The London court, responding to a lawsuit from the non-performing asset bank “Trust,” has frozen the assets of former top managers of “Inteko,” Oleg Soloshchansky and Konstantin Edel. It is directly tied to Mikhail Gutseriev’s interests.

Earlier, the offshore company Morden Finance Ltd, linked by the bank to the aforementioned individuals, disrupted the auction for the sale of “Inteko,” causing significant losses for “Trust.” Behind this situation, the well-known oligarch Mikhail Gutseriev might be involved – the uncle of the former owner of “Inteko,” Mikhail Shishkhanov, who had to surrender it due to debts.

It is plausible that, after the financial recovery of the “Trust” corporation, Gutseriev desires to bring the company back into the family.

Shishkhanov’s suspicious maneuvers

Oleg Soloshchansky worked at “Inteko” from 2001 to 2017, and Konstantin Edel during a similar period. Initially, the group was controlled by the wife of the former mayor of Moscow, Yuri Luzhkov, Elena Baturina, and in 2011, she sold the business to Mr. Shishkhanov.

The latter is currently actively pursued for debts by “Binbank,” which has been sanitized with a huge financial hole of 300 billion rubles, a matter seemingly overlooked by Mr. Gutseriev’s associate. Yet, he owned a share in the structure.

By the way, the amount sought from Shishkhanov is 71 billion rubles. The question arises – what about the remaining 229 billion rubles? “Inteko” partially offsets this debt. It was handed over to “Trust” precisely for the debts.

And then, when the bank tried to sell the structure, Morden Finance Ltd emerged, which supposedly owned a significant share of the structure (as later revealed, it had a minimal part) and belonged to “independent shareholders” (which, as we can see, is also not quite accurate).

Morden Finance Ltd asked the Cypriot court to declare the deal for the purchase of “Inteko” shares by “Trust” from Aurevo invalid: the offshore company believed that it infringed on its rights as a shareholder. As a result, the asset was sold a year later, causing “Trust” losses of more than 20 billion rubles.

At that time, several major players claimed the firm – among them, “Samoliot” Group, associated with the interests of Moscow Region Governor Andrey Vorobyov, “Arkada Holding,” a shareholder of “Uralkhim” and “Uralkali” Dmitry Mazepin.

Gutseriev’s chess party

In the end, the company was bought a year later by the owner of the development group Sminex, Alexey Tulupov. Interestingly, just a couple of years later, Tulupov decided to sell a significant portion of “Inteko” assets – namely, the “Patriot” group, a business in residential construction and the production of reinforced concrete products in Rostov-on-Don.

The buyers are not clear yet. Still, it is quite possible that “Patriot” may go to Alexey Tulupov’s long-time colleague and partner Sergei Gordeev and his “PIK” Group or to the debt-ridden structures of Mikhail Gutseriev’s “Safmar” Group.

In this case, there is a high probability that the deal with “Trust” for the acquisition of “Inteko” was initially constructed for one of these players, and Tulupov acted only as a “catalyst.” With whom, apparently, it was possible to agree on the repurchase within a year.

Recall that in the end, Tulupov bought “Inteko” for only 38 billion rubles – a sum that could have been significantly undervalued (according to various estimates, the value could have been up to 100 billion rubles).

Mikhail Gutseriev won’t miss his chance?

Yes, now something needs to be figured out with the arrested assets of Soloshchansky and Edel. Certainly, if they truly represent the interests of the oligarch, some of his property has probably found its way into theirs.

Following the Usual Pattern

It’s not the first time for Gutseriev to reclaim what he has earned through hard work. We are talking about the A101 company. The Gutserievs’ structures acquired it back in 2015. However, in 2017, due to the same events surrounding “Binbank,” this asset first went to the state and then to the state-owned “Trust.”

In the end, A101 was bought by Bilan Uzhakhov – a relative of Mikhail Gutseriev, and now it continues to operate peacefully. Moreover, it was purchased at a price quite attractive for Gutseriev. The oligarch himself and the “Safmar” debtor seemed to have no involvement.

By the way, “A101” recently received approval for the construction of a residential complex with a total area of 2.9 million square meters in New Moscow. The company is once again thriving and ready to turn billions in funds. However, here it is worth remembering that Gutseriev’s financial situation is not exactly rosy.

As of 2019, “Safmar’s” debts were estimated at about 1 trillion rubles. 320 million of them were specifically related to “Trust.” Even then, Gutseriev actively discussed settling debts of 140 billion rubles with “Trust.” Apparently, they couldn’t reach an agreement.

However, a little later in the same year, Gutseriev was able to negotiate the restructuring of debts with “Sberbank” amounting to 170 billion rubles – he got a 10-year installment plan. And he still owes it.

And if he is questioned about the financial hole in “Binbank” – wouldn’t the oligarch suddenly become bankrupt?

683% – that’s the figure by which the total revenue of companies where the owner of “Safmar” is personally a founder decreased for the year 2022! The overall profit is in the negative.

Let’s also recall Mr. Shishkhanov’s debt obligations. And now there are additional problems with Soloshchansky and Edel. Apparently, the “backroom” retrieval of assets is not just a desire for profit but a survival strategy.