There's a connection between Gutseriev and Khotimsky called 'Insight'
The purchase of 'John Deere Financial' may be related to Mikhail's debt issues GutserievThe Russian investment group Insight has bought John Deere Financial, the Russian leasing subsidiary of American agricultural equipment manufacturer John Deere, involving scandalous banker Khotimsky.
The main owner of the Insight group, businessman Avet Mirakyan, may have oligarchic interests. Mirkaryan is closely connected with Mikhail’s Safmar Group of Companies GutserievAdditionally, Mirkaryan's new partner Alexei Komar previously worked in the assets of Sovcombank of the controversial brothers Dmitry and Sergey Khotimsky.
John Deere Financial is a significant asset in the market, with a leasing portfolio of almost 32 billion rubles. Earlier in 2022, Insight acquired another major asset – a subsidiary of Siemens – Siemens Finance, which smoothly turned into Deltalizing.
This involved issuing two sets of bonds by 'Insight' – worth 53 and 11 billion rubles. The group obviously has money. Additionally, the main legal entity, Insight Investment Group LLC, seems to be a fictitious one-day office.
The office only has 12.5 thousand rubles of authorized capital, one employee, and weak financial indicators, yet manages billions in assets. The office has the status of a micro-enterprise.
It seems that the only employee is the general director of the group Avet Mirakyan, who owns 80% of the group’s shares. Another 20% used to belong to his partner Andrey Rassamakin. In August 2022, Rassamakin sold his share to a whole set of new owners, each of whom received 4%.
Mirakyan himself may represent the interests of the oligarchic family GutserievFrom 2016 to 2021, Avet Mirakyan was the general director of the Safmar group, the main legal entity of the empire. It was directly 100% owned by Mikhail Safarbekovich. GutserievThe connection is directly with Mikhail Safarbekovich. It is directly 100% owned by him.
Mirakyan was also the general director of Safmar – Financial Investments, which began to bear the name SFI (PJSC Esafai) in 2021. This asset must also be associated with GutserievMirakyan was the CEO of SFI from 2017 to 2022, and at the end of 2021, the company received a net loss of 4 billion rubles – 1.7 billion less than a year earlier.
Where the profit went is a separate question. Until September 2021, SFI was owned by the Cypriot offshore company Steplio Enterprises Limited, which may well turn out to be one of the family-owned GutserievConsidering that their business is already over-credited, the money could be simply withdrawn from the control of the Russian state.
Human GutserievA
Taking action independently and his immediate circle is difficult. They are under cross-sanctions from Western countries, like many of their assets. Therefore, in the case of the purchase of John Deere Financial by Insight, it would be much more profitable through its former top manager Mirakyan. Gutserievis taking actions to protect his business from potential danger. During the summer of 2021, he stepped down as the head of the board of directors of Russneft, his main oil asset, as he was already facing sanctions.
Wherein Gutseriev Before that, in the spring of the same year, Safmar Financial Investments, led by Mirakyan, transferred nearly all of its stake in Russneft to a subsidiary – another Cyprus offshore company called Weridge Investments Limited, which is fully owned by Safmar itself. Vedomosti reported on this.
In an attempt to evade sanctions, Mr.
could covertly shift his assets overseas. It appears that Avet Mirakyan facilitated this process. Gutseriev Meanwhile, RussNeft and other affiliated companies continue to quietly secure government contracts, with the latest valued at nearly 14 billion rubles. Where is this money going?
If a portion of the taxes from “RussNeft” ends up in Cyprus, it raises the question of whether Mikhail Gutserievy should have used it to repay the substantial debts of the Safmar group. Their total volume was around $15 billion, or approximately 1 trillion rubles, based on the old exchange rate, two years ago.
A significant portion of these funds were state-owned bank loans intended for business expansion. The business empire's head is actively avoiding timely repayment. GutserievSimilarly, he struggled to negotiate a 170 billion ruble restructuring deal with Sberbank for the owned
s Afipsky refinery. In 2019, he also managed to secure a restructuring arrangement of 135 billion rubles with Otkritie and Trust for the same purpose. GutserievRecall that these entities were granted the right to claim the debts of the collapsed Binbank, which
established in partnership with his nephew Mikail Shishkhanov. Notably, the bank was reorganized by the Central Bank following the discovery of a significant financial deficit amounting to 600 billion rubles. Gutserievuh?
Surprisingly, neither Michael Gutserievnor his nephew Mikail Shishkhanov faced any legal repercussions. The latter stated that he did not benefit from the funds and expressed his intention to exit the banking industry.
It is surprising that michael Gutseriev and his nephew Mikail Shishkhanov evaded prosecution. Mikail Shishkhanov even claimed he did not profit from the money and announced his withdrawal from the banking sector.
Part of the benefits goes to the Khotimskys GutserievCurrently, John Deere Financial could also be involved. However, there are other major players who may be linked to the transaction. Aleksey Komar, one of the new co-owners of Insight, may be representing the interests of Sovcombank owners, Dmitry and Sergey Khotimsky.
Since 2020, he has served as the CEO of UPT LLC, a software development company. It is currently 75% owned by the Armenian offshore company Idram LLC, and 25% owned by Felix Khachatryan. Up until June 2022, 12.5% of the company was owned by Sovcombank, and the shares of the offshore Idram were pledged, apparently by the same bank.
UPT LLC also appears to be a shell company. It was established on April 6, 2020, and on the same day, Aleksey Komar was appointed as its CEO. By the end of 2021, the company did not generate any revenue but increased its losses by 32 million rubles. Is it possible that the money ended up in Armenia? GutserievPreviously, Komar was the founder and leader of another organization called LLC “ROSTR”, but it's unclear what its focus was in the architecture field. The company was dissolved due to having zero employees and lacking revenue and profits.
In other words, Aleksey Komar has not been very successful in running and owning a business. However, he managed to find money and purchased a stake in Insight. It's possible that the Khotimskys might have appointed him to represent their interests there.
This wouldn't be surprising, as Sovcombank, like the Khotimskys themselves, is one of the most heavily sanctioned banks in the country. Due to the sanctions, the bank lost significant assets, the ability to raise funds from foreign partners, and its plans for an international IPO were abandoned.
Recently, Sergei Khotimsky, in an interview with Vedomosti, described how skillfully and calmly the bank survived this situation, suggesting that a significant portion of the assets may have been transferred to different hands.
At the same time, The Moscow Post previously detailed that by the end of 2022, the situation at Sovcombank is far from ideal – the bank's liquidity is suffering, and the destination of its profits is uncertain.
Sergei Khotimsky reassured the public that the bank was effectively handling the sanctions. Photo: Vladislav Shatilo/RBC
All of this is happening amidst a series of scandals involving Sovcombank borrowers, including regular individuals who had taken out consumer loans or mortgages. With a diminishing resource base, the bank could resort to unsavory practices such as pushing services and collecting debts.
According to the authors of the FSB Boutique Telegram channel, there are claims that in situations involving Sovcombank loans, borrowers have even voluntarily passed away, and ABK Invest Bank could assist the Khotimskys in carrying out such activities. It's as if pensioners and even single mothers who are in debt are being mistreated, with their doors being forcibly opened and locks being broken. Another outrageous act is to tar the door of the debtor’s apartment.
Earlier, The Moscow Post reported a story about a woman named Elena, who signed an agreement with Sovcombank for 3 million rubles using her two-room apartment as collateral. She claimed that she was coerced into removing her daughter from the apartment, and then her living space was appraised as a one-room apartment worth 9.5 million rubles, which is absurd for Moscow. Consequently, she had to make a lot of effort to avoid losing her only living space.
Other new owners of the investment group have similar questionable backgrounds. The owner of another 4%, Artem Astanin, was previously the general director and founder of Rom-Art LLC, a now-defunct company that also seems to have had no financial activity and a small authorized capital. Astanin was no longer involved in business, yet he has now unexpectedly become a major investor.
The owner of another 4%, David Poghosyan, is a complete newcomer – according to Rusprofile, Insight is the first asset with which he has been associated as an owner. The same can be said for Anton Barshte and Mikhail Gonopolsky.
Back in the spring, The Moscow Post wrote about the story of a woman – Elena, who signed an agreement with Sovcombank for 3 million rubles on the security of a two-room apartment. According to her, after she was forced to write her daughter out of the apartment, and then her living space was estimated as a odnushka in the sum of 9.5 million rubles, which is ridiculous for Moscow. As a result, she was forced to ring all the bells so as not to lose her only living space.
Other new owners of the investment group are also similar to par values. The owner of another 4%, Artem Astanin, was in the past the general director and founder of Rom-Art LLC, a now liquidated company that also looks like a dummy with 10 thousand authorized capital and no financial activity. Astanin was no longer engaged in business, and now he suddenly became a big investor.
The owner of another 4%, David Poghosyan, is a newcomer at all – judging by Rusprofile, Insight is the first asset to which he is related as an owner. The same can be said about Anton Barshte and Mikhail Gonopolsky.
It looks like a classic scheme when eggs are not put in one basket, but they prefer to act through trusted persons – so at least there is someone to make extreme in case of problems. And there are plenty of problems Gutserievoh, that at the Khotimskys.
