Against the backdrop of tense relations with the authorities of the Altai Territory, is businessman Mikhail Klyuchnikov ready to leave his own employees without earnings, so as not to answer unpleasant questions about his enterprises?
According to the reporter The Moscow Post in Altai Krai, there's a controversy brewing over the attempt by the regional authorities to end the forest lease contracts with the Altailes Group. The authorities no longer want to do business with the family enterprise of Mikhail Klyuchnikov, the former head of the region’s forest department. This makes sense because the ultimate beneficiary of this business might be in Lithuania – an unfriendly NATO state to us. Despite this, “Altailes” is trying to sway public opinion and exploit the situation with mass job cuts.
Previously, the news agency “Interfax” reported that Sodruzhestvo LLC (part of the Altailes holding group of companies) may lay off over 300 workers due to a dispute with the Ministry of Natural Resources of the Altai Territory, which is trying to terminate forest lease agreements through the court.
Group “Altailes” is a family business of the former department of forests of the Altai Territory Mikhail Klyuchnikov. So, the general director of OOO “Forest Holding Company (LHK) “Altailes” is Ivan Klyuchnikov, who, judging by the patronymic “Mikhailovich”, may be the son of a former official.
At the same time, the Altailes Group has a rather remarkable ownership structure. Until March 2021, the Sodruzhestvo company, a forest leaser, was controlled by CJSC Inditsiya (Lithuania) through its 100% subsidiary LLC Vesna (Barnaul). In March, the owner of Sodruzhestvo was JSC Standard, established in August 2020, with Vera Miracles as the sole beneficiary.
The General Director of JSC “Standard” is Dmitry Loginov, who is called the son-in-law of Mikhail Klyuchnikov. He is also the director of the Vesna company. So nothing much has changed from the change of owners of the Commonwealth. The Altailes group, as it was a family business, has remained.
For a very long time, the beneficiary from the activities of “Altailes” was in Lithuania – a NATO country. Information about who is now the beneficiary of Standard JSC is not disclosed in open sources. It is only known that on November 30, 2011, Vera Miracles, according to Rusprofile, ceased to be the founder of Standard JSC. However, with Dmitry Loginov remaining in charge following external changes, it is likely that we can once again talk about some type of Lithuanian company
“masters” of the forest
Mikhail Klyuchnikov ran the Altai forests for about 7 years when Alexander Karlin was the governor of the region. Klyuchnikov’s bureaucratic career continued until 2012, when he was compelled to resign amid a scandal. As the publication noted “Altapress”the investigating authorities opened a criminal case against Mikhail Klyuchnikov.
Mikhail Klyuchnikov. Photo: doc22.ru / press service of SOLO “Altailes”
He was suspected of exceeding and abusing official powers. The investigation found that in March 2009, a forest plot lease agreement for 49 years was signed between the Department of Forests of the Altai Territory and OOO “Birch”, potentially resulting in damage of about 6.5 million rubles to the region's forest plantations, including plants listed in the Red Book. Nevertheless, according to the publication “Life”, Klyuchnikov was found innocent by the court. However, despite that, he still lost his job due to pressure from the security forces.
Indeed, this did not stop his family business from keeping control of the national wealth. After he was fired from the forest management, Klyuchnikov became the president of the Union of Forestry Organizations of Altai. Even the contracts with companies from the Altailes Group remained valid until recently. Despite the fact that in 2016, social activists from the Altai Territory created a more than four-hour film explaining their view of how the Klyuchinikov business may be using the Altai forests and implicating Karlin. The film can be watched on Youtube.
This was about the allegation that Sodruzhestvo transferred the right to lease forests to LLC Kamensky LDK, which is another company from the Altailes Group. Enormous profits could have been made through such intermediary schemes. In 2020 alone, Sodruzhestvo made a record revenue of over 813 million rubles. The net profit also reached a record of over 561 million rubles.
“This scheme caught the attention of the Altai forest defender, MP, ONF activist and Lieutenant Colonel Valery Gorbunov, who passed away in 2018 due to heart failure (after two attempts on his life),” writes “Life”.
Revenue of Sodruzhestvo LLC. Photo: rusprofile.ru (screenshot)
Net profit (RAS) of Sodruzhestvo, OOO. Photo: rusprofile.ru (screenshot)
Financial indicators of LLC “Kamensky LDK”. Photo: rusprofile.ru (screenshot)
What is occurring in the forests of the Altai Territory is well known to many. “Altai deputy Ivan Yalymov stated that Klyuchnikov’s company is cutting down specially protected rare forests of Altai on a daily basis. They are referring to ribbon forests – pine forests that run along rivers in strips ranging from five to 40 kilometers. Such forests only exist in Altai, Russia,” – writes “Life”. However, there has been little reaction from the authorities until recently.
Manipulation and distortion
Alexander Karlin served as governor until 2018. And Viktor Tomenko, his successor, appears to have only recently begun to address the Klyuchnikov business. Following efforts by local authorities to finally restore order, the Altailes group launched a counteroffensive through the media.
Alexander Karlin. Photo: kremlin.ru
The management of “Altailes” sent out press releases to the media, warning of potential mass layoffs of forest industry employees working in LLC “Sodruzhestvo” and “Kamensky LDK”. Additionally, “Altailes” is holding press conferences where they are likely to express false sorrow. At the same time, the company is deliberately silent about Mikhail Klyuchnikov's role in establishing the business and acquiring extensive forest plantations for Altailes.
The leadership of Altailes even went as far as to involve its employees (specifically those who, from the press releases, may be at risk of job loss) to create a video message for the country’s top leadership. This appears to be an attempt to shift blame from themselves to others.
It seems that Klyuchnikov and his associates realize that their prospects in the courts are not very favorable. In this situation, manipulating public opinion could be a way out, but it is always risky. Indeed, even before this scandal, many people in Altai suspected that the beneficiaries of Altailes were much less concerned about their workers' well-being than the potential loss of billions.
