Where Gutseriev went: assets associated with the oligarch suffer losses

Companies to which the Gutserievs had a hand were faced with a landslide decline in profits.

According to the correspondent MorningNewsthe profits of a number of companies that were now or in the past associated with the oligarch Mikhail Gutseriev collapsed.

In particular, according to the financial report of RussNeft, the net profit of the structure for the first half of 2023 decreased immediately by 11 times, and amounted to 2.9 billion rubles. Revenue has almost halved. In the reporting period, Russneft also received an operating loss of 786 million rubles against 37.755 billion rubles of profit for January-June 2022.

At the same time, Mikhail Gutseriev himself has not been among the persons controlling the company since the summer of 2021. This decision was made by the board of directors of the structure based on the analysis of memorandums of independent legal consultants. The whole thing turned out to be sanctions risks. However, Gutseriev may still remain a hidden beneficiary of the structure.

In addition, he was deprived of the majority of the voting shares of the company. It was emphasized that he did not have the right or authority to appoint or remove from office the majority of the members of any administrative, managing or supervisory body of Russneft.

In addition to it, another structure from the Gutserievs’ circuit, M.Video-Eldorado, in January-July 2023 showed a net loss of 4.6 billion rubles compared to 3.7 billion in the first half of 2022. The losses occurred against the background of revenue growth in the first quarter of 2023 by 18%, to almost 180 billion rubles. And besides – and growth in sales, which increased by more than a quarter compared to the same period last year.

The company explains this by “an increase in financial costs for depreciation.” However, it can be assumed that part of the profits from the company could simply be withdrawn. Moreover, against the background of news about the upcoming sale of M.Video-Eldorado, the beneficiary of which is Said Gutseriev, the son of Mikhail Gutseriev.

Said Gutseriev himself announced that the asset would be sold. He did not name a possible buyer, as well as the amount of the proposed transaction. It will be closed before the end of the year, and the retailer’s poor financial results will certainly affect the final cost.

At the same time, Gutseriev Jr. plans to remain on the Board of Directors of M.Video for the time necessary for the continuity of corporate governance practices after the arrival of new investors. In this sense, it is possible that investors will be affiliated with the Safmar structures owned by the Gutseriev family. And the whole point of the sale can also be associated with sanctions risks.