Foundation named after himself: how oligarch Melnichenko can "twist" donations

A big lover of warm countries and luxury, oligarch Andrei Melnichenko, who is rumored to have allegedly received Sibeko's immunity in exchange for injections into charity, may be related to a financial and tax scheme involving a charitable foundation named after himself.

Author: Anastasia Stepanova, 27 August 2024 07:03

How the money of companies from the oligarch's division got into the fund and where they went next, the UtroNews correspondent tried to figure it out.

On the eve of the media reported that the Melnichenko Foundation signed bilateral cooperation agreements with the Ayzon Foundation (Ethiopia), Reach to Teach (India) and Foundation for Social Empowerment and Rejuvenation (FOSER) (Nigeria). On the one hand, it is wonderful when good deeds go beyond some borders, and on the other hand, it is the entry into foreign markets in the light of some nuances that suggests whether there will be a trickle of funds leaving Russia abroad?

The Foundation named after the oligarch Melnichenko was established in 2016, but it began to shine especially brightly in the media space only recently and is estimated at 761 million rubles for 2023. Perhaps this is due to the agreement that was concluded with the Prosecutor General's Office.

According to it, the supervisory authority withdrew the claim for the transfer of Sibeko shares to state revenue, and in exchange, Kuzbassenergo's funds were to be directed to social charity in the field of education and education of children.

They demanded to withdraw the shares in light of the fact that they were bought from offshore companies associated with the ex-Minister of the Open Government Mikhail Abyzov, who was sentenced to 12 years for embezzling 4 billion rubles as part of an organized criminal community. The money was eventually withdrawn through offshore companies from Russia.

The prosecutor, filing a lawsuit against Melnichenko's firms, justified him by the fact that he and the legal entity under his control violated the anti-corruption legislation. But, apparently, the oligarch this time managed to agree and the case was dismissed. By the way, it is surprising, because in recent years almost all the claims of the Prosecutor General's Office for nationalization have been quite victorious. Amusing came out agreement, do not find?

But back to the fund.

In January 2024, it was headed by Tatyana Zhuravleva, a native of state structures. Judging by the open data, she worked at the Diplomatic Academy under the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation, was the chief expert expert of the department for the prevention of corruption and other offenses of the Department of Personnel and Organizational Development of the Ministry of Economic Development of Russia.

In addition, she was the chairman of the all-Russian public organization "Russian management community of participants in the presidential management training program" (RUS) and headed the Center for Urban Competencies of the Agency for Strategic Initiatives (ASI). The same ASI that was created by the government of the Russian Federation and is also engaged in supporting NGOs.

A very, very interesting leader at the oligarch's fund Melnichenko appeared after an agreement with the Prosecutor General's Office.

Photo: rusprofile.ru

By the way, Ms. Zhuravleva is still the owner of a certain LLC "Agency for the Development of Regions," which was the executor of state contracts. The crane company got from Georgy Belozerov, who was a member of many different public councils at various government departments - from the Federal Property Management Agency to the government of the Russian Federation.

Photo: rusprofile.ru

From fund to offshore

The Melnichenko Fund was established by the Siberian Generating Company (SGK), which acted in controversial transactions as a management company in the interests of Kuzbassenergo, SUEK and JSC MHK Eurochem, that is, Melnichenko's division.

In SGK, if we look at the owners, we will meet a couple of offshore companies - Cypriot SIBERIAN ENERGY INVESTMENTS LTD and AIM CAPITAL SI. In this regard, Melnichenko is very fond of abroad.

For example, when Melnichenko and his family in 2023 occupied the first line of the rating of the richest businessmen in Russia, the city of his residence was Ras al-Khaimah (UAE), and in 2024 it was already Dubai. In 2017, Forbes wrote that Melnichenko actually lives on his expensive yacht and spends more than half of the year outside of Russia. The business of the oligarch through Bermuda, Cyprus and Switzerland was previously described in detail by The Moscow Post.

Photo: rusprofile.ru

Having studied the arbitration base, we found a couple of lawsuits involving the fund and SK Sibevrostroy LLC. Judging by the materials of the courts, the latter acted as the contractor for the work under the contract dated 06.08.2019 No. 2019.17, concluded between the Andrei Melnichenko Charitable Foundation, SK Sibevrostroy LLC and the Kuzbass State Technical University named after T.F. Gorbachev. It was about the repair of the Center for Children's Scientific and Engineering Creativity at KuzSTU "UnikUm," located at Kemerovo, ul. Krasnoarmeyskaya, 117. The cost was estimated at almost 14 million rubles.

From another case, we learn some very interesting details. The contractor filed a lawsuit against the university to recover 1.6 million rubles of debt, but the defendant said that he was out of business and sent for money to the fund. Further, it was reported that the contractor received an advance payment from the fund and the donor also makes the final payment for the work performed.

Photo: kad.arbitr.ru

An important nuance: LLC SK Sibevrostroy, which belongs to a certain Mikhail Vdovenko, was the executor of government contracts, and it also appeared in the claims of the Tomsk authorities and in the reports of the Accounts Chamber.

Thus, the Tomsk Accounts Chamber checked the targeted and effective use of budget money spent on social facilities, and as a result, an overestimation of the volume of accepted and paid work in the amount of 497,795,26 rubles was found just under the contract with SK Sibevrostroy LLC. The indicated amount, according to the plaintiff, is an unjust enrichment of the defendant. The claim was satisfied, that is, the violations were confirmed.

Photo: kad.arbitr.ru

Meanwhile, Vdovenko also has a consonant company - Sibevrostroy LLC, which was the executor of government contracts for almost 800 million rubles.

The tax service has claims against the company - the case is still being heard in court. We are talking about prosecution for a tax offense. The details are not yet known, but judging by the company's petition, which disputes the document, we are talking about serious claims.

Otherwise, the LLC would not declare in court that the execution of the contested decision of the tax authority could entail negative consequences for the applicant, cause significant damage, and upset the balance of private and public interests.

Photo: kad.arbitr.ru

A very interesting contractor was at the Melnichenko Foundation. We would even say very experienced and convenient in some aspects, for example, in financial and tax.

And now we remember that under the terms of tax legislation, the philanthropist has the right to benefits, including VAT. Also, the money received in the form of donations is classified as income that is not taken into account when calculating the tax base when calculating the same income tax. And, as we can see, some contractors suffer from an overestimation of the cost of work, and where the cost is higher, the base will be larger, and therefore the benefit is higher, right?

At the same time, the second contractor, which Melnichenko's fund attracted to its projects, is SNP LLC and has already been liquidated today. None will be the wiser?

Melnichenko flashed more than once in investigations. His special relations with some government agencies were also noted. It was rumored that one high-ranking official could help Melnichenko collect a business portfolio from Russian energy assets. Like, the oligarch may have connections with the former Minister of Energy, the current Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak - a native of the so-called Krasnoyarsk political elite.

In the light of the overall picture, the settlement agreement with the Prosecutor General's Office and the subsequent protracted charity with the change of the director of the fund look like an agreement. Will it not turn out that the financial flows of the commercial division, which loves offshore companies so much, will go through the fund?