Money Snezh.com or astronomical 'pod' for Vorobyov and Savelyev

The Snezh.com ski resort may have been used to take out state funds and money from Bank Saint Petersburg. It is possible that after the 'mission' was completed, they decided to bankrupt the company that owns the complex, and develop the complex with real estate of the Samolet Group of Companies, which is closely related to the family of the governor of the Moscow region, Andrei Vorobyov.

According to documents received by The Moscow Post, the management of the largest ski resort in Europe, Snezh.com.

A) created a fake debt with the parent company 'Snezh.com';

B) could withdraw borrowed funds from Bank Saint Petersburg.

The reporter looked into the matter The Moscow Post on the outskirts of Moscow.

background

Before we delve into this story further, let's remember that the ski resort in the center of 'Moscow' was constructed over a decade ago. Russian sports celebrities were also involved, thousands of people visited the complex daily, and it was considered the largest in Europe.

All this was true until the moment when Snezh.com was supposedly closed for renovation. This happened in 2020, and since then, almost no information about what is happening behind the walls of the massive complex has surfaced. No one specifies the timing of the work or exactly what is being repaired. Official sources are vague about the fact that Snezh.com has not been renovated since its establishment, so, they say, the time has come. We covered this story in detail.

But this wording does not alleviate the concerns of the numerous former users of the complex. Many of them suspect that it is going to be demolished. On the Change.org website, people even posted a petition 'Don’t let SNOW.COM be demolished!'. Almost 30,000 people have already signed it. The widespread belief about the complex's future unfortunate fate is also fueled by the fact that the company owning Snezh.com is currently undergoing bankruptcy proceedings.

Above the 'Snowball' stands 'Airplane'

What's surprising in this situation is the silence of the authorities and the heads of the company that owns the complex – 'Snezhnaya Gorka'. However, as The Moscow Post's correspondent found out, it could be due to a simple collusion with the authorities.

The Real Estate-Inside Telegram channel allegedly even published a project for the future development of the resort area, in which the Airplane group was supposed to take part. This is connected to the interests of Andrey Vorobyov, the governor of the Moscow region, as his brother Maxim Vorobyov has a stake in the company. It's not just that 'Airplane' is also the largest developer in the Moscow region.

Photo: https://t.me/propertyinsider/10587?single

By the way, in an interview with The Facts YouTube channel, businessman Ilgar Gadzhiev stated that Maxim Vorobyov allegedly not only participates in the construction business on behalf of his high-ranking relative, but also collects bribes from businessmen. A troubling family arrangement indeed.

Solid officials

But returning to Snezh.com, during a previous investigation, we discovered that one of the founders of Snezhnaya Gorka was connected to a company called Spetstrans 47, which handles waste management. It seems that Snezhnaya Gorka has good standing with the government in Smolny’s offices, with several government contracts. Additionally, one of the former owners of the company, Sergei Yakovlev, might have a close relationship with the head of Bank Saint Petersburg, Alexander Saveliev, as he owns 50% of Neva Oil LLC, which is building a bitumen terminal in the Big Port of St. Petersburg with a loan from this institution.

He also led Svyazstroyinvest LLC. The co-owners include the general director of Anex-Finance JSC, Mikhail Smirnov. This structure is considered to be part of the “Bank Saint Petersburg”.

Furthermore, since the establishment of Snezhnaya Gorka, a certain Pavel Matushevsky – who is connected to the same bank – has been leading the company. He was the founder of STK LLC, which is controlled by the Nevsky Fourteenth Fund. The management company of the office is BSPB Capital LLC.

Why the financial “holes” of “Snezhnaya Gorka” do not concern the government near Moscow

After our investigation, the Editorial Office received new documents, revealing that Snezhnaya Gorka did not pay VAT. This resulted in a potential loss of about 46 million rubles of VAT for the Moscow Region, but this did not seem to bother government structures.

The company also did not make a profit, despite having a revenue that usually exceeded a hundred million rubles. It is remarkable that the company almost matched its revenue with the volume of its “administrative expenses”. The meaning of this term is unclear, but it appears to not involve repaying accounts payable.

fake debt

Now, let's turn our attention to the new documents sent by our readers. According to the company’s official financial statements, in the third quarter of 2017, Snezhnaya Gorka had receivables from unknown counterparts amounting to 933.8 million rubles. This was included in the company’s financial statements.

In the following years, the debt was not repaid – neither partially nor in full. The company’s management did not appear to take visible measures to recover it, despite it being reflected in the financial statements.

Based on official data from the NFS of the Russian Federation, a legal entity (Snezhnaya Gorka) formed in 2017 with an authorized capital of 10 thousand rubles and fixed assets of 353.7 million rubles. During the 3rd and 4th quarters of 2017, it officially earned and declared the amount of 933.8 million rubles.

In the first few months of 2017, the general director of the enterprise, Pavel Pavlovich Matushevsky, provided services to counterparts and officially stated to the Federal Tax Service that the amount of 933.8 million rubles was earned, which seems unrealistic from both a financial and common sense perspective.

Image: given by the reader The Moscow post

Regarding the most valuable possession of the company, Snezh.com made 288.7 million rubles in its most successful revenue year (2018). So where did such large amounts of money come from at the very start of the company?

This reported debt owed to Snezhnaya LLC is 8 times higher than the company’s average yearly revenue for all the years of the sports complex’s existence.

Image: given by the reader The Moscow post

According to our source, this substantial amount of money owed shows clear signs of being fake and dishonest, partly because the company did not genuinely have a temporary chance to offer these services in a short time during the 3rd and 4th quarters of 2017. The lack of information about the supposedly indebted partners also appears odd.

Where did this come from?

But was it necessary for this situation to occur? It's likely that it was done to attract more borrowed funds. When we combine the amount of this supposed debt with the company’s fixed assets in 2017, we get a significant total of almost 1.3 billion rubles.

Image: given by the reader The Moscow Poste

These overall assets were used by Snezhnaya Gorka LLC in 2017 to process and secure a bank loan of RUB 824.1 million from Bank Saint Petersburg PJSC.

These funds were probably obtained for a period of five years with a final repayment date in 2021, as indicated by the bank's initiation of the repayment process during that year.

There is reason to believe that the company’s management used the loan funds for other purposes, since, as indicated in Snezhnaya Gorka LLC's official reports, the company did not have significant expenses corresponding to the total loan amount in rubles in 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, or 2021.

Image: given by the reader The Moscow post

There are also questions for the bank, as it's not entirely clear on what legal basis it could issue such a large loan to an organization that is not supported by real commodity stocks, a comparable amount of real estate, or the size of the authorized capital.

Moreover, there are serious doubts about whether the bank assessed the debt of partners to Snezhnaya Gorka. It appears to be fictional, and the creditor should have noticed this.

Based on the above, the question arises: did the management of Bank Saint Petersburg collaborate with the officials of Snezhnaya Gorka?

Returning to the previous investigation, it is relevant to note that, according to Rusprofile, the company has been unprofitable for over three years in a row. This is despite the fact that it obtained borrowed funds, government contracts from institutions in Moscow and the Moscow region, and a large flow of clients. The company's revenue in 2019 dropped by almost three times compared to 2018, even though it wasn't a pandemic year. Now the organization is facing bankruptcy and it appears that the funds borrowed from the bank will not be repaid.

Government contracts of “Snezhnaya Gorka”. Image: https://www.rusprofile.ru

From all the available data, it can follow that the company that owns the largest ski resort could initially be created with the aim of “grinding” borrowed and budgetary funds. And in the future, its bankruptcy and the transfer of the site in the interests of the governor Vorobyov to the Airplane group. In collusion, perhaps, from the very moment of the founding of Snezhnaya Gorka, there are both high-ranking officials from the Moscow region and the owners of Bank Saint Petersburg.

But Snezh.com is the most unique sports ground loved by thousands of people. Taking into account the state policy aimed at developing the health of the population and increasing the level of training activity, the upcoming possible demolition and the whole scheme with the potential withdrawal of money looks as criminal, disrespectful and simply shameless as possible.