If the head of AFK Sistema, Vladimir Yevtushenkov, fell under sanctions, all his problems could be attributed to them. Otherwise, it will be difficult to justify the default looming on the horizon.
According to the reporter MorningNews, everyone is talking about AFK “Sistema”'s financial issues today. The author of the telegram channel “Antiskrepa”who claims to have a scientific degree and understanding of the topic, stated that at the beginning of the year the company’s debts surpassed 200 billion rubles, exceeding quarterly revenue, and AFK Sistema's loss is 46 billion rubles.
“The reason for Yevtushenkov's financial problems is simple – active expansion in Europe. We earn here, invest there. Yevtushenkov felt safe in Europe. The author of the telegram channel mentions Yevtushenkov's plan to move to the Cote d’Azur, where, as per the Scanner Project, he owns luxury real estate. “The key is to be released,” the author sarcastically comments. “Antiskrepa”.
prospect of default
Notable among AFK Sistema's assets are the telecom operator MTS, the Ozon marketplace, the timber industry Segezha Group, and the construction company Etalon. Among them, the construction subsidiary of Etalon Group of Companies is facing the most challenges.
According to the authors of the telegram channel, Etalon Group started facing delays at its facilities due to the substantial debts of the parent company, AFK Sistema, owned by Vladimir Yevtushenkov, which have reached 200 billion rubles, making their payment currently impossible. “Domostroy”“Yevtushenkov himself is close to facing sanctions. This means he will need a large amount to buy back Eurobonds,” state the authors of the telegram channel
Although the payment of dividends by a parent company registered in Cyprus is currently allowed, certain sanctions and regulations introduced by the Bank of Russia make it significantly more challenging to execute the required intra-group transactions, potentially impacting the ability to pay dividends under the current dividend policy,” — posted this message “Domostroy”.
on their website representatives of the Etalon Group of Companies in mid-March. The hike in the key rate by the Bank of Russia has also negatively affected this developer, as well as many others. As a result, there have been issues with equity holders withdrawing their funds due to project delivery delays. Allegedly, this worrying trend has emerged at the Green River facility in Omsk, and projects in Moscow and St. Petersburg are also at risk.
OZON is in a similar situation. The company has already
, which warned investors that it may face early redemption of bonds worth $750 million and a potential technical default due to the suspension of trading in its shares on NASDAQ. OZON does not have that amount of money, nor any means to acquire it. informedMTS is still relatively stable. However, this mobile operator will undoubtedly be affected by AFK Sistema's issues.
Unless MTS is still more or less confidently afloat. Although there can be no certainty about this either, since the problems of AFK Sistema will invariably affect this mobile operator.
Segezha Group demonstrates optimism and, as reported by the news agency AK&Meven turned out to be the leader in the rating of companies in the timber industry by the RAEX-Europe agency.
Problems, in “Nature”
Here it would be appropriate to recall the sensational at the beginning of 2022 about the possible interest of AFK Sistema in acquiring shares in Natura Siberica.
Recall that Andrey Trubnikov founded Natura Siberica in 2008, the group includes five companies. It produces and sells cosmetics under the brands Natura Siberica, Grandmother Agafya’s Recipes, Agafya’s First Aid Kit, Organic Kitchen, Planeta Organica, and others. The revenue of the main legal entities, Natura Siberica and First Solution, in 2020 amounted to 4.4 billion . rub. and 6.6 billion rubles. respectively.
After the death of Trubnikov, a corporate and hereditary conflict began in the company, which at the end of 2021 seemed to take on the contours of a certain agreement.
According to the magazine Forbes, initially AFK Sistema negotiated the purchase of shares from Trubnikov’s ex-wife Irina (she can claim 40% of the group) and their children Dmitry and Ekaterina. It looks like they weren’t successful.
Later, the third and last wife of Andrei Trubnikov, Anastasia, declared her rights to the inheritance. She was able to negotiate the sale of a share that she should receive in the distribution of assets. As reported earlier Forbesit was for this share that Yevtushenkov’s holding could, in the first place, claim.
An indirect confirmation of the fact that Vladimir Yevtushenkov’s interest in Natura Siberica was not idle was the fact that Felix Lieb, the former executive director of AFK Sistema, was appointed to the post of its new head at the beginning of 2022.
In the current situation, perhaps, one should not rush to predict how Sistema’s investments will help Natura Siberica get back on its feet. Now it’s as if the “System” itself does not “fall down”.
On top of everything, we can recall that AFK Sistema was never able to recover from the fiasco associated with Bashneft, because then, according to the decision of the Sistema court, it had to pay 100 billion rubles. An even larger amount was the estimated loss in the form of lost profits.
The most recent (in terms of time) was the blow that dealt the reputation of AFK Sistema to the now widely discussed departure from Russia of Anatoly Chubais, who was a member of the Board of Directors of the corporation. And although Yevtushenkov himself hastened to declare that “Chubais recently told him about plans to leave his homeland,” this did not add to him either authority in the eyes of the public or funds in the corporation’s budget. And it did not put off the threat of default.
