On February, 11 Directorate for Combating Economic Crimes (“UBEP”) of Main Internal Affairs Directorate (“GUVD”) in Moscow refused to institute criminal proceedings on the application by a minority shareholder of VTB Alexey Navalny, as well as by several other minority shareholders of the bank. Shareholders asked the MIAD to check the actions of the employees in VTB and VTB-Leasing, which had wrongly concluded the contracts for the sale of drilling equipment and putting it in the lease.

On July 24, 2007 the Cyprus Company Clusseter Ltd concluded a contract with "VTB-Leasing” to purchase 30 drilling rigs ZJ50DBS. Then they were to be leased to "Well Drilling Corporation”. The contract valued at $ 456.9 million, including the customs duties and taxes at $ 650 million

VTB-Leasing purchased the equipment not from the Chinese manufacturer Sichuan Honghua Petroleum Equipment, but from the Cyprus Clusseter (they failed to find its contacts) by paying more than $ 15 million for each installation without any customs duties and charges, judging by the contract. In the annual report of the Chinese company it is stated that the cost of the equipment was about $ 10 million. The total damage made by the purchase was about $ 160 million, according to Navalny’s calculations.

Directorate for Combating Economic Crimes refused to bring a case against ex-CEO of “VTB-Leasing” Anton Borisevich, former deputy head of VTB Igor Zavyalov, and former senior vice-president of VTB Vladimir Osmolovsky whose signatures were under a lease contract between “VTB-Leasing" and "Well Drilling” in the amount of 30 billion rubles.

On February, 19 Prosecutor office of the Central District of Moscow overturned the decision to dismiss the case, as it is said in the prosecutor’s response to Navalny’s application. Materials have been submitted to Directorate for Combating Economic Crimes of MIAD in CAO (Central Administrative District) for further investigation, its progress is monitored.

Creators of "Well Drilling" are associated with the former top managers of VTB and VTB-Leasing, so they have managed to arrange financing scheme, as a financier interested in buying the similar equipment said to " Vedomosti "

In particular, as it is said in the decision of dismissing the criminal proceedings institution, members of the Board of Directors in "Well Drilling" were Victoria Shamlikashvili and Shota Boterashvili. Both were included in the board of the St. Petersburg VTB Capital (now VTB Development), and Boterashvili was also the chief adviser of the Board of VTB, board member of VTB Armenia and the United Georgian Bank (now VTB Georgia). None of them works in VTB any more, or in its structures, the bank representative said yesterday. He did not comment on the progress of the criminal case as VTB had not received the documents that Navalny obtained. Comments from the Moscow prosecutor's office and Directorate for Combating Economic Crimes could not be obtained.