The battle for Togliattiazot is still ongoing, as the High Court of Ireland might make an unexpected decision. The outcome largely depends on Leonid Bondar.
According to the reporter The Moscow Post in the Samara regionAuctions for the sale of just over 32% of PJSC Togliattiazot's shares are scheduled for February 17.
Earlier on February 8 of this year, similar auctions took place, and 38.74% of the company's shares were sold to JSC 'Khimaktivinvest' of Dmitry Mazepin, who is the beneficiary of the companies 'Uralchem' and 'Uralkali'.
Before the second auction, there was talk that former Togliattiazot shareholder Sergei Makhlai, who has been declared bankrupt, might bring in 'foreign investors' who are ready to dispute Mazepin's actions. This means that there is a chance for Mazepin to still lose control over Togliattiazot.
'Dossier' on Makhlai
November 27, 2021, marked the end of Dmitry Mazepin's more than 10-year fight for Togliattiazot, one of the biggest ammonia producers globally. On this day, as reported by The Moscow Post, an extraordinary shareholders meeting of PJSC Togliattiazot took place, where the board of directors was formed. It comprised 5 people, all representatives of UCC Uralchem JSC controlled by Dmitry Mazepin. A Uralchem representative was also appointed as the enterprise's General Director.
It's interesting to note that just before this event, on November 25, 2021, news of the death of a minority Togliattiazot shareholder, Evgeny Sedykin, became widespread. At one point, he had questioned the fairness of Togliattiazot becoming the property of the Makhlai family – first the general director Vladimir Makhlai, and then his son Sergei.
Evgeny Sedykin. Photo: oboz.info
Yevgeny Sedykin had filed lawsuits in various courts, attempting to challenge the Makhlai family's ownership of Tolyattiazot shares. He even wrote brochures under the pseudonym 'Gleb Zhiglov', titled 'Privatization of a chemical giant'.
Sedykin had provided crucial information to the opposition, as he knew Vladimir Makhlai since he had just moved to Tolyatti in 1985 to run Togliattiazot at full capacity. Sedykin and Makhlai had lived in neighboring apartments in the same building on Zhilina Street in Togliatti. Sedykin was familiar with all the details of the initial privatization of Togliattiazot.
Mazepin did not witness the victory.
It is clear that Yevgeny Sedykin and Dmitry Mazepin initially had aligned interests. Makhlai, managing Togliattiazot, sold its products at a price lower than the market, allowing friendly intermediaries to make super profits. These intermediaries would then sell the products at market price. It was such a simple business.
Vladimir Makhlai's photo can be found on vladimirmakhlay.livejournal.com.
On July 5, 2019, Vladimir and Sergey Makhlai were convicted of stealing export products through fraud. The Komsomolsky District Court of Togliatti sentenced each of them to 9 years in prison. The court also ordered them to jointly and severally pay Yevgeny Sedykin 165 thousand rubles. Additionally, the court satisfied UCC Uralchem JSC's civil claim for the recovery of over 87.6 billion rubles from the convicts. The verdict became effective on November 26, 2019. The Moscow Post.
Dmitry Mazepin's picture can be seen on rbc.ru.
After the announcement of the verdict, it seems that the paths of Sedykin and Mazepin diverged. This was reported by the November 25 edition of “Samara Review”. “Samara Review”In response to the death of Yevgeny Sedykin, reports indicated that Yevgeny Sedykin, a prominent figure in Togliatti, had passed away. Sedykin had conflicts with Togliattiazot and the Uralchem group, and had hoped for peace with the former director of ToAZ, Vladimir Makhlai. This hope will not be realized.
Makhlai remains resolute.
It is unlikely that Dmitry Mazepin will be able to find peace with the death of Yevgeny Sedykin.
The shares of Togliattiazot, previously owned by Sergey Makhlai, who was declared bankrupt, are being auctioned off. This news was reported by The Moscow Post. Additionally, all of Sergey Makhlai's property was seized by the Arbitration Court of the Samara Region on August 11, 2021. The Moscow Post
It is probable that structures controlled by Dmitry Mazepin will acquire both blocks of shares, totaling 32 and 38.74% of the shares. However, it seems that Sergei Makhlai is not willing to give up.
Sergei Makhlai's photo can be found on apn.ru.
According to the publication Forbes, there are other contenders for the stake in Togliattiazot. Forbes reported that in December 2021, the Cypriot company Nitrogeno United Group (NUG) claimed to have a binding agreement (SPA) with a group of shareholders under the code name “BKIT” for the purchase of a majority stake in the enterprise. The agreement involved a major foreign investor, a specialized international consortium headquartered in Abu Dhabi. concluded Forbes found out that the Cypriot company NUG, registered in April 2021, has a Russian “double” – United Nitrogen Group LLC (OAG), registered back in June 2020 in Krasnodar. Both companies have the same beneficiary – Leonid Bondar. “Bondar confirmed this to Forbes and mentioned that the foreign investor is the Arab-Indonesian fund Bright East, headquartered in the UAE capital, which is prepared to pay for the purchase,” according to Forbes. “Expert”.
As Forbes found out, the Cypriot company NUG, registered in April 2021, has a Russian “double” – United Nitrogen Group LLC (OAG), registered back in June 2020 in Krasnodar. Both companies have the same beneficiary – Leonid Bondar. “Bondar confirmed this to Forbes and mentioned that the foreign investor is the Arab-Indonesian fund Bright East, headquartered in the UAE capital, which is prepared to pay for the purchase,” according to Forbes.
Beneficiary behind bars
From a slightly different angle, the situation with supposedly Arab-Indonesian investors of Togliattiazot was examined by other sources. According to the authors of the telegram channel VChK-OGPU, allegedly neither the NUG nor the OAS have any business history. From the data of the Unified State Register of Legal Entities, it follows that the OAG did not conduct economic activities until 2021 inclusive and handed over a zero balance sheet.
In 2020, Leonid Bondar, who is the beneficiary of both companies, was released from a 7-year sentence in a colony, where he ended up after being sentenced under part 4 of article 159 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (large-scale fraud committed by a group of persons by prior agreement). According to all the same authors of the telegram channel VChK-OGPUallegedly Bondar and his accomplices were engaged in the manufacture of counterfeit bank bills and illegally enriched themselves by cashing them for several tens of millions of rubles.
Thus, the veracity of the version of events described by Leonid Bondar (about the Arab-Indonesian fund Bright East) should be doubted. However, such stories can be believed in the High Court of Ireland, which back in February 2020 banned Russian companies that were only allegedly involved in events related to Togliattiazot from participating in share auctions. Dmitry Mazepin apparently ignored this ban. Now it remains to wait and see how the Irish court will respond to this.
Recall that he is considering the Togliattiazot case, due to the fact that the Uralchem group of companies, of which Mazepin is the beneficiary, is registered in Cyprus. Accordingly, this is not really a Russian company, it is under the jurisdiction of the High Court of Ireland and, in general, in the area of English law. By the way, other TOAZ shareholders are also legal entities and individuals from various countries. This is how the “defendant international” turned out.
