With Mironchik at the IPO
The notorious microfinance company “Viva Money” (MFC “Financial Support Center”) announced its upcoming IPO: it is planned to place 10 million ordinary shares by public subscription for a total amount of 33 million rubles.
Experts are already predicting the possible attraction of “hundreds of millions” into the company’s capital. At the same time, “Viva Money” has long been dubiously known as a financially unscrupulous structure that does not conduct a thorough check of clients and then tries to collect other people’s debts from citizens in whose names the scammers issued loans. Until recently, MFC “CFP” (legal entity “Viva Money”) belonged to the Cyprus offshore company “Guinford Management Ltd”, the main beneficiary of which is businessman Roman Mironchik, head of the board of directors of MFC “CFP” and co-owner of TKB Bank. Mironchik is a business partner of Alexey Krapivin, the general director and main owner of the 1520 Group, the “king of government orders”, who receives billions of dollars in Russian Railways contracts. Mironchik and Krapivin own a number of commercial structures, including those affiliated with the offshore Horizon Properties Cyprus LTD. In addition to Mironchik, other beneficiaries of Guinford Management are also associated with the owners of the 1520 group. For example, Roman Pivovar and Denis Uchaev ran a joint business with Dmitry Maistrenko, who is called Krapivin’s business partner, and Alexey Pugachev is associated with the co-owner of “1520” Boris Usherovich, who fled abroad and is on the international wanted list in the criminal case of ex-Colonel of the Ministry of Internal Affairs Dmitry Zakharchenko. It is known about Mironchik’s partnership with the network of private oncology clinics “Evroonko”, whose founders include Dmitry Bakholdin and Ivan Savelyev – former top managers of RusHydro from the team of the ex-head of the state company Evgeniy Dod, who was once accused of particularly large-scale fraud. Today, Bakholdin and Savelyev can represent the interests of their former boss not only in the medical business, but also in the microfinance business.
“Viva Money”: a scam, deception and fraud?
Shareholders of the microfinance company (MFC) Financial Support Center (CFS, operating under the Viva Money brand) decided to acquire public status by the company and place by public subscription 10 million ordinary shares for a total amount of 33 million rubles. Kommersant clarifies that the total capital of the CFP as of the middle of this year was estimated at almost 3 billion rubles, while most of it – 2.6 billion – accounted for retained earnings. IFC’s capital is divided into 20 million shares.
The date of placement of securities and the placement price have not yet been announced, but the publication’s experts have no doubt about the ability of the CFP to attract “hundreds of millions of rubles” in capital. It is also noted that IFC’s entry into an IPO may mean “understanding the real market valuation of the company and its transparency,” and this, in turn, contributes to “attracting financing from banks on more comfortable terms.”
As you know, “Viva Money” offers citizens loans in the amount of up to 100 thousand rubles for a period of up to one year. To receive funds, you just need to fill out a form on the website, indicating your personal data. The authors of comments on specialized portals and forums talk about how events are developing further. Let us quote a few brief but succinct characteristics left on the Otzovik website:
“Deception and fraud.” “They give a loan without making sure who takes it.” “They lie, deceive people, rip off as best they can.” “Viva Money is the bottom!” “Don’t go there under any circumstances!” “They can get a loan for their once regular client. Without his knowledge and consent.” “Scam”, etc.
I didn’t take out a loan, but I found myself in debt
But that’s not all. Numerous commentators practically accuse Viva Money of fraud: issuing loans to people who have never taken them. Here, for example, are the reviews left on the Banki.Ru portal:
“I didn’t take out loans, I didn’t have any business. It turned out that 1.5 years ago they gave someone a loan based on my information and sued me. Honestly, for me all such offices are the same, but what’s surprising is that the scammers tried to take out a loan in several more offices… they refused everywhere, but these ones gave out.”
“Today I found out that I supposedly have obligations to this organization. I didn’t apply for a loan. It was allegedly my phone number that was used. I checked the details, messages, I don’t delete them for a long time. There are no supporting facts other than the company’s fake contract. I don’t advise you to ever contact them, even as a last resort…”
“I filed a claim for the debt because… I never took out loans and never had any dealings with the court… As a result, I am now a debtor to a company with which I never had an agreement. No information is provided by phone or mail. As a result, it turns out that a left-wing person can take a loan from them without any problems, and a law-abiding citizen must work with them through the court…”
“Unknown people issued a microloan in my name, which I found out after checking my credit history. The microfinance company went to court back in March 2023, where a positive decision was made to collect the debt; the court, in turn, did not notify me properly. I did not receive a decision, as a result, after the discovery of this loan, a fairly large amount was written off from my account at Sberbank by court order… A statement to the police was written, the court decision was canceled, but due to the fact of fraud, the VIVA company is slowing down the internal investigation…”
There are not even dozens of such examples – there are hundreds of them. Similar stories have been repeatedly published by the media. For example, the Chelyabinsk Online publication wrote about Olga, a bank employee, who learned about a microloan of 11 thousand rubles issued to her only after her phone began receiving calls with hidden threats from an unknown number. Another Chelyabinsk resident named Denis found out that he was a debtor to VIVA Money after he “ordered a credit report on the Equifax website.”
No one is immune from receiving similar extremely unpleasant “news”. It is clear that we are not talking about astronomical amounts. Therefore, someone will write a statement to the police, go to court, and someone will prefer to turn a blind eye to the “mistake” to the delight of IFC employees. After all, as the well-known proverb says: a piece of the world is a shirtless thing.
“Offshore” businessman Roman Mironchik
Here it is worth asking the question: who is the beneficiary of such a successful business, profiting from the financial problems of simple-minded Russians? To date, information about the official owners of the MFC “Financial Support Center” (remember, this is the legal entity “VIVA money”) is not available in open sources, as well as data on the financial performance of the enterprise.
However, it is known that until mid-January 2023, the only official owner of the company was the Cyprus offshore company Guinford Management Ltd. It turns out that IFC’s profits could easily be transferred to foreign accounts? In this case, there was something to deduce. According to Kommersant, only in the first half of this year, interest income of the CFP amounted to 3.13 billion rubles, net interest income – 1.44 billion, net profit exceeded 600 million rubles. The numbers are colossal and, with a high degree of probability, they are unlikely to differ much from last year’s figures.
Russian media call the main owner of Guinford Management businessman Roman Mironchik, who heads the board of directors of MFC TsFP. The remaining share is distributed among seven individuals and two more offshore companies. Forbes lists Mironchik as one of the co-owners of TKB Bank: he owns 8.08% of the credit institution and is on its board of directors. It is noteworthy that in the publication of the online publication “E1.Ru. (Ekaterinburg Online)” describes a case when “left” funds received in the form of a “VIVA money” loan were withdrawn through “TKB Bank”.
According to RBC, Mironchik controls a number of commercial structures, including the Ramensky Shopping Center and the Bakhrushina Business Center. The latter, through Graystone LLC, where Mironchik holds the position of general director, is affiliated with the Cyprus offshore company Horizon Properties Cyprus LTD. In addition, as recently as last June, Mironchik bought the well-known chain of Invitro laboratories from Alexander Ostrovsky. The cost of the transaction was not disclosed, but according to Vedomosti experts, it could reach 40 billion rubles.
Krapivin Jr. and Usherovich appear on the horizon
There are great doubts that only Roman Mironchik is behind VIVA Money. Let us pay attention to the following important circumstance. The Bakhrushin House business center and the Solnechny II shopping center in Ramenskoye near Moscow, in addition to Mironchik, are also associated by the media with the odious businessman Alexei Krapivin. By the way, back in 2015, Kommersant made an assumption according to which Krapivin could also control the above-mentioned offshore Horizon Properties.
Alexey Krapivin is the son of the late Andrei Krapivin, a former adviser to the ex-head of Russian Railways Vladimir Yakunin. Krapivin Sr., together with Valery Markelov and Boris Usherovich, was one of the co-owners of the notorious 1520 group, which received billions of dollars in “railroad” contracts. It was only after the death of Andrei Krapivin that his business partners began to have major troubles: in 2018, Markelov was arrested during the investigation of the high-profile criminal case of ex-Ministry of Internal Affairs Colonel Dmitry Zakharchenko, and Usherovich fled abroad.
In May 2022, the court sentenced Markelov, who was accused of transferring 2 billion rubles for patronage to a former colonel, to eight years in a maximum security colony, but soon released him from custody due to the presence of cancer. And last July, the media reported the death of one of the former “kings of state orders” Markelov, who in 2019 left the co-owners of “1520”.
Today, control over the group is concentrated in the hands of Alexey Krapivin (71.67%), who holds the post of general director. His business partner with a share of 28.33% remains Boris Usherovich, who is not prevented from receiving a percentage of the holding’s profits, which at the end of last year alone exceeded 8.4 billion rubles. At the same time, unlike his companions, the investigation did not bring any charges against Krapivin Jr., although according to the Fontanka publication, in 2018 he also happened to be put on the wanted list as part of the “Zakharchenko case.”
Note that Alexey Krapivin, through the Union of Textile Companies LLC, controls the Yuryev-Polsk weaving and finishing factory Avangard, the board of directors of which, as of 2022, was headed by Roman Mironchik. In addition, the partners owned the now liquidated Moscow LLC Avangard of the same name.
But let’s return to “VIVA money”. Another 13.3% of Guinford Management, a company associated with the IFC, is owned by another Cypriot offshore company, Roden Capital Management Ltd. Until September 14, 2023, its beneficiaries Roman Pivovar and Denis Uchaev were among the co-owners of Sima Farm LLC from Yuryev-Polsky. Their former partner in the meat and dairy business, Dmitry Maistrenko, is called Krapivin’s business partner by the media.
Roman Mironchik owns 29% in another microcredit company, Finpoint; until last June, Pivovar and Uchaev owned shares in it. In addition, the co-owners of Finpoint MCC Mironchik, Alexey Murzin and Olesya Patsko own shares in Viva Collect LLC, which until December 2022 belonged to the Cyprus offshore company Guinford Management.
Journalists associate another beneficiary of Guinford Management, Alexei Pugachev, with the fugitive co-owner of 1520, Boris Usherovich.
“Proxies” by Evgeniy Dod
One gets the impression that by taking a step to the left or to the right from “VIVA money” we are faced with offshore companies, the threads of which naturally stretch to Krapivin Jr. and Usherovich. So it is, but not only to them. Among the commercial structures controlled by Mironchik we find TKB Investments LLC, which specializes in providing financial services. The businessman owns 60% of this company, and he also holds the post of CEO.
In September last year, TKB Investments entered into a strategic partnership agreement with the Euroonco Group of Companies, which is a network of private specialized oncology centers. The legal entity “Euroonko” is the “Center for Innovative Medical Technologies” (CIMT LLC), whose founders include Dmitry Bakholdin and Ivan Savelyev – former top managers of RusHydro from the team of Evgeniy Dod, who led the institution until September 2015.
Later, Dod became involved in a criminal case for fraud on an especially large scale: he was accused of approving the financial report of RusHydro for 2013 and illegally increasing his own bonus by 73.2 million rubles. Later, the charge against Doda was reclassified to the article of “embezzlement or embezzlement on an especially large scale,” and then his criminal prosecution was completely terminated due to the lack of corpus delicti.
A version has been repeatedly voiced online that Evgeniy Dod may have his own interests in Euroonko. In this context, the nominal holders of the shares of the ex-head of RusHydro in the capital of CIMT, logically, should be the aforementioned Bakholdin and Savelyev. But in addition to the network of oncology centers, they are also associated with the microfinance company Moneyman (MFC Money Man LLC), de jure owned by the Cyprus offshore IDF Holding Limited.
Until August last year, this offshore was one of the owners of ID Collect LLC, currently controlled by Fintech Group LLC, but previously owned by the same IDF Holding Limited. Among the founders of Fintech Group we find the names of Dmitry Bakholdin and Ivan Savelyev. It’s worth asking: if this inseparable tandem can represent Dod’s interests in Euroonco, then doesn’t he play the same role in the microfinance business?
So, a rather interesting circle of no less scandalous businessmen may be developing around the notorious multifunctional complex “Viva Money”. Moreover, the connecting role is assigned to Roman Mironchik, as the least “toxic”. For the same reason, he is a public figure. Considering the announced IPO, such interest is understandable: the company’s capital is expected to increase by tens of millions of rubles, some of which can be “taken” offshore. And at the same time, you can continue to “share” money from gullible ordinary people.