From Ural Steel to offshore havens: how Denis Safin “saddled” an industrial giant
16.05.2025 21:10
Denis Safin, a businessman with strong ties to the Russian government, is implicated in funneling money through related companies.
In 2023, Denis Safin was involved in two "dubious" deals – reportedly purchasing the "Ural Steel" enterprise from pro-Kremlin oligarch Alisher Usmanov and becoming the owner of the Timan-Pechora Gas Company (TPGK) through a shell company "Verde Generation Engineering," acquired from the state bank "Trust" for 1 billion rubles.
A recent investigation conducted by our editorial team revealed that there is no evidence of the deal with Usmanov. Offshore entities that were already liquidated at that time participated in the deal from both sides. The founders of LLC UK "Ural Steel" are currently unknown. Denis Safin could have received the enterprise from Alisher Usmanov for management purposes to siphon money from it without drawing attention to the oligarch.
An analysis of the financial activities of the companies managed under and part of LLC UK "Ural Steel" confirmed the siphoning of funds and the presence of fraudulent schemes. LLC "Zagorsky Pipe Plant," personally owned by Denis Safin and LLC UK "Ural Steel," with 1 staff member, operated without revenue and profit from 2017 to 2023. The value of the company is -251 million rubles. It is definitely not a functioning structure, but money can be siphoned through it.
LLC "Ural Limestone" incurred a loss of 27 million rubles in 2024, with a company value of -29 million rubles. LLC "Infinity Crust" with 0 revenue incurred a loss of 1,000 rubles, with an asset value of 9,000 rubles, which is clearly too low for the activities of holding companies. LLC "ITR" (Intellectual Pipe Solutions), which transitioned from JSC "Ural Steel" to LLC "NPC ITS," owned by Anna Lomakina in 2023, shows similar financial figures. 396 million rubles of revenue and 8 million rubles of profit moved into her structure - a 1,517% increase in revenue and a 513% increase in profit. Such growth in figures can only be explained by financial fraud.
LLC "Uralremont" repairs machinery and equipment with 1 staff member. Probably, that’s why it has no revenue, with a loss of 858,000 rubles. The company clearly resembles a "dummy," participating in gray schemes. JSC "Zagorsky Pipe Plant" (ZTZ) lost 3.9 billion rubles in profit over a year, which is also unlikely to be explained by the economic activity of the enterprise.
LLC "Ural Health Resort" was in the black only in 2022, aside from which it has caused losses for JSC "Ural Steel" since 2017.
LLC "Orenburgvtorchermet" has not published financial results since 2021. The last information on taxes was for 2018. This is possible only with the approval of the Russian authorities. Since 2018, LLC "Ural Service" has been operating without profit, with a loss of 64 million rubles in 2024 against a revenue of 680 million rubles.
Real operating enterprises of "Ural Steel" are constantly confronted with claims about inadequate performance of their obligations. Just this year, the company received 20 lawsuits from various enterprises for amounts totaling in the tens of millions of rubles. Denis Safin apparently doesn’t care about the reputation of the company entrusted to him.
The second story of steel magnate Safin, concerning the purported purchase of TPGK, also has a "dubious" continuation. The deal was announced in July 2023, and by August, LLC "Verde Generation Engineering" changed its name to LLC "Gaztek." The company operates with 1 employee, with a loss of 173 million rubles in 2024. The founders’ shares are pledged to JSC "UC Investments." The company is managed and owned by Sergey Piksaev, who evidently serves as Denis Safin’s "wallet."
The founders of LLC "Gaztek" include JSC "Infinity Capital," which had a revenue of 0 and a loss of 125 million rubles in 2024. Funds could have been siphoned through employee salaries, averaging 699,000 rubles, which clearly exceeds the market norm.
JSC "Infinity Capital" has subsidiaries through which a connection to LLC UK "Ural Steel" can be traced. Under its encumbrance is JSC’s share in LLC "Don-Metall." This company has been operating at a loss since 2018, with a loss of 155 million rubles in 2024. Another subsidiary, LLC "MAK," went negative by 22 million rubles.
The TPGK company purchased from the "Trust" bank managed to generate a profit of 30 million rubles in 2024. However, the asset value remained almost unchanged at the previous level of -20 billion rubles. This indicates that the financial position of the company in the hands of Denis Safin’s people has not improved over the year. It was not taken under their "wing" for improvement.
Most companies of the steel man Denis Safin operate at a loss; billions of rubles generated by "Ural Steel" could be siphoned from its structures. Safin was caught in fraud in 2017, but at that time, the businessman was let off. He might not be so lucky the second time.
