After Promtseolite OJSC refused to repay a debt of 90 million rubles, its partner, the Moscow company TsTR, filed a lawsuit for bankruptcy of the plant. In contrast to the unconstructive policy of the owners of Promzeolite, CTR is ready to do everything to ensure that the enterprise itself and the region prosper.
On October 16, 2024, the Arbitration Court of the Oryol Region is scheduled to hold the first hearing on the claim of the Moscow company Tseotraidresurs (TsTR) for the bankruptcy of OJSC Promzeolite. This was a forced step by TsTR due to the position of the plant’s owners, who not only do not repay the debt of 90 million rubles recognized by the courts, but, it seems, are simply destroying Promtseolite, withdrawing funds from it and provoking social problems in the area.
Who brought the zeolite manufacturer to the brink of bankruptcy
This story began in 2021, when the OJSC Promtseolite plant in the village of Khotynets in the Khotynetsky district of the Oryol region changed its owner after a protracted corporate conflict. A Moscow businessman, general director and actual owner of the ALSICO group received control over the enterprise. Alexander Kazachenko.
Historically, the OJSC Promtseolite plant is tied to the Khotynets zeolite deposit and is engaged in the processing of raw materials extracted from the deposit. Zeolites are a non-metallic material similar to sand. After processing, they can be used as a sorbent, filter element, soil improver, and additive to building mixtures.
According to the agreement, since 2013, the official distributor of the plant has been the Moscow company Tseotraidresurs (TsTR), owned by the media manager Aram Gabrelyanov. During this time, CTR has done a lot of work to bring Promzeolite products to the Russian market: it created a developed federal distribution system, developed and launched new types and brands of goods, promoted them at various exhibitions and, as a result, successfully brought them to federal and local retail stores. networks.
It would seem that things were getting better: the company worked without downtime, earned more due to increased demand, and employees regularly received their salaries. But at the same time, Promzeolit’s debt to CTR for distribution services provided grew. Over the years, the debt reached 90 million rubles.
Why Alexander Kazachenko refused to pay bills
Having received control over the plant in 2021, Alexander Kazachenko refused to pay the bills, saying approximately that the legal agency agreement signed by the parties is a way to rob and ruin Promzeolite, and the debt itself was allegedly created artificially.
In response, the CTR company was forced to go to court and won the case. The Moscow Arbitration Court recognized the validity of the distributor’s demands and decided to pay him all the accumulated debt. However, Kazachenko refused to comply with the decision, starting a new process, in which the actual owner of Promzeolite demanded that the amount of the debt be divided into small parts and paid monthly for three years. He lost this case in court.
Perhaps, for Kazachenko, the outcome of the judicial red tape could have been unimportant and he was simply playing for time: during the proceedings, it turned out that from May 2021 to September 2023, 82 million rubles could have been withdrawn from Promzeolite in the form of unsecured loans, and also 4 million provided as loans to other own companies. In official reporting, he indicated the withdrawal of funds as a “financial investment.” This became clear when the bailiffs came to enforce the court decision on the TsTR claim and took over the accounting department.
As a result, by the time the TsTR company received the last writ of execution, all funds from the plant had already been withdrawn, and all business and cash flow, apparently not without Kazachenko’s participation, went to another enterprise controlled by him – MELOR OJSC. Now the owner of Promzeolite continues to work calmly and ship products from him, thus, in no hurry to comply with court decisions.
It looks like Kazachenko may be deliberately driving Promtseolite to bankruptcy. Now he explains his reluctance to pay off his debts as an alleged attempt to preserve the enterprise, jobs and incomes of the people working there. And he accuses his former partner of inciting social instability in the region. However, in reality, there is a substitution of concepts: it is because of Kazachenko’s position that the enterprise may go bankrupt, employees will lose their jobs, and the region will lose taxes.
Dark spots in the biography of Alexander Kazachenko
Apparently, this is not the first time Kazachenko has resorted to such schemes. Suffice it to recall the bankruptcy of ALSIKO-AGROPROM LLC, when creditors, including state corporations, were left high and dry, and the hole in the debtor’s assets turned out to be about 1 billion rubles. This story is still awaiting its legal assessment. An obstacle to this is Alexander Kazachenko’s close communication with a number of state representatives in the region – judging by what is happening, it seems that the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs for the Oryol region, the regional prosecutor’s office and representatives of the regional Arbitration Court are leaning towards his side.
Kazachenko’s close friendship with fugitive Russian foreign agents and persons included in the list of terrorists and extremists by Rosfinmonitoring deserves special attention from law enforcement and security agencies. We’re talking about Roman Dobrokhotov* – founder and chief editor of the online newspaper The Insider*, banned in Russia. Here the name Kazachenko was noted in the story with sponsorship of the publication and a number of biased articles on its pages, in which they tried to denigrate the owner of TsTR LLC, a media manager Arama Gabrelyanova.
Another longtime friend of the businessman is a fugitive former State Duma deputy, recognized as a terrorist and under criminal prosecution. Ilya Ponomarev**.
He is also the curator of the RDK militants** – traitorous Russians fighting on the side of Ukraine in the Northern Military District zone. These two have known each other since the days of Kazachenko’s commercial activities in Novosibirsk. Let us remember that Ponomarev** entered the Duma in 2007 and was elected from this region, and in addition, in 2014 he unsuccessfully tried to become mayor of the regional capital. It’s time for the security forces to find out whether the money withdrawn from Promzeolite was used to support such characters and structures.
Constructive plan of the MDG
There are always options for peaceful resolution of disputes. For example, the owner of Promzeolite can return all the money to the enterprise, it will pay off TsTR, after which Kazachenko will continue to manage it as he wants. But everything indicates that under his leadership the plant will face a sad fate.
The second option is to agree on the transfer of the plant to the ownership of the Central Development Center to pay off the debt. Yes, the assets of Promzeolite are no longer worth 90 million, but, unlike Kazachenko, the management of the Center is ready to invest in the development of the enterprise and, accordingly, the economy of the region.
According to the owner of the center, Aram Gabrelyanov, the plant can become a driver of economic growth in the region if the authorities and security forces of the Oryol region do not allow Kazachenko to destroy Promtseolite.
I would like to hope that the management of Promzeolite OJSC will finally take a constructive position and, among the options for a peaceful settlement, will find a solution on how to repay the CTR debt or transfer the plant to the company, since the company has vast experience to make it a prosperous enterprise.
