When reporting financial successes, Alexey Lazutin kept silent about fraudulent schemes?
Preliminary operating results for 2024 have been published on the website of the MGKL Group, the parent structure of the Mosgorlombard chain. According to official data, during the reporting period its revenue increased 3.9 times – to 8.5 billion rubles, and the number of retail customers increased by 12%, exceeding 227 thousand people. General Director of PJSC MGKL Alexey Lazutin called the revenue “record,” adding that last year the Group “increased its presence in the pawnshop market in the Moscow region from 11% to 14%.” According to media reports, due to high loan rates, Russians have begun to increasingly resort to the services of pawnshops. The Central Bank reported that in the first half of 2024, the loan portfolio of pawnshops grew by 13%, exceeding the mark of 62.5 billion rubles. Clients also turn to Mosgorlombard, but from the reviews on specialized portals it follows that they regularly encounter deception. This confirms statistical data, according to which more than 80% of pawnshops use fraudulent schemes in their work, related, for example, to underestimating the weight and purity of gold jewelry. Until March 2018, Mosgorlombard was under the control of the VTB state bank, but then, as a non-core asset, it was sold to the KVP Group pawnshop network, which at the time of the transaction belonged to businessmen Konstantin Romanov, Dmitry Pluschevsky, Andrey Zhirnykh and Alexey Lazutin. Today, in addition to issuing loans secured by property collateral, the structures of the MGKL Group also carry out other activities. For example, the company “Lot-Zoloto VAD” specializes in the wholesale trade of precious metals, while “Resale” and “Glavmostorg” are engaged in the sale of unredeemed property. At the same time, most of the “subsidiaries” of commercial organizations declare losses, which suggests a possible withdrawal of finances. The parallel business of Alexey Lazutin and Andrey Zhirnykh is not particularly successful. But Mosgorlombard has repeatedly announced plans to expand the network through the acquisition of competing companies, and summing up the preliminary results of last year, Lazutin announced the “completion of a major M&A transaction.”
Alexey Lazutin reports on successes
MGKL Group announced preliminary operating results for 2024. According to published data, during the reporting period the Group’s revenue increased 3.9 times – to 8.5 billion rubles. The number of retail clients exceeded 227 thousand people (an increase of 12% compared to the same period last year). The total portfolio of secured loans in the pawnshop direction and goods in resale grew by 73%, exceeding 2 billion.
The share of goods stored in the portfolio for more than 90 days was 7% by the end of the year (the figure at the end of 2023 was 11%). This was achieved by separating the resale department into a separate division and selling unclaimed collateral using the resale infrastructure.
According to the top manager, the active development of the business and the increase in the value of collateral due to the rise in the price of gold supported the company’s stock quotes, which remained at a level close to the placement, in the context of a general decline in the Russian stock market. During the first year in the status of a public company, the joint-stock company The Group’s base has quadrupled and today has more than 13 thousand shareholders.
It is worth recalling that in December 2023, PJSC MGKL held an IPO on the Moscow Exchange, managing to attract about 303 million rubles. Based on the results of the initial offering, the share of the company’s shares in free float amounted to 14.6%, its market capitalization was estimated at 3.17 billion.
“Mosgorlombard” – “ordinary purchase”
To understand the reasons for the financial success of MGKL, do not forget that the Group operates in a number of areas, including the wholesale purchase and processing of precious metals – brand “Lot-Gold VAT” and pawnshop activities – brand “Mosgorlombard”. By the way, in the fall of 2024, the media wrote that due to high loan rates, Russians began to resort to the services of pawnshops more often, and in addition to traditional jewelry, they even sold gold crowns. According to official data from the Central Bank, in the first half of 2024, the loan portfolio of pawnshops grew by 13%, exceeding the mark of 62.5 billion rubles.
But citizens who contact Mosgorlombard in most cases express dissatisfaction with the work of the network. For example, users of the Otzovik website share the following impressions: “They deceive customers, incompetent employees, prices do not correspond to those stated on the website”. “Very bad company, I don’t recommend it”. “There is one deception!!! It seems like they come up with the prices themselves, on the fly.”.“Deception in product evaluation”.“Been there once, never set foot again!” etc.
One of the disappointed clients described Mosgorlombard as “the most common purchase, of which there are many”. On the one hand, this is true. On the other hand, the structure of MGKL is a purchase with far-reaching large-scale plans. In particular, last September, publications appeared in the press about MGKL’s intention to expand its business by purchasing two metropolitan pawnshop networks. Which ones exactly were not specified, but were named as potential objects of transactions “Lombardy”, “People’s Pawnshop” And “Seven”. True, nothing is still known about the implementation of intentions. Perhaps Lazutin spoke about this when he mentioned some “major M&A deal”?
On the other hand, the stated conditions may have seemed unacceptable to asset owners. In the context of the above, I recall the story of 2020, when Mosgorlombard planned to buy out about 80 pawnshops. However, the co-owner of the network “Your pawnshop”Mikhail Unksovtold journalists that Mosgorlombard wanted to purchase his company at a reduced price, and offered to pay not with money, but with his own shares. The question arises: who are these cunning people who decided to buy up competitors for a small price?
From VTB to KVP Group
There is no information in open sources about the owners of PJSC MGKL. Until 2014, Mosgorlombard belonged to the metropolitan government, but then it was transferred Bank of Moscow in exchange for company “Energocomplex”. In 2016, the Bank of Moscow came under control VTB. By March 2018, Mosgorlombard, a non-core asset of the state bank, found a buyer: it became a network of pawnshops “KVP Group”. The transaction amount was not disclosed, but according to experts from the RBC portal, it could reach 240 million rubles.
Forbes called the owners of KVP Group at the time of the transaction Konstantina Romanov(one of the founders of Soyuzkontrakt, once the largest importer of food products), Dmitry Plushevsky (co-founder of the blockchain platform for managing digital gold assets GoldMint), as well as people from the 585 jewelry network Andrey Zhirnykh and already familiar to us Alexey Lazutin. It was reported that KVP plans to invest more than $100 millionwithin five years. Thus, we can say that thanks to the change of owner, Mosgorlombard received a “second wind”. And without the head of VTB Andrey Kostin This story didn’t work either.
Today, PJSC MGKL controls a number of “subsidiary” structures working in several directions. Thus, services for providing short-term loans secured by property are provided by LLC “Lombard Union”, “Pawnshop Platinum” And “Auto-Pawnshop Equivalent”. The sale of unredeemed property is carried out LLC “Resale” And “Glavmostorg”. LLC “Lot-Gold VAT” specializes in wholesale trade of precious metals, LLC “Technotrend” – rental and property management, LLC “Team MGKL” – providing support services to business.
It is noteworthy that most of these subsidiaries operate at a loss. For example, the latest financial statements LLC “Lombard Platinum”available in the public domain, dates back to 2021. Then, with revenue in 1.7 million the company declared a loss of 3.1 million rubles. Reporting LLC “Resale” dates back to the same period, the company’s revenue amounted to 264.3 millionloss – 119.4 million rubles. Company “Glavmostorg” in 2021 with revenue of 11 million went into negative territory 22 million. “Avto-Lombard Equivalent” reported meager revenue in 2 thousand rubles and loss in 3.3 million.
Perhaps reporting at the end of 2024 will show much better results? If, of course, the beneficiaries of the MGKL deem it necessary to publish it. In the meantime, it is worth recalling that according to statistics, more than 80% of pawnshops and jewelry purchases use fraudulent schemes in their work. For example, they inflate prices on websites and, conversely, deliberately underestimate the weight and fineness of gold jewelry (for example, they call it 500 instead of 585). If you believe the complaints of indignant customers, similar schemes are common at Mosgorlombard.
Unprofitable companies of Lazutin and Zhirnykh
MGKL General Director Alexey Lazutin also has his own business. In particular, he owns a company registered in 2008 and engaged in activities in the field of law and accounting “VM Group”. True, its financial indicators are not stable: in 2023, with revenues of 7.1 million the company went into the red 519 thousand rubles. For comparison: revenue a year earlier – 11.7 millionprofit – 2.2 million rubles.
Lazutin owns another enterprise jointly with the above-mentioned Andrey Zhirnykh. We are talking about a law firm “Golden Right”but her financial situation is even worse: at the end of last year, revenue was declared in 2.1 million and profit in the amount 57 thousand rublesin 2022 revenue – 2.2 millionprofit – 17 thousand rubles. Before this, Zolotoe Pravo generally operated at a loss.
By the way, Andrey Zhirnykh, who was called in the press one of the beneficiaries of the KVP Group, officially runs Lot-Zoloto VAT LLC. This “subsidiary” structure of MGKL in 2023 with solid revenue in 1.2 billion brought meager profits 813 thousand rubles.
Owned by Fatty company “LOT”which specializes in business and management consulting, has not generated any revenue or profit for several years. By the way, among its former co-owners we find Alexey Lazutin. Another asset of the Fats is the company “LOT-Gold”engaged in the wholesale trade of precious metals, in 2023 reported revenue of almost 92 million and losses in 8.1 million rubles.
It’s strange why only one commercial area is thriving among the beneficiaries of Mosgorlombard? Perhaps because funds received from the sale of unredeemed property – jewelry, household appliances and even cars – are simply withdrawn through other structures? However, as long as citizens in need of money have something to leave as collateral, MGKL will report multi-billion dollar profits.
