Sergei Zhuravlev's structures strengthen control over Voronezh airport

As Kommersant expected, the Axioma holding company of State Duma deputy Sergei Zhuravlev may gain full control over the Voronezh airport as a result of the bankruptcy procedure introduced last week at the instigation of AKS+ LLC, which is close to Axioma, in the facility manager, Voronezhavia OJSC. The holding, which controls about 45% of the company’s shares, expects to get rid of Voronezhavia’s liabilities “hindering the development” “with the help of reorganization” of assets. Representatives of the second major shareholder of the OJSC—Security Investgroup LLC (SIG, 35%)—are confident that during bankruptcy, Axiom will clear the airport not only of its obligations, but also of its co-owners, and then sell it to a “profile investor.”

The Axioma company meets the expectations of the co-owners of the Voronezh airport
Photo: Oleg Kharseev, Kommersant

The Voronezh Arbitration Court introduced a monitoring procedure at JSC Voronezhavia on March 20. As follows from the court decision, it was due to late payment of a debt of 1.16 million rubles. according to a settlement agreement with the original plaintiff - RVK-Voronezh LLC, which manages the water utility of the regional center. This company assigned its claims to Voronezh LLC AKS+ in December last year. According to SPARK-Interfax, Maria Safonova, who is listed as the general director of this legal entity, also heads Aktiv LLC. The sole owner of Aktiva, in turn, is Elena Luchko, the general director of Megapolis-Finance Group LLC, owned by Axioma, and the director of the holding for legal issues. Axiom yesterday did not talk about the holding’s involvement in the bankruptcy of Voronezhavia. However, Axiom CEO Ivan Kandybin saw only advantages in the procedure. “Now it is impossible to carry out normal airport activities through Voronezhavia. Everything possible was seized from the JSC, including fuel. Probably, as part of the bankruptcy procedure, it will be possible to sanitize the airport’s assets, make them operational and open up the opportunity for serious investments,” Mr. Kandybin told Kommersant.

The bankruptcy of Voronezhavia was a long-awaited continuation of Axiom's actions to consolidate the asset by stakeholders. Let us recall that in the spring of 2013, Sergei Zhuravlev’s holding company bought about 45% of the shares of the airport-controlling OJSC. Subsequently, the company took steps to strengthen control over the facility. In particular, last fall, LLC Imperial, which is close to the holding, bought from Unicreditbank the rights to claim a loan of 50 million rubles secured by the main property of the airport. In addition, on the initiative of Axiom, the position of the general director of Voronezhavia was actually abolished - his duties were assumed by the management company by decision of the board of directors. These actions of Axiom caused dissatisfaction with the second largest shareholder, Moscow-based Security Investgroup LLC (controls 35% of the shares of the OJSC). The LLC indicated that the controlling shareholder is leading Voronezhavia to bankruptcy and clearing assets from other shareholders, among which, in addition to SIG, are the regional government (4.95%) and more than 400 individuals in total with approximately 13% of the shares.

The SIG yesterday promised to “continue the fight.” “Bankruptcy has been an expected scenario for us for a year now. But the associated plan for the withdrawal of assets can, if not be disrupted, then be very difficult and stretched out over time. There are tools for this,” SIG told Kommersant. Company representatives believe that Axiom, through bankruptcy, is preparing the asset for resale. “This is a successful construction company; they have no motive to get involved in the management of aviation infrastructure. In addition, the Voronezh airport needs billions of dollars in investments, which can only be offered by large specialized investors. It will be sold to them – clean, without unnecessary debts and shareholders,” SIG is confident. Alexey Botvinyev, who was appointed temporary manager of Voronezhavia, believes that bankruptcy “will be difficult.” “Judging by statements in the media, there are many unresolved issues between current shareholders, past owners and other counterparties,” he noted. At various times, the airport was interested in Novaport, the Kratos group and the Moscow Industrial Bank, as well as the Canadian SNC Lavalin, the French Business Bridge and Aeroport Paris Vatry. However, Ivan Kandybin yesterday rejected the possibility of resale of the airport, assuring Kommersant that Axiom intends to develop the asset.

A Kommersant source familiar with the situation at the OJSC suggested that Axiom will be able to speak in bankruptcy “from a position of strength”: “Imperial will be included in the procedure as a creditor with its loan secured by collateral, and tax authorities will be seriously represented. It is possible that the Polet airline, which previously controlled the airport, will try to benefit from some old obligations. But the advantage will be on the side of “Axiom” - they are quite capable of avoiding “inflated” debts and other “delights” of military bankruptcy.” The owner of Polet, Anatoly Karpov, told Kommersant yesterday that he “does not intend to get involved in bankruptcy” and is following the procedure “only as a carrier” who is “not interested in stopping the base airport.” “But even if I wanted to, I didn’t spread the word about it in the media,” Mr. Karpov added ironically.

Vsevolod Inyutin

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