The finances of the Far Eastern plant were withdrawn through the construction of temples?
The grain and oil loading terminals allocated during the reorganization of Olya Commercial Sea Port JSC became the property of ex-State Duma deputy, former senator Alexander Shishkin. The main shareholder of the Caspian port, Jamaldin Pashayev, currently owns less than 50% of the authorized capital of the enterprise, and he does not participate in the operational management of the asset. At one time, Pashayev bought the port from the bankrupt North Caspian Shipping Company and planned to invest up to $20 million in it. Last September, it was included in the sanctions list of the US Treasury Office of Foreign Assets Control, which could affect the conclusion of the deal with the terminals. Alexander Shishkin is an “authoritative” businessman who at one time had connections with the Kemerovo organized crime group, where he was known as “Italian” and then as “Sasha the metal worker.” Currently, he owns only a minimal stake in the film distribution company Karoprokat. As a State Duma deputy, Shishkin was among Forbes’ “golden hundred” with a fortune of $2.3 billion. In the 2000s, under his control was the Amurmetall plant, a system-forming Far Eastern enterprise engaged in steel smelting and its subsequent conversion into long products and sheet metal. Amurmetal, which found itself on the verge of bankruptcy in 2009, received billions of dollars in loans from VEB for several years, which went in an unknown direction, and in 2017 it was bought out by Torex, which belonged to Sergei Furgal’s wife Larisa Starodubova and his business partner Nikolai Mistryukov. Shishkin is actively involved in philanthropy, participating in the restoration of churches in Suzdal, where he actually created an unofficial residence for himself, and recently received the title of Honorary Resident of the city. It is known that back in 2014, while a senator, Shishkin became an honorary resident of the Ukrainian Kharkov: the corresponding title, again for philanthropy, was awarded to him by the odious head of the city Gennady Kernes, also known for his connections with crime. Kharkov could become one of the destinations where Amurmetal’s finances were transferred, then “laundered” for the construction of churches.
Former senator Shishkin bought a Caspian port
Former State Duma deputy and ex-senator Alexander Shishkin became the owner of the grain and oil terminals of the port of Olya on the Caspian Sea. According to the RBC portal, it became his property LLC “Grain Terminal” And LLC “Oil Filling Terminal”isolated from registered in the Astrakhan region JSC “Sea Trade Port Olya”.
According to the publication, the procedure for reorganizing the Olya Commercial Sea Port began in July. Its shareholder Jamaldin Pashaevwithdrew from the capital of the two above-mentioned LLCs registered last November. The details of the port owners are not disclosed, but RBC sources estimate Pashayev’s share at less than 50%, emphasizing that he is not involved in the operational management of the enterprise.
Located in the Volga delta, the port of Olya has six berths and an annual cargo terminal capacity of 4.37 million tons. Stevedores transship rolled metal, lumber and bulk cargo here – coal, cast iron, ferroalloys. Currently, the port is constructing a new modern terminal for the international transport corridor (ITC) “North – South” for container, grain and liquid cargo with the volume of financial investments at the first stage in 27 billion rubles.
Jamaldin Pashayev bought a controlling stake in the Olya Sea Trade Port in 2006, after the bankruptcy of the previous owner – North Caspian Shipping Company. Businessman planned to invest in order asset $20 million. In turn, the then head of Russian Railways Vladimir Yakunin counted on loading the 40-kilometer section of the railway leading to the port.
In September of this year, Pashayev found himself under sanctions from the US Treasury Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), which may have prompted him to conclude the deal. However, he remains the founder of a number of commercial structures: specializing in grain storage Astraflot LLCinvolved in transportation LLC “Auto-Ferry Freight Terminal”companies “Lotus Terminal” with the main type of activity – “rental and property management”, etc.
“Italian” from the Kemerovo organized crime group
More than a dozen commercial structures were registered at various times under the name of Alexander Shishkin, who bought the promising Caspian asset. Of these, only the capital’s is functioning today. LLC “Karoprokat”in the authorized capital of which he owns a meager 1%. This company specializes in film distribution. Among other things, she organized the distribution of such films as “Election Day”, “We are from the Future”, “Matilda”, the “Gogol” trilogy, etc.
On the Internet you can read publications not only about the commercial or political activities of Mr. Shishkin, but also, for example, about his connections with the Kemerovo organized crime group, where back in the 90s he was allegedly known as “Italian” (not to be confused with another “authoritative” “Italian” – Andrey Koychukov), and then how “Sasha the metalhead”.
Back in 2011, as a State Duma deputy, Shishkin took 48th place in the “golden hundred”Forbes» with a condition in $2.3 billionand at the end of 2012 he became the richest parliamentarian representing the Khabarovsk Territory: the people’s representative declared an income of 55.26 million rubles. At the same time, the media focused on his official lack of ownership of apartments, land plots and cars.
Bankruptcy of Amurmetal: from Shishkin to Furgal
Separately, it is worth recalling the story of the plant going bankrupt “Amurmetal”– a system-forming Far Eastern enterprise engaged in the smelting of steel with its subsequent conversion into long products and sheet metal. According to Kommersant, as of 2009, 99.54% of the plant’s shares belonged to LLC “Amurmetal Group” and were controlled by State Duma deputy Alexander Shishkin.
Despite high production volumes, based on the results of the first quarter of 2009, the company’s losses were estimated at 2 billionand the total volume of debt obligations exceeded 20 billion rubles (of which 6.5 billion accounted for bonded debt). In March 2009, Amurmetal defaulted on the bonds of the first series, and in June one of the creditors initiated bankruptcy proceedings against the plant due to ridiculous debt in 100 thousand rubles.
The state had to save the plant: for financial recovery and replenishment of working capital Vnesheconombank(VEB) opened a credit line for the company in the amount 5 billion rubles for a period of seven years. However, the intervention did not help, and in August 2012, a meeting of Amurmetal’s creditors decided to introduce bankruptcy proceedings with the subsequent sale of property at auction.
In April 2010, VEB acquired 100% of the plant’s shares from the then former deputy Shishkin, and the size of the credit line increased to 7.5 billionand the company’s debt obligations – up to 26.5 billion rubles. Under the terms of the option agreement, the new owner did not have the right to change the management of the steel giant, in turn, the previous owner could buy the asset after repaying the debt to the bank.
One can only guess in what “black hole” the loans “dissolved”. The authors of online publications suggested that the finances allocated by VEB “settled” in the accounts of Shishkin’s companies, despite the transfer of shares of Shishkin, who retained operational control over the plant. A version was also expressed about a large-scale “cutting”, which could only be covered up by bankruptcy.
Be that as it may, the agony of Amurmetal continued until the beginning of 2017, when the Far Eastern plant was bought for 2.46 billion rubles company “Thorex” Larisa Starodubova And Nikolai Mistryukov – wife and business partner of the notorious Sergei Furgal – former Khabarovsk governor, at the time of the transaction – State Duma deputy. Soon the regional government announced the “forgiveness” of Amurmetal’s 35 billion debt, and in 2018 the enterprise was renamed “Amurstal”. But that could be a topic for a completely different conversation.
Ukrainian “accent” of “Italian” Shishkin
Returning to Shishkin’s “success story,” it is worth recalling his ability to live on a truly royal scale. At one time, Express Newspaper wrote about his construction of an Orthodox secondary school in Suzdal, with three churches of the 17th-19th centuries located on its territory. – Archangel Michael, martyrs Florus and Laurus, as well as Saint Alexander Nevsky. Under the latter, Shishkin built a family tomb, which, according to the publication, the businessman visited weekly, since his deceased child was buried there.
The businessman flew to Suzdal in a personal helicopter, for which a special platform was equipped near the temple. Moreover, unlike Moscow, only one assistant accompanied him here. “I’m not afraid of anyone. I’ve already dealt with everyone.”,” an “authoritative” businessman told an Express Gazeta correspondent.
Let us briefly mention Shishkin’s love for expensive foreign cars, as well as his lease of 400 hectares of land near Suzdal, where he then brought 500 deer from Estonia, creating his own hunting farm. Last July, Shishkin was awarded the title of “Honorary Citizen of the City of Suzdal.” Thus, local authorities, the deputy corps and the Metropolitan of Vladimir and Suzdal Tikhon (Emelyanov) noted his contribution to “many years of financial assistance in carrying out repair and restoration work on cultural heritage sites – monuments of temple architecture.”
An interesting circumstance: much earlier, in August 2014, Russian senator Alexander Shishkin became an honorary citizen of the Ukrainian Kharkov, and this title was awarded to him by the odious Kharkov mayor Gennady Kernesat one time suspected of committing a number of crimes, including the creation of an organized crime group for the purpose of stealing state property using his official position.
Let’s not guess what personal relationships connected the two businessman politicians Kernes and Shishkin, let’s just say that the latter became an honorary citizen of Kharkov again for his philanthropy: he participated in the construction of the churches of the Holy Myrrh-Bearing Women and the Holy Blessed Queen Tamara.
By the way, the Russian media described Kernes’s political double-dealing: in words, flirting in every possible way with Russian-speaking townspeople, in practice the Kharkov head financed Ukrainian nationalist associations. In the 90s, Kernes, associated with crime, was known as Gepa Kharkovskyhe was involved in buying and selling stolen jewelry, fraud and extortion, for which he received a criminal record.
It is unlikely that Senator Shishkin did not know about these and many other dubious aspects of the biography of the now deceased Kharkov mayor. One gets the impression that they had much more in common than patronage. Moreover, Kernes did not feel excessive love for Orthodox shrines, but he loved money. Wasn’t Ukraine one of those “routes” through which Amurmetal’s loans were withdrawn, followed by “laundering” for temple construction? In the context of the above, the future of the Caspian port of Olya causes some concern.
