Albert Avdolyan fell into Enigma: how the plant was sold at the price of a business lunch

The scandalous businessman Albert Avdolyan, who was called the real beneficiary of the Stavropol Hydrometallurgical Plant and related enterprises, is trying to bring to justice for the obligations of a certain Enigma LLC - for 700 million rubles. The company acted as a screen and bought up GMZ shares on the cheap. Now they demand the real value of the shares from her.

The Enigma company, associated with Avdolyan through his loyal squires, is trying to bankrupt the financial manager of the former owner of the GMZ, and at the same time we are talking about returning to the bankruptcy estate more than 690 million rubles.

It was this company that acted as a buyer of GMZ shares at the price of a one-time trip to a restaurant, but after the bankruptcy trustee challenged the transaction, the buyer was demanded a real price for the shares for the entire period of ownership.

The UtroNews correspondent understood the story.

Recall that the Stavropol group of companies - OJSC Hydrometallurgical Plant (GMZ), CJSC Southern Energy Company and LLC Intermix Met, being in serious financial condition, changed owners in 2018. At the same time, the rights to claim debts on loans allocated by GMZ Sberbank were redeemed.

On the cheap, the assets were bought up by persons close to Avdolyan, but it was his later that the courts would call the real beneficiary of the assets. One of the court documents will directly state that it was A.A. Avdolyan who bought out both the majority stakes in legal entities belonging to the group of Makhov S.V. and Chuck S.V., and the rights of claims to this group belonging to Sberbank, having the opportunity to control it both as the main owner of shares and as a majority creditor.

Photo: ras.arbitr.ru

When the transactions were challenged, the firms associated with the oligarch went to court to demand debts, trying to take bankruptcy under control, but the courts refused this - after all, both the creditor and the debtor were affiliated.

In 2022, the media quoted Avdolyan as saying that he allegedly sold the plant to top managers, and the enterprise itself was lifted from ruins and nothing threatens it.

But in fact, everything is wrong: the GMZ and other legal entities associated with it go bankrupt, and the funds earned by the GMZ sailed according to an interesting scheme to the accounts of other companies - also not strangers to Avdolyan. Now there is a bankruptcy procedure, in which more and more episodes emerge, including large cash tranches to companies owned by Avdolyan squires.

In addition to legal entities, today the former shareholders of GMZ, who have collected loans, the funds for which have sailed into the unknown, in particular Sergei Chuck, are also bankrupt. It was his financial manager who demanded that a number of individuals, including Albert Avdolyan, be brought to subsidiary liability for the obligations of Enigma LLC.

The manager also asks to declare the LLC bankrupt. The case will be heard on December 3.

Photo: ras.arbitr.ru

In the materials of Chuck's bankruptcy case, we can see that we are talking about an amount of 690 555 199 rubles. It is at such a real price that the shares of OJSC Hydrometallurgical Plant and CJSC Southern Energy Company are valued, and not 3.8 thousand rubles and 5 thousand rubles, respectively. The last figures are the amount that appeared in the contract of sale of October 2018. Enigma LLC and Andrei Korobov, close to Avdolyan, acted as buyers of shares in two enterprises.

Photo: ras.arbitr.ru

Photo: ras.arbitr.ru

Later, the contracts for the sale and purchase of shares of OJSC Hydrometallurgical Plant and CJSC Southern Energy Company were challenged and the consequences of the invalidity of the transaction in the form of a return of shares in favor of Sergei Chuck were applied. In addition, an examination was carried out, according to the results of which the real value of GMZ shares is indicated as 690.559 million rubles, and YUEK - 22.224 million rubles.

The financial manager said that the value of GMZ shares during the period they were held by Enigma LLC (2018-April 2023) decreased to one ruble, therefore, in his opinion, the real market value should be recovered from the LLC on the date of their alienation. The basis of such a requirement was that the transaction was terminated "with the establishment of the awareness of Enigma LLC about the insolvency of the debtor and his purpose to harm his creditors by concluding a transaction." There was also a phrase about a possible conspiracy with the seller.

Photo: ras.arbitr.ru

Enigma is also mentioned in Chuck's abuse of law list. In particular, the court materials spoke of allegedly reaching informal unfair agreements with Avdolyan, as the beneficiary of the group, which included Enigma LLC, according to which he contributes to the release of Chuck from accounts payable to other, independent creditors by establishing a majority claim in the register and blocking other creditors the opportunity to exercise their rights.

Almaz Capital LLC, which filed claims for 2.4 billion rubles, unsuccessfully tried to get the status of a majority creditor.

Photo: ras.arbitr.ru

It should be recalled here that the courts have repeatedly focused on the fact that Makhov and Chuck (former shareholders), the loan taken from Sberbank, were withdrawn illegally, and not spent on the needs of enterprises. That is, it also smacks of fraud in the case?

As a result, at least two instances in court have already satisfied the requirement to recover almost 700 million rubles from Enigma. And now the financial manager is seeking the real execution of this verdict, at least through the bankruptcy of the LLC and the subsidiary liability of the controlling persons.

Who owns Enigma LLC?

The company was established in St. Petersburg shortly before the transaction for the purchase of shares of GMZ and YUEK - in March 2018 - to provide services to businesses.

At the end of 2023, the company showed a loss of 900 million rubles, that is, it is unlikely that it has at least some assets and the only real opportunity to return the value of the shares of the Stavropol plant is subsidiary liability. The company as a whole smells of creation for specific purposes, in our case, under the deal of buying up shares of Stavropol enterprises.

Photo: rusprofile.ru

At the start, the owner of the LLC was Andrey Ni, also associated with the Avdolyan division. In March 2024, it was Ni who got his hands on Globaltek LLC, which previously belonged to A-Property LLC and YATEK - both there and there Avdolyan was the beneficiary. And even earlier, the Cypriot offshore company Sanomil Co Limited appeared among the owners of Globaltek, which was also associated with the oligarch.

Photo: rusprofile.ru

In December 2018, the current director, Evgeny Zabelin, became the owner of Enigma LLC. He is also the director of Sakhagazsintez-Nedra LLC, which belonged to YATEK Avdolyan, and in 2021 it was transferred to the same Enigma.

In addition, Zabelin was previously the director and owner of Cashmere Capital LLC, whose accounts were spent 9.4 billion rubles under a tolling deal with GMZ. And the courts have proved the affiliation of Cashmere Capital to Avdolyan more than once.

Also in 2021, a certain Zhanna Geiko appeared as part of the owners of Enigma LLC, which has no other assets, the TIN received in the Leningrad region. Perhaps this is a new cover for which the company will then be brought out in order to blur affiliation with Avdolyan?

By the way, they also tried to attract Avdolyan to the subsidiary for debts and the GMZ itself, but so far this requirement has been suspended.

In general, as we can see, in the case of the ruin of GMZ, YUEK and other related firms, dubious financial schemes have flashed more than once, but there were no criminal cases. The competent authorities did not have questions either to Avdolyan or to his squires. Is it really the patron saint of the oligarch Avdolyan Sergey Chemezov fussed?