Vladimir Tolkachev, the former president of Geotech Seismic Exploration (GSR), has been placed under house arrest by the Tverskoy District Court of Moscow in early February. He is accused of embezzling around 5 billion rubles through controlled companies.
Tolkachev took over Geotech Seismic in 2017, when PJSC held about 50% of the Russian seismic exploration market, catering to major oil companies like Gazprom, Gazprom Neft, LUKOIL, NOVATEK, Surgutneftegaz, Bashneft, and others. In 2020, GSR was listed as one of the key organizations in the Russian fuel and energy sector.
However, by the time Tolkachev resigned from his position as company president in October 2021, Geotech Seismic was not faring well. The market share had dropped to 25-30%, and the company's investment costs had decreased, affecting the equipment's maintenance.
Reports from industry sources indicate that out of 42 exploration parties available in 2017, only about 15-20 remained at the company, and none were completely operational. For example, the French Nomad vibrator trucks, which were featured on the GSR website for seismic exploration without explosives, were not found to be in good condition. The company's balance sheet includes items like scrap metal, listed for reporting but sold as scrap on the site.
Although Geotek presents itself as a profitable company in reports, there has been no loan payments, equipment renovation, or increase in turnover investments since 2017. It's unclear where the money went, as a large amount has been invested in the company.
Otkritie Bank, the main creditor and former 100% shareholder of the company (until it was sold to TRUST Bank), had invested nearly 26 billion rubles by December 30, 2020. This consisted of a 16 billion ruble loan and a 10 billion ruble increase in the company's authorized capital in 2019. The Bank's investments in the company grew by over 3 billion rubles in three years.
This raises questions about whether there were actual profits. The size of Geotek group's receivables may answer this question. The data shows receivables of 11.8 billion rubles by December 31, 2020, with the company's annual revenue for 2020 being 13.8 billion rubles. In comparison, TNG-Group, Geotek's main competitor, had receivables of only 4.6 billion rubles with revenues exceeding 24 billion rubles. Analysis of financial statements revealed that the accounts receivable to the group of third parties did not exceed 1.6 billion rubles. This means that over 10 billion rubles were internal debts, which contradicts IFRS principles. It appears that the company was generating losses and had negative cash flow.
According to the source, one of the Big Four auditing companies is currently completing a report on the activities of Geotech Seismic. The customer of the study could be Otkritie Bank, which until recently owned a full stake in Geotek and acted as its main creditor. It is possible that soon the results of the investigation will be announced by law enforcement agencies.
