Opinions

Brocard, Alfa-Bank, Kyivstar: As Russian oligarchs save their assets in Ukraine

Offshore, change of owners and citizenship. Russian oligarchs can save their Ukrainian assets. Will the schemes escape from confiscation on the logic of common sense, confiscating the assets of Putin's "wallets" in Ukraine is one of the first ways to fill the state budget that should consider the Ukrainian authorities in war. Since May 2022, there are all conditions for the rapid confiscation of these assets.

Then the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine adopted a law that allows you to do it in less than a month. For comparison, in the framework of criminal proceedings, confiscation occurs only after a trial with an indictment, which can take several years. "On the fingers" the process of confiscation on the new mechanism looks like this.

The National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine should impose on the identity of the sanctions, the relevant authorities block its assets, the Ministry of Justice of Ukraine prepares a statement of claim for their removal in favor of Ukraine, after which the Supreme Anti -Corruption Court should consider this application within 10 days.

Despite the existence of the law, the simple fact that the greatest assets of Russian oligarchs in Ukraine are not known to everyone, in five months the authorities managed to confiscate property of only one of them. This is Vladimir Yevtushenkov, who is difficult to call the leaders of assets in Ukraine in the top three.

Among his assets, 17 real estate assets with a total area of ​​nearly 100,000 square meters, as well as shares in several Ukrainian companies, including LLC "Electro-Support-Vit" (Zaporizhzhia)-42. 09%, LLC "ITM-Ukraine" ( Kyiv) - 59. 2%, LLC "Smart Diazhital Solushns" (Kyiv) - 59. 2%. Such delaying is a lot of Putin oligarchs. First, Ukraine demonstrates its foreign partners that they should not rush to the confiscation of Russian assets and transfer them to Ukraine for rebuilding after the war.

And in Europe and the US assets, the Russians for hundreds of billion dollars, and such confiscation looks much more scary for them. Secondly, the delay allows the Russians to save their assets from confiscation in Ukraine. What they are already successfully done. For example, rewriting a certain asset on false persons and changing the structure of ownership. That's how it looks in practice.

The offshore denominations were arrested twice during this time - in May and September 2022 - in October plans to restore its work. However, the ownership shares managed to change a little. The owner of Ocean Plaza in Ukraine is the Libid, owned by Avangard-Wilrti LLC, which is in turn owned by Cyprus Ocean Plaza Ltd. After April 18, 2022, the distribution changed slightly.

As the change in the registration data in Cyprus shows, the Ukrainian UDP Holdings Limited purchased 16% from the Russians, leaving them 51%. It looks like an attempt of Ukrainian UDP to save 16 "Russian percent". It is noteworthy that the criminal case, which was seized on May 10, was opened on April 12, 2022. Of course, changing the structure of ownership after the opening of criminal proceedings and before the arrest may be a pure accident.

However, it is unclear now what the motive of Khmelnitsky and Ivanov to increase his share of ownership in Ocean Plaza - to buy an asset with a discount or become "denominations" for Russians. Another "unfortunate coincidence" - rewriting Brocard cosmetics store according to the YouControl analytical system, the beneficial owner of Brocard Ukraine LLC is Tatiana Volodin. It owns 57% of the company's authorized capital through Cyprus Indenon Holdings Limited.

At the same time, Tatiana Volodin is also the beneficial owner of LLC "Egzagon", owned by a building in Kyiv on the street. Kirillovskaya, 134-a. It is a modern business center in the middle of Kurenivsky Park with a gym and a children's club. The Russian citizen controlled Egzagon through Cyprus Nevioco Holdings Limited. Its owner, like Indene Holdings Limited, changed on May 23, 2022 to the same French Philippe Benacin Holding.

Friedman and Koh does not shun his Ukrainian assets and Michael Friedman, who, among all Russians, probably possesses the highest number of wealth in Ukraine. This is Alfa-Bank, one of the largest mineral water producers in the country-IDS Borjomi (produces mineral water under the brands of Morshynsk, Mirgorod, etc. ), a share in Kyivstar, and since September, through that Kyivstar is an information system with medical data Millions of Ukrainians Helsi. MI.

The number of assets in Koshov's ownership began to increase rapidly in March 2022. The Russian oligarch Herman Khan and Peter Aven, who are under European and British sanctions, were rewritten their shares in alpha groups. Koshov himself is still not in the sanction lists. Kyivstar - there is a similar story in the structure of the company, through which the Russian group owns a share in Kyivstar. Thus, 47.

85% of VEON GROUP shares belongs to Luxembourg L1t VIP Holding Sarl, whose beneficial owners were Friedman (37. 8686) and Koshov (47. 23%) as of September 1. Again, the majority of the latter allows the group to maneuver between European and British sanctions. On September 19, 2022, the Prosecutor General's Office of Ukraine reported on the seizure of a well-known network of hotels belonging to the Russian in Lviv.

In July 2022, Vasin changed the Russian passport with a "two -headed chicken" and rolled into a citizen of Turkey. And one of the key companies of the Reikartz Hotel Group - LLC "Raycarz and Partners. Ukraine" - is controlled by Vasin through the Cyprus company Reikartz Hotels and Resort (Cyprus) Limited, which owns 99. 98% of the company. That is, in practice, to prove the Russian roots of "rakes" and confiscate their property in favor of Ukraine is not easy.

Considering the fact that Reikartz Hotels and Resort (Cyprus) Limited in turn belongs to nominal owners - Cypriots. Although the name of the final owner is not disclosed in the audit report, it is not noted that one of the beneficiaries is not a Cypriot. And there is something to confiscate. Only one Raikarz and partners. Ukraine owns 18 real estate objects. Most in the Lviv region, as well as in Kyiv and Chernivtsi region. According to YouControl, the group has more than 40 legal entities.

Of course, such a scheme with change of citizenship is not new. A similar situation arises with Viktor Ponomarchuk, the Chairman of the Supervisory Board and the majority owner of Vioil - one of the largest producers of sunflower oil in Ukraine. Yes, Ponomarchuk in some companies indicates that he is a citizen of the Russian Federation and in others - a Cyprus republic. Whether the Russians will allow these schemes to escape from confiscation is the hope that no.

Ukrainian legislation does not provide for separate procedures for the collection of property of Russians and "non -Russian". It is necessary to prove their promotion of armed aggression, as well as to observe the procedure provided in the law. At the same time, the law allows you to block and charge not only those assets directly belonging to the sub -person. Property controlled through related persons can also be confiscated.