Share Swedish kronas

The Oka textile factory of Ozyory was always among the best light industry enterprises. Even in 1990s, the Oka textile CJSC passed through the crucible of the market competition. That time no Chinese consumer goods could crush Russian light industry.

However, in August 2002, the general meeting of the Oka CJSC shareholders decided to change the form of the enterprise from CJSC to JSC. The mysterious decision has an easy explanation. In 2000, the enterprise got into trouble and became unprofitable. The management explained the fact in the reports in a rather tricky way.

Export was more than 50% in the sales volume of the company. During 2001, the company purchased technological equipment for the amount of about 10 million rubles and textile auxiliaries for about 30 million rubles. The currency of the price was set in Swedish kronas. For 2001, the exchange rate of the U.S. dollar against the Swedish krona increased by 11.5%. The exchange rate of the Swedish krona decreased by 7.0%, while the rate of the U.S. dollar increased by $ 7.0%.
Such a complex and vague explanation could cover up trendy “scrolling” of money on the bank accounts. The 7% could be just “driven out of circularization” with the help of simple manipulations. And if everything was exactly as stated in the report, then the managers of the Oka should be recognized as people with mental disabilities, because the Swedish krone was never listed in the foreign markets.

Two more reasons for the failed financial policy, which were listed in the report, were a sharp growth of the bank crediting of the enterprise and a change in  production costs “for reasons which were beyond the control of the company”. What were those reasons, and why the Oka ran into debt? It is still unclear.

In any case, affairs of the Oka went on not very well. In 2001, the losses amounted to 23.8 million rubles; next year – to 19.9 million Apparently, in this connection, more precisely, as a result of such a tricky operation “Loss”, it was made a decision on reorganization.

And then the expected event happened. 51.8% of shares of the Oka passed into possession of the very real “sharashkas” (shady business establishments).  A company Cronus Media FG, registered in Switzerland, received 19.4%. An offshore company from the Virgin Islands REGAN TREDE & FINANCE CORP. became the owner of 16.2%. The Aristeya-Lux JSC, registered with the very curious address in Moscow - Ogorodniy Proezd 5 Building 7, received the same number of shares. This office center was a real storehouse of various Mickey Mouse companies of rather medium-sized scale. All three companies acted as a team from the moment of entering the number of shareholders. They held shares in those proportions up to the bankruptcy of the Oka. Moreover, the same Aristeya-Lux was registered in the same 2002, and it was noticed nowhere else. There is every reason to believe that the offshore companies were created in the same way -specifically for the corporatization of the Oka.

Every enterprise through the issuance of shares meant to get the proceeds from their placement. Well, let's calculate the cost the trinity of the companies paid to infuse into the friendly family of textile shareholders. It is known that it was 309400 shares at the moment of reorganization; they were at a price of 50 cents per share. 51.8% of their total cost is the sum of 80134 rubles. It was mere pennies for the ownership of the blocking stake.

It was in 2002, a certain item names as “extraordinary financial results” appeared in the expenditure articles of the Oka. 40 million rubles flowed away into that position. It is unclear what they meant with the term but the jackpot was not bad, especially considering that the entire company's profit from the sale of products was then little more than 20 million. Further losses only grew. Russia entered a “golden zero” years with their expensive oil and relatively easy credits, and problems of the Oka were compounded. In 2003, the losses amounted to 34.23 million, in 2004 - 35.3 million, in 2005 - 55.6 million. It is necessary to look at those who brought the company to such disastrous results.

The Chairman of the Supervisory Board of the Oka textile company was Lolita Vladimirovna Danilina. It was a very extraordinary person. In due time, she graduated from the faculty of the external economic relations of MGIMO and got the post of the economist of the Vneshtorgbank. Then she moved to the Technopromimport , which was used in a variety of semi criminal schemes by one of the banks of Alexander Mamut in 1993. That nice lady was behind the sale of financial debts of the Technopromimport. This was a nice lady. Her achievements were recognized and as a result she went to work for the Project Financing Company. Then, during the default of 1998, she worked for another structure of Mamut – the Interprombank and even managed to be the adviser of the President of the Sibneft. In the late 90's she headed her own company Lolateks where she was engaged in “investments” under the strict supervision of the senior partners.
In 2000, Lolita Vladimirovna was retrained for a new profession of textile manager, and then she with conveniences settled down in the chair of the chairman of the board of directors of Aleksandro-Nevskaya manufaktura JSC. And in 2002, in addition to the post in the Oka, she came into the Directorate of the Trekhgornaya Manufactura factory. Just in the Trekhgorka, she was developing her professional skills of a professional appellant. Her appeals were mainly consisted of complaints about lack of resources available which the new owner of the factory, Deripaska, disposed for some reason counting on the “Trekhgorka's developer project”. As a result, during and after the financial crisis, the fragile balance of the factory was undermined, and the people were without salaries for months. However, Danilina was also partly guilty in this.

Even in 1996, Victor Nikolaevich Shatalov was elected General Director of the Oka textile firm. Before that, he hadn't been noticed in anything reprehensible. Lacking charisma, a good start and links of Danilina, he modestly worked on the production positions in the textile industry of the Moscow region. After corporatization of the Oka, Shatalov became a head. But, as it often happens, still waters run deep. And Shatalov decided to make some money for a peaceful old age – as his 50-year anniversary was approaching. It was his decisions, because of his incompetence but rather by intention, throw down the Oka into a spin.
Galina Mikhaelovna Tyshchuk was deputy of Shatalov at the Oka from 2000. This seemingly unremarkable woman, who had started his career as a private accountant for the same Oka, however, was in charge of the economic policy of the company. The association Shatalov-Tyschuk-Danilina eventually dragged the textile factory into the bottom. And Tyschuk received the position of Deputy Head of the Ozerskaya spinning mill as a bonus. She received it from Danilina’s hands, what says that simple fact that the factory was a separate branch of the Trekhgornaya Manufactura factory.

Another member of the board of directors of the company, Nikolay Vladimirovich Grammatikov, the adopted son of the famous director Vladimir Grammatikov, the Director of Gorky Central Studios for Children and Youth Films, working for the Zeeman Forster Partners AG in 1998, de facto was handling the film studio. For the period of his management, Grammatikov in fact bankrupted the company, which was led by his father. As a result of his frauds, the Minister of culture announced Grammatikov Sr. reprimanded and then fired him from the post of the director of the film studio.

Having remained in the free floating, Grammatikov Jr. appeared on the board of directors of the Trekhgornaya Manufactura JSC and then, thanks to the patronage of the Danilina, got to the Ozerskaya enterprise. The enterprise was destroyed not least due to his “talents”.

It was either a funny thing, or a sinister trace that a certain Oliver Shtakhel was also presented at the board of directors of the Oka at the time. The foreigner, as it is necessary to a foreigner, represented a foreign company, more precisely, the offshore company with the Turkish name Balmak Int.

Chechen debt
Arsamakov Abubakar Alazovich, President of the Moscow Industrial Bank, is worth a special mention. Why him? It's simple. Since 2002, the loans, drowning the company deeper and deeper, had been taken mainly from the bank. Moreover, in contrast to other financial institutions, the bank of Arsamakov gave them without regard for the plight of the company. There often was not even a week between two granting of the credits is not a week goes by, and the amounts were very round: more often at 5 million and never - less.

The lending money themselves simply did not reach the company. It was confirmed by the sorry state of it technical base. So, most of all, their granting was part of pre-thought-out plan for the capture of the enterprise.
As it should be expected, the Oka soon went to bankruptcy. A month later, it was decided to start the procedure of liquidation. However, the entity didn’t go over, as one might think, to the structures of the Chechen Moscow Industrial Bank. It was fully bought by the Flagman LLC.

Up to 2009, Aleksandr Sarichev, who was the head of several companies engaged in working with precious metals, was the owner of the Flagman LLC. In particular, among those companies were the Chukchi Kristall LLC and the Nordmet of St. Petersburg. Then the shares were transferred to Andrey Yurchenko. In the reality, the company was under absolute control of the people backed by the oligarch Viktor Veksleberg: Valery Karimov, Anatoly Novikov, Aleksey Vershinin, Aleksander Kachevsky and Aleksey Bratchenko.

In fact, the Flagman bought only the ex-enterprise property in the auction. However, the very ground under the Oka (which is 42 hectares in the very centre of the city) cost more than that funny money paid by the Flagman for the dead factory. 11 thousand of people, who had worked there, turned out outside the gate as a result of the bankruptcy.

At privatization of 1993, two hostels in the micro-district of the factory, a school, technical college and, finally, treatment facilities of Ozyory – a part of the life support system of the city – were introduced in the authorized capital of the enterprise bypassing all laws.

 

Economic mismanagement

In fact, the Flagman and people behind it became the new owners of the city. Though, the property they inherited was becoming more and more broken. An official inspection of the treatment facilities of Ozyory by the Rosprirodnadzor, which was conducted in November 2011, showed that one of the tanks for silt assertion was full of construction waste from the nearby road. The silt itself came down into the barrow pit from where it could be easily swept into the Oka river, what was considered to be a hard violation of the environmental regulations. That time the Flagman was charged only 250 000 rubles.

Even more scandalous case took place in the winter of 2012. There was a breakdown of an underground cable which supplied the electrical equipment of the treatment facilities. As a result, the city was threatened with a catastrophe. The whole community was solving the problem. The heating system of Ozyory gave the technical equipment needed, the Vodokanal gave its workers, and the Mosenergo conducted repairs to the cable. Even the local cemetery workers were involved. They dug out the cable by hand. And only the owner of the facilities refused to take part in solving the problem.

But the city residents got a bar-code on the payment of the treatment facilities in the payment receipt for communal services.

 

Large investments finished at Kira Plastinina

Buying the Oka enterprise’s territory, the Flagman owners claimed the creation of a new industrial park, that was, of some real estate which they planned to sell or lease for production. And at first, all Ozyory’s residents thought that finally a real master came to the city, as the purchase was advertised quite well. However, the park didn’t succeed in coming big investors there.

Besides several small tenants, such as the Armenians producing confectionery, a famous designer and modeler Kira Plastinina added to the list of those who would like to accommodate the industrial park Ozyory. Ms. Plastinina will place her sewing workshops in the buildings of the ex-textile factory.

 

Solution of housing problem from Flagman

Separately, it is worth to mention about the ordeals suffered by the inhabitants of the hostel of the former factory so recklessly attributed to the Oka in the dashing 90s. As it has been already mentioned, the Flagman became the owner of not only the ex-enterprises buildings but also its two hostels.  There live ex-workers who received the living space back in the 1970s and orphans from children's homes, who received their accommodation units after they had left the orphanage.

With that, the hostels, according to the Paragraph 5 Article 132 of the Federal Law “On Insolvency (bankruptcy)” #127-FL, were to be putting on the government balance. Although according to the Housing Code, the people living in municipal hostels have the right to privatize their housing, the new owners want to “compress” the tenants into a single hostel, changing their permanent register into a temporary one – for two years, and to nullify the orders. The second building is supposed to be sold. However, there is an option of buying out own housing at market value.

As the tenants are not satisfied with this option as well as with the “compressing” in the neighboring hostel, they decline the both alternatives suggested by the “caring” owners. The payment for the stubbornness became an eternal fear to be driven away with the children to the streets. They turn off the electricity and give the water on schedule in the hostel which is supposed to be turned into “commercial property”. And all this goes despite the tenants correctly pay the exorbitant utility bills!

In October 2011, the Flagman owners managed to send their representative to the hostel. A woman, who refused to show her documents, accompanied by some guys with athletic figures tried to find out the attitude on the “moving out” option. It became clear that no one was going to leave the tenants in peace. Since that the tenants have been under a great psychological pressure. They are promised to be somehow driven away from the building and “have their children sent to the orphanages”.

The unlucky hostages of the situation are at law with the Flagman and appeal to all possible instances, though, without success yet.

 

Viruses of raiding

And not the industrial park in Ozyory is the main “war headquarter”, but the Dragtsvetmet enterprise. That is from where metastases of the group influence stretched in all directions.

The group inherited the helm in Ozyory consists of people who are quite well-known in narrow circles, who are behind the attempts of the raider capture of a rather large metallurgic complex, the Pridneprovsky Nonferrous Metals Plant (PNMP). That time the group faced the counteraction of the Ukrainian security service, thanks to which two criminal cases were initiated. The first one was instituted on the attempt at smuggling of palladium, owned by the PNMP and weighing approximately 16.8 kg, from Ukraine to Luxembourg to the Metalltrading international S.A. company, committed by officials of the company. The second one was instituted on an attempt of deliberate bankruptcy of the plant. In all the cases, the members of the group were involved.

Even before the epic with the industrial park in the mid-2000s, Vershinin suddenly took up the post of Director of Economic Affairs of the Prioksky Nonferrous Metals Plant JSC. This factory was one of the leading refining factories of the country. This surprisingly coincided with the possible sale of the state stake of shares (100%) of the factory. With Vershinin as the director, the illegal export of gold grew significantly. And the factory got into a network of dubious contracts. After the government representatives decided not to sell their shares in 2008, Vershinin resigned from the obsolete plant.

It turned out later that when Vershinin had managed the factory and its commercial activities, the Prioksky Nonferrous Metals Plant signed several contracts on purchasing of raw materials with some strange structures of the Chelyabinsky region. Soon after his resignation, the plant transfered 65 million rubles to those structures but, in fact, they went to several metropolitan firms. The plant never received raw materials.

According to some information, the group acted as raiders in the interests of paymasters. Viktor Vekselberg and the Rosatom were those paymasters at different times. In the case of the Ozyory industrial park, the interested party is the Sberbank.

By the way, in addition to the former textile production, the Drugtsvetmet group actually seized the key positions in the life-support of the whole city. They are trying to strengthen their position by “invading” the authorities as well. Not without purpose, the Flagman put about 10 candidates at the local municipal elections. In particular, it was Igor Astredinov, the deputy director of the Flagman LLC, Aleksey Bratchenko (co-owner of the Dragtsvetmet), Andrey Yurchenko (contemporary owner of the Flagman), Sergey Kozlov (co-owner of the Dragtsvetmet), Stanislav Zhovner (general director of the Ozyory hotel LLC). Step by step, the group captures the city.