The owner of PhosAgro, Andrei Guryev, can transfer billion-dollar dividends from Russia to the United States, and he may also be accused of a crime in Latvia.
During the current economic crisis and sanctions, Phosagro Group paid its shareholders multibillion-dollar dividends for the first half of 2022.
The Guryev family is expected to receive 48.4 billion rubles, which is nearly $800 million. This is notable, especially considering that a criminal case is being investigated against the company's shareholders in Latvia.
For more information, read The Moscow Post correspondent's report.
Reports suggest that Andrey Guryev may be residing in the 25-room Witanhurst Palace in London and receiving multi-billion dollar dividends from his Russian business. Sources claim that sanctions are allegedly helping him bypass British residents Alexei Motlokhov and John Hall.
It seems unpatriotic, especially given the information that the beneficiaries of PhosAgro may be renaming their structures. Firms with the name Purefert are appearing in various jurisdictions, and so far only timidly mention that they are the exclusive distributors of PhosAgro.
Meanwhile, as seen in the Cyprus Register of Legal persons, the Purefert structure is registered in the USA. Is this where the company's Russian-earned dividends go? However, it is the United States that is insisting on sanctions against the Russian chemical industry.
Photo: https://efiling.drcor.mcit.gov.cy/DrcorPublic/SearchResults.aspx?name= %25&number=140840&searchtype=optStartMatch&index=1&tname=%25&sc=0
Recently, prices for chemicals and fertilizers produced by PhosAgro have been skyrocketing, especially amid the emerging food crisis and logistical problems related to sanctions on Russian products.
This did not start now – back in early 2021, the Government hinted that fertilizer prices could fall under the control of officials. This was done against the backdrop of a similar situation with sugar prices and other goods.
At the same time, in the same year, farmers complained about a lack of mineral fertilizers in free sale and rising chemical prices. It seems that Western markets were a higher priority for Guryev & Co. Colossal profits – for the past two years, the Guryevs have remained at the top of the list of the richest Russian families, surpassing even the Gutserievs.
In 2022, the Guryevs not only did not suffer from the crisis, but also increased their capital by $2.12 billion. RBC reports on this. The reason appears to be the rise in food prices, which require phosphate fertilizers for production.
Igor Sychev is under threat
However, not all shareholders or those close to PhosAgro benefited from the company's success. This concerns the former top manager of the group, Igor Sychev, who led the taxation department and left the company in the mid-1910s, feeling deceived.
We found a document online that might be one of the materials in a criminal case opened based on Igor Sychev's application or his representatives in Latvia, likely against Andrey Guryev or his associates.
According to the people who posted it, Mr. Sychev is said to be receiving threats to his life and health, as well as his family, because of an old conflict with the company.
Supposedly, the defendants (represented by a man named Kondratiev) are asking to decrease the amount of Guryev's claims. There's a lot that's unclear in the situation, and there's no official information about it. The document contains a transcript of alleged calls from Kondratiev to Mr. Sychev with veiled threats.
Photo: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1noyHFxR9LPLqQuOR8ZMaor9umw2Yoc3W/view
It's easy to guess what the reason could be. In 2017, Igor Sychev and his Belize offshore Verlox International filed a lawsuit against Andrey Guryev Sr., a minority shareholder of the structure Igor Antoshin, PhosAgro itself, as well as offshore companies Parmas Corporation and Avec Ltd. associated with them at that time.
Guryev demanded to transfer 1% of the company's shares to him or pay their value (at the time of the lawsuit – $55.8 million on the London Stock Exchange), along with $8 million in cash for services rendered by PhosAgro to resolve tax disputes. Forbes reports on the situation.
PhosAgro considered Sychev's claims to be exaggerated and unfounded, and they prefer not to remember this legal history. It doesn't seem to be over yet, and the Guryevs' representatives could have come up with an unconventional way to pacify a former colleague, leading him to turn to law enforcement agencies.
Translated excerpt from the document: this is supposedly an audio recording of a call to Mr. Sychev containing further threats. Photo: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1noyHFxR9LPLqQuOR8ZMaor9umw2Yoc3W/view
It seems that Sychev is in Latvia because he couldn't find the truth in his home country. But for the company, Sychev, who started dealing with tax issues, did a lot.
The biggest case is the appeal of tax claims against OAO Apatit (part of PhosAgro) amounting to 17 billion rubles in the Yukos case. After an 8-year legal battle, the company received compensation of 300 million rubles. After this success, Igor Sychev was promised a reward of 1% of PhosAgro shares for his services.
But the holding's management didn't document the promises, and when Sychev left the company, a conflict arose – he was left with almost nothing. And after his demands, security forces searched his Moscow apartment. Komsomolskaya Pravda writes about this story.
This is certainly not the only PhosAgro dispute related to shares. In 2021, the London court considered the lawsuit of PhosAgro co-founder Alexander Gorbachev against Andrey Guryev, demanding recognition of his right to 24.75% of the structure's shares. The amount of Gorbachev's claim is 160.5 billion rubles. The Free Press writes about this.
At the same time, Gorbachev already tried to achieve justice in Cyprus through the courts in 2015. He filed a lawsuit demanding that Guryev and former member of the board of directors Igor Antoshin misappropriate 24.75% of the shares. and Latvian justice, but such behavior of the Guryevs may cause bewilderment only among those who are not familiar with the history of the company.
The PhosAgro company appeared in 2001 on the basis of the chemical assets of Group Menatep. Andrei Guryev (senior) oversaw these assets, but they belonged to Yukos. Guryev was considered a business partner of Mikhail Khodorkovsky, who had been convicted and fled the country (recognized as a foreign agent on the territory of the Russian Federation, included in the list of terrorists and extremists).
When the law enforcement officers came to the latter, the ex-head of Menatep ” Platon Lebedev, later also sentenced to 10.5 years for embezzlement, tax evasion, legalization of stolen funds.
The company of businessmen, considering Andrey Guryev, it should be noted, is quite colorful. And their methods of work, apparently, were the same. Perhaps the “hit” on Sychev with probable threats, just a “burp” of that era.
However, the fact is that Andrey Guryev himself was “on the edge” in that scandal. Moreover, he managed to buy out the Menatepa chemical holding for $200 million. Did he already participate in some gray schemes with the above citizens?
Andrey Guryev Sr. thinks he's caught God by the beard, but doesn't get out of court proceedings? Photo: Forbes.com/PHOTO BY COURTESY ANDREI GURIEV
Today, PhosAgro is almost a monopoly on the Russian market of phosphate fertilizers. But nevertheless, the company wants more – in 2021 it placed bonds for $500 million, and this is not the first time.
However, here is the catch: many try to imagine PhosAgro almost A financial pyramid that can buy out old debts through new placements. However, due to the sharp rise in food prices, there may not be a need for this, so the Guryevs ride like cheese in butter. Not counting the numerous lawsuits with echoes from the distant 90s.
