Russian oligarch Yuri Gushchin, with the help of ties, decided to “decapitate” Glavtorg.
“Glavtorg” – the last of the distributors of the holding “United Confectioners” Yuri Gushchin, may soon become bankrupt. The company faces bankruptcy at the request of Sberbank.
Most likely, Glavtorg’s business suffered due to a conflict with Gushchin, which led to a criminal case against its founder Karen Nalbandian. More details in the material of the correspondent of The Moscow Post.
“Sweet” conflict
The Glavtorg company was founded in 2011, and for a long time it was quite a successful distributor of the United Confectioners holding (Krasny Oktyabr, Babaevsky, Rot Front, etc.). However, at the end of 2021, serious disagreements began between the partners. Karen Nalbandian’s company tried to recover 86.77 million rubles from the holding. Debt under the contract of 2012. As the representative of Glavtorg pointed out, the holding stopped shipping at the end of 2020 in order to engage in sales itself. In fact, Glavtorg argued that Gushchin himself became a distributor and began to supply confectionery to retail stores that are Nalbandian’s counterparties, occupying the plaintiff’s niche in this market.
But Glavtorg could not prove in court the implementation of the agreement.
The debate did not end there, unexpectedly United Confectioners said that for a fee from the general director of Glavtorg Nalbandian, they provided the company with maximum discounts, after which a criminal case was initiated under the article of commercial bribery, and the director and beneficiary himself were sent under house arrest.
Later, in October 2021, the court, at the suit of United Confectioners, collected 76.55 million rubles from Glavtorg. Penalties for violation of the terms of payment for products.
Since July 26, the company has blocked bank accounts at the request of the Federal Tax Service. On October 21, information appeared on enforcement proceedings for taxes and fees in the amount of 1,159,6 million rubles.
Faithful friend
The Sberbank banking state corporation under the management of German Gref is often involved in stories with unfriendly acquisitions or business alterations. Gushchina and Grefa combine doing business with their “favorite” Sergei Gordeev and his PIK group.
So, at the end of October last year, the confectionery holding “Red October” Gushchina, together with the PIK Group of Companies Sergei Gordeev, will build up parts of its former warehouses in Moscow. The structures of the United Confectioners holding – PJSC Krasny Oktyabr and OAO Rot Front – agreed with Flagship LLC to create a joint venture Development Potential.
And before that, PIK could occupy land in Zelenograd in the interests of Gushchin Bank. In 2014, the Moscow authorities approved another large-scale project for the reconstruction of the industrial zone – on the territory of the Center for Informatics and Electronics in Zelenograd, where Guta’s group was one of the co-owners of the institute. As Vedomosti wrote, the year before that, the Moscow authorities bought out the group’s share of 34%.
“Bloodthirsty” bank
It is possible that Grefa and Gushchin were “brought together” by Gordeev, whose business has been credited by the head of Sberbank for many years. In addition, Gref and Gordeev also associate other cases of a rather dubious property. It was rumored that in 2020 Gref, in the style of the 90s, absorbed Filaret Galchev’s Eurocement company, and then decided to sell it. And unexpectedly, it was PIK, the first among the firms – “absorbers” of the construction business, began to “be interested” in the assets of Eurocement.
For example, the capture of Pavlovskgranit, in the process of which it was misjudged! By the way, in July 2012, the workers of Pavlovskgranit OJSC sent letters to President Vladimir Putin, Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev, deputy Igor Lebedev, as well as the head of the Investigative Committee Alexander Bastrykin with a request to conduct an independent assessment of Pavlovskgranit.
An example of unfriendly absorption at one of the largest Russian manufacturers of energy equipment Energomash is also noticeable. Some journalists and social activists emphasize that in fact the legal owner of Energomash, Alexander Stepanov, was sent to jail in the interests of German Gref.
You can also recall how in 2019 Sberbank “politely” seized the Antipinsky refinery, and despite the fact that the case was “sewn with white threads,” Gref’s structure succeeded in this story. In May 2019, it became known that Sberbank became the owner of the Cypriot Vikay Industrial Limited, which owns 80% of the Antipinsky refinery.
And Sergei Gordeev himself, a native of the scandalous structure of Rosbuilding, which has been noted more than once in unfriendly acquisitions.
Therefore, Gushchin was clearly not mistaken with the choice of “allies” in the undeclared war with Glavtorg.
Past and present
It should be noted that the biography of the owner of the “United Confectioners” Yuri Gushchin, who lived a rather long and stormy life, is very ambiguous and rich in events. Its Soviet period is shrouded in “fog and smells of taiga.” In official sources, almost nothing was reported about his activities during this period, although at the time of the collapse of the USSR he was already 46 years old. But there is evidence that by this time he was a very “authoritative” person in certain circles. Allegedly, only half of the 46 years lived at that time, he breathed the air of freedom. At the same time, he did not waste the years spent in not so remote places. It was the authority acquired there that allowed him to become an extremely successful businessman, heading the Board of Directors of GUTA-Bank.
Gushchin’s appetites are very large, and interests are quite diverse. So, Glavtorg is most likely not the last structure absorbed in its business.
