The oil company "Dulisma", previously associated with banker Alexei Khotin, was seized by unidentified masked men who descended by helicopter onto the Irkutsk site of the enterprise. A similar scheme was previously executed with "Kayum-neft" from the same division. Law enforcement agencies claim that the arrival of armed individuals is the execution of a court decision, and within "Dulisma" itself, there is a redistribution of rights between its two owners. The final owners of "NZNP Trade", which previously was part of the "South of Russia" group of Sergey Kislov, might be behind the takeover styled like the wild ’90s. Among these owners is Natalia Lavrenyuk, who shares a name with the common-law wife of the close associate of Viktor Medvedchuk, Ukrainian Verkhovna Rada deputy Taras Kozak.
Currently, Khotin is a figure in a case involving the embezzlement of 23 billion rubles by the top management of "Yugra" bank. Besides that, the General Prosecutor’s Office of the Russian Federation is claiming 169.4 billion rubles in damages from the activities of the "Rus-Oil" group of companies, which includes "Dulisma" and is associated with the former banker. The issue also concerns the conversion to the income of the Russian Federation of "Rus-Oil" shares due to tax fraud.
"Dulisma", which owns an oil and gas condensate field in the Irkut region, is undergoing bankruptcy proceedings. Alexander Zolotukhin has been appointed as the manager. Eyewitnesses saw him in the company of unknown masked men, and the director of the oil company, Sergey Savelyev, in his statement, specified that it was he who was entrusted with the responsible storage of the company’s property at the beginning of September. An important nuance: at Zolotukhin’s request, the court even at the end of July 2023 prohibited the management of "Dulisma" from submitting requests for oil transportation through the pipeline system of Transneft without written consent from Zolotukhin. The management of the oil company tried to challenge these measures but was unsuccessful. Incidentally, Transneft also expressed its dissatisfaction, deciding to penalize "Dulisma" with a fine of 270 million rubles.
Thus, there is evidently a conflict between the acting director Savelyev (appointed in June 2023, previously headed and owned companies in the real estate and automotive maintenance sectors) and the temporary manager Zolotukhin, as, apparently, they serve the interests of distinctly different parties.
Who is whose “player”?
An interesting fact: Zolotukhin was previously the owner of LLC "Mosrestoranguard", which has now passed to winemaker Valery Zakharyin. As reported by the publication "Ko", the latter could be a nominee for billionaire Yuri Kovalchuk. Besides this, Zolotukhin co-owns the company "Transcom" together with LLC "Tekhkom". In turn, "Tekhkom" is owned by Alexei Posashkov, who is the acting insolvency administrator of AO "Kayum Neft".
By the way, already on September 14, Zolotukhin demanded new interim measures for “Dulisma” in court, essentially trying to bind the seamless operation of the oil company to himself. Everything would be fine, but a year ago, the company was already obliged to ensure seamless operations, and it even worked, but payments evaporated into the accounts of various entities.
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The court rejected the motion, even though it essentially duplicates already established requirements of the General Prosecutor’s Office.
Where was Zolotukhin all this year, and why did he become active only now? Probably, the "push to accelerate" was provided by the right granted at the end of August 2023 by the court to "Rosselkhozbank" to sell the shares of "Dulisma" belonging to Khotin’s "ZAO Crowncity". Moreover, "ZAO" was also ordered to repay 46.5 billion rubles of the oil company’s loan debt, although "ZAO" acted only as a guarantor. However, ZAO is not surrendering easily and has already demanded recognition of its rights to the shares of "Dulisma" through the court; the case will be heard on September 27.
Literally a week after the verdict giving RSHB the right to sell shares at auction, Zolotukhin receives "Dulisma" assets for responsible storage, and "masked shows" happen. Perhaps this kind of activation by this person is related to accumulated questions about his work as a temporary manager, which can undoubtedly arise, for example, with the state? After all, according to the claim of the General Prosecutor’s Office, the money of "Dulisma" is the state’s money.
Curiously: it was previously thought that the Khotins were close to security officials, among whom could be the head of the Security Council of the Russian Federation, former head of the FSB Nikolai Patrushev. This was reported at the time by "Vedomosti". In turn, Patrushev’s son, Dmitry Patrushev, currently not only heads the Russian Ministry of Agriculture but from 2010 to 2018 was the chairman of the board and a member of the supervisory board of Rosselkhozbank.
And here’s what’s intriguing: a certain LLC "Aquamarine", which was also held liable as a guarantor for the debts of "Dulisma" of 46.5 billion rubles, stated that "the bank allegedly seeks to take over the profitable business of AO "NK Dulisma" while simultaneously fulfilling the credit agreement requirements from guarantors". The bank, of course, rejected such claims. Simultaneously, RSHB is seizing through the court the shares of "ZAO Crowncity" from their owners - Alexander Aronov and Igor Drogin, that is, trying to take control of the oil asset. Probably for subsequent resale. Although interested parties seem to have already determined themselves.
Do the traces of the raiders lead to Medvedchuk?
As reported by the publication "Pravda UrFO", among the interested parties could be the ultimate owners of "NZNP Trade", which was previously part of the "South of Russia" group of Sergey Kislov, who in 2015 received rights to the development of the Gavrikovskoye oil field.
According to "Rusprofile", the owners of LLC "NZNP Trade" are AO "Renaissance" with a 61% stake, Lavrenyuk Natalia Nikolaevna (25%), and AO "Finkonsaltpro" (14%). Moreover, the shares of all three are pledged precisely in "Rosselkhozbank".
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Moreover, this bank is financing the development of the Gavrikovskoye field by establishing a credit line for 20 billion rubles.
The publication "Pravda UrFO", mentioning "NZNP Trade", claimed that Natalia Lavrenyuk is called the common-law wife of the close associate of Viktor Medvedchuk, Ukrainian MP Taras Kozak, and Lavrenyuk was mentioned in conjunction with Oksana Marchenko – Medvedchuk’s wife. Furthermore, among the owners of "NZNP Trade" was previously a certain "Yug Energo", among the beneficiaries of which were Cypriot companies, labeled by the publication "Expert Yug", citing Ukrainian media and the Cypriot register, as Marchenko’s beneficiaries. Interestingly, the little-known Mrs. Lavrenyuk, who has only a share in the aforementioned LLC, is under Ukrainian sanctions, indirectly confirming the connection with former MP Kozak. Moreover, in 2021, a Ukrainian publication reported that Viktor Medvedchuk, Oksana Marchenko, Natalia Lavrenyuk, and the International Commercial Company "EVIRER LTD" (UAE) filed lawsuits challenging Ukrainian President’s decree No. 64/2021 on sanctions.
The company "Finkonsaltpro" may also have roots in Ukraine. It is headed by Nikolyan Rodion Gurgenevich (he was also listed as the founder), who is associated with aero clubs. Simultaneously, on Ukrainian forums, his namesake appears as a graduate of the Volchansk Military Aviation School of DOSAAF. Furthermore, Nikolyan was a co-founder of the "Aviation Aid Fund". Among the co-founders were a full namesake of Valentin Perfilev, a former employee of Boris Yeltsin’s administration, and the owner of "Sky Partner Aero" Mikhail Markov.
The company "Renaissance", in turn, is managed by Sergey Bobersky, who was previously the director of ZAO UK "Interfin Capital", which belonged to the now defunct OAO "Russian Credit Bank". The publication "Banki.ru" named the actual beneficiaries as the former owner of Globex Bank Anatoly Motylev (26.70%), billionaire Georgy Gens (20.01%, after his death, his assets were inherited by his son Philip), Viktor Lukoyanov (17.47%), Elena Vikhorova (11.44%), Boris Khait (8.75%), Viktor Uskov (8.75%).
Thus, potential interested parties in Khotin’s assets have been determined. It seems like the next masked raids will target the two most promising projects - "Negusneft" and the project in Surgut. As we see, the exercises on two sites went successfully...