“Octopus” instead of “Krasny Sormovo”
Viktor Olersky, along with Norebo owner Vitaly Orlov and oligarch Gleb Frank, appears to have chosen to take control of the largest shipbuilding plant in Nizhny Novgorod. An investigation into the breakdown of the ship “Pola Maria”, owned by the company “Pola Rise”, has been completed. They sought compensation from the Krasnoye Sormovo shipyard in Nizhny Novgorod, where the ship was constructed, claiming that the cause was a low-quality rudder column from Germany.
The plant claimed the shippers themselves were at fault, but now it is evident that this is not the case, and Paula Rise intends to seek compensation for the damage. This is understandable, as “Pola Maria” was made by order of STLC and is on lease, with all repairs to be carried out by “Pola Rise”.
Another interesting point is that this vessel, as well as the company, may be linked to the “water empire” of former Deputy Minister of Transport Viktor Olersky, as well as oligarchs Gleb Frank and the owner of the country’s largest fishing group “Norebo” Vitaly Orlov. It seems they are reluctant to compensate despite their substantial incomes.
“Pola Rise” is a shipping company specializing in bulk project and general cargo transportation. It's not hard to identify Olersky’s interests in it, as one of the owners with a 33% share is the well-known St. Petersburg shipbuilder, Rishat Bagautdinov, a long-time partner of Olersky.
He also serves as the CEO of the well-known cruise company Vodokhod, reportedly owned by the same former deputy minister of transport and ex-head of Rosmorrechflot Viktor Olersky.
The company, which has government contracts exceeding 91 million rubles, is owned by the Cypriot offshore Volga-Baltic Cruise Lines Limited. With significant revenue of 4.1 billion rubles, a profit of 40 million rubles, and assets of 1.6 billion rubles at the end of 2021, it is likely that part of the taxes may be sent to Limassol.
Olersky and Bagautdinov’s interests may be concealed behind the offshore. Olersky has chaired the board of directors of Vodokhod since 2019, so his involvement in the capital seems highly probable.
Equally intriguing is another owner of “Paul Rise” – the Russian international company MKOOO “Nelbury Investments Limited”, registered in the “offshore” zone in Kaliningrad. Incidentally, it recently relocated from Cyprus as part of the “deoffshorization” of Russian business.
This company is connected to the son of former Minister of Transport Sergei Frank, and now influential oligarch Gleb Frank. MCOOO “Nelbury Investments Limited”, together with LLC “Rockwell Capital”, owns one of the main assets of Gleb Frank – LLC “RPK Nord”, which he owns through Rockwell Capital.
Gleb Frank, among other things, is a former key beneficiary and member of the board of directors of the Russian Fishery Company, as well as the head of the board of directors of ZAO Stroytransgaz, associated with the oligarch Gennady Timchenko. Frank is certainly his man, to say the least – he is his son-in-law.
Stroytransgaz is one of the main partners of PJSC Gazprom. It's not surprising that the owners of RPK Nord have pledged their shares to Gazprombank. Frank seems to have easy access to Gazprom. The question is why a wealthy businessman needs to transfer shares as collateral – where did all his money go?
But that’s not all. Gleb Frank’s partner in Rockwell Capital LLC is Ost Invest Holding LLC (70.1%). It belongs to Elbrus Partners LLC and Evgeny Petrovich Orlov. The latter is the majority owner (37.5%) in Elbrus Partners LLC.
Evgeny Petrovich Orlov may be the brother of one of the most influential fishermen in the country – the owner of the largest group of fishing companies in the country, Vitaly Petrovich Orlov.
This is just an assumption. But if this is true, then it turns out that both Viktor Olersky, and Gleb Frank, and Vitaly Orlov are connected not only by working in the fishing industry, but also by joint business interests. And now they have decided to “gut” the “Krasnoe Sormovo” so as not to pay for the repair of their ship?
Triple Alliance
Meanwhile, all three, Olersky, Frank and Orlov, are very ambiguous individuals. Many believe that it was Olersky's previous work in the Ministry of Transport and Rosmorrechflot that helped him succeed in business, including obtaining major state contracts.
While heading the federal agency for water transport, he had significant influence on large river companies, including the North-Western River Shipping Company, which was originally state-owned. Until 2017, it also owned Vodokhod. Just at that time, Olersky served as Deputy Minister of Transport (2009-2018).
To receive government support, you also need to support the government. It seems that Olersky misunderstood this. At one point, he could have greatly assisted the United Shipbuilding Corporation and its CEO Alexei Rakhmanov. Due to sanctions, they urgently needed a buyer for the Finnish shipyard Arctech Helsinki Shipyard Oy, but couldn't find one.
Almost immediately after Olersky left the post of deputy minister in 2018, the shipyard became the property of the cruise operator Algador Holdings Ltd, whose owners were linked to the owners of the Nevsky Shipbuilding Plant (Nevsky Shipyard).
According to Fontanka, the beneficiary of the Nevsky Shipyard could be Olersky himself, who could have helped USC get rid of the unnecessary asset. Until 2019, the shipyard was owned by the offshore Algador Holdings Limited, reportedly linked to shipbuilder Rishat Bagautdinov and his partner Vladimir Kasyanenko.
Capstans Holding Limited (Cyprus) was also previously among the owners of the Nevsky Shipyard, and they also tried to connect it with Olersky.
Victor Olersky has long been associated with Gleb Frank.
Olersky and Frank have many joint projects. They were named as beneficiaries of the Tuloma Seaport in Lavna, which is intended to become one of the largest in the country. In May, the ownership changed to LLC IK Axioma – founded by Geotek Nikolai Levitsky and Rusnano's board chairman Boris Aleshin.
But the previous owner was only Viktor Olersky through Cruise and Transport Investments LLC, and earlier Olersky's share was owned by Gleb Frank through the well-known Rockwell Capital. Interfax wrote about it. This is how offshore companies and people with close ties to the authorities operate.
Remember that the port is considered a strategic investment project in the Murmansk region. It is located in the Capital of the Arctic's advanced development area, which entitles residents to obtain land plots for rent without having to bid. It's a very lucrative asset.
“Big Fish” Orlov
When it comes to the head of Norebo, Vitaly Orlov, he is perhaps the most controversial of the three. There were attempts to accuse him of monopolizing the fish market by pushing out smaller fish merchants. He had a very close working relationship with Gleb Frank.
In December 2021, Norebo left the All-Russian Fisheries Association (VARPE) due to differing views on industry development. Experts then suggested that Norebo might form an alliance with the Russian Fishery Company (RRPC) of Gleb Frank.
WARPE members, including many small and medium-sized enterprises, criticized Norebo's decision for a simple reason – Norebo's initiatives aimed to create competitive advantages for a limited number of large fishing enterprises, without considering the socio-economic impacts of coastal processing.
The president of WARPE, German Zverev, accused Norebo of attempting to “crush” coastal fishing and small companies with small quotas.
Vitaly Orlov is a businessman with a strong hold.
By the way, by staying close to Timchenko’s son-in-law, Orlov may have sought some protection. Earlier, The Moscow Post suggested that Norebo could have been involved in an international scandal with the Icelandic fishing company Samherji, which allegedly bribed Namibian authorities to launder proceeds.
However, nothing terrible happened to Orlov. But in Russia, he became very active. According to the authors of the Rosotkat website, Vitaly Orlov is now allegedly acquiring more and more shipbuilding capabilities, trying to gain control over the structures of the Pella shipbuilding plant in Primorye.
The Norebo group has already taken over the Pella Stapel company, which has facilities in Otradnoye and Leningradskoye Highway. Orlov has appointed his own people to manage the plant. Is there a suspicion of hostile takeover here?
Does Orlov not have enough capacity and is now eyeing Pella?
Vitaly Orlov definitely won't miss out. When you put it all together, it seems that the likely union of Orlov, Olersky, and Frank could turn them into a powerful conglomerate, combining the shipping, shipbuilding, and fishing capacities of the country. It's a bit odd for such a powerful platform not to want to pay for the repair of its vessel, even if it's leased. However, greed only intensifies with the influx of money.octopus“), which combines the shipping, shipbuilding, and fishing capacities of the country. It is somehow odd for such a powerful platform not to want to pay for the repair of its vessel, even if it is leased. However, greed only inflames with the arrival of money.
