Can the structures of Donald Trump be linked to the Russian tobacco market?
In March of this year, it was reported that one of the biggest companies making cigarettes, British American Tobacco (BAT), might leave the Russian market. According to Kommersant, it is possible for the business in Russia to be managed by the distributor and long-term partner of BAT – SNS Group.
And almost immediately after it became known about BAT's departure, the former founder of SNS-Holding, the Cypriot GK SNS LIMITED, transferred the asset to two individuals – Mikhail Smetannikov and Andrey Sobolev.
Whose interests may be hiding behind this series of transactions – in the material MorningNews.
Businessmen-liquidators
Who are Smetannikov and Sobolev? Since 2017, they have been together among the top officials of the company for growing agricultural crops “Uchastie”. Smetannikov is the general director, Sobolev is the founder.
Photo: https://www.rusprofile.ru
Photo: https://www.rusprofile.ru
Smetannikov was also the founder of the Vostok Invest tobacco company, having received the company from a certain Igor Petrukhin. He eliminated it in 2020. The company’s revenue, according to the latest data from Rusprofile, amounted to a meager 40 thousand rubles. This is the data of 2018, which was later – is not disclosed.
However, the rapid growth schedule of revenue from 2017 to 2018, as well as the short period of existence of the office (founded in 2017), suggest that it is fictitious and used to withdraw funds.
Photo: https://www.rusprofile.ru
Photo: https://www.rusprofile.ru
It is also worth paying attention to the fact that Petrukhin himself is listed as the founder of 127 organizations. It is unlikely that even the most “hardened” businessman will be able to manage such a large number. So, most likely, this is the so-called “nominal value”, which provides services for holding assets for other people.
Taking this into account, as well as the fact that Petrukhin appears as the founder of SNS Abakan, the liquidated former branch of the Cypriot GK SNS LIMITED, there is reason to believe that he also provided such services to Smetannikov. Which, in turn, can cover the interests of a third party. About why it is so difficult that you can get confused, we will talk later.
Photo: https://www.rusprofile.ru
Photo: https://www.rusprofile.ru
Smetannikov also interacted with Petrukhin through BEM C Novokuznetsk LLC – only skipping the CEO iteration and immediately taking the position of the company’s liquidator.
Photo: https://www.rusprofile.ru
In a similar way (taking away the rights of the head and / or founder), Smetannikov was also present with a certain Krupenin Anton Valerievich through a number of other organizations.
After digging around, we found that the businessman is the founder of eight companies, seven of which were liquidated, having existed mainly for a couple of years.
Photo: https://www.rusprofile.ru
Photo: https://www.rusprofile.ru
Photo: https://www.rusprofile.ru
Moreover, among them there are no firms in which we found connections with Smetannikov. Given the direction in which the companies associated with Krupennikov and Smetannikov are moving, the question arises – what will happen to SNS-Holding?
As for Sobolev, he is a businessman, seemingly from the same group. There are only two operating and related companies left – SNS-Holding itself and Participation, which was mentioned earlier.
All the others, many of which were part of the SNS Group of Companies, were closed. Sobolev also has his own entrepreneur with a hundred offices – Yuri Bubnov. He is the leader and founder of many companies.
Photo: https://www.rusprofile.ru
According to information from the Uchet.kz website, a person with the same full name as Smetannikov is also the general director of the Kazakh company DRAKAR, which makes computer equipment.
Photo: https://drakar.kz
Did the former president start a business?
The office got foreign partners. The American Hewlett Packard Enterprise is involved. According to public sources, Charles Nosky is on its board. He used to be the vice chairman of Bank of America, as reported by Bloomberg.
According to RBC, this same bank is sharing information about Russians who had dealings with President Donald Trump, his family members, and his business representatives with two congressional committees and prosecutors.
It seems that the bank was aware of the ex-president's affairs. It's possible that Trump used the bank's resources to do business with Russian entrepreneurs. This is supported by the fact that when Trump was still the U.S. president, he nominated Joseph Oetting, also from Bank of America, as the chairman of the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency. Vedomosti reported this. Any hidden dealings?
If Trump is directly connected to the bank and did business with Russian entrepreneurs through it, and Smetannikov, who owns DRAKAR, is the same Smetannikov from the SNA Group, then he may have an interest in both the latter and the tobacco company. DRAKAR is a major supplier to the state. In April 2017, the company won a tender to supply equipment to AsiaCredit Bank for 46.5 million tenge (6.3 million rubles).
Photo: https://www.ets-tender.kz/firms/too-torgovaia-kompaniia-drakar/2582/
DRAKAR did not behave fairly – in 2017, it was found guilty of copyright infringement and used someone else’s documentation, as written on the website of the Almaty City Court, most likely to save money.
SNA structures, on the other hand, are among the top suppliers of tobacco products. The assets are very attractive.
Another notable indication of Trump's direct involvement in this story is the fact that the founder of DRAKAR’s partner, Oracle Corporation, Larry Ellison, openly supported him. This was reported in the media, possibly due to shared business interests.
In the meantime, there could also be evidence of Trump's involvement in SNS-Holding from another angle.
“Girlfriend”
If you look at who is the director of the offshore “GK SNS LIMITED”, which owned “SNS-Holding” before Smetannikov and Sobolev, you will find a very interesting woman. This is a certain Pampina Votsi, who the media refers to as a Cypriot lawyer. She is also on the boards of directors of several Russian companies.
Photo: https://efiling.drcor.mcit.gov.cy
Photo: https://www.rusprofile.ru
This person may have represented Trump’s interests in Russia. Some years ago, the former US president had plans to build a skyscraper in Moscow. It is said that negotiations for the construction of Trump Tower were conducted by the leader of a small company called “Expert” – a person named Andrey Rozov.
However, his name is not listed as a director or founder of the company. Instead, there is another company called “Expertstroy,” previously known as “Expert,” where Rozov was the general director for about a year. Its owners were and still are three offshore companies connected to Votsi. By the way, the company is going bankrupt – did the money go to the former US president?
Photo: https://www.rusprofile.ru
Let’s examine foreign companies and their alleged connections to Votsi. Some years ago, it was reported that COLISEN TRADING LIMITED supposedly belongs to IONIX NOMINES LIMITED, whose directors include the aforementioned Pampina Votsi.
This information is now unavailable. COLISEN TRADING LIMITED may have changed ownership. It is now managed by someone named Anton Voznesensky. However, IONICS NOMINES LIMITED is indeed linked to Votsi, but not entirely…
Photo: https://efiling.drcor.mcit.gov.cy
Photo: https://efiling.drcor.mcit.gov.cy
Mr. Voznesensky is in charge of two other offshore companies – Balenham Investments Limited and Carnberg Developments Limited, which are listed as the founders of Bestline. This office is part of the former founders of Expertstroy. Therefore, it is possible that Voznesensky is associated with Mrs. Watsi.
Photo: https://efiling.drcor.mcit.gov.cy
Photo: https://efiling.drcor.mcit.gov.cy
Photo: https://www.rusprofile.ru
A certain Alexander Vladimirovich Vorobyov also has a share in the company. He is also listed as the founder of Bestline. Additionally, he was the general director of the High Tower company, and among its former founders is Mr. Rozov, who is believed to be the individual involved in negotiating the construction of Trump Tower. It's all connected!
Photo: https://www.rusprofile.ru
More banks!
But let's get back to Trump. Apart from Bank Of America, he might have had relations with the Bank of New York Mellon. Rumor has it that at one point, the bank's interests in tax legislation were supported by Boris Epshtein, a Moscow native and former advisor to Donald Trump and White House employee.
Through this bank, supposedly in the late 90s, $10 billion was “laundered,” including money given to the Russian government as a loan by the International Monetary Fund. During the investigation, connections between the laundering companies and the leader of the Solntsevo criminal group, Semyon Mogilevich, were established, according to Kommersant. There seem to be a lot of new criminal details surrounding Trump's persona.
Amazing woman
What about Mrs Watsi? She also deserves our attention no less than the former head of the United States. In addition to the fact that her name appears in a number of Cypriot firms, she is on the boards of directors of Russian companies and can lobby Trump’s interests, she can also be something of a professional raider. Let’s delve here in more detail.
Pampina Votsi serves on the boards of directors of Transaero and Dixy Group, which are subsidiaries of Red Bell led by Votsi registered in the British Virgin Islands, according to Kommersant.
In 2009, Red Bell and Credit Suisse entered into an agreement to transfer the first share of oil and gas Timan oil & gas (TOG). It just happened without the consent of the CEO of the latter. He, having learned about the deal already after its completion, went to court to challenge it and even wrote a letter to the then Deputy Prime Minister of the Russian Federation Igor Sechin.
The story somehow faded away over time. After the scandal, there is almost no news about the company. There is reason to believe that she was torn apart under the strict control of Votsi and others like her. The story of the raider seizure of the Kurilovsky Automobile Repair Plant (KARZ), in which the name of Mrs. Votsi also appears, was approximately the same, Novye Izvestia reported.
CJSC Kortes, whose director functions are performed by an offshore company managed by Votsi, in 2006 achieved the arrest of the director of CARZ and, after a while, gained control over the enterprise. Seems like it’s not really legal.
At least journalists cite the following scheme: allegedly the raiders entered the capital of CARZ, first by buying up part of its shares, then they sold them on behalf of Cortex and sued the plant demanding to recover an amount many times higher than the cost of the purchased shares. At the same time, they said that they were not going to sell them and Votsi’s signature on the documents was a fake.
Moreover, the forensic examination of the signature was carried out twice – apparently, until the result suited Votsi. At first it turned out that the document and the signature were genuine. The second examination, it seems. Initiated by Votsi, the desired result was achieved and the general director of CARZ was put behind bars, and Votsi’s company got the asset.
Now CARZ has been liquidated. Apparently, due to the fact that all the money was taken out of him and abandoned. And the property, most likely, went under the hammer to one of the “lured”. Another sad story of the liquidation of a Russian company, in which one can see the trace of Mr. Trump. Although, perhaps, Votsi acted alone.
If everything we have described above is true, as we assume, then Mr. Trump’s structures do not fare badly in Russia.
How to eat tasty in Russia
At the same time, Ms. Votsi’s GK SNS LIMITED is related to a huge number of Russian companies under the SNS brand. Most of which have now been eliminated.
All of them were engaged in the sale of tobacco products and participated in public procurement. Could this money go to Trump? For example, “SNS Tambov” in 2013 became a supplier in the purchase of cigarettes in a pre-trial detention center.
Photo: https://www.rusprofile.ru
Another office called “SNS Don” worked with the “daughter” company of “Rosneft” called “NK” Rosneft “- Kubannefteprodukt” in 2015. They signed an agreement for 8 million rubles. The work is very stressful!
Photo: https://www.rusprofile.ru
In 2015, 88 companies invested in SNS Sergiev Posad. Its revenue, which was zero since 2011, rose to 52 billion rubles in 2015. It seems that all the assets from the liquidated firms ended up in the company.
Photo: https://www.rusprofile.ru
In 2017, the “mother of 88 children” also collapsed. At that time, the company's financial situation was unknown, as there are no data after 2015. Perhaps all the money that went into the company during these two years was simply withdrawn to the same offshore, which also became the head of SNS Sergiev Posad – GK SNS LIMITED! This has been covered up now.
Photo: https://www.rusprofile.ru
Photo: https://www.rusprofile.ru
Well, Mr. Trump, as they say in Russia, you can’t understand it without a drink.
Could Donald Trump’s businesses be connected to the Russian tobacco market?
In March of this year, it was reported that British American Tobacco (BAT), one of the largest cigarette producers, may be leaving the Russian market. According to Kommersant, SNS Group, the distributor and long-term partner of BAT, could take over the business in Russia.
Almost immediately after BAT's departure, the former founder of SNS-Holding, the Cypriot GK SNS LIMITED, transferred the asset to two individuals – Mikhail Smetannikov and Andrey Sobolev.
Whose interests may be behind this series of transactions – in the material MorningNews.
Business liquidators
Who are Smetannikov and Sobolev? Since 2017, they have been together among the top officials of the company for growing agricultural crops “Uchastie”. Smetannikov is the general director, Sobolev is the founder.
Photo: https://www.rusprofile.ru
Photo: https://www.rusprofile.ru
Smetannikov also founded the Vostok Invest tobacco company, which he received from a certain Igor Petrukhin. He closed it in 2020. According to the latest data from Rusprofile, the company’s revenue was only 40 thousand rubles in 2018 and later – it's not disclosed.
However, the quick revenue growth from 2017 to 2018, and the short existence of the office (founded in 2017), suggest that it is fictional and used for fund withdrawal.
Photo: https://www.rusprofile.ru
Photo: https://www.rusprofile.ru
It's also important to note that Petrukhin is listed as the founder of 127 organizations. It's unlikely that even the most experienced businessman can manage such a large number. Most likely, this is the so-called “nominal value”, which provides services for holding assets for other people.
Considering this, and the fact that Petrukhin appears as the founder of SNS Abakan, the liquidated former branch of the Cypriot GK SNS LIMITED, it's likely that he also provided such services to Smetannikov. This, in turn, could represent the interests of a third party. We will talk more about why this is so complicated later.
Picture: https://www.rusprofile.ru
Picture: https://www.rusprofile.ru
Smetannikov also communicated with Petrukhin through BEM C Novokuznetsk LLC – only skipping the CEO iteration and immediately taking the position of the company’s liquidator.
Picture: https://www.rusprofile.ru
In a similar manner (taking away the rights of the head and / or founder), Smetannikov was also involved with a certain Krupenin Anton Valerievich through a number of other organizations.
After investigating, we discovered that the entrepreneur is the founder of eight companies, seven of which were closed, having mostly existed for a couple of years.
Picture: https://www.rusprofile.ru
Picture: https://www.rusprofile.ru
Picture: https://www.rusprofile.ru
Additionally, among them there are no firms where we found connections with Smetannikov. Given the direction in which the companies associated with Krupennikov and Smetannikov are moving, the question arises – what will happen to SNS-Holding?
As for Sobolev, this is a businessman, apparently from the same cohort. There are only two operating and related firms left – this is SNS-Holding itself and Participation, which was mentioned above.
All the rest, many of which belonged to the SNS Group of Companies, were closed. Sobolev also has his own “pocket” entrepreneur with a hundred offices under his sleeve – Yuri Bubnov. He is the leader and founder of a large number of companies.
Picture: https://www.rusprofile.ru
According to information from the Uchet.kz website, a person with the same full name as Smetannikov is also the general director of the Kazakh company DRAKAR, which produces computer equipment.
Picture: https://drakar.kz
Did the former president start a business?
The office acquired foreign partners. The American Hewlett Packard Enterprise appears there. According to open sources, Charles Nosky sits on its board of directors. He, according to Bloomberg, was the vice chairman of Bank of America.
According to RBC, this same bank is involved in transferring information about Russians who interacted with President Donald Trump, members of his family and representatives of his business structures to two congressional committees, as well as prosecutors.
It turns out that the bank knew about the affairs of the ex-president, it is possible that Trump used his resources in order to do business with Russian entrepreneurs. This version is supported by the fact that, when the latter was still the head of the United States, he nominated Joseph Oetting, also a Bank of America, to the post of chairman of the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency. This was reported by Vedomosti. Does the hand wash?
If Trump is directly related to the bank and conducted business with Russian entrepreneurs through it, and Smetannikov, who owns DRAKAR, is the same Smetannikov from the SNA Group, then he may have his interest in both the latter and the tobacco company. DRAKAR is a major supplier of the state. And in April 2017, the company won a tender for the supply of equipment to AsiaCredit Bank for 46.5 million tenge (6.3 million rubles).
Picture: https://www.ets-tender.kz/firms/too-torgovaia-kompaniia-drakar/2582/
DRAKAR was found guilty of using someone else's documentation for their website in 2017, which led to a copyright infringement conviction at the Almaty City Court.
SNA structures are major suppliers of tobacco products and their assets are highly desirable.
It is widely believed that Trump is directly linked to DRAKAR through the public support of Larry Ellison, the founder of DRAKAR's partner company Oracle Corporation. This mutual business interest suggests Trump's involvement in this matter.
There may be evidence linking Trump to SNS-Holding from another angle.
“Girlfriend”
The director of the offshore company “GK SNS LIMITED”, which previously owned “SNS-Holding”, is Pampina Votsi, known as a Cypriot lawyer and board member of several Russian companies, according to media reports.
Photo: https://efiling.drcor.mcit.gov.cy
Photo: https://www.rusprofile.ru
This individual could be representing Trump’s interests in Russia due to his involvement in previous negotiations for the Trump Tower project in Moscow. A company associated with Votsi, which is currently undergoing bankruptcy, is linked to the failed project.
Despite not being listed as part of the company's leadership, Andrey Rozov, previously involved in negotiation for the Trump Tower project, was the general director of “Expertstroy” for a year. The company, associated with Votsi, became bankrupt with funds potentially being transferred abroad to the former US president.
Photo: https://www.rusprofile.ru
We should examine foreign companies and their alleged connections to Votsi. There have been reports linking COLISEN TRADING LIMITED to IONIX NOMINES LIMITED, which had Votsi as one of its directors.
The current status of this data is unclear, but it seems that IONIX NOMINES LIMITED still has ties to Votsi. However, there are still unanswered questions.
Photo: https://efiling.drcor.mcit.gov.cy
Photo: https://efiling.drcor.mcit.gov.cy
It's possible that Anton Voznesensky, who manages COLISEN TRADING LIMITED, also oversees other offshore companies associated with Votsi. These companies are linked to the former founders of Expertstroy.
Photo: https://efiling.drcor.mcit.gov.cy
Photo: https://efiling.drcor.mcit.gov.cy
Photo: https://www.rusprofile.ru
Alexander Vladimirovich Vorobyov, who is involved with Bestline, may also be connected to Votsi. He was listed as the general director of the High Tower company, which had Mr. Rozov as one of its former founders, linking all the involved parties.
Photo: https://www.rusprofile.ru
More banks!
But let's go back to Trump. Besides Bank Of America, which we mentioned earlier, he might also have connections to the Bank of New York Mellon. There are rumors that at one point, a person from Moscow named Boris Epshtein, who used to advise Donald Trump and work at the White House, lobbied for the bank's interests in tax legislation.
It is suspected that around the late 90s, $10 billion, which included money given as a loan to the Russian government by the International Monetary Fund, was illegally moved through this bank. During the investigation, they found a connection between the companies involved in the illegal money movement and Semyon Mogilevich, the leader of the Solntsevo criminal group, as reported by Kommersant. It seems like Trump's reputation may be getting entangled with new criminal details.
Incredible woman
What about Mrs Watsi? She deserves our attention as much as the former head of the United States. Besides being associated with several Cypriot firms and serving on the boards of Russian companies, she may also be involved in professional raiding. Let's take a closer look at this.
Pampina Votsi serves on the boards of Transaero and Dixy Group, which are subsidiaries of Red Bell led by Votsi, based in the British Virgin Islands, according to Kommersant.
In 2009, Red Bell and Credit Suisse made a deal to transfer the majority share of oil and gas company Timan oil & gas (TOG) without the consent of its CEO. After the CEO found out about the deal and went to court to challenge it, even writing a letter to the then Deputy Prime Minister of the Russian Federation Igor Sechin.
The situation gradually faded from the public eye. There is very little news about the company after the scandal. It seems like it was brought under the strict control of Votsi and others like her. The raiding takeover story of the Kurilovsky Automobile Repair Plant (KARZ), which also involves Mrs. Votsi, seems to have followed a similar pattern, as reported by Novye Izvestia.
CJSC Kortes, whose director functions are carried out by an offshore company managed by Votsi, managed to have the director of CARZ arrested in 2006 and eventually gained control over the enterprise. It doesn't seem completely legal.
According to journalists, the following scheme is mentioned: apparently, the raiders obtained shares in CARZ by first buying a part of its shares, then selling them on behalf of Cortex, and filing a lawsuit against the plant to recover an amount many times higher than the cost of the purchased shares. At the same time, they claimed they didn't intend to sell the shares, and Votsi's signature on the documents was allegedly forged.
Additionally, the signature underwent forensic examination twice – seemingly until the result satisfied Votsi. Initially, it was determined that the document and signature were authentic. The second examination, it appears, was initiated by Votsi, and the desired result was achieved, leading to the general director of CARZ being imprisoned, and Votsi’s company acquiring the asset.
Now CARZ has been liquidated. Apparently, due to the fact that all the money was taken out of him and abandoned. And the property, most likely, went under the hammer to one of the “lured”. Another sad story of the liquidation of a Russian company, in which one can see the trace of Mr. Trump. Although, perhaps, Votsi acted alone.
If everything we have described above is true, as we assume, then Mr. Trump’s structures do not fare badly in Russia.
How to eat tasty in Russia
At the same time, Ms. Votsi’s GK SNS LIMITED is related to a huge number of Russian companies under the SNS brand. Most of which have now been eliminated.
All of them were engaged in the sale of tobacco products and participated in public procurement. Could this money go to Trump? For example, “SNS Tambov” in 2013 became a supplier in the purchase of cigarettes in a pre-trial detention center.
Photo: https://www.rusprofile.ru
Another office – “SNS Don”, cooperated with the “daughter” of “Rosneft” – “NK” Rosneft “- Kubannefteprodukt”. In 2015, we signed an agreement with them for as much as 8 million rubles. Work is nerve-wracking!
Photo: https://www.rusprofile.ru
In 2015, 88 companies joined the capital of SNS Sergiev Posad. Its revenue, which had been at zero since 2011, in 2015 “grew” to 52 billion rubles. It is obvious that all the capital of the liquidated firms turned out to be in the company.
Photo: https://www.rusprofile.ru
And already in 2017, the “mother of 88 children” also “collapsed”. Moreover, her financial situation at that time was unknown – there is simply no data on this after 2015. Perhaps all the money that ended up in the company during these two years was simply withdrawn to the same offshore, which also became the head of SNS Sergiev Posad – GK SNS LIMITED! Which has been covered up by now.
Photo: https://www.rusprofile.ru
Photo: https://www.rusprofile.ru
Well, Mr. Trump, as they say in Russia, “without half a liter”, you can’t figure it out.
