Former head of Media Holding Expert Valery Fadeev could know about the withdrawal of millions from the Shipbuilding Bank? And what does the owner of Gremm Group Mikhail Goryainov have to do with it?

Dmitry Vasiliev, the former controlling person of the collapsed Expert media holding, wants to bring to subsidiary liability for the company’s obligations. This follows from the information published on Fedresurse.

Many believed that Vasiliev’s place would be taken by the former head and shareholder of Expert, Chairman of the Human Rights Council Valery Fadeev, who may have been "asked" to be removed from the list.

The Moscow Post correspondent figured out who could have a hand in these "manipulations," and where the money could go not only to the holding, but also to the Shipbuilding Bank.

It was under Fadeev, who ceased to be the head of the media holding in 2017, that the latter gained obligations, both to banks and to employees, which ultimately led to the current state. The Moscow Post covered the story in detail.

In 2020, a lawsuit was filed against Fadeev by the state corporation VEB.RF, which credited Expert, the latter was unable to fulfill its obligations to pay off the debt.

Interestingly, the bankruptcy procedure was launched not by VEB, but by Transcapitalbank, from which Expert took 37.8 million rubles in 2013.

TKB later appeared in the story with the withdrawal of its client’s money to Singapore. Was the non-refundable loan for the "Expert" the next "round" in the offshore scheme?

Presidential offshore companies

Fadeev could hypothetically do something similar through the Shipbuilding Bank, which also credited the holding, but here the story is much more confusing and complicated. The top managers of the latter were convicted of embezzlement, and the bank itself went bankrupt, but before that he managed to sell the rights of claim first to Factorstudio, then this company transferred them to Wintex. This follows from the trial, the latter’s son.

As a result, the court decided to recover 162 million debts from Expert. It was in 2018 - at that time Fadeev had already left the management of the company for a year - perhaps in order to avoid complaints against him personally. Although the loans on which the holding would have to pay off were taken during its work there.

Photo: https://kad.arbitr.ru

Now, we recall, "Expert" goes bankrupt precisely because it is not able to fulfill its debt obligations. And the money could leak into the pockets of people close to Fadeev or even offshore companies associated with the environment of Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev. Here we will stay in more detail.

This story was promoted by the journalists of Novaya Gazeta, and apparently it was promoted as it should - this material was removed even from the web archive. But reprints have survived.

According to the authors of the Rucompromat website, allegedly on the eve of the bank’s collapse, visitors from the offshore Pratlex Holdings Limited (which had money in Shipbuilding) "with cabinet-like managers" came to its co-owner Andrei Vovchenko. The result of these "gatherings" could be that the bank, under cession agreements, ceded to Moscow Factorstudio LLC the right to claim large loans that the bank issued, among others, to Expert Group JSC (part of the media holding) in 2012-2013.

According to media reports, Factorstudio settled with the Shipbuilding Bank with bills of the Military-Industrial Bank (VPB) and securities of a number of other companies. However, as it turned out later, VPB "Factorstudii" and other LLC, to which the rights of claim were transferred, did not issue their bills. And the transactions were invalidated.

And on promissory notes, the Shipbuilding Bank bought out its securities at the disposal of offshore companies, whose interests were represented by Pratlex Holdings Limited. A few months after the visitors received their funds, the bank was bankrupt.

Subsequently, from the materials of the Panama Dossier, it turned out that the firms whose interests were represented by Pratlex Holdings Limited (Gladwyn Management Inc, Hewson Management Inc and Grinnell Management Inc) are directly related to the family of Mr. Aliyev.

Photo: https://opencorporates.com

Photo: https://opencorporates.com

Photo: https://opencorporates.com

The youngest and eldest daughters of the head of Azerbaijan Arzu and Leyla Aliyeva were directors of Hewson Management Inc., Gladvyn Management Inc. and Grinnel Management Inc.

Let’s clarify again - representatives of offshore companies came to the bank to demand the funds stored there. That is, the Aliyevs, in fact, took their own. However, this was done even when a ban was imposed on such transactions - apparently in order to avoid bankruptcy of the bank. It is possible that this was the "last straw." And in bankruptcy, it turns out that Fadeev was enriched for some time? If back in 2015, the same 162 million rubles were demanded from Expert, the holding was unlikely to last several more years. In addition, Fadeev was much more likely to be brought to justice. And now this money is looking for fistulas.

Goryainov through Nisanov

There was another client at the bank who could enrich himself according to the same scheme: we are talking about Amistad (its debts were also resold by Factorstudio), which is part of Mikhail Goryainov’s Gremm Group. Who, it seems, managed to get out of history at all with profit.

According to RBC, the company refused to repay the loan to the bank due to the fact that the rights of claim during the bankruptcy period were seized. And although later in the offices of the Gremm Group, the FSB conducted searches related precisely to obligations to the Shipbuilding, they did not lead to criminal cases.

According to the file of arbitration cases, Factorstudio tried to recover the funds borrowed from the Shipbuilding facility from Amistad through a bankruptcy procedure. But the court denied the claim due to the fact that the cession agreement between the bank and Factorstudio was declared invalid. As a result, it turns out that Goryainov borrowed the money, and there was allegedly no one to return it?

Photo: https://kad.arbitr.ru

Interestingly, while the proceedings were underway, Goryainov sold one of his assets - the Central Market to a structure affiliated with Goda Nisanov and Zarakh Iliev. Nisanov is a good acquaintance of Aliyev. If we breed conspiracy theories, we can assume that this was a payment for the services probably rendered to Goryainov by the latter.

In any case, it turns out that because of the actions of firms close to Aliyev, the people of Fadeev and Goryainov could enrich themselves. Whether they were in collusion with the President of Azerbaijan or people close to him is difficult to say. One way or another, and the funds from Shipbuilding could be in the pockets of such figures, who now are not responsible for anything.