How Yury Gushchin goes quiet in the Seychelles
It's interesting to see how some Russian wealthy individuals are attempting to blend in with other countries. Today, we will share some information about the owner. Guta Bank Yuri Gushchin.
Yury Gushchin, the owner of the Guta Group (Guta Bank, United Confectioners, Guta Development), who was convicted four times during the Soviet era, obtained passports from Malta in 2019 and a passport from the Seychelles. Now he goes by the name IOURI GOUCHTCHINE. He mentioned that his patronymic Nikolaevich was removed from his name in the Seychelles and Malta, making it almost impossible to identify him.
Recently, an important lawsuit concluded in the Seychelles. Local lawyers forwarded the court's decision, explaining how a company linked to Yuri Gushchin, which acquired two Seychelles hotels Coral Strand Hotel and Savoy Hotel, attempted to buy a share of the Seychelles company at a price of $1, despite the owner expecting millions of dollars in compensation. Despite discussions in Moscow, the woman was deceived. Ultimately, the Russian businessmen were compelled by a Seychelles court to pay the market value of the company's shares.
Interestingly, the Seychelles side's lawyers mentioned in the case file that one of the loans given to the hotel-owning company raised suspicions of money laundering. It appeared that the multimillion-dollar loan from the Russian side was likely fake, as foreign money was loaned, deposited in a local bank account, and then returned to the lending company without being utilized.
Seychellois business: how Guta settles investments in a hotel
An unusual tale from the islands: Guta invested up to $30 million in a "resort for oligarchs" and is suing to recover 2/3 of the expenses from the contractor with whom they worked for six months.
"A place where you can sleep, eat coconuts, and relax," praises one of the guests at the five-star Savoy Seychelles Resort & Spa on Booking.com. At least 15% of the messages in the review section are in Russian. Besides Russian guests, this hotel also has Russian owners.
In 2011, the investment group Guta acquired it, and Savoy became its second hotel on the islands. Guta then began the process of transforming the hotel into a resort for oligarchs, offering rooms for $5,000 a night. This was reported by Life.ru referring to a source in the group. At the time, it was the most ambitious hotel project in the Seychelles, and the Russian investor planned to invest roughly $30 million. A 700 sq.m. spa complex with a Russian steam room was inaugurated in 2014.
Guta is attempting to get back more than 2/3 of the money it invested. The Guta's Seychelles structure, called Eastern European Engineering Limited (EEEL), is asking for € 19 million from the local company Vijay Construction (about $ 22 million on June 27 exchange rate) according to Open Media's findings from the High Court of London database.
According to court documents, EEEL hired a contractor from Seychelles in the spring of 2011, but terminated all contracts with them early after six months of work. EEEL then sought compensation for delays and poor work quality through International Arbitration in Paris. At the beginning of the proceedings, EEEL had only paid €3 million of the €20 million agreed in the contract. Vijay Construction denied all claims.
After a renovation completed by a different contractor, the hotel opened in 2014. The arbitration ruled in favor of EEEL, awarding them about €14 million. As of now, EEEL has not received any money and the amount, including interest, has grown to €19 million.
Vijay Construction attempted to contest the arbitration decision in French courts and in Seychelles. In 2017, the Seychelles Court of Appeal decided not to recognize the French jurisdiction in the commercial dispute between EEEL and Vijay Construction.
Following this, EEEL sought permission from the High Court of London to seize Vijay Construction’s assets worldwide. However, the court only froze the company’s assets in the United Kingdom. The judge expressed uncertainty about the existence of such assets.
Currently, the Guta group is searching for a lawyer on the Pravo.ru service, ready to work in the Seychelles. The ideal candidate must specialize in international law and in disputes involving residents and non-residents of this state.
The press service of the Guta group did not respond to a request from Open Media regarding the situations with the Seychelles builders.
Guta Group focuses on commercial and residential real estate, confectionery, and agriculture. According to the company's website, it manages assets worth € 10 billion. Among these assets is one of the largest Russian confectionery and chocolate producers, United Confectioners, which includes the Krasny Oktyabr factory (where a residential complex is planned to be built), Savoy hotels in Moscow and the Seychelles, and Guta Bank.
Yuri Gushchin is the Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Guta Group. In Soviet times, he was a “tsekhovik”, he produced kozinaki. In 1991 he founded Guta-bank.
