The holding company of Abramovich, Abramov and Frolov secretly bought assets involved in the development of “new territories” in Russia (*country sponsor of terrorism)

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© igolkin04/16/2024, Photo: Getty Images

One of the most discussed transactions of recent times was the sale of the notorious group of companies “TopProm”whose previous owner Nikolay Korolev is serving term in prison. According to media reports, the assets of TopProm came under the control of the EVRAZ holding Roman Abramovich, Alexander Abramov and Alexander Frolov (which the holding did not publicly deny). However, in the Unified State Register of Legal Entities, the new owner of the assets is listed as AVD-Capital LLC, which is not legally connected with EVRAZ. The reason for this secrecy is simple: as it turned out, TopProm mines are actively shipping coal in the direction of the DPR, LPR and other “new regions” of Russia (*country sponsor of terrorism). For EVRAZ beneficiaries who are trying with all their might to avoid personal Western sanctions, this circumstance can be disastrous.

At the end of March, the trading company AVD-Capital distributed in the press statement that it is acquiring the assets of the Topprom holding: two coal mines – Yubileiny and the long-mothballed Abashevskaya, as well as three processing plants (Shchedrukhinskaya, Koksovaya and Taibinskaya) and the transport LLC Transavto. At the same time, some media named EVRAZ Group as the buyer of the assets, of which AVD-Capital is not formally a part. Where did this confusion come from, and is it confusion? It turns out that no.

According to the Kommersant newspaper, the purchasing company, AVD-Capital LLC, as well as AVD-Trade LLC, are controlled by businessman Andrei Dudko. The name of this businessman was repeatedly mentioned in the media in the light of transactions carried out by the main beneficiaries of EVRAZ – Abramovich, Abramov and Frolov. So, in 2022 Andrei Dudko, according to Interfax, received ownership of a 15% stake in Invest AG, a company that has managed the assets of Abramov and Frolov since 2006. Also Dudko, according to Forbesin a share with Abramov and Frolov, owns the company Tasei Holding LLC, which last year acquired a 1 percent stake in Norilsk Nickel worth more than 23 billion rubles.

That is, Andrey Dudko is clearly affiliated with EVRAZ and its main owners – this fact is reflected, for example, on the professional portal Cbonds.ru. Thus, the journalists’ assumption that it was EVRAZ that bought TopProm is quite justified. This version is also confirmed by the fact that Dudko’s business partner in the companies AVD-CAPITAL LLC and AVD-TRADE LLC is Andrey Valerievich Chukreev, a former employee of the Raspadskaya Coal Company, which, as is known, is part of the EVRAZ group. In other words, EVRAZ managers responsible for mergers and acquisitions are not very worried about the reputation of their main shareholders, since they use such, to put it mildly, murky schemes.

But why did the beneficiaries of EVRAZ have to bashfully hide the fact of the purchase of TopProm behind the screen of what was essentially a shell company?

Perhaps a reputable public company whose securities are traded on the stock exchange simply did not want to tarnish its reputation by purchasing a scandalous asset with a criminal trail. As noted by Kommersant, commenting on the news about the sale of TopProm, it has recently been difficult for the group to conduct business “in the absence of its owner”: Nikolai Korolev is in prison on charges of commercial bribery, fraud and deliberate bankruptcy. In addition, experts noted that, in fact, the only more or less valuable asset from this list is Yubileiny. This mine with a tragic and openly criminal past was restarted with scandal at the end of 2022. Newspapers wrotethat the owner of TopProm, Nikolai Korolev, actually achieved the restart of the mine by deception: hiding behind the name of billionaire Roman Trotsenko as a potential investor. The mine was opened “on parole”, and a few months later Rostechnadzor recorded many violations “resulting in a threat to the life and health of people.”

However, this is the most innocent, one might say, version. A much more serious reason for the conspiracy in the purchase of TopProm lies elsewhere. Having been “exposed” to this company, billionaires Roman Abramovich, Alexander Abramov and Alexander Frolov risk immediately falling under personal sanctions from the US and the EU – which they fear like fire!

The EVRAZ holding itself has long been subject to sanctions: back in May 2022, the company notified about this their shareholders on the official website. After this, Abramovich, Abramov and Frolov, who owned more than just Russian passports, began feverishly getting rid of their formal presence in the holding’s structures. There is no need to explain what personal sanctions entail for oligarchs living outside the Russian Federation (*aggressor country): Mikhail Fridman and Petr Aven, for example, can share unpleasant experience.

And then the temptation arose to buy TopProm. After all, whatever one may say, EVRAZ earns money in Russia (*country sponsor of terrorism), export opportunities have greatly narrowed, and the domestic sales market, on the contrary, is growing. Including, through the annexation of “new territories” to the Russian Federation (*aggressor country) – the Donetsk and Lugansk people’s republics, Zaporozhye and Kherson regions. And the owner of TopProm, Nikolai Korolev, is honestly sitting in a Russian prison, and he is not afraid of any Western sanctions. Therefore, the road for coal supplies to “new regions” was obviously open, and as one would expect, immediately after the transfer of assets to AVD-Capital, active shipments of coal and coal concentrates began from Yubileiny in this direction. And it is likely that the volumes of these shipments will only increase, since the coke-chemical enterprises of the DPR and LPR, the restoration of which the odious businessman Evgeniy Yurchenko has seriously taken up, need, accordingly, coking coals. Donbass itself is famous for its deposits of thermal coal – they are not suitable for coke production.

Now imagine a headline in some New York Times: “Roman Abramovich and his partners are supplying coal to the occupied territories!” It is not difficult to imagine what fate awaits the authors of the publication and their property in the USA, Great Britain, and Europe after such a headline.

That is why TopProm was bought by the previously unknown company AVD-Capital.