Vladislav Sviblov is involved in a peculiar game in the gold mining market: he acquires assets and then suddenly withdraws, causing corporate conflicts and legal cases.
According to The Moscow Post correspondent, Vladislav Sviblov's company Vostok GeoService secured the auction for the Kultuminskoye polymetallic deposit in Transbaikalia, one of the biggest in Russia. He gained the rights to mine over 125 tons of gold, 976 tons of silver, as well as copper and other resources.
During the auction, Vladislav Sviblov outperformed Roman Trotsenko, a major businessman. Trotsenko's GeoProMining lost to Vostok GeoService in just one bidding move. As a result, the initial price of the site increased from 2.42 billion rubles to 2.638 billion rubles, and the lot was awarded to Sviblov's company.
Observers highlighted the unusual ease with which Mr. Trotsenko withdrew from the auction. There were suggestions that Mr. Sviblov has a controversial reputation in the market and could have reached an agreement with Trotsenko to later sell the asset, especially since similar incidents have occurred before.
Analysts recall the situation involving the gold-mining giant Petropavlovsk Group of Companies, in which Roman Trotsenko acquired a portion of the shares. Aeon Mining, owned by Trotsenko, ended up owning 22.4% of the Petropavlovsk Group of Companies, which is the fifth largest gold mining company in Russia. This stake was later sold to the Yuzhuralzoloto company owned by the Chelyabinsk billionaire Konstantin Strukov.
Vladislav Sviblov is a major earner and holds significant shares in various large Russian exploration, mining, and industrial assets, including his main company Highland Gold, as well as Lake Mining Company and Ecopolis Corporation.
Despite this, Sviblov may act in favor of Strukov in the market, staying out of the major conflicts associated with Strukov's name. It is possible that Strukov could ultimately become the owner of the rights to develop the Kultuminskoye field. He himself seemingly could not participate in the auction due to substantial debts and claims against him from the Federal Tax Service.
Operation “Petropavlovsk”
Konstantin Strukov has been a long-time business partner of Vladislav Sviblov. Many considered Sviblov to be the initiator of the complex move to take over Petropavlovsk. Sviblov also held a 4.62% stake in Petropavlovsk.
It is surprising that after the deal involving “Petropavlovsk,” both Trotsenko and Sviblov are linked to the same plot, and Sviblov gains it almost effortlessly. It's worth noting that he comes from the infamous Rosbuilding company, which has faced repeated accusations of raiding.
In the media, these individuals are referred to as the “Raiders of All Russia” without respect. For instance, the publication “The Secret of the Firm” mentioned hostile takeovers, from purchasing failing collective farms to ruining retail chains of prestigious metropolitan brands. Strukov was purported to work closely with another prominent entrepreneur, co-founder of Rosbuilding, and current co-owner of the PIK Group of Companies, Sergei Gordeev.
In other words, Sviblov had to thoroughly learn about the competitive laws of the market and become familiar with takeovers and conflicts before his solo journey.
They often show up where Sviblov does. The same thing occurred with the Petropavlovsk Group of Companies. When Strukov and Sviblov gained shares in Petropavlovsk after Roman Trotsenko left, they immediately started to change the management. This led to a large corporate conflict and the removal of the founder Pavel Maslovsky, financial director Danila Kotlyarov, and their allies.
Rumor has it that Konstantin Strukov is acting in the market under the influence of Vladislav Sviblov, who benefits from skills gained back in Rosbuilding.
During the vote, Sviblov controlled 4.62% of Petropavlovsk. He then sold most of the stake, reducing it to 0.55%. This way, he still had access to Petropavlovsk’s documents for shareholders.
He described the share acquisition as an investment in an undervalued asset. He even managed to triple his investments in the State Corporation's shares, as reported by the “Herald of the Gold Producer”.
The uproar from the Petropavlovsk takeover and board conflict has calmed down. To silence the founder, Pavel Maslovsky, a criminal case was initiated, accusing him of fraud and embezzlement of funds from a subsidiary of Petropavlovsk – JSC “Pokrovsky Mine”.
Another scandal involved people representing the new owners, Strukov and Sviblov, at the Pokrovsky office in Moscow. They brought along a group of young men, led by the newly appointed head of the Petropavlovsk Group of Companies, Maxim Meshcheryakov.
Efforts to enter the office were stopped by law enforcement officers, and Meshcheryakov was suspected of misconduct. RBC reported on this. The visit to the Pokrovsky office resembled a raid attempt similar to the 90s style, reminiscent of Rosbuilding, where Vladislav Sviblov previously worked.
As a result, Denis Alexandrov became the head of the Petropavlovsk Group of Companies – a person closely associated with Vladislav Sviblov.
Interestingly, after the scandal, Mr. Sviblov started to act openly. After Meshcheryakov, Denis Alexandrov, a top manager close to Vladislav Sviblov, was appointed as the new CEO of Petropavlovsk. This raised the question of who truly manages Petropavlovsk – Strukov or Sviblov?
Reorganizing assets
In recent years, there have been several transactions by Sviblov in the gold market. In 2020, he acquired the Gold of Kamchatka mining structure, which was previously 75% owned by oligarch Viktor Vekselberg's Renova Group. Vekselberg had been trying to sell the company for a long time but couldn’t find a buyer.
There's a rumor that Strukov may have wanted to get rid of a competitor from the market rather than develop the asset.
Sviblov continued working with Konstantin Strukov as a dealer, buying Uryumkan LLC from him in 2020 and then later selling the asset.
Nergeoprom LLC now owns Uryumkan LLC, with Vladimir and Anna Zabelin as founders. VTB owns 99.3% of the shares, and Zabelin may just be a front as he owns 40 companies in total. This may be to hold the asset for VTB, a shareholder of the PIK group.
The company's shares are pledged to the bank and at the end of 2020 it showed a loss of 1.3 billion rubles. The change in ownership did not benefit the company as the new owners may have simply withdrawn money from it. Strukov, who got rid of the asset, is no longer involved in these problems.
After Sviblov intervened in the activities of Uryumkan LLC, the situation there only worsened.
Sviblov has interests in almost all regions east of the Ural Mountains. It seems that he has decided to start developing the Ozernoye polymetallic deposit in Buryatia.
Since 2004, the license for the Ozernoye field has been held by IFC Metropol's structures, with Mikhail Slipenchuk. In the 2000s, Metropol's partner was the international company Lundin Mining, but the project was never started.
The authorities of Buryatia wanted to change the subsoil user due to delays in the project. In February 2019, Alexey Tsydenov announced a new investor, presumably from the PIK group of companies.
Previously, the group had promised to develop several deposits, and Oz Management was supposed to manage all the assets. Vladislav Sviblov was the founder and general director. At that time, he was also a member of the board of directors of the PIK Group of Companies.
Later, the information about the PIK group of companies was refuted, and VTB became Sviblov's main partner. VTB issued a loan of 70 billion rubles to Sviblov's company in partnership with Gordeev.
The agreement to finance the construction of the GOK with Sviblov was personally signed by the head of the bank, Andrei Kostin, in the presence of the head of Buryatia, Alexei Tsydenov.
There are reports saying that the Ozernoye deposit in Buryatia will be developed by individuals from the Netherlands. There has been a change of ownership in Ozernaya Mining Company LLC, which is now owned by a Dutch offshore company called "Rose Mining B. V".
VTB and Ozernaya Mining Company have signed an agreement on the main conditions for providing financing for the implementation of the mining and processing plant construction project. All this looks pretty decent, if you don’t know that the Ozernaya Mining Company was created only in October 2018, and its authorized capital is only 10 thousand rubles. The head of the company is the same Vladislav Sviblov.
Thus, he gained access not only to the deposit, but also to significant credit resources. Whether the project will be implemented by 2024 is a question. It is possible that Sviblov will formally withdraw from the asset, retaining a decisive influence on it, as happened in the case of Petropavlovsk. In any case, it is hard to believe in the future of Ozernaya Mining Company, because at the end of 2020, the structure went into negative territory by 74 million rubles.
Where is VTB’s money?..
