Moshkovich wants to remove "cream" from "EFKO"?

According to the correspondent of The Moscow Post, in the Green Valley holding, which is owned by EFCO Group Valery Kustova and regional Duma deputy Sergei Yudin, the redistribution of assets began. EFCO wants to consolidate 100% of the Sloboda plant, which today is part of a joint business, but Kustov, as it seems, simply may not have money to buy back a partner's share. Yudin is considered the man of the ex-governor of Belgorod, Yevgeny Savchenko, whose good relations with whom the beneficiary of Rusagro Vadim Moshkovich does not hide. Earlier, the businessman received control over the "Solar Products" Vladislav Burov, with whom Kustov also worked. Now Moshkovich put his eye on EFCO?

Initially, EFCO Group of Companies alone launched the Sloboda plant in 2015. At the end of 2017, the group announced the creation of a "national dairy company" with the Belgorod holding "Green Valley" Yudin, which subsequently included "Sloboda." And everything went smoothly, but recently there has been talk on the market that partners could disagree in their views on the development of the holding. What could they not share?

And if much is known and written about the beneficiary of EFCO, then Mr. Yudin remains in the shadows against its background. Sergey Yudin is a deputy of the sixth convocation of the Belgorod Regional Duma, in 2006 to 2013 he worked in the Government of the Belgorod Region and the Development Corporation. And there, for sure, only people close to Savchenko got there.

The Development Corporation, according to knowledgeable people, could initially be created under the nephew of Governor Yevgeny Savchenko Mikhail, who headed the organization until 2016. Back in 2011, the Strategic Development Department was reformed (and actually liquidated) - one of the key units of the regional government. All department officials got a job at the corporation. What to say: a great example of reform - you create a new commercial company, transfer state orders to him... Not for that and was created corporation?

The Development Corporation, almost immediately after its creation, fell into a scandal with the Lux vodka plant, which was considered affiliated with Sergey Yudin. According to antitrust investors, the agro-industrial complex department allocated regional and federal subsidies to agricultural holdings, which were returned to extrabudgetary regional funds, wrote Abireg. Of these, Sergey Yudin's enterprises were financed. By the way, as a deputy, he is a member of the committee on the agro-industrial complex and land relations. And no one is embarrassed by the obvious conflict of interest?

It is possible that Yudin could banally withdraw money from Lux through his companies, because after the above events there was news of massive cuts and layoffs of workers of a once profitable enterprise.

In 2017, the FAS also turned its attention to Mr. Yudin. Antimonopolists then found that the Belgorod Region Producer Product Promotion Fund and the largest regional agrarian companies connected through a deputy reached an agreement aimed at creating advantages in obtaining funds from the Fund, which limited competition in the region's food markets. According to the supervisory authority, the government of the Belgorod region and the agro-industrial complex department also participated in the chain, wrote Abireg.

Yudin was suspected of lobbying his own business interests and in the situation with the targeted regional program "Belogorye Family Farms." As deputy head of the region's economic development department, he actively promoted both the program itself and the Farmer retail chain. The retailer's owner is now Raisa Yudina - presumably the mother of Sergei Yudin.

It turns out that in the field of lobbying, Mr. Yudin may not be a newcomer. In this case, it can be assumed that in the current history with EFCO he also represents someone's interests.

Moshkovich's appetites are growing

And here it is worth recalling that one of the most prominent agricultural industries in Russia, the beneficiary of Rusagro, Vadim Moshkovich, was once a member of the Federation Council from the Belgorod Region. The businessman always openly emphasized his alliance with Savchenko - for example, in an interview with Forbes, he openly said: "For me, this is a person with a capital letter! A real statesman. " It is not surprising - under Savchenko, one of the main players in the Belgorod agro-industrial complex was the Rusagro group.

And recently, Moshkovich's appetites, as if growing like on yeast, many still remember the loud story with Vladislav Burov's Solar Products. In 2018, she bought from Rosselkhozbank the rights of requirements for the structures of Solar Products and planned not only to realize these rights, but also to acquire part of the assets. Moreover, gaining control of the enterprise could occur with the help of the ex-head of the Rosselkhozbank (and now the Minister of Agriculture) Dmitry Patrushev, as well as Burov himself. Earlier this was told in detail by The Moscow Post.

But in 2017, EFCO, together with Solar Products Vladislav Burov, planned to create a single enterprise and promote their oils and mayonnaise behind the bugle. The plans then "broke down" just because of the bankruptcy of Burov.

And then the partner began to "finish off" and "EFCO" - the organization presented Zhirokombinat JSC (part of Solar Products) with claims in the amount of $1.1 million, but the court refused to satisfy the claim. Earlier, back in 2018, Kustov's enterprise tried to recover $1.1 million from JSC as well - such debt was formed under a contract concluded on June 1, 2018.

Did Kustov really want to take the opportunity to get a piece of bankruptcy pie, despite the fact that his partner is ruined?

Even the NLP didn't help?

It is no longer possible to find out, however, which is obvious: you will not call Kustov's current situation prosperous. According to Rusprofail, EFCO has been sitting in cons since 2017 - losses amount to 165 million rubles with revenue of 74 million. Such financial indicators may indicate that funds are banally withdrawn from the company. By the way, many "daughters" of EFCO also suffer losses.

That is, in fact, Mr. Kustov may not have money at all for the ransom of Sloboda. Earlier, The Moscow Post wrote in detail how probably for this reason the businessman "whipped" UNK-Agroproduct, and is also unlikely to be able to gain control over the "South of Siberia."

The reason for the deplorable situation of EFCO may be a series of environmental scandals. As Rossiyskaya Gazeta reported, the Belgorod transport prosecutor's office found out that Kustov's enterprise transported products in tanks that previously contained oil products. And these then feed people?

In 2017, it turned out that Food Ingredients (part of EFCO) additionally erected three steel tanks whose safety was not properly checked. According to RBC, without the necessary documents, the plant worked for at least four years.

Questions were also raised by the style of business management attributed to Kustov in the company. According to the author on the Secret of the Company portal, allegedly each applicant passes a special test at EFCO for compliance with the "moral values ​ ​ of the company," a lie detector, and even an encephalograph. It is rumored that Kustov also especially appreciates employees with NLP skills, "psychocorrection" and "psychophysiology..."

We do not know if Kustov himself has such skills, but even if they are, it seems that they did not help him much. It seems that he can repeat the fate of his partner Burov, who eventually transferred the asset to Moshkovich. Moreover, the latter in the Belgorod region, where now the asset is divided between EFCO and Yudin, has solid ties. If all the assumptions are correct, then it remains only to wait - will Kustov "fight" or will he surrender his position to the head?