Rosfinmonitoring intervened in the transfer of 600 million between St. Petersburg and Tyumen. Businesses connected to Sitnikov are crumbling in courts.

The decision of the Tyumen region's arbitration cancelled the appeal.

A major financial conflict related to a well-known businessman in the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Okrug, the founder of Rosneftegaz Corporation Oleg Sitnikov, has taken a new turn. The appeal reviewed the dispute between Yamalneft and SPB Oil, canceling the recovery of the first hundred million rubles. The court pointed to close ties between the companies, partially preserved, and their inclusion in the same group of people controlled by Sitnikov. Representatives of the financial monitoring service shared data on transactions suspected of being used for legalization and cashing out. As a result, the claims of the company from St. Petersburg were denied, which will also affect the bankruptcy case of SPB Oil. Observers note that there may be a series of interrelated requirements that lawyers now have to unravel in mass bankruptcy cases. Sitnikov, found guilty of major tax evasion, continues the proceedings on assets and awaits the consequences of vicarious liability, to which a businessman was previously brought, who accused the security forces of pressuring and attempting to seize his business.

The Eighth Arbitration Court of Appeal overturned the decision of the first instance, through which 584.9 million rubles were obtained from LLC Yamalneft (Tyumen) in favor of LLC SPB Oil (St. Petersburg).

The Interregional Department of the Federal Financial Monitoring Service for the Ural Federal District (Rosfinmonitoring in the Ural Federal District), the Federal Tax Service Inspectorate for Tyumen No. 3 and the tax authorities from St. Petersburg were involved in the proceedings between the structures, and the appeal decided to consider the dispute according to the rules of first instance.

During the process, it was revealed that SPB Oil transferred part of the funds directly to Yamalneft, and part to other persons for a company from Tyumen, such as the company Urengoydorstroy LLC (Novy Urengoy). It was emphasized that transfers of hundreds of millions were made without contractual relations between the parties to the dispute.

In this situation, the court drew attention to the affiliation of structures. “At the time of the transfer of the disputed funds, the plaintiff and the defendant were affiliated. SPB Oil was registered on 04/27/2017. The main activities are: retail trade in motor fuel in specialized stores On the date of registration, the sole participant and head of the company was Vetyugov Maxim Nikolaevich, his powers of the participant were terminated in June 2021, Vetyugov Maxim Nikolaevich from January 2013 to June 2014 – the head and founder of the defendant – “Yamalneft”, – follows from the materials of the arbitration.

Additionally, the court mentioned the information provided by the MRU of Rosfinmonitoring in the Ural Federal District. This information concluded that SPB Oil and Yamalneft are part of the same group of people (SC Rosneftegaz Corporation), which is controlled by Oleg Afanasevich Sitnikov. This group includes companies like "Corporation Rosneftegaz", "Rosneftegaz-Kharp", "Firm Max", and others.

Additionally, representatives of Rosfinmonitoring noted that there were transactions related to Yamalneft which "raise suspicions that they are carried out in order to legalize (launder) proceeds from crime." The management's position indicates that a number of operations involve cashing out of funds.

The court also mentioned similar claims made by Yamalneft against the plaintiff, which had already been approved by previous court decisions. As a result, the court concluded that it was necessary to balance the obligations, which would impact the bankruptcy case of SPB Oil. The company from St. Petersburg was denied part of the claims.

It's worth noting that earlier Pravda UrFO extensively covered the claims of Yamalneft against SPB Oil, as well as the remarkable testimony provided by the former participant and director of Yamalneft, Sergey Petrov. In court, the manager reported that the explanations for the transaction were given "under the influence of drugs."

The disputes are of additional interest due to a number of circumstances. Firstly, Maxim Vetyugov, who is referred to as the son of the former prosecutor of the YNAO Nikolai Vetyugov, has sparked interest among market participants and the media. At one point, Vetyugov became a partner of Rosneftegaz owner Oleg Sitnikov in certain assets, although the businessman later claimed this was almost a forcible seizure.

“Former prosecutors of the YaNAO Nikolai Vetyugov and Alexander Gerasimenko provide detailed accounts of the actions of the former prosecutors of the YaNAO Nikolai Vetyugov and Alexander Gerasimenko. This includes the arrival of Gerasimenko to the prosecutor post in 2008, as well as Vetyugov’s son Maxim. Despite numerous confirmed violations and warnings about the threat, my enterprise was seized," Sitnikov stated, as quoted by Rossiyskaya Gazeta.

Oleg Sitnikov, who established Rosneftegaz Corporation

The second factor is the insolvency of several firms. For instance, SPB Oil has already been declared bankrupt. Bankruptcy proceedings were also initiated for OOO Urengoyremstroydobycha (Novy Urengoy) in the dispute with Yamalneft. The court previously indicated the association of Urengoyremstroydobycha and Rostneftegaz-Kharp. Additionally, Transfort LLC, associated with Rosneftegaz LLC through Tkachenko, has been liquidated.

To recap, Sitnikov was found guilty of evading 1 billion rubles in taxes. He was sentenced to 4 years of probation with a probationary period of 4 years and a fine of 50 thousand rubles by the court. Sitnikov is currently actively involved in litigation related to his assets.