“Bashspirt” under Khabirov
Against the backdrop of a criminal case against the former leadership “bashspirtRumors have increased about the upcoming privatization of the enterprise – one of the biggest taxpayers in Bashkiria. Since August last year “bashspirtom” is led by one of the closest confidants of the head of the region Radiy Khabirov – former Deputy Prime Minister of the Government of the Republic Raif Abdrakhimov.
It seems that his task is to prepare “bashspirtand “for transfer to the” right hands “. The sale itself has, in fact, already begun – in the fall of 2022”bashspirt“parted with a network of branded stores where its products were sold.
As a result, the asset may pass into the hands of people close to the team of Khabirov himself. Apparently, he was tired of managing the region and being under fire of criticism over and over again, and on a “political pension” “bashspirt“could bring in huge profits.
“bashspirt“- one of the largest producers of alcohol in Russia. It was created in 2000 by combining all the profile enterprises of the republic. According to the manufacturer’s website, the holding includes several plants in Ufa, Bulgakovo, Sterlitamak, Belebey and Birsk. The founder of the enterprise is the Ministry of Land Property Republic.
Operation “privatization”
Talk that it can be “privatized”, and in favor of Khabirov’s people, has been going on for a long time. Back in 2019, the head of the Administration of the Head of Bashkiria, Alexander Sidyakin, at a meeting with journalists, said that there were no plans for privatization “bashspirta”, as well as the airport and a number of other assets, the authorities of the region do not have.
However, in the same 2019, Mr. Sidyakin himself “suddenly” headed the Board of Directors of the enterprise. The entire management team has also changed.bashspirta”: Rauf Nugumanov, a former vice-premier known for signing the deal to merge Soda and Caustic, became the new CEO, resulting in Bashkir Soda Company JSC (BSK).
Subsequently, we recall, BSK was privatized in favor of controversial businessmen from JSC “Regional Fund”, JSC “Bashkir Chemistry” and LLC Trading House “Bashkir Chemistry”. As a result, the privatization was declared illegal, and BSC shares were returned to the state. And who knows, this would have happened if it were not for the scandal on Mount Kushtau, which, like the whole situation with the BSC, was described in detail by The Moscow Post.
Surprisingly, neither Nugumanov nor other people from the team of Radiy Khabirov suffered any punishment for this. Now Nugumanov, who was in charge at the suggestion of Khabirov “bashspirtom” for several years, could be under investigation.
In mid-February 2022, the Investigative Committee opened a criminal case on the grounds of abuse of office, fraud, embezzlement or embezzlement in JSC “bashspirt“. Writes about this” Kommersant “.
According to investigators, in 2019-2020 officials “bashspirta” in violation of the Federal Law “On Protection of Competition” concluded more than 4 thousand contracts for the purchase of goods and services with the only suppliers. At the same time, the cost of the contracts was allegedly overpriced.
Lots of money in theory
What is meant is hard to understand. Total “bashspirt” served as a supplier for 2.1 billion rubles and a customer for 63 billion rubles. When it comes to supplying, it's clear – almost all 2 billion rubles went to his own trading house “bashspirt“. But with orders, things are more interesting.
It turns out that during the past few months “bashspirt“purchased goods and services from unknown counterparts, and for hundreds of million rubles. Why the counterparts are hidden is unclear, even though overall, MDM-Flex LLC ranks first in procurement, its main activity is listed as “Other types of printing activities.” It provided the enterprise with a self-adhesive label for hundreds of millions of rubles.
this company”bashspirt“Paid a total of 1.6 billion rubles. It was revealed that this is a key state counterparty LLC, whose revenue in 2021 amounted to almost 420 million rubles.
Regarding the contractsbashspirta” special attention is drawn to a recent contract with an unknown counterpart for the purchase of the right to use the Trademark. The value of the contract is 538 million rubles. Additionally, the State Procurement website indicates that the contract was placed back in 2015 and updated in 2023.
So, for the use of trademarks “bashspirt“pays hundreds of million rubles annually? According to the publication “Prufy.ru”, 1.25 billion rubles have been spent for these purposes since 2019. Among other things, 284 million rubles for the right to use the White Nettle sign.
The rights to this brand belong to the Moscow company “Status-Pro”, owned by Alexei Zimin, a dentist by profession. In his own words, the sketch of the White Nettle brand sticker cost him 20,000 rubles. All this suggests that money can simply be withdrawn from the enterprise.
A separate subject of interest of the investigators was the rent of a historic building in the center of Ufa, which housed the company store TD “bashspirta” under the brand name “Tantana”. It turned out that the new owner of the building, Albert Zaripov, bought it from the previous owner for 20.6 million rubles, while “bashspirt“paid him a rent of 203 million rubles.
TD”bashspirt“is a subsidiary”bashspirta”, which is engaged in the sale of finished products. In reality, the company’s costs are only the rental of premises and the payment of wages. As a result, for several years, TD “bashspirt“was brought to a loss of 202 million rubles with an asset value of 525 million rubles. It is not surprising if 203 million rubles could be paid for renting a flagship store alone.
During the years of leadership of Khabirov Bashkiria TD “bashspirt“was brought to a head.
According to the publication “Prufy.ru”, “Albert Zaripov turned out to be the owner of the building on Ufimskoye Highway, where the aforementioned trading house was previously located. At the same time, Zaripov is closely connected with a well-known businessman, Ufa City Council deputy Artur Khazigaleev, who was in the circle of influence of Alexander Sidyakin.
Very similar to what TD company does.bashspirt“as one of the main assetsbashspirta”, they could attempt to bring it to a condition where they can later sell it to the “right hands”. Meanwhile, in recent months, the stores “bashspirta” have been closed (more than 30 outlets have already faced this fate), their property is simply taken to warehouses.
However, not all. The sale has truly begun. In late December 2022,bashspirt“sold office and warehouse space covering over 8,000 square meters at this address: Ufa, Oktyabrsky district, Ufimskoye shosse st., 38/1 in favor of Elvira Maratovna Chanysheva, an individual entrepreneur. The transaction amount was not disclosed.
According to the authors of the Telegram channel Case for Kurai, she is reportedly close to the officials of the Khabirov administration, and had previously served as a backup-spoiler for Lily Chanysheva, a representative of the non-systemic opposition, in the elections to the Ufa City Council.
It appears, assets and property “bashspirtand “already quietly transferred in favor of Khabirov’s team?
Own Abdrakhimov closer to the body
As for Rauf Nugumanov, it is uncertain if he has any procedural status in the criminal case. However, he is no longer the CEO of the company. Apparently, when “it smelled of trouble”, he requested to resign. He was replaced by another individual from Khabirov’s team – Ural Farvazov, the former head of the control department in the administration of the head of Bashkiria.
Rumor has it that instead of carrying out the orders of the regional authorities, Farvazov allegedly began to investigate who profited from the enterprise, and after a few months, in August 2022, he was replaced by a person even closer to Khabirov, the then Deputy Prime Minister Raif Abdrakhimov.
He collaborated with Khabirov in the Krasnogorsk administration. His probable task may be to prepare “bashspirta” for privatization, and the first thing that could occur is the sale of the “inefficient” TD “bashspirt“. It was Abdrakhimov who signed the order to sell the premises of IP Chanysheva.
In the government, Abdrakhimov oversaw construction and housing and communal services. He was appointed by Prime Minister Andrey Nazarov, another close associate of Radiy Khabirov, who previously acted as a key beneficiary of the Granel development group.
After Khabirov took office, the Granel Group of Companies began to receive substantial government contracts, and there was a green light everywhere. Nazarov himself is quite a controversial figure. The Moscow Post has written about his affairs on numerous occasions.
It is Nazarov who can advise Khabirov regarding the potential implementation “bashspirta”. And despite no direct announcement of privatization, potential applicants for the purchase of some assets of the enterprise are also mentioned. According to the authors of the Telegram channel “Case for kurai”, these are supposedly Russian Standard Group of Companies by Rustam Tariko and Alexander’s Beluga Group by Mechetin.
The task of Raif Abdrakhimov is to prepare “bashspirt“for sale?
There is no confirmation of this information. In addition, it is doubtful that Tariko, with all his debts, will decide to get into this story. However, they can really be sold part of the assets in order to leave purely production assets “bashspirtA”.
This can be done to reduce the price of the main enterprise, for which the future buyer will then be able to pay Khabirov’s team “in another way.” Apparently, Khabirov is tired of leading the region, so it’s time to look into the glass with “bashspirtom”, at the bottom of which “privatizers” are waiting for hundreds of millions of rubles.
