A fan of offshore tax schemes, oligarch Albert Avdolyan owes the state more than 800 million rubles in taxes. 

Perhaps this is another attempt at schemes and we should expect a visit from the competent authorities to the defaulting companies in the near future? 

A MorningNews correspondent looked into the situation  .

Recently, information about the presence of tax debts appeared in the Federal Tax Service database for six of Avdolyan’s companies. The most distinguished companies were Elga-Stroy LLC, whose debts to the budget amounted to 666 million rubles,  Elga-Mining LLC  - 54 million rubles, and  Elga Management Company LLC  - 53 million rubles. Also, taxes were partially unpaid for  Elga-Trans LLC  - 16 million rubles, Elga-Doroga LLC - 9.2 million rubles and Dalmed LLC - 4 million rubles. At the same time, all companies at the end of 2023 were liquid and brought the oligarch and his partners multimillion-dollar profits.

Photo: pb.nalog.ru

The owners of Elga-Stroy, Dalmed, and Elga-Mining are ESMS LLC, which belongs to Avdolyan’s AP Holding JSC, Alexander Isaev’s Energogroup LLC, and Rodion Sokrovishchuk, who comes from a division of the Rostec state corporation. Management Company Elga LLC is owned by A-property LLC of Avdolyan and Energogroup Isaev, and Elga-Trans LLC is owned by A-Property LLC and AP Capital JSC of Avdolyan, Sokrovishchuk and Isaev (through Energogroup ). That is, the demand for these debts can be made from these three defendants. 

Photo: rusprofile.ru

Let us remind you that Alexander Isaev is a former business partner of businessman Dmitry Bosov, who died under mysterious circumstances. The latter fired Isaev shortly before his death in a scandal when he discovered that he was collaborating with his competitor, Avdolyan. As  Kommersant reported  , the chairman of the board of Vostokugol Management Company and member of the board of directors of Sibanthracite Management Company Alexander Isaev was relieved of all positions for abuse and theft. 

Later, Isaev surfaced in Avdolyan’s division, and after the death of Bosov, the two took part in the struggle for inheritance. At the same time, a well-planned persecution was organized against Bosov’s widow. The widow herself also publicly announced a raider attack on the company with the participation of Isaev, but he denied the claims. Meanwhile, after some time, it was Isaev’s new friend, Avdolyan, who received Bosov’s Sibanthracite and other assets, some of which the oligarch resold after some time.

As for Mr. Sokrovishchuk, it is probably not without reason that he has come to light as the head of a number of companies in the division and the owner of shares. It was Rostec and Chemezov who walked the entire path of establishing Avdolyan’s business hand in hand with him. For example, in 2013-2017, it was Rostec that owned a blocking stake in Avdolyanov’s Yota Devices, and in YATEK the support bank of the state corporation had a 21% stake. And Rostec, having received shares in Bosov’s business, then transferred them to Avdolyan. The head of the state corporation, Sergei Chemezov, is also currently on the board of trustees of the New House fund, which was established by the oligarch.

Photo: pointfuture.rf

But let’s return to the tax issue.

Tax schemes

The companies where Avdolyan and his squires appeared were already caught trying to pull off a tax scheme involving offshore companies, which actually covered up investment in one of the projects. That is why the tax issue in this division is attracting increased public attention.

Thus, in 2022, tax officials held a certain Dalniy Port LLC accountable, fining it for illegally declared tax deductions and understating the amount of VAT, arrears. 

“Port Dalniy” then belonged to A-Property Invest LLC (today called “Petr Invest”), which was owned by the Cypriot company POLOCOM HOLDINGS LIMITED. 

The court materials   specified that the port received a loan in 2019, when the owner of A-Property Invest was Nadezhda Kudravets, associated with Avdolyan. Ultimately, taking into account additional agreements, the loan amount was $20 million, and the lender was an offshore company with Cayman Reeco Capital LP.

The tax office considered that this loan was actually covered by investments - direct investments by A-Property LLC in the fixed capital of Port Dalniy LLC. 

Photo: kad.arbitr.ru/

Moreover, the Federal Tax Service established that Albert Avdolyan, being a 100% founder of A-Property Holding JSC (or he was the founder of A-Property LLC), is directly related to Dalniy Port LLC through a number of controlled organizations. 

At the same time, the oligarch’s connection with such foreign companies as Wooden Fish Agency Limited (Cyprus), Globalone Management Group Limited (British Virgin Islands), Victory Trading Company Limited (British Virgin Islands) surfaced. In particular, Ms. Kudravets was the head of the representative office of Globalone Management Group Limited (ВVI) in Russia in 2014-2018, and the company rented the premises from the representative office of Victory Trading Company Limited, the beneficial owner of which was Avdolyan A.A. 

Moreover, both Port Dalniy and Avdolyan were registered at the same address and the oligarch owned Wooden Fish Agency Limited, which operates in the Russian Federation through a representative office. The head of the latter was Irina Vladimirovna Belyanova, the head of a number of Avdolyan’s Russian assets. 

It also turned out that the legal address of Wooden Fish Agency Limited coincides with the legal address of Polokom Holdings Limited, the owner of A-Property Invest LLC (after Kudravets). 

Photo: kad.arbitr.ru/

Offshore with Cayman also turned out to be no stranger to Avdolyan: its director, Vikentios Vikentiou, was also the director of Sparkel City Invest LTD. Later the latter was headed by Avdolyan. 

Let us remember that Sparkel City Invest LTD at one time was left behind in the bankruptcy case of the MRESN holding, where Avdolyan’s relative Eldar Osmanov was a shareholder. Osmanov is currently involved in a criminal case involving the organization of a criminal community, which is suspected of transferring billions of rubles abroad, stolen from the Rosseti division. 

Through a Cypriot company, the oligarch tried to become a creditor of the holding and, probably, snatch a billion or two from the crumbling asset that the offshore allegedly lent.   

Another director of Avdolyan’s companies, Stanislav Vrublevsky, also appeared in the story with MRESN. In particular, he was the director of the Cypriot company RACAST INVESTMENTS LIMITED, and it appeared in the story of the withdrawal of 100 million rubles from the Latvian bank JSC Citadele Banka, in which   Dmitry Gordovich’s BBR Bank was also involved .

Photo: kad.arbitr.ru

And here’s what’s interesting: in A-Property LLC and AP Holding JSC (they are in the chain of tax evaders), the director is Ms. Belyanova, which, as we see, has turned up in the offshore tax scheme, and Vrublevsky is former director of A-Property LLC. Moreover, in 2021-2022, ESMS LLC belonged to Avdolyan’s AP Project LLC, which is now headed by the same Vrublevsky. Interesting coincidence, isn’t it?

If you study the debts of Elga-Stroy in context, it becomes clear that the Avdolyanovskys again tried to save money, including on VAT. The arrears for 2023 exceed 173 million rubles, and for 2024 - more than 419 million rubles.  

Photo: rusprofile.ru

Perhaps the Federal Tax Service should check to see if there was another wrongfully declared deduction with far-reaching prospects?

MorningNews has previously told how in the Elgi division they stamp legal entities and engage in internal lending, transferring money from one pocket to another. In light of tax schemes and arrears, the picture begins to play with different colors. Especially considering Avdolyan and Isaev’s love for foreign money boxes. There is something for the competent authorities to think about.