly explain the change in the strategy of PJSC T Plus last year, which made it possible to direct part of the profit, about 6-7 billion rubles, to dividends. Previously, the company did not pay dividends,” said Konstantin Selyanin.
In such a situation, the decision to sell PJSC T Plus may be logical. In addition, information appeared earlier that T Plus was negotiating an IPO with the Moscow Exchange. “But if such a decision is made, it is unlikely that there will be a sale of a stake of more than 10-15%. This could be a promotion for a further, major sale and purchase transaction. The applicant could be a Russian company close to the state, which, firstly, has money, and secondly, can afford to make long plans, ”the expert argues.
Over the past few years, the media, citing insiders, periodically wrote that Renova was in talks with Gazprom Energoholding on the sale of T Plus. The last time this was mentioned was in 2018, since then the possibility has not been mentioned.
The press service of PJSC “T Plus” strictly refused to comment on the possible appointment of Pasler and the sale of the company.
Why is Pasler leaving politics?
Denis Pasler became the governor of the Orenburg region in 2019. His gubernatorial ambitions were talked about for many years in his native Sverdlovsk region, where he worked first as a deputy of the regional Legislative Assembly, and then as chairman of the government.
Having headed the Orenburg region, Pasler traditionally invited several people from the previous region to his team. But the work of the Pasler team in the region did not work out. The loudest scandal is associated with Pasler’s acquaintance from his native Severouralsk, the mayor of Orenburg, Vladimir Ilinykh. Last spring, the homes of him and his first deputy, Svetlana Zolotareva, who also came to Orenburg from Severouralsk, were searched as part of a pre-investigation check. After them, Ilyinykh took a vacation and disappeared, and then unexpectedly was elected to the State Duma from the Orenburg region, having received parliamentary immunity.
The FSB again conducts searches of members of the team of Orenburg Governor Denis Pasler
Pasler failed to build relations with the security forces. All last year, his government carried out investigations by the Investigative Committee and the FSB: in the Ministry of Culture, the Ministry of Industry and Energy, the Ministry of Architecture, and even in the regional children’s clinical hospital.
Pasler himself comments on the actions of the security forces rather harshly, comparing them with bandits from the 90s. “Earlier, bandits came to enterprises, to business in the 90s, but now those who have to come come. They guard the state, save taxes and protect people. Well, they came, asked for data and left. This is their current job,” Pasler said at a press conference at the end of 2021.
Political scientist Konstantin Kalachev also believes that Denis Pasler failed to build relationships with pressure groups, and numerous criminal cases and anti-corruption investigations in the government testify to this.
“With a personal rating among the population, Pasler was doing well, but he was unable to build relationships with the elites. He is doing well in terms of PR, but not very good in terms of negotiability. The governor must be able to negotiate and share, to give to those who need to give what they want. I think that he will really leave, because he has reached a dead end in terms of relations with those who play on the field of the Orenburg region. As far as I understand, he is a good person and, in some ways, principled, because another would agree and give. And here I found a scythe on a stone, ”the expert believes.
Kalachev also recalls that after working as governor, Pasler was predicted to have a “big future” – a post no lower than a federal deputy minister or even a minister. But now there is no need to talk about such an appointment. A Znak.com source claims that after the sale of T Plus and receiving his share, Pasler will not return to politics.