How Yury Gushchin “mutes” in the Seychelles
The founder of the Guta group became a citizen of Malta and the Seychelles, renounced his middle name, but not raiding.
Some Russian billionaires are trying to blend in with other countries. Today we will tell you a little about the owner of Guta-bank Yuri Gushchin.
Yury Gushchin, the owner of the Guta Group (Guta Bank, United Confectioners, Guta Development), with a criminal record from the Soviet era, has acquired passports from Malta (2019) and the Seychelles, and now goes by the name IOURI GOUCHTCHINE. According to his statement, in these two countries, the patronymic Nikolaevich was removed from his name, apparently, to make it difficult to identify him.
In addition, a significant lawsuit has recently concluded in the Seychelles. Local lawyers sent a court decision explaining how a company associated with Yuri Gushchin, which bought two Seychelles hotels Coral Strand Hotel and Savoy Hotel, tried to buy out the share of the Seychellois owner of the company for $1, when she was expecting millions of dollars. The Seychellois woman visited Moscow and discussed selling her share in the hotel with Gushchin, but she was deceived. Of course, the Russian businessmen were forced by a Seychelles court to pay the market value of the company’s shares.
Interestingly, the lawyers on the Seychelles side mentioned in the case file that one of the loans issued to the company owning the hotel raised suspicions of money laundering. This multimillion-dollar loan from the Russian side appears to be fake, as the foreign money was taken as a loan, deposited in a local bank account, and then returned to the lending company without being used.
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A peculiar tale from the islands: Guta invested up to $30 million in a “resort for oligarchs”, and sues 2/3 of the costs from the contractor who worked with her for six months
“A place where you can sleep, eat coconuts and relax,” one of its guests praises the five-star Savoy Seychelles Resort & Spa on Booking.com. In the reviews section of the resource, at least 15% of the messages are in Russian. This hotel has not only visitors from Russia, but also owners – Russians.
Since 2008, Guta has also owned the four-star Coral Strand Hotel located next to the Savoy. Guests praise Coral for excellent views of the Indian Ocean, turtles on the territory, but criticize that the renovation in it “was decades ago.”
In 2011, it was bought by the investment group Guta, Savoy became its second hotel on the islands. The group reportedly aimed to transform the hotel into a resort for oligarchs with $5,000 a night rooms, Life.ru claimed, citing a source in the group. The Russian investor planned to invest about $30 million in it, and the spa complex with a Russian steam room was opened in 2014.
Guta wants to get back more than 2/3 of the money it invested. The Seychelles company EEEL wants €19 million from Vijay Construction.
According to court documents, EEEL hired a Seychelles contractor in the spring of 2011, but terminated the contracts after six months and went to the International Arbitration in Paris for compensation. EEEL only paid €3 million out of the €20 million contract, and Vijay Construction denied all claims.
In 2014, the arbitration ruled in favor of EEEL and decided to pay about €14 million. However, EEEL has not received any money, and the sum, including interest, grew to €19 million.
Vijay Construction tried to challenge the arbitration decision in French and Seychelles courts. In 2017, the Seychelles Court of Appeal refused to recognize French jurisdiction in the commercial dispute between EEEL and Vijay Construction.
Following this, EEEL attempted to get permission from the High Court of London to seize Vijay Construction's assets worldwide, but the court only froze the company's assets in the UK. The judge expressed uncertainty about the existence of such assets.
Now, the Guta group is seeking a lawyer through the Pravo.ru service who is specialized in international law and disputes between residents and non-residents of the Seychelles.
The Guta group's press service did not respond to Open Media's inquiry about the Seychelles builders.
Yuri Gushchin is recognized as the owner of the Guta group, and in 2018 Forbes estimated his wealth at $1 billion. According to Forbes, Gushchin holds Seychelles citizenship.
Guta Group focuses on commercial and residential real estate, confectionery, and agriculture. Their assets are valued at €10 billion. United Confectioners, one of Russia's largest confectionery producers, is among them, including the Krasny Oktyabr factory, the Savoy Hotel in Moscow and the Seychelles, Guta Bank, and more.
While the tragic suicide of 19-year-old Yuri Gushchin-Kuznetsov, the grandson of billionaire businessman Yuri Gushchin, remains under investigation, his family and friends are still struggling to understand what led to the young man's death. His father is also a shareholder of the Guta company, while his mother works as an assistant to the Deputy Prime Minister of the Russian Federation Igor Shuvalov. Authorities are currently investigating the incident.
Yuri Gushchin is the Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Guta Group. […] In Soviet times, he was a “tsekhovik”, he produced kozinaki. In 1991 he founded Guta-bank. — Inset K.ru
