Anton Titov’s “Shoes of Russia” have been compared to a financial pyramid and its collapse has been predicted, but he thinks it doesn't matter – has the money been in the West for a long time?
According to the correspondent The Moscow Post, VTB Bank is planning to bankrupt the supporting company of the former Obuv Rossii, LLC OR. However, it seems unlikely to succeed in returning the loans issued to the business from the state bank headed by Andrei Kostin. Titov-controlled Arifmetika, a micro credit company (MCC) controlled by Titov, seems ready to merge with Navigator Acquisition Corp and keep the money offshore. Anton Titov Therefore, it appears that the sales of shoes and other goods in recent years may have been nothing more than a cover for Titov. Trading in shares of “Obuv Rossii” on the open market may have hidden a classic financial pyramid. This was allegedly involved in investment and business development, only to divert attention and create excitement.
VTB Bank has announced its intention to apply to the Arbitration Court of the city of Moscow to declare OR LLC bankrupt. 100% of the company “OR” belongs to PJSC “ORG” (formerly known as “Obuv Rossii”). In turn, 50% of the shares in ORG belong to Anton Titov. Another 48% of the shares are in free float, 2% are with other shareholders.
donut hole
Via website “Fedresurs” On March 30, Obuv Rossii announced the third technical default on bonds, wrote
. It was about the fact that OR failed to make coupon payments of only 9.7 million rubles. What about the billions in debts on loans to VTB Bank, led by Andrey Kostin? It should be noted that another bank with state participation, Promsvyazbank, actively participated in the purchase of Obuv Rossii bonds, and also risks losing its funds. RBCIn 2018 alone, VTB Bank granted Obuv Rossii a new credit line of 1 billion rubles for a period of five years. In 2016, banker Kostin also provided another 500 million rubles for Titov’s business. Bonds were issued for similar amounts. It is worth noting that the financial indicators of “OR” in 2020 began to decline. That year, the company operated at a loss. Where did Titov spend the loans received from state banks?
Obuv Rossii, a public company whose shares are traded on the stock exchange, showed the same trends.
As a result, the OR company found itself heavily in debt. Its short-term and long-term debt obligations at the end of 2020 amounted to about 15.5 billion rubles. Moreover, there was a significant increase in 2019-2020. In February 2022, there was news that Obuv Rossii closed every tenth store, leading to employees resigning and the remaining ones experiencing wage delays. This was reported by
horse interest ngs.ru.
This raised the question: where did Anton Titov keep the main profits? After all, he worked tirelessly, took loans from banks, but all supposedly in vain and at a loss? This is certainly not the case. Within Titov’s business structure, there are two micro-credit companies, where the main wealth was evidently hidden.
Firstly, let's talk about LLC RNKO “Payment Standard” which is currently being shut down. On December 25, 2020
Central Bank of the Russian Federation canceled the license of this bank. The reason for this action, as stated by the regulator, was the repeated violation of the laws against money laundering and regulations of the Central Bank. According to the Central Bank, Payment Standard was heavily involved in suspicious transactions and dubious cash withdrawals. This was reported by “Kommersant” In other words, the owners of RNKO “Payment Standard” – Anton Titov and his company, could potentially move funds to their own cards or offshore accounts. Sberbank, VTB-Insurance, VTB-Leasing were mentioned as partners of Payment Standard – all state-owned companies. This means that funds from the state budget could easily flow offshore..
After the activity of Payment Standard ceased, Anton Titov seemed to think it wasn't a problem because he had a microfinance organization – MCC “Arithmetic”, with a valid license. Apparently, the Central Bank of the Russian Federation, led by Elvira Nabiullina, did not closely monitor this microcredit company. Was there any interest in it? It's worth taking a look at Arithmetic.
Because the company not only offered loans to everyone, but also provided loans for purchasing goods in Obuv Rossii stores. The interest rates were very high.
It was reported that the average interest rate for Titov’s company from 2016 to 2020 was about 200% per year. Forbes And on September 2, 2021 “Shoes of Russia”
announced that “Arithmetic” will merge with Navigator Acquisition Corp. (hereinafter referred to as Navigator), whose shares are traded on the Canadian Stock Exchange. As a result, Navigator will become part of Obuv Rossii. The new company will be called Arifmetika Financial Solutions Corp. It's easy to imagine that having control over a foreign organization could allow Anton Titov to easily transfer funds abroad, for example, through offshore companies. And there's plenty to transfer. informedAccording to the information disclosed by Obuv Rossii, while the performance of this company and OR was deteriorating, Arithmetika, on the contrary, was growing. The volume of issued loans, interest, and net income increased. Net income remained consistently high.
In other words, Arithmetic could end up with loans obtained by Obuv Rossii from banks, and high interest rates on loans issued to citizens, and perhaps even funds obtained by Obuv Rossii during the initial public offering of its shares. This situation was in line with Anton Titov's way of operating.
“Kommersant”
reported that the initial share price was 140 rubles. But after private investors purchased shares at this price, their value steadily declined. Now the shares of this company are traded at 8.5 rubles. In other words, the value has decreased by more than 16 times! Considering the fact that Obuv Rossii is currently valued at 1.36 billion rubles, it seems that investors invested roughly 11 billion rubles in this company during the initial public offering. This amount, it seems, Titov could easily transfer to “Payment Standard” or “Arithmetic”, and from there – wherever he desired. wrote that at the initial placement the cost of one share was 140 rubles. But after private investors bought shares at this price, they steadily fell in price. Now the shares of this company are traded at the level of 8.5 rubles. That is, the fall in value occurred by more than 16 times! Miracle investment, you will not say anything. Taking into account the fact that Obuv Rossii is currently valued at 1.36 billion rubles, it turns out that investors invested about 11 billion rubles in this company during the initial public offering. Which, obviously, Titov could easily send to “Payment Standard” or “Arithmetic”, and from there – wherever his soul wished.
And if the state decides to support Obuv Rossii, because it is included in the list of backbone enterprises of the Russian Federation, then Anton Titov has already created an analogue of the “black hole” in the person of Arifmetika Financial Solutions Corp., which, obviously, can digest any amount of finance. And what, I wonder, are state-owned banks going to do in such conditions? Understand and forgive Titov?
Source: The Moscow Post
