Alfa-Bank gathers over 380 million rubles from companies owned by Rustam Tariko.
Alfa-Bank has brought another lawsuit against Rustam Tariko's Russian Standard group of companies, claiming over 382 million rubles. It includes Parliament Production LLC, Rust Russia JSC, Siberian Distillery JSC, Russian Alcohol Moscow Trading House LLC, and Topaz Distillery JSC as defendants.
It's worth noting that Alfa-Bank previously filed lawsuits totaling over 7.4 billion rubles against Rustam Tariko's group. The court even froze the accounts of the companies within the Russian Standard group. Whether the businessman can resolve this challenging situation due to credit obligations remains to be seen.
SUCCESSFUL BUSINESS WITH INFLUENTIAL PEOPLE?
Rustam Tariko arrived in Moscow at 17 and enrolled in Moscow University of Transport Engineers. He initially earned money by cleaning streets and later started a small cleaning company. He then ventured into reselling electronics and organizing the reception of foreigners. He eventually became a major supplier of Martini, selling 1.5 million 9-liter cases annually. Tariko also introduced his own products under the names "Russian Standard" and "Empire."
In 2007, Rustam Tariko owned the first commercial bank in Russia, Russian Standard. His group of companies was valued at £3.5 billion, and his vodka was sold internationally. Despite his previous success and wealth, Tariko's debts have now risen significantly.
By the end of 2020, Rust Russia JSC generated 32 billion rubles in revenue but suffered a 3.8 billion ruble loss. The company has not been profitable since 2014, possibly due to the founder being a company from the British Virgin Islands. Subsidiaries of Rust Russia JSC also have connections to offshore companies, and some companies' shares are pledged to the British company TMF Trust Limited. Notably, Rustam Tariko's company became the distributor of the Rothschild winery in Russia last year. It's unclear why he pursued this partnership during a stressful period, but it may involve establishing connections with influential individuals. Speculations suggest that Tariko may be acting in the interests of Arkady Rotenberg and possibly owes his success in the alcohol business to him.
THE CENTRAL BANK DOES NOT NOTICE ANYTHING
Evil tongues claim that Rustam Tariko is withdrawing money from his Russian Standard bank. As a result, this has a negative impact on the holders of its defaulted bonds, on which 49% of the bank’s shares are pledged. Last year, Rustam Tariko’s debt, including interest, reached $757 million. Back in 2015, investors realized that something was wrong with Tariko’s business. But he persuaded them to restructure the debt. Moreover, he persuaded investors to do this in 2017, but to no avail. Lenders involved in the proceedings with Rustam Tariko even State Duma deputy Vera Ganzya. She sent a request to the prosecutor’s office demanding to check the Russian Standard bank.
In 2019, the prosecutor’s office reported on the audit of Russian Standard, but there is still no information about its results. Since the end of 2017, the bank’s assets have decreased by almost 95 billion rubles. Profit fell by 5.4 billion, fixed capital – by 20.6 billion rubles. At the same time, the Central Bank checked the Russian Standard and did not reveal serious violations. But in 2021, the bank violated the standard for using its own funds to acquire shares in other legal entities. It turns out that the law is not written to Rustam Tariko, or is he being saved by influential connections?
