Murtaza Rakhimov converted power into debt

privatization
Kommersant has become aware of the details of the restructuring of the capital of most of the enterprises of the fuel and energy complex of Bashkortostan, as a result of which the controlling stakes of JSC Bashneft, JSC Bashkirenergo and three oil refineries of Bashneftekhim changed their owners. As a result of the transaction completed a week ago, the entire Bashkir fuel and energy complex became owned by himself and several individuals. State companies BTK and Bashneftekhim received receivables in the amount of 13.4 billion rubles. with unknown prospects for repayment, and the authorities of the republic are confident that the fuel and energy complex will remain under their control even in the event of the resignation of President Murtaza Rakhimov.
Let us recall that the Accounts Chamber, investigating the financial transactions of Bashneft and Bashneftekhim, stated in July that control over the enterprises had been lost: controlling stakes in Bashneft (until April 2003 belonged to the state-owned Bashkir Fuel Company, BTK), four oil refineries ( were controlled by the state-owned Bashneftekhim JSC) and 36.7% of the shares of Bashenergo (former owner - BTK) were sold to a number of LLCs, the founders of which were individuals.
The financial statements of Bashkir companies for the second quarter published yesterday fully confirmed this information. According to Bashneft's report, its controlling stake is owned by three Ufa LLCs: Taimas - 19% of shares (co-owners - Sergey Blokhin, Rafis Galiakbirov, Evgeny Lokhov, Natalya Karavaeva, 25% of shares each), Sotsservis - 19% (each 50% - Messrs. Karavaeva and Blokhin), security company "Shield" - 19% (50% each - Alexander Zyryanov and Evgeny Maksimov). BTK, which previously owned 63.72% of Bashneft shares, sold its shares, as well as a stake in Bashkirenergo, making a profit of 7.556 billion rubles. By 5.667 billion rubles. increased profits through the sale of shares in Bashneftekhim, but lost the shares of Novoufimsky Oil Refinery OJSC, Ufa Oil Refinery OJSC, Ufaneftekhim, Ufaorgsintez and Bashnefteproduct that were on its balance sheet. The new owners of the refinery and Bashnefteprodukt are unknown: according to unofficial data, these are the same Taimas, Sotsservis and Shield, and besides them the companies ATP-99, Neftehimtrans, Khimspetstrans and the oil refining mechanization and transport enterprise, also owned by individuals.
Neither BTK nor Bashneftekhim received money from the new shareholders: the “paper” profit was formed due to an increase in their accounts receivable by 13 billion rubles. That is, the mysterious LLCs simply remained in debt to state-owned enterprises. Little is known about the co-owners of the LLC. Natalya Karavaeva is the personal secretary of the son of the President of Bashkortostan, Ural Rakhimov, and Messrs. Zyryanov and Maksimov, with the rank of police lieutenant colonels, previously held major posts in the local Ministry of Internal Affairs. Sotsservis LLC was previously headed by Valery Speransky, the chief financier of Bashneftekhim, who was shot dead in the entrance of his own house two years ago. The investigation into this case has not yet been completed.
In this form, the scheme for restructuring the fuel and energy complex of Bashkiria was recorded by the Accounts Chamber, and auditors expressed doubts about its legality. However, as Kommersant was able to find out, in reality it was much more complicated. As a source close to Bashneft told Kommersant (he categorically refused to disclose his name in the press), all LLCs in July transferred their shares in controlled companies in the form of a contribution to Bashkir Capital LLC, which thus became the owner of a controlling stake "Bashneft", four oil refineries, "Bashnefteprodukt" and shares of "Bashenergo". The authorized capital of Bashkir Capital amounted to 13.4 billion rubles - an amount close to what the above-mentioned buyers must pay BTK and Bashneftekhim. A week ago, according to the source, all shares in Bashkir Capital were sold to seven companies. 19.99% of it is now owned by the Novoufimsky Oil Refinery, the Ufa Oil Refinery, Ufaneftekhim, Bashneftekhim, 15% by Ufaorgsintez, 4.3% by Bashnefteprodukt, 0.7% by Bashenergo (see. diagram). According to Kommersant's information, individuals also did not receive money for the shares of Bashkir Capital: legal entities allegedly received a ten-year interest-free deferred payment for them.
The result of this entire operation was a structure through which they themselves became the owners of controlling stakes in Bashneft, four oil refineries, Bashnefteprodukt and the largest stake in Bashkirenergo. They have not yet paid $500 million for their “privatization” to the Ministry of Property of Bashkiria. Meanwhile, the visible effect of the operation was the actual independence of the Bashkir fuel and energy complex from the balance of political forces in the republic after the election of its president.
Let us recall that the former manager of Mezhprombank Sergei Veremeenko is actively fighting with Murtaza Rakhimov for this post, and transactions with shares of the Bashkir fuel and energy complex look like a possible protection of controlled property from a change of power. It is obvious that the real value of the entire energy, oil and petrochemical sector of Bashkiria (and we are talking about 80% of these assets) at least exceeds $2 billion. It is curious that, according to Kommersant, the pre-sale assessment of the Ufa refineries was entrusted to certain individual appraisers V. Rakhmatullina and D. Vaimetov.
"Bashkir Capital" can easily repay 13 billion rubles. debt to state-owned BTK and Bashneftekhim, selling no more than 25% of its shares to a strategic investor and maintaining control over the companies for their current management. In fact, the described scheme is the long-awaited privatization of the entire fuel and energy complex of Bashkiria on the eve of the presidential elections.
Kommersant was unable to obtain comments from the companies involved in the transactions, as well as from Bashkir government structures. However, they were previously reluctant to comment on the movement of capital in controlled companies. Minority shareholders of Bashneft, apparently, were not notified of the details of what was happening. David Geovanis, executive director of Basic Element Holding, a minority shareholder of Bashneft, expressed to Kommersant the opinion that the state suffered losses. According to him, “the shares were simply donated, without any auction or competition,” and this could further scare investors away from Bashkir companies, which are currently “severely undervalued due to the fact that investors are afraid of poor corporate governance.”
DMITRY Kommersant-BUTRIN, DENIS Kommersant-SKOROBOGATKO; RAKHMET Ъ-ILKHAMOV, Ufa

Newspaper "Kommersant" No. 149 dated 08.21.2003, p. 5

Authors:

Dmitry Butrin

The Bashkir fuel and energy complex is its own boss