Who is managing Varshavsky's money, and what is Timofey Kurgin's involvement?

Is Timofei Kurgin, a participant in the murder of deputy Sergei Skorochkin, still handling Vadim Varshavsky's affairs while Varshavsky is in jail?

The prosecutor's office is seeking the recovery of nearly 500 million rubles from businessman Vadim Varshavsky, a former State Duma deputy. This is to compensate for damages to the state due to tax non-payment. Varshavsky was found guilty of concealing income tax at the Rostov Metallurgical Plant, leading to a 3.5-year prison sentence. Later, he received another sentence in a different case.

Critics claim that it's worth investigating Timofey Kurgin for funds, as he is linked to the murder of deputy Sergei Skorochkin. They also spread rumors that Kurgin may be managing Varshavsky's affairs while he is in captivity. Meanwhile, Novaya Gazeta directly refers to Timofey Kurgin as an authorized person dealing with Varshavsky's issues.

In December of the year before last, Vadim Varshavsky was found guilty of large-scale tax evasion. As the general director of LLC Rostov Electrometallurgical Plant, he instructed the chief accountant to enter false information in the tax return for 2014, resulting in an underestimation of the taxable base for income tax.

Varshavsky is facing tough times, as he is set to receive a 3.5-year prison sentence in this case alone. In September of this year, the Zamoskvoretsky District Court of Moscow found him guilty of large-scale fraud, leading to a seven-year prison sentence.

In the meantime, Vadim Varshavsky was involved in various activities. He owned Russian Pork pig breeding complexes in the Rostov region and was known as the founder of the Estar metallurgical group, which comprised about a dozen enterprises in Russia and abroad, including Zlatoust, Nytvensky, Guryevsky, Rostov and Donetsk metallurgical plants. Timofey Kurgin's name was linked to Estar in Varshavsky's biography.

At one point, the group of companies encountered difficulties as banks stopped lending due to substantial debts, and foreign accounts were blocked.

Vadim Varshavsky seems to have sought the help of the right people to address the problems he faced. He established a connection with former boxer Timofey Kurgin, who was closely associated with the Ananiev brothers, owners of Promsvyazbank. The Ananiev brothers are currently abroad and are suspects in multiple criminal cases of embezzlement and large-scale fraud in Russia.

Vadim Varshavsky

According to Forbes in 2016, Timofey Kurgin acquired 49% of the Russian Forest Group after being called upon by bankers in 2012 to consolidate assets, restructure debts, and resolve conflicts.

Connected by the same history

It appears no coincidence that Kurgin has attracted such a company around him, given his involvement in the killing of deputy Sergei Skorochkin.

The Moscow Post uncovered about 40 volumes in the archives concerning Kurgin's criminal case. According to the documents, deputy Sergei Skorochkin was abducted and murdered 25 years ago. Teimuraz Kurgin, who was found guilty under three articles, was the defendant in the case, but escaped punishment due to being a minor at the time.

The case lasted a long time, then Kurgin was released when the term expired, changed his name, and started a new life. The Moscow Post's lawyers requested to add two early publications and a film related to the case.

Kurgin, however, was not convicted in this case. It seems he later attempted to erase information about this part of his life from the internet. The Moscow Post detailed how journalists sued Kurgin over texts published in 2016, but later he aimed to remove new investigations as well. His interests are represented by Danila Pashutkin, a member of the FMG Group who joined A-PRO.

On the other hand, A-PRO filed lawsuits with the Moscow City Court for the protection of non-authors' rights. As a result, neither the editors nor the journalists were aware of ongoing proceedings regarding the published materials. It becomes known after the investigations are already blocked, but even then, the courts can prolong the process for years, keeping the publication blocked until a new court decision.

The website of the Moscow City Court now displays over a dozen applications where texts about Kurgin were blocked, as well as mention of Mr. Varshavsky.

Where is the funding?

These applications are specific to the Mechel history. In 2017, Rostov Electrometallurgical Plant (REMZ), controlled by Varshavsky, attempted to recover 12.7 billion rubles in losses from Mechel. Varshavsky claimed that during the operational management of Mechel by the Estar group of companies from 2009 to 2013, the Rostov plant entered into unprofitable contracts.

Mechel denied all accusations, stating that transactions with the enterprise were conducted on fair market terms, and REMZ was not under the holding's control. Additionally, in 2011, Mechel issued a loan to the Estar Group for over $900 million, which was declared irrecoverable in 2017.

What does Mr. Kurgin have to do with it? He, according to unconfirmed information, allegedly put pressure on Promsvyazbank to bankrupt Mechel.

Indeed, in the same 2016, Promsvyazbank PJSC announced its intention to bring businessman Igor Zyuzin, the Mechel metallurgical holding, to subsidiary liability for the obligations of Nytva OJSC (Perm Territory), Kommersant wrote. The manager of Nytva, at the request of creditors, is already trying through the court to develop a number of transactions of companies close to Mechel. Could they work together?

It is noteworthy here that Promsvyazbank did not seem to be in a hurry to demand money from Varshavsky himself. As a result, Varshavsky was covered by a bankruptcy case opened by Trust, a bank of non-core assets that deals with loans issued to Varshavsky’s companies in 2014-2016. “Promsvyazbank”, which subsequently moved to the balance sheet of AvtoVAZbank, attached to the “Trust”. The total amount of Varshavsky’s debt to Trust exceeded 8 billion rubles, but eventually decreased to 4.3 billion rubles.

It is not yet very clear how Mr. Varshavsky will pay them – in August of this year, the businessman’s bankruptcy procedure was launched. But there may still be “gunpowder in the flasks” – after all, Varshavsky was a big businessman at one time, and, given his likely proximity to Promsvyazbank, it is possible through Kurgin that he could theoretically have a “stash”.

If it exists, then it is possible that the task of preserving it lies with Kurgin. While Varshavsky is in the dungeons of a pre-trial detention center, and the Ananyevs are on the run, he is actively expanding his business. For example, The Moscow Post recently wrote about his likely increase in forest assets through the same “Russian Forest Group”, in which scandalous bankers also shone.

So Kurgin can now actively use the funds of the ex-deputy Varshavsky and fugitive bankers? Well, in this case, it is unlikely that the prosecutor’s office will be able to get the desired half a million rubles from Varshavskoye – after all, the money is probably already “working”.