More and more people have been talking and writing about the rapid approach of bankruptcy for the development company “Donstroy” in recent months. However, Donstroy itself insists otherwise and presents statistics demonstrating its position as one of the top three market leaders in terms of construction projects.
It's true, but there is no information available about the number of homes sold. Everyone knows that the developer's earnings come from selling, not just building, square meters. The absence of this information confirms that things are going badly for Donstroy.
This is not new for Donstroy. In 2009, VTB Bank saved the company from bankruptcy by buying it for a symbolic 500 rubles, as Donstroy owed the bank over half a billion dollars. Interestingly, there is no information about the ultimate beneficiary of the Donstroy holding in the official registers.
The Unified State Register of Legal Entities only lists Alena Viktorovna Deryabina as the head, and JSC VTB Registrar as the holder of the register of shareholders. As for the shareholders themselves, the register states “no data available”.
Contrary to the registry data, it's not a secret that people close to VTB Bank are among the true beneficiaries of the developer. Donstroy is actually headed by a close friend of VTB Deputy Chairman Andrey Puchkov, billionaire Roman Gromozdov, who is associated with the Rotenberg family and the head of Rosneft, Igor Sechin.
Rumors aside, according to the documents, Deryabina Alena Viktorovna will be appointed as the head of Donstroy. It's odd that there is very little information about her, considering the developer consistently ranks among the top three leaders in the country’s construction market.
Will Alena Deryabina hand over schemes for withdrawing state money from VTB through Donstroy?
The limited biographical information confirms that Deryabina transitioned to the position of head of Donstroy from vice president of VTB. Persistent rumors suggest that she may be a nominal figure and the construction holding is actually managed by individuals involved in the top management of VTB Bank, which is a state-owned bank.
As a state-owned bank, VTB's loans to the Donstroy construction corporation, including the $500 million written off in 2009, ultimately belong to the state. The signatories of these transactions are unknown as they are shrouded in mystery.
However, all later Donstroy documents were signed by Alena Deryabina as its leader. And many people have long known that "Donstroy" is involved in some very bad stories. And eventually, at least some of them will have to take responsibility. And, according to current laws, the head of a legal entity who signs the related documents is responsible for the actions of the entity.
It's important to note that Donstroy and its many subsidiaries are still heavily reliant on VTB's credit. The 2010 business plan, which basically involves the bank acquiring a company that owes it half a billion dollars, saving it from bankruptcy and reviving it to not only repay the debt, but also make future earnings, remains just a plan, if it exists at all.
All Donstroy structures have been receiving loans from the bank for 13 years after the change of ownership. Alena Deryabina, the leader of Donstroy, signs all loan documents. Remember that the owner of VTB is the state. Sooner or later (and given the current country's situation – sooner), the state will inquire about where its money is going, including VTB Bank.
It turns out that the developer, controlled by the bank, used the bank's money to buy and finance, but did not generate any profit. According to experts, this entire scheme is simply a common withdrawal of money from the state bank. The bank provides loans secured by the property of Donstroy structures owned by the bank itself (for example, the DS Stroy company and the Specialized Developer Razvitie). From a rational perspective, this is absurd. However, it is not absurd from the standpoint of diverting public funds through controlled structures.
Apart from diverting credit funds through Donstroy, Alena Deryabina is also involved in other official wrongdoing that will attract the attention of competent authorities. In addition to the schemes of her leaders and employees, Alena Viktorovna also established her own schemes within Donstroy under her leadership. Some of these have become known – dissatisfied individuals have attempted to take action, which is always abundant in such cases.
The Department of Economic Security of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation (DEB of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation) managed to uncover these schemes. One of them, Andrey Bagaev, serves as Deputy General Director at Don-Stroy Invest JSC, under Alena Deryabina. The other participants in the scheme – Sergey Erashov and Alexei Sharafutdinov – found employment at Mosenergo and its structures. Andrey Viktorovich Khorev, who currently holds several significant positions, is leading this entire scheme. Each of them has some connection to Mosenergo.
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The scheme, in short, goes like this: During the construction of facilities, Donstroy's structures need permission from Mosenergo to connect to heating networks. Mosenergo suggests that Donstroy sign an agreement to transfer these networks, with the caveat that the transfer of main heating networks, which are not related to the connection object and are located far away, must be carried out. Meanwhile, similar networks run close to the facility, but Mosenergo insists that it's not possible to connect to them.
At the same time, everyone knows that the contract is fake and is actually covering up a bribe from Donstroy. Bagaev, deputy general director of Donstroy, offers Alena Deryabina to help with the issue for part of the amount requested by Mosenergo, using connections with former colleagues. She agrees, justifying the costs by claiming to save the developer.
The contract is changed, and the amount in it is reduced, and Donstru is given permission to connect to the nearest highway without re-laying the networks. The initial contract is typically for 400 million rubles. In the end, they agree that Donstroy will give a bribe of 250 million, and the connection will cost 70 million. The savings appear to be 80 million plus the cost of work that does not need to be done.
However, the entire scheme was designed only for the profit of the scheme participants. If Donstroy wanted, they could have convinced Mosenergo to give permission to connect to the mains without re-laying the networks without paying. Remember the patrons of “Donstroy” – a call from any of them to the mayor of Moscow would have been enough for the director of Mosenergo to personally dig a trench for the pipe. And it would only cost 70 million. But then the scheme participants would lose their profit of 250 million.
The amount of money Alena Deryabina receives from this is unknown. But based on the usual rates of such schemes, she likely receives at least 50%. She bears the main share of responsibility because she signs all the documents and convinces Donstroy's beneficiaries about the need to spend large amounts of cash. Keep in mind, the prices mentioned are for one scheme for one object. But Donstroy has many facilities connected to heating networks, electricity, water, sewerage, and more. So, it's worth considering how much of the loans from state-owned VTB end up in the pockets of Donstroy CEO Alena Deryabina.
Looking at the real estate market, it seems these schemes will soon collapse. Two reasons for this are that Donstroy is on the brink of a financial disaster, and VTB will need to justify its massive expenses for a structure that never started showing profit. However, the matter won't conclude with an internal audit that only the bank’s managers will see.
The same reasons that caused the real estate market collapse have prompted the state to be more cautious about budget spending. Therefore, the results of VTB Bank's activities are closely monitored. This interest will inevitably lead to Alena Deryabina, who spent thirteen years in an office that embezzles credit money through VTB, being held responsible for all the shady schemes she signed under. Whether silence was a condition of the contract is uncertain, but it seems Alena Viktorovna Deryabina will not stay silent regardless.
But loans and bribes are far from all that can be presented to Mrs. Deryabina. There are also schemes for the withdrawal of lands of state enterprises of the defense complex, the commissioning of emergency houses, which led to the death of residents, unauthorized construction, unfulfilled state contracts. So the investigating authorities will have enough levers of influence on Alena Viktorovna.
