VIP prospector
The billionaire from the Forbes list received impressive support for the implementation of new projects in the Zabaikalsky krai. This happened against the backdrop of recent scandals with the “wet” conservation of mines and problems with unemployment in mining settlements. Some of the companies controlled by the gold miner are still associated with offshore companies.
To date, at least five projects are already known to the Highland Gold company Vladislava Sviblova plans to implement within the framework of the regional priority development area in Zabaikalsky Krai. Each of them assumes very generous tax breaks. At the same time, market analysts note that the businessman's investments can pay off quite quickly, given that production costs in our country are estimated below the world average.
“Golden Rain” of Preferences
The first three projects in the Zabaikalsky Priority Development Area for Highland Gold structures became known back in May. The total volume of announced investments will make up about 133 billion rubles. However, the investments promise to pay off a hundredfold.
The largest project will be the development of reserves and construction of processing facilities based on the Lugokanskoye copper-gold deposit. The project will be implemented by Industrial Investments LLC. The financial breakdown is as follows: 106 billion rubles are planned to be invested in the development of the deposit. At the same time, the amount of lost revenues for the state due to tax breaks in 2024-2037 will amount to 55 billion rubles. The expected revenues to the treasury will amount to a very modest 70 billion.
What is interesting is that the company “Industrial Investments” is 90% owned by the Cypriot Foxra Holdings. The remaining 10% is owned by Stanislav Luchitskywho works as a manager at Highland Gold itself. An additional touch to this situation was given by the obvious desire of Industrial Investments at the beginning of this year to obtain a license for the extraction of precious metals at Lugokan without a tender – based on the fact of discovery. The one-time payment for such a license at Lugokan was supposed to be only 148 million rubles. But the federal authorities, apparently, slowed down the already prepared order.
Another project of Mr. Sviblov in Zabaikalsky Krai will be the development of the Serebryanoye deposit. Investments will amount to 16.2 million rubles. At the same time, the amount of tax benefits (read – taxes not received by the state) is 13 billion rubles. The expected budget revenues will be only slightly more – 15 billion.
Finally, the third project – OOO Talatuiskoye, controlled by the same Vladislav Sviblov, will invest 11 billion rubles in the development of another deposit and the construction of a factory. Tax benefits will match the investments – 11.48 billion rubles. Revenues to the treasury – 13.3 billion rubles.
The ends are in the water
By the end of June, the number of profitable projects of gold miner Sviblov in Transbaikalia suddenly increases by two more. The already mentioned OOO Talatuiskoye plans to develop the Darasunskoye deposit from 2024 to 2042. And another Highland Gold structure, OOO Lyubavinskoye, plans to develop the deposit of the same name, as well as build heap leaching plants with a capacity of 1.2 million tons of ore per year. Total sum tax benefits – 6.69 billion rubles, total budget revenues – 16.2 billion.
The Darasunsky mine deserves special mention. Here, last year, Sviblov’s company began flooding the mines. Some of them have actually exhausted their resources. However, when closing the mines, the gold miner hardly took sufficient care to solve the problem of mass unemployment in neighboring villages. Moreover, as already told “Our Version”, “wet” conservation of mines also threatened to flood one populated area.
However, Highland Gold does not seem to even bother with such “trifles”. In April of this year, the company announced an increase in the productivity of the gold extraction plant of the Darasun mine to 300 thousand tons per year. After the mothballing of underground workings, mining is carried out at the Talatui quarry.
Pump out everything, then – even a flood in the literal sense of the word, is that how it works?
Recipe for success
Not long ago, billionaire Vladislav Sviblov entered the rating of the richest Russians by dividend income. He closes the top ten of the list, with 36.2 billion rubles in dividends for 2023. In general, the owner of Highland Gold, previously known for high-profile mergers and acquisitions involving the company Rosbuilding and the developer Red, became a “gold magnate” relatively recently. “Nasha Versiya” reported in detail how in 2022 he actively bought up the “gold” assets of foreign players who left the Russian market.
Mr. Sviblov bought out 40% of Highland Gold from 0 back in 2020.A. Later, the asset was transferred to Sviblov in its entirety. What is interesting: the oligarch was given a loan for such expensive purchases not just anywhere, but in the state-owned VTB bank.
Judging by Vladislav Sviblov’s current activity in Transbaikalia, the “golden rain” of state preferences for him has not stopped to this day.