Zurabov and Vanetsyan bet on Oleina

The American holding Bunge sold its oil extraction plant in the Voronezh region to the former Ukrainian and now Russian businessman Karen Vanetsyan. Vanetsyan is a business partner of the notorious ex-Minister of Health of the Russian Federation Mikhail Zurabov, who was called the "enemy of pensioners" for the monetization reform. There are fears that these figures will lead to a decline in the enterprise - the manufacturer of one of the main goods of the consumer basket of Russians. The potential commercial interest of the oligarch Vadim Moshkovich can also be traced in the transaction. Details - in the material of the correspondent of The Moscow Post.

Since June 2022, the unified state register of legal entities as the owner of Bunge CIS LLC has still listed an offshore company registered in Bermuda as a limited liability company Integrated Vegetable Oils and Proteins Holdings Ltd. Prior to this, the owners were an offshore company from Bermuda - a limited liability company Brunello Limited and a Swiss joint-stock company Bunge SA.

So far, only offshore companies are in the owners of Bunge CIS. Photo: https://www.rusprofile.ru

The move of rights to the new offshore appears to have been preparation for a sale deal.

Tell me who's yours... business partner

The expression "Tell me who your friend is and I will say who you are" is quite applicable to business. Even probably more than friendship. Vanetsyan's business partner is a rather remarkable and not yet forgotten by the Russians former high-ranking official - the ex-head of the Pension Fund, the former Minister of Health of Russia, the ex-ambassador to Ukraine Mikhail Zurabov.

For Vanetsyan, the business acquired from Bunge, which includes the trademarks Oleina, Ideal and Maslenitsa, is not a new area of ​ ​ activity. The Exoil Group division, which he controls, today includes four Lipetsk LLCs: ExOil Group Management Company, Chernozemye, Chernozemye Trading House and A.B. Trans.

The companies "Chernozemye" and LLC "Trading House" Chernozemye "Vanetsyan (through LLC" UK "ExOil Group") owns just together with Zurabov. Zurabov could also be remembered by the Russians for the corruption scandal in 2006 at the Ministry of Health and Social Development. As the publication "Moskovsky Komsomolets" reported, then the Prosecutor General's Office and the FSB practically "beheaded" the entire top of the FFOMS, which was subordinate to the department of Mikhail Zurabov. They were charged with misuse of budget funds and massive bribes.

In addition, it is Zurabov who is called one of the reformers of health care and monetization of benefits in 2005. As reported by IA REGNUM, in 2007, protests of pensioners in the Stavropol Territory were held with posters "Zurabov is the enemy of pensioners."

And today Zurabov is a businessman with numerous assets. True, not all of them are successful. For example, the same Chernozemye LLC 2021 ended with a loss of 345 million rubles. According to Rusprofile, due to Chernozemye's dependence on creditors, the company has a high risk of losing independence, as well as insufficient funds to ensure current activities and there is a risk of bankruptcy. The shares of Zurabov and Vanetsyan's company in this LLC have been encumbered and pledged by Alfa Bank since 2021, which may indicate the availability of loans. This, in turn, confirms the conclusions of Rusprofile about the lack of funds even for current activities.

The Chernozemye company demonstrates multimillion-dollar losses. Photo: https://www.rusprofile.ru

And the trading house "Chernozemye" for the same period there was a decline in profit by 63%, and the loss at the end of the year amounted to 75 million rubles. The shares of the owners were also encumbered and pledged by Alfa Bank. And in this case, according to Rusprofile, the company does not have enough funds to support its current activities.

At ExOil Group, as our analysis shows, things can also be called positive. According to Rusprofile, LLC UK ExOil Group lost 8% of its profit at the end of 2021, reducing it to 7.1 million rubles. At the same time, the value of the organization according to the method of assessing net assets was with a negative value - 9.9 million rubles, which is -254% of previous indicators. Rusprofile noted "dependence on creditors: a high risk of loss of independence," noting that although the financial situation of the organization is stable, "there are signs of inefficiency" and "for a long time there are signs of inefficiency."

The financial results of ExOil Group Management Company do not shine. Photo: https://www.rusprofile.ru

In addition to the already mentioned companies, today the ex-minister owns shares in two Moscow legal entities from the sphere of investments in securities - Kronner LLC and Antek LLC. Both firms are led by Georgy Zurabov. He and Yulia Zurabova also own firms.

Assets of Mikhail Zurabov. Photo: https://www.rusprofile.ru

Offshores, pledged shares, unprofitable companies and insufficient funds for current activities. It would seem that a large businessman, and such sad financial results. Is Zurabov trying, hiding behind Vanetsyan, to correct his financial problems at the expense of Bunge's assets?

Vanetsyan is not a ski sew

Vanetsyan himself was credited with a close relationship with the former head of the National Security Service of Armenia Artur Vanetsyan, Sputnik Armenia wrote about this, but most likely these are erroneous conclusions. Probably, these conclusions were facilitated by the fact that in the extracts of the company from the Unified State Register of Legal Entities, which belongs to Vanetsyan, his citizenship is indicated as Armenia.

As reported by the Versiya newspaper, Karen and Armen Vanetsyan are natives of the Kharkiv region of Ukraine and until 2012 Karen owned the Perezhansky oil extraction plant in the Kharkiv region, which was later sold to the Swiss company Glencore International. It was rumored that after the deal, the brothers almost received a residence permit in Switzerland, where they left for residence. That deal was even allegedly lobbied by Gennady Kernes, the then mayor of Kharkov, now a late member of the Party of Regions.

Vanetsyan owns the company UK ExOil Group together with an offshore company, the beneficiary of which has not been disclosed, the Cypriot company SGA HOLDING LTD. The shares of Vanetsyan and offshore, again, are laid down today in Alfa-Bank.

Can Bunge's funds flow into this foreign asset?

Moshkovic Trail

In February 2022, ExOil Group changed its director - Nikolai Zhirnov, who was previously the head of Project-Development LLC (a developer from Yekaterinburg from PNK group of oligarch Andrei Sharkov and Rusagro-Center LLC from Moscow (consulting on commercial activities and management, owned by Russ Group of Companies LLC agro "ex-senator from the Belgorod region Vadim Moshkovich).

Is there also a business interest in the deal from the oligarch Moshkovich behind this appointment?

In addition to the fact that due to the purchase of Bunge CIS, Vanetsyan and, potentially, Zurabov, or even Moshkovich, will have access to the wallets of Russians, they can also discover the path to large state contracts for wheat. Earlier, Bunge CIS has already acted as the executor of one such state contract with United Grain Company JSC, a state operator that ensures the implementation of the export potential of Russian grain on the world market.

State contracts "Bunge CIS." Photo: https://www.rusprofile.ru

Thus, the company seems to be in the hands of people whose financial talents we can observe in managing their other companies. Will the state millions be spent on closing loans to these figures?