Sergei and Dmitry Khotimsky are maintaining a positive image for investors, while Sovcombank is experiencing issues with the liquidity of its assets, and its clients are unsure how to escape their credit “slavery.”
Sovcombank, which is owned by brothers Sergei and Dmitry Khotimsky, has finished issuing subordinated bonds that could be bought using the money from selling outstanding Eurobonds. The banker brothers seemingly attempted to safeguard investors who might encounter problems due to dealing with the sanctioned structure.
Meanwhile, things are not looking good at Sovcombank. Unsettling reports from banking analysts are accompanied by a series of scandals involving the bank's debt collection under credit and mortgage agreements. There are even rumors on the Internet that Khotimskys' clients who have taken out loans are facing serious problems.
The Moscow Post correspondent investigates what is causing the bank to develop a negative reputation.
Liquidity is affected, and profits are disappearing
The year 2022 has been challenging for the entire Russian banking system, including Sovcombank. In the past, it has been suggested that the bank operates as a “financial pyramid” when it acquires assets through the takeover of rehabilitated banks, leading to disappearing profits.
Much of the financial information about the bank is not publicly available, but some indicators can still be found. Analyzing them reveals that even before the onset of the SVO and new sanctions, there were problems at Sovcombank.
Based on the banking analytics website, as of January 1, 2022, the bank's direct income-generating assets had decreased by 12.8%, or 8 billion rubles, in just one month. Sources of own funds for the same period had reduced by 841 million rubles.
Photo: https://analizbankov.ru/bank.php?BankId=sovkombank-963&BankMenu=struktura_balansa
During this time, there was an extremely negative situation with liquidity assessment indicators. Nearly all indicators, such as the stability of resources, the ratio of borrowed and own funds, and the ratio of highly liquid assets and borrowed funds, were in the “red” zone.
Photo: https://analizbankov.ru/bank.php?BankId=sovkombank-963&BankMenu=likvidnost
Even the indicators that were in the “green” zone, such as the dependence on the interbank market and non-bank loans, are showing a negative trend despite being generally satisfactory, as indicated by analysts. The same applies to the ratio of highly liquid assets to borrowed funds.
Photo: https://analizbankov.ru/bank.php?BankId=sovkombank-963&BankMenu=likvidnost
This might suggest a decline in the quality of the bank's assets, or even their reduction. Are the Khotimskys investing in unprofitable structures while pretending that everything is going well?
It may only be a short time, but no one will believe that in the toughest year for Russian banks in 2022, the Khotimskys' business did well. If we look at the period from September 2021 to February 2022, the bank lost 40 billion rubles of profit despite growing assets. In September 2021, they made a profit of 39 billion rubles, but by January, they had a net loss of 674 million rubles.
Photo: https://www.banki.ru/banks/ratings/?BANK_ID=76620&IS_SHOW_GROUP=0&IS_SHOW_LIABILITIES =0&date1=2022-02-01&date2=2021-09-01
Similar strange situations, where profits disappear as assets grow, have happened before. Money could have been going to the offshore “Sovko Capital Partners” from Luxembourg, which was connected to the Khotimsky bank. Only in September did “Sovko” register in Kaliningrad to avoid freezing of their assets by Western “sanctioners.”
It is clear that the Khotimskys urgently need money. Besides issuing subordinated bonds, they have recently issued a series of regular bonds.
In May 2020, Sovcombank issued exchange-traded bonds worth 5 billion rubles for three years. The same happened in April for 12 billion rubles for 10 years, and previously for 25 billion rubles in October 2019.
Pursuing borrowers
Amid this unfortunate news for themselves and their investors, the Khotimsky brothers are rumored to be using questionable lending schemes for vulnerable citizens, resulting in them losing their livelihoods or even their homes.
A woman named Elena, widow of a Chernobyl accident liquidator, contacted The Moscow Post. Her husband left debts, and she tried to manage with the help of loan brokers. She signed an agreement with Sovcombank for a new loan of 3 million rubles through one of them.
Before receiving the funds, the broker took 300 thousand rubles for services. And Sovcombank made Elena's daughter leave the apartment to confirm the loan. She suspected something was wrong even then.
Her two-room apartment in Moscow was valued at just 9.5 million rubles. When she asked why, she was asked if she wanted to receive the money.
Furthermore, bank employees asked Elena to sign a form where she is listed as an employee of a large development company, with a salary of 150 thousand rubles. If she refused, they threatened not to give her the money. Now, Elena is afraid her apartment will be taken away.
This case might not be an isolated one. According to the authors of the FSB Boutique telegram channel, a borrower in a situation with Sovcombank loans allegedly passed away.
The same authors claim that the Telegram channel allegedly operates in the interests of Sovcombank and the bank ABK Invest, and they turn the schemes together. Allegedly, in relation to people who have delays in payments, methods are used that would fit to be used by organized criminal groups in the 90s of the last century. It is as if pensioners and even single mothers who have fallen into bondage are beaten, their doors are kicked down, and locks are broken open. Another wildness is to pour tar on the door to the debtor's apartment.
It sounds, frankly, completely unintelligible, and requires confirmation from law enforcement agencies. If so, where are the criminal cases, where is the official information?
It is alleged that people who could have suffered from the actions of Sovcombank repeatedly submitted collective applications to the Moscow City Prosecutor's Office, to the General Prosecutor's Office of the Russian Federation. But nothing changes in the situation. But, apparently, the problems of ordinary citizens of our law enforcement officers, especially in Moscow, are not very worried when at the “other end of the wire” is one of the largest, backbone banks in the country.
In addition, a video is circulating on the Web in which, allegedly, a person associated with Sovcombank (supposedly he himself is from ABK Invest, but has a power of attorney from Sovcombank) comes to “collect debts” in the worst traditions of Russian collectors – he cuts off debtors wires. And he promises that he will come every day.
Video: YouTube channel “Peace to Us”
To put it mildly, neither Sovcombank nor its beneficiaries, Dmitry and Sergey Khotimsky, paint any of this. But behind them are a lot of other scandals. What is worth only the fate of the banks that were under their wing at the suggestion of the same Central Bank and Elvira Nabiullina. Almost all of them have sunk into oblivion – and their assets could have ended up there.
And how bad are the Khotimskys in reality with finances and morality, if they can use such methods? Draw your own conclusions.
