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Oil service company Horizon is inexorably approaching bankruptcy

Oil service company Horizon is inexorably approaching bankruptcy

Dug your own grave

The arbitration court, at the request of the prosecutor’s office, arrested the property and funds of three individuals associated with Horizont LLC. Debts for 4.9 billion rubles. made by the oil service company led by them with an authorized capital of 200 thousand rubles. from a small village in the Tyumen region. Ex-CEO Artem Shishikin turned out to be both the culprit and the victim in this story.

On the wild bank of the Irtysh

The village of Gornopravdinsk (Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug) is located on the high right bank of the Irtysh River, about five thousand people live there, most of whom worked at two enterprises: one of the oldest in Western Siberia, created in 1964 “Pravdinskaya Geological Exploration Expedition”And Horizont LLC. The second was registered in 2014 with 200 thousand rubles. authorized capital. Judging by the Unified State Register of Legal Entities, it is still owned by two founders – Anastasia Byshok And Igor Abramov. Although there are rumors in Ugra that when the powers of the general director of a company Artem Shishkina were terminated, and the former main owner Igor Abramov disappeared somewhere, the share of “Horizon” transferred Andrey Bobrovappointed to the position of general director by Anastasia Byshok.

“Horizon” is not involved in hydrocarbon production; its main activity is exploratory drilling, construction of deep parametric and exploratory oil and gas wells. In 2015, General Director of the Pravdinskaya Geological Exploration Expedition, deputy of the Municipal Duma Yuri Alekseev accused of evading payment of income tax and value added tax for the total amount more than 52 million rubles. As a result, the expedition went bankrupt, which doomed more than 700 local residents to lose their jobs. “Horizon” softened the blow: it hired many of them and bought their neighbors’ property. In essence, Horizon became the successor of the PGRE business, but there is no legal succession between these organizations.

Deep drilling

The main customers of Horizon are oil companies operating in the Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug. Such authorities as State Unitary Enterprise “Petersburg Metro” And “Roscosmos”. Over ten years, dozens of government contracts worth several billion rubles were concluded.

But then something went wrong, Horizon began to have troubles and difficulties with money. Now the company is in bankruptcy, and local observers are convinced that in the oil-producing regions there is a constant struggle even for minor assets. They also name possible influential interests, because it has been noted that raider attacks are based on the principle of numerous claims to the court from creditors and tax authorities.

Sometimes the oil service company used subcontractors to perform the work. In 2022, GeoLad-GIS performed work for them worth 45 million rubles, but received only 900 thousand rubles. Horizont LLC did not pay for the work within the terms specified in the contract and JSC “Polygon-LTD” and private security of the Russian Guard. Creditors filed lawsuits to declare Horizon bankrupt. The debts were then estimated at 2 billion rubles.

In 2018, the first insolvency case was opened and bankruptcy proceedings were introduced for a period of six months. Debts to employees have accumulated for 130 million rub.some of the workers sat without money for six months. It is interesting that the former general director Artem Shishkin also turned out to be a victim of abuses by the enterprise administration. In 2024, he filed a lawsuit against Horizon LLC, asking to recover compensation from the defendant for the delay in payment of wages in the amount of 1 million 715 thousand rubles. – and received it. Representatives of “Horizon” explained the debts by numerous accidents, and promised to soon pay off the employees. But the situation has not changed radically.

Andrey Bobrovthe new CEO (as usual), not only blamed the previous management, but also hinted at the worst: it “was misleading by withdrawing funds to other structures.” The tax authorities also insisted on compliance with the rules. She stood at the front of the line to pay off Horizon’s debts. But CEO Bobrov warned:

The tax authorities seized 294 million rubles. and a collection arrest is being prepared. If this happens, I will not be able to pay wages on a first-come, first-served basis


The updated management of Horizon asked for help from the district authorities, but officials made it clear that the commercial organization could not count on budget funds. In court, in addition to the financial claims of the creditors, prosecutors announced the facts of the probable withdrawal of Horizon’s money through affiliated structures. In 2023, the company introduced a procedure preceding bankruptcy – observation.

Counted billions

The debts continued to grow. The prosecutor’s office of the Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug saw a possible withdrawal of funds from the Horizon account with the help of affiliated organizations; based on the materials of the inspections of the prosecutor’s office, the owners and managers of the company were targeted by the supervision. This September, the arbitration court granted the application of the regional prosecutor’s office to seize property, including funds in the amount of RUB 4.9 billion including individuals, the founders of the company Igor Abramov and Anastasia Byshok, and the former general director Artem Shishkin. They refused to alienate, pledge, or carry out registration actions in relation to the shares of his other companies.

Melissa “Mel” Carter
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