Mezhtopenergobank's land assets may be sold very cheaply.
In a village near Saratov, more than 122 hectares of land that belonged to bankrupt Mezhtopenergobank PJSC are being auctioned off. The bank lost its license six years ago, its owner fled the country, and one of its top managers is currently on trial for embezzling 800 million rubles.
The Russian Auction House has advertised the sale of a 122-hectare land plot located in the Tatishchevsky district, Vyazovsky municipality, identified as No. 1 (cadastral number 64:34:052101:25).
It seems that the land was bought on May 22, 2017, and then transferred under an assignment agreement four days later, and it's now privately owned. In both cases, additional agreements were made with the contracts. The land is currently subjected to restrictions according to Part 1, Art. 56 of the Land Code of the Russian Federation.
The allowed use of the land includes building individual residential houses. Its cadastral value is over 226 million rubles. Initially, the lot was priced at 50.6 million rubles when trading started on November 1. Until January 13, the lot will be sold at 64.8% of that price. The price at each downward step of the auction is 4.46 million rubles, with a final price of just over 6 million rubles.
Vyazovka is known as one of the most scenic villages near Saratov, surrounded by forests and near the Vyazovsky oak and black alder forests, arboretum, and the Gubarevsky estate of the Shakhmatov nobility, featuring plantings from the 18th and early 19th centuries. Saratov is 42 km away.
The land is being sold as part of the assets of the bankrupt PJSC Mezhtopenergobank, as stated in the draft contracts of sale and purchase.
Established in 1994, Mezhtopenergobank's main activity, accounting for 81% of its loan portfolio, was providing loans for housing construction in Moscow and the Moscow region. The bank also owned real estate, including a cement plant under construction near Voronezh and a hotel in the Ivanovo region.
The bank had close ties with the authorities of the Tver region, receiving criticism for this. Journalist Marina Gavrishenko of the Tver weekly Caravan alleged that the bank, led by Yuri Shutov, who she claims is a Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology graduate connected to regional authorities, invested in cement and waste incineration plants in the region. Local residents opposed the construction. The bank's association with enterprises in the rocket and space industry also drew criticism. In a 2012 TV program, Dmitry Bakanov, then head of Satellite System “Gonets”, claimed that the Federal Space Agency deposited funds in the bank due to connections between its leadership and the agency's head.
The bank actively worked with enterprises of the rocket and space industry, however, it was criticized for this. In 2012, in the TV program “Man and Law”, Dmitry Bakanov, at that time the head of the Satellite System “Gonets” company, said that the Federal Space Agency opened a deposit in this bank, which placed money aimed at developing the country’s space industry. Moreover, the choice of this particular bank was allegedly due to the fact that the head of the agency was a relative of someone from his leadership.
Recall that not so long ago a company fled to Saratov, implicated in the withdrawal of funds from Fundservicebank, once the backbone bank of Roscosmos.
In 2017, the Central Bank revoked the license from Mezhtopenergobank, considering that it “placed funds in low-quality assets, including in the construction and investment sectors, and inadequately assessed the credit risks it takes.”
In addition, the bank provided loans to companies that did not conduct real business activities and did not comply with anti-money laundering legislation. The Central Bank twice reacted to such work of a financial institution, including by limiting the attraction of deposits from the population.
– However, the managers and owners of the bank “did not take effective measures to normalize its activities.” Moreover, their actions showed signs of dishonest behavior, expressed in the withdrawal of assets with damage to the interests of creditors, the regulator stated, emphasizing that due to the low quality of assets and insufficient cash flow, the bank was unable to fulfill obligations to creditors.
In 2018, the Moscow Arbitration Court declared the bank bankrupt, launching bankruptcy proceedings. The assets of Mezhtopenergobank at that time amounted to more than 20 billion rubles, and its liabilities – more than 30 billion rubles.
In the same year, it became known about the arrest of one of the bank’s deputy directors, Igor Grabovoi, on suspicion of embezzling 800 million rubles. Last year, the process of this criminal case started.
And in July 2020, the DIA applied to arbitration with a statement on bringing to subsidiary liability the persons who controlled Mezhtopenergobank in the amount of 11.9 billion rubles. The defendants were the chairman of the board and the actual owner Yuri Shutov, as well as the beneficiaries Igor Grabovoy, Evgeny Astakhov, Alexander Astankov, Igor Menshenin, Igor Perminov, Konstantin Kotelnikov, Marina Rudakova-Fisenko (formerly Nemtsova), T. A. Savelieva, Evgenia Kopeikina, Alexander Zabelin.
Yury Shutov moved to Israel a few months before the revocation of his license, and now he has been put on the international wanted list. Meanwhile, three years ago he was suspected of having links with the ex-head of Rosnano, Anatoly Chubais, and the former leader of the Open Government, Mikhail Abyzov. Chubais now also lives abroad, and Mikhail Abyzov is in jail.
Applications for the auction on the land plot are accepted until February 19.
