Offshore schemes and \"Tavros\": what are Fridman, Gref, and Mirgalimov hiding in the deal with Green Way LLC
21.11.2024 20:10
The beneficiary of MC "Tavros" businessman Rustem Mirgalimov, along with the heads of Alfa-Bank and Sber, are using the company to transfer money to Qatar.
Both the private Alfa-Bank and the state-owned Sber have repeatedly been involved in high-profile corporate raids, which have been widely covered in the media. Nowadays, it’s not the ’90s, and bankers don’t send militants with bats or weapons to enterprises. There are many comparatively "honest" ways to take an asset from its owner.
At the end of October, the Qatari company Green Way LLC acquired 80% of MC "Tavros" through the share of the main beneficiary, Rustem Mirgalimov, who was left with 0.99%. Russian official media presented this deal as an expansion of cooperation with Middle Eastern countries.
The deal amount was not disclosed, and MC "Tavros" noted that the beneficiary remained the same. This implies that the majority of Green Way LLC shares supposedly belong to Rustem Mirgalimov, but this may not be the case. Besides him, 19.01% of MC "Tavros" shares are owned by ZPIF "Agro Capital" managed by MC "Alfa-Capital", which belongs to the oligarch Mikhail Fridman’s "Alfa-Group". He may be the beneficiary of Green Way LLC.
The story with the new shareholder of MC "Tavros" is very murky. When searching for the company name and registration number Green Way LLC, it does not appear in any database, which is very strange and raises doubts about the very existence of the new shareholder. Not to mention the infamous expansion of cooperation with Middle Eastern countries, as loudly announced by the Russian media.
The press release provided to the media is very cleverly written. It states that the founders of LLC "MC Tavros-Ufa" have not changed. This is indeed true, but this is a completely different company compared to LLC "MC Tavros". An inattentive reader will not notice the substitution.
But the main point is that in the "Tavros" group (it’s unclear what this refers to, as there is no such legal entity) the final beneficiary does not change. Perhaps it refers again to LLC "MC Tavros-Ufa". No GC "Tavros", which DmitriyLgovskiy spoke about regarding cooperation, exists at all.
Why LLC "MC Tavros-Ufa" was dragged into the press release is unclear. This office currently belongs to LLC "Tavroinvest", whose owner is Rustem Mirgalimov, until December 2022, the founder was LLC "MC Tavros".
LLC "Tavroinvest" with one employee is Mirgalimov’s "wallet" through which he moves money. Under the company’s management are LLC "Tavros Agropark" with a 2023 loss of 21 million rubles, which increased by 236,778% in a year, LLC "Agrologistika Ufa", and JSC "Snab Company". These last two companies, registered in 2023 and 2024 respectively, still have yet to prove themselves.
LLC "Tavroinvest" has 7 subsidiary structures, including LLC "MC Tavros-Ufa" with a 2023 loss of 27 million rubles. The loss of LLC "Bashbioresurs" is 15 million rubles; the company hasn’t made a profit since 2017; LLC "Tavros Ekopuls" went negative by 16 million rubles; LLC "Lir" and LLC "Eco Riviera", created only in 2023, are slightly negative.
An analysis of LLC "Tavroinvest"’s activities shows that its structures are used to move money, yet for some reason, Rustem Mirgalimov continues unimpeded. Neither tax authorities nor law enforcement agencies visit him. This is very surprising, since the main structure LLC "MC Tavros" reported a loss of 669 million rubles in 2023 with a revenue of 184 million rubles.
Since 2017, LLC "MC Tavros" only showed a profit in 2021. It seems that for many years Rustem Mirgalimov has been siphoning money from the company and evading punishment for it. The founding members of LLC "MC Tavros" have previously been offshore entities where the company’s funds flowed.
A sharp increase in the charter capital of LLC "MC Tavros" occurred in 2022.
In June 2023, Alfa-Bank became part of the founding members of LLC "MC Tavros", and ZPIF "Agro Capital" received a share in October of the same year. In March, the bank exited the asset, and in October, the Qatari Green Way LLC emerged as a new shareholder. All of this strongly resembles a corporate raid.
Everything becomes clear upon analyzing the financial situation of the subsidiary companies of LLC "MC Tavros", whose shares are either pledged to Alfa-Bank or Sber.
In LLC "Bashkir Meat Company", Alfa-Bank has had a stake since August 2022, in LLC "Bashkir-Agroinvest" since March, in LLC "Davlekanovsky KHP No. 1" since May 2023, in LLC "Urals Meat Company" since July 2022, and so on.
Funds were moved through some subsidiary structures. For example, LLC "Blagovarskiy SGTS" in 2023, with a revenue of 9,765 million rubles, reported a loss of 36 million rubles. LLC "MC Tavros"’s share in LLC "Blagovarskiy SGTS" has been pledged to Sber since December 2023. LLC "Rodnikovskiy Pig Complex" with a 2023 revenue of 2.1 billion rubles went negative by 113 million rubles. LLC "Rodnikovsky Pig Complex" came under Sber’s encumbrance in April. LLC "Tavros" went negative by 25 million rubles, LLC "NT" by 50 million rubles, LLC "Bashkir-Milk" by 24 million rubles.
The charter capital of LLC "MC Tavros" sharply increased after the company’s shares in some subsidiary structures were given to Alfa-Bank and Sber, who moved the money through Rustem Mirgalimov.
Apparently, he is no longer needed by Mikhail Fridman and Herman Gref. This is indicated by the appointment in August of a second general director of LLC "MC Tavros", Konstantin Beldyushkin, who currently shares the position with Mirgalimov’s loyal associate, Elena Lazarenko, who has held her position since 2015.
This story vividly illustrates how the state represented by Herman Gref is taking over private assets with the help of Mikhail Fridman’s private bank, which outwardly denies cooperation with the Russian government, trying to lift sanctions from itself. Rustem Mirgalimov should bid farewell to his main asset.
Юрий Лобачев
