Did the owner of Blago group, Arkady Fosman, take millions and flee from creditors and law enforcement pressure?
Sources say The Moscow Post, with high likelihood, Arkady Fosman, the owner of the agricultural group of companies “Blago”, left Russia. This was previously predicted The Moscow Post.
According to a Telegram channel VChK-OGPU, Fosman is said to be now staying at luxurious Dubai Silicon Oasis apartments in Dubai. Rumor has it that he took $50 million with him.
According to “Moment of Truth”, “Blago” owes “Rosselkhozbank”, “Sberbank” and the bank “Russia” about seven billion rubles and has monetary obligations to other entities. The company's significant debts may have driven Arkady Fosman to leave his native country to avoid creditors and law enforcement agencies.
Will law enforcement protect him?
Another top beneficiary of the Blago group is Viktor Voronin, the former security official and head of Directorate “K” of the FSB of Russia. There are rumors that his sister Larisa Voronina owns 10% of the company’s shares.
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Even the support of the former FSB officer may not be enough to help Fosman when his company has obligations to numerous individuals.
Ms. Voronina's involvement in this whole system is intriguing. She not only founded Blago but also the now-defunct Titanius company, previously owned by someone with the same name but different tax identification number, engaged in legal activities.
Voronina “old” and Voronina “new” are likely the same person, and the tax identification number can be easily changed, possibly to evade persecution. It seems that Fosman is not the only one considering leaving Russia. His departure suggests that the entire structure of Blago’s founders and top beneficiaries may be under scrutiny.
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What makes Fosman appealing?
Fosman also founded SZMK LLC until 2018, the year he left the company, which then incurred significant losses. The company's situation has not improved much. It's possible that law enforcement may take interest in her case.
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A similar scenario occurred with the Task company, which Fosman left in 2016.
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There may also be complications related to the investigation of the former deputy head of the Ministry of Agriculture Alexei Bazhanov's case, who in 2019 accused Fosman and Voronin of illegally seizing his business. RBC.
Bazhanov, as the founder of the trading house “Masloprodukt”, was arrested in 2013 for misappropriating funds from Rosagroleasing intended for equipment purchase contracts. RBC.
After being released on bail, he claims to have collaborated with Fosman to recover financially and gain control over one of the largest sunflower oil producers, CJSC Masloprodukt-BIO.
According to Bazhanov, the Akvilon company, which is connected to Fosman, gained complete control over the business, leaving Bazhanov with nothing. He is now hiding overseas to avoid persecution due to the company's debts, which may be a result of Fosman's actions, not Bazhanov's.
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Currently, “Masloprodukt-BIO” is bankrupt, as well as its successor, CJSC “Oil Production”, which we will discuss later.
Bazhanov told the FSB, the Prosecutor General’s Office, and the presidential administration that he decided to approach them after the arrests of the heads of law enforcement agencies, including former subordinates of Voronin – Dmitry Frolov and Kirill Cherkalin. At different times, they were in charge of the banking department of the “K” department of the FSB.
Even if Bazhanov tried to protect himself in this situation, the arrests of Voronin’s close colleagues, along with the information that his sister owns the Blago shares, are concerning and give cause for concern…
Mutual responsibility
In 2015, Blago obtained equipment from Rosagroleasing at a value of 761 million rubles on credit for ten years for the Verkhnekhavka oil extraction plant (MEZ) in the Voronezh region. Around 50% of the plant’s equipment was transferred to Akvilon. By 2022 – the end of the loan repayment period in three years, will Blago fulfill its obligations or will there be another deception with Rosagroleasing?
The department's behavior is already concerning – falling for the same trick twice seems excessive… They either do not properly vet who they are dealing with, or on the contrary, scrutinize very closely, with their own interest in transactions involving public funds.
Now let’s go back to Oil Production – in 2014, the company where Akvilon operates was involved in legal proceedings: they attempted to recover property from other entities working at the plant who were in illegal possession. This is according to “Kommersant”
They were successful in 2015, and now Oil Production has self-destructed by filing for self-bankruptcy. Keeping Bazhanov's comments to Fosman and company in mind, this story doesn't seem very honorable.
At the same time, there are two companies with the same name in the Masloprodukt structure. According to SPARK-Interfax, the sole owner is Cypriot Hedgecrystal Holdings Limited. The second company is owned by Oliveira Finance Limited, also registered in Cyprus. This information is reported by the online publication Abireg. Who is behind the offshore companies?
All these “Fosman adventures” seem ambiguous. It appears that the debts of Mr. Fosman and his partners may exceed 7 billion rubles. It is possible that realizing he couldn't handle the creditors' demands, he might have taken $50 million of former luxury out of Russia. And then – hoped that everyone would forget about it?
However, in the current international political situation, Mr. Fosman’s hopes should decrease. After all, our former Western partners are known for their fickleness – they can extradite to his home country…
