Oleg Shvartsman Appeared to Be Right: Raiders Supervise Everything in the Kremlin

As a site "Newsru.com" informed, the lawyer of the chapter of the company "Arbat Prestige" Vladimir Nekrasov arrested together with Simen Mogilevich asserts that it was offered to his client to sell business in exchange for freedom and termination of his criminal case. "Last week I was proposed to sell the company", - the lawyer of Nekrasov Alexander Dobrovinsky. The given offer was addressed personally to Nekrasov. Dobrovinsky refused to name the persons who made the offer. According to him, it was proposed to sell business "in exchange for the termination of criminal case".

It is necessary to note, that in Russia the practice of extortion of business in exchange for freedom is widely spread and is not hidden at the state level. The most frank similar transaction was carried out on behalf of the state in 2000. Then Minister of Press of Russia Michael Lesin and the former head of the company "Gazprom-Media" Alfred Kokh officially suggested the imprisoned owner of a telechannel NTV Vladimir Gusinsky to give him freedom and to stop criminal case in exchange for sale of broadcasting company. And such document known as "Appendix N6" was signed with "Gazprom".

In 2004 the European Court of Human Rights created precedent in the international practice, having recognized, that the Russian State Office of Public Prosecutor, having placed businessman Vladimir Gusinsky to Butyrsky Pre-Trial Detention Facility for three days, pursued "not legal purpose" to take away broadcasting company NTV from him. In item 27 of the Conclusion is said that during Gusinsky's stay in Pre-Trial Detention Facility Minister of Press and Information of Russia Michael Lesin suggested to dismiss charges from him if he would sell "Media - Most" under the price which would be established by "Gazprom".

The case of the former chapter of the Krasnoyarsk aluminium factory Anatoly Bykov whom one of those days the court forbade to register at elections in the City Council of Krasnoyarsk could be put in one line with similar "blackmail". In 2001 the leader of LDPR Vladimir Zhirinovsky transferred the Krasnoyarsk businessman the offer of the Kremlin to sell the shares of KrAz to the state in exchange for personal freedom.

Let's remind, that Bykov at the moment was in Lefortovsky Pre-Trial Detention Facility and was accused of attempt to murder big man "Pasha - Tsevotomusyka". According to Bykov's lawyer Henry Padvy, one of variants which was offered to Bykov provided that he would give his share holding (28%) which "on the most conservative calculations estimated in 120-150 million dollars" for 25 million. After that, Padva emphasized, Bykov was promised to receive freedom at condition that he would immediately leave Russia.

Such barefaced blackmail approved by authorities was also during opposition of the Kremlin with YUKOS. In 2004, as the former co-owner of YUKOS Leonid Nevzlin asserts, he was addressed by "people ostensibly nominated by the Kremlin who offered different variants of negotiations inside which were release of Khodorkovsky, Lebedev, Pitchugin as well as termination of prosecution of Dubov, Brudno, Shahnovsky and me, also other different possible combinations".

"The essence of offers is that we should partially or completely lose our possession of a package in YUKOS", - Nevzlin explained. Then the major shareholders of the Oil Company YUKOS openly offered the state "repayment" for Michael Hodorkovsky and Platon Lebedev for the sum of 14,6 billion dollars. However Michael Khodorkovsky refused the offer of the largest shareholders of the company to carry out negotiations with the Russian authorities about the sale of a control share holding of YUKOS in exchange for his release.

Similar case from the newest history of the Kremlin Inc. times - imposing of enormous tax claims to the company of Michael Gutseriev "Russneft". Gutseriev was compelled to go abroad and asked for political asylum in the Great Britain, while the control over his company smoothly passed to the structures of billionaire Oleg Deripasko close to the Kremlin.

The first top-manager from the structures of "Basis Element" appeared in "Russneft" in December, however, his appointment passed with maximum imperceptibly, the company simply changed information about the structure of the management on the site. Now it is stated there that in December new vice-president - Alexey Nikonov - began to supervise corporate relations of "Russneft".

Oleg Deripasoi's holding already last summer agreed about purchase of the control share holding of "Russneft" from its founder Michael Gutseriev. Till now it has not solved problems of "Russneft". Tax claims to it are - about 20 billion roubles, control share holding is arrested, Federal Agency on Subsoil Usage threaten to withdraw its licenses. But a half of top-managers of "Russneft" has already changed.

Political analyst of FORUM.msk Ruslan Saidov in connection with the next case of corporate raid reminded of interview in the newspaper "Commersant" belonging Alisher Usmanov close to Dmitry Medvedev which was given by Oleg Shvartsman. Shvartsman declared that in modern Russia corporate raid and kicking out of the debts is supervised by the state. Thus in the interview the name of the informal leader of a grouping of security officials Igor Sechin was mentioned. "It is difficult to judge to what extend Sechin was involved in situations with Gusinsky and Bykov but his participation in case with YUKOS and persecutions on Michael Gutseriev is well-known", - Ruslan Saidov speaks, convinced, that "such things are usually can't be forgiven".

Send by mail

Print