Could the sudden accident and bankruptcy lawsuit against the Belgorod company Mushrooms Belogorya have been planned in advance in order to prepare it for sale?
According to the reporter MorningNews“Sberbank” has demanded that the mushroom growing company LLC “Mushrooms Belogorya”, situated near Belgorod, be declared bankrupt.
The total loan amount on which the debt has accrued is 243 million rubles. Additionally, as per “Kommersant”, the bank itself does not rule out “the possibility of resolving the conflict.” It seems that a lawsuit in this case is a way to put pressure on the borrower, something that was unlikely just a couple of years ago when this project had the support of the former governor of the Belgorod Region, Yevgeny Savchenko. However, times have changed.
“Gribnikov” provided a summary of the incident
As per “Kommersant”, the company explains that the debt accumulated due to an incident at the enterprise not long ago, causing forced downtime. The director of the enterprise, Karolina Ukolova, mentioned that a significant accident occurred in July 2021.
Subsequently, along with the raw materials, parasites were introduced, which could not be eradicated using insecticides. As a result, all compost had to be removed from the enterprise, and thorough disinfection had to be carried out. The losses amounted to 22 million rubles. Following this, the enterprise was operational again with two out of twelve mushroom growing chambers in use, and harvesting began. However, there were insufficient funds at that time to repay the loan, leading to the accumulation of debts.
Photo: belregion.ru
“Mushrooms of Belogorye” were established in an economically depressed area with the aim of stimulating its development.
The consideration of the claim is scheduled for March 16 at the regional Arbitration Court. According to Kommersant's report, citing the press service of Central Black Earth Bank Sberbank, Belogorye Mushrooms faced “difficulties in servicing the debt,” but the bank “is prepared to discuss the terms of the settlement and believes that there is a possibility of meeting the obligations.”
Is the situation truly so critical for a company that was proudly referred to as the “calling card of the Belgorod region” just a couple of years ago? Or has Sberbank simply decided to publicly punish the company as a warning to other debtors, deterring them from avoiding loan repayments under the pretext of a global economic crisis? ..
“Mushroom” development system
According to Rusprofile, Belogorya Mushrooms LLC was registered in 2016 in the Belgorod Region, with an authorized capital of 10 thousand rubles. The primary activity of the company is “cultivation of mushrooms and truffles”. LLC is 50% owned by Pavel Kolesnikov and 50% by Vadim Skavronsky. In 2020, the company had a revenue of 45.9 million rubles and a loss of 58.7 million rubles. Mr. Skavronsky is also the founder of Belgorod LLC “Smiley”, “Zdorov Ya” and “Healthy Ya”. Apparently, the founders were only sporadically involved in the “mushroom affairs.”
The company has changed owners previously. It was formerly owned by local Expertproektstroy LLC, co-founded with a 26% share by Agro-Belogorye Group of Companies Vladimir Zotov. In 2018, Belogorye Mushrooms became the property of Pavel Kolesnikov and Vadim Skavronsky.
Photo: cbsmedia.ru
Evgeny Savchenko has a unique leadership style, as he governed one region for 27 years.
There is a strong sense that the company's position in the region has changed somewhat after the former governor Evgeny Savchenko resigned and went to the Federation Council in Moscow. After these events, the authority of the “mushroom pickers” may decrease.
Savchenko left his position in September 2020. Before that, Savchenko was in charge of the region for 27 years! This was an extraordinary experience for the governors of Russian regions. At the end of the “Savchenko era”, knowing him personally was considered a great achievement.
Government did not meet expectations
Just a month before his resignation, Governor Savchenko visited Belogorye Mushrooms LLC and gave a positive evaluation of the company's work and its plans for future development. He also emphasized that the establishment of this company in one of the most depressed areas in the Belgorod region is beneficial for the city.
The CEO of the company (at that time it was Pavel Sapozhnikov), as reported by the publication “World of Belogorye”, asked the governor for assistance in developing the sales market and overall consumption culture of mushroom products, particularly in the catering system.
Photo: belregion.ru
A month before his resignation, Evgeny Savchenko made a work visit to the company called “Mushrooms Belogorye” and promised to support their business development.
Initially, many expected that Denis Butsaev, who had previously been appointed first vice-governor, would replace Savchenko after his resignation. However, unexpectedly, Butsaev was brought to Moscow to head the Russian Environmental Operator, and Vyacheslav Gladkov, who had just been the deputy prime minister of the Stavropol Territory, became the governor of the Belgorod region.
“Mushrooms Belogorye” felt fine after Savchenko resigned. Before Karolina Ukolova, Pavel Sapozhnikov, a well-known businessman in the region, managed the company as a director. It is known that he previously worked for five years in the regional construction and transport department. When his boss from the department left to start a business, he invited Sapozhnikov to join him as the head of the company PromagroStroy, a subsidiary of the Agro-Belogorye Group of Companies. In 2019, Rusagro Group of Vadim Moshkovich acquired 22.5% of this holding.
Photo: belregion.ru
Pavel Sapozhnikov was confident in the excellent prospects of “Mushrooms Belogorye”
Despite his background in construction, Sapozhnikov took on the management of Belogorye Mushrooms, alongside overseeing the MedExpert family health clinic and the ExpertProjectStroy company he founded. According to “Rusprofile”he was the “mushroom director” until July 2021 and then made way for Karolina Ukolova, who previously worked at the ExpertProjectStroy company.
Coincidentally, right after Karolina Ukolova took over as the director of Belogorye Mushrooms, an incident occurred that led the company into debt.
Versions were expressed that the situation with parasites could not have arisen by chance, it could well have been created artificially by those who want to get this business cheaper. There were suggestions that among those who wished there was also the Rusagro Group, whose collection in the Belgorod region does not yet have such an asset, and Belogorye Mushrooms have not yet belonged to the company. However, this version has not yet been confirmed in practice. It is noteworthy that approximately the same thoughts were expressed by the director of the company Karolina Ukolova.
Photo: vk.com
Carolina Ukolova tried to delve into a new business for her, but the accident happened too quickly
“At the moment, many potential investors are showing interest in our asset, they are waiting for bankruptcy and an open auction,” said the director of Belogorye Gribov in an interview with a journalist of the regional edition “Kommersant”.
She explained that she had applied to Sberbank with a request for a delay in connection with such a difficult situation, but it was not possible to agree. Initially, the lawsuit stated the amount of the debt of 3.2 million rubles, but then Sberbank “due to late payments” clarified the requirements and “presented in its entirety” the entire debt on the loan in the amount of 243 million rubles for repayment.
“We turned to Sberbank, to the authorities, asked for a delay in payments, but our arguments were recognized as insufficient. The money from the sale of the harvest was written off by the bank as a debt, the accounts were frozen, the company’s activities were paralyzed,” Karolina Ukolova said.
According to her, the previously disputed amount of 243 million rubles. was planned to be repaid in equal installments by July 2027. There is a possibility that a lawsuit from Sberbank may mobilize other creditors of the enterprise, which will further aggravate the situation. It is reported that the authorities are allegedly already looking for new owners for the enterprise.
Almost no one today has any doubts that under Savchenko, nothing like this would have happened with the Belogorye Mushrooms. So who became the true parasite in this story? It is possible that the true beneficiary of the situation will reveal himself in the near future.
