Who is the CFO in Tsentrobuv. "centro shoes" are not in size. What is known about Dmitry Vernimont

The Ministry of Internal Affairs did not name the person involved in the case, but the media reported that it was really about the company's shareholder Sergei Lomakin. The case is connected with non-payment of money to Gazprombank

The Ministry of Internal Affairs put on the wanted list the top manager of the shoe chain, without specifying the name of the person involved in the case, the name of the company and credit institution... At the same time, as reported by RIA Novosti with reference to a source in law enforcement agencies, it is about "TsentrObuv" and its shareholder Sergei Lomakin. The case was initiated in connection with non-payment of large loans to Gazprombank. At the same time, the source noted that the estimate of the damage inflicted at 9 billion rubles, which appeared in a number of media outlets, is inaccurate, and this is a smaller amount.

Earlier, the Internet resource "Moment of Truth" wrote that Lomakin was accused in a criminal case initiated under the article "fraud". The publication published a notification from the Ministry of Internal Affairs dated August 10 to the victim Gazprombank, which indicated that Lomakin had been put on the wanted list on August 9. It is also known that he has a protracted conflict with the co-owners of TsentrObuv. Is this related to the current problems of the businessman?

According to "Moment of Truth", the owners of "CenterObuv" and Sergei Lomakin and Artem Khachatryan took funds from different Russian banks to maintain economic activity... After that, the money was transferred to the accounts of other enterprises, which were controlled by Sergei Lomakin. One of the main creditors, Gazprombank, contacted the Main Directorate of the Ministry of Internal Affairs in Moscow, to which the co-owners of CenterObuvi owed about 9 billion rubles. Now the Main Directorate of the Ministry of Internal Affairs in Moscow is investigating a criminal case into fraud.

The total debt of the company is currently 40 billion rubles. GC "CenterObuv" owes this money to VTB, MKB, Sberbank and Gazprombank. In 2013-2014, Gazprombank opened a credit line for OOO Centro and JSC TH Centrobuv. According to the documents, the funds were to be used to finance economic activities. When the time came for payments, Lomakin, who at one time founded such successful projects in retail as "Kopeyka" and Fix Price, fled abroad.

As Kommersant wrote in May, less than 200 outlets remained from the network of 1,500 stores. Former partners, in response to the claims of creditors, are turning the arrows to Lomakin: they say, it was he who knocked out loans, determined the strategy and agreed on transactions, after which the company was actually left without funds. At the same time, some experts associate financial difficulties CenterObuvi with a conflict of shareholders.

Earlier, a representative of the retailer said that the management and management of the company, in "close cooperation with Gazprombank", conducted "a comprehensive audit, including for the period of issuance and use of fixed assets." Meanwhile, a Kommersant source familiar with the company's activities connects its financial problems with the conflict of shareholders and with the arrival of the famous businessman Vladimir Palikhata in the company. “He came as a potential investor in the fall of 2015, he was invited by Anatoly Gurevich and Dmitry Svetlov, Sergey Lomakin and Artem Khachatryan opposed. Mr. Palikhata's proposal was to create a new legal entity, on the basis of which the business was to develop in the future. He allegedly intended to invest 4 billion rubles in the project, subject to the consent of all shareholders. However, due to the refusal of Lomakin and Khachatryan for the deal, the money was not received by the company. Mr. Palikhata, according to a Kommersant source, also took part in one of the meetings of the shareholders of the retailer and Gazprombank as an observer.

The reasons for the current situation at CenterObuv are more economic, says Timur Nigmatullin, financial analyst at Finam:

Timur Nigmatullinfinancial analyst at Finam“In general, the situation with TsentrObuvu is somewhat similar to the situation with other companies that sold durable goods - clothing, footwear, household appliances. Against the background of a decrease in real incomes of the population, traffic in stores decreased and the average check fell. Accordingly, the networks in most cases were unable to pay rent. As a rule, the chains cut their stores, actively closing the most unprofitable points, and tried not to increase their debt burden. This strategy proved to be insufficiently effective in the Russian market, and these players did not leave the market. Those networks that did not close unprofitable points or did not close them so actively, increased their debt, and were ultimately forced to leave the market, because the debt load does not allow financing the development of the network. Here, in my opinion, there are more economic reasons than poor management or some external factors. The company is not public, it does not disclose its financial indicators. That is, it is difficult to analyze in detail what is necessary in order to resume activity. Most likely, the company will face a change of ownership. The new owner will have to capitalize on the company, and this will reduce the debt. "

Now "TsentroObuv" is on the verge of bankruptcy. The observation procedure was introduced in relation to the trading house at the end of March. The activities of the former Moscow stores are carried out on behalf of the Fashion Shoes company. Will creditors be able to repay debts?

Elena Gerasimovadirector General of the Yurkollegia company Elena Gerasimova, who, prior to the introduction of the monitoring procedure, helped TsentrObuv's creditors to repay debts under writ of execution“If the companies with which the transactions were carried out currently have assets and something can be collected from them, then the money will be collected and returned to the bankruptcy estate. In this case, lenders have a chance. If the money for transactions has already been passed through several companies, there is no end to it, then the chances, of course, are minimal. A month ago there was money in bank accounts, now the situation has worsened. Fashion Shoes was really created not so long ago. We know that on the eve of the bankruptcy of TsentrObuv the shops were already legally operating as a Fashion Shoes company, that is, all checks were made through to Fashion Shoes. When they tell you that CenterObuv has been bought out, nothing can be bought out within the framework of bankruptcy, because all transactions are controlled by the arbitration manager. As we know, the shops were closed before the bankruptcy of CenterObuvi, the stores were leased, respectively, the lease agreements were renegotiated to another company, that is, we understand that it is simply that the business was actually transferred to another company before the bankruptcy entity... We understand that Fashion Shoes is now operating, which means that it has some kind of turnover, but legally in no way can we impose any requirements on Fashion Shoes, because we often associate with bankruptcies. Schemes for how to transfer business from one company to another are already being implemented taking into account all modern laws in order to former owners it was impossible to make a claim, so I suppose that everything could be done there rather cleanly. "

A representative of the TsentrObuvi shareholder told RIA Novosti that Sergey Lomakin is aware that he is on the international wanted list.

Three years ago, Tsentrobuv was planning an IPO. In the penultimate rating of the largest private companies in Russia, it took 148th place. The company now has multibillion-dollar debts and claims from creditors and former partners. Its shareholders have not been working together for a long time. Some are trying to close their liabilities to banks and sort out a criminal case on the fact of fraud, initiated by Gazprombank. Others collect the wreckage of business in the regions and go for interrogations. On September 14, it became known that one of the retailer's shareholders, Sergei Lomakin, was put on the federal wanted list.

“For me and the rest of the shareholders, this story is not over yet,” says Artem Khachatryan, owner of a 16.4% stake in Tsentrobuvi. The story began in 1996, when wholesalers Anatoly Gurevich and Dmitry Svetlov decided to build a retail network. By 2008, about 300 stores were operating under the name "Tsentrobuv", and the founders of the "Kopeyka" chain Sergey Lomakin and Artem Khachatryan became interested in the dynamically growing business. Having sold "Kopeyka", they looked out where to invest money. Lomakin was familiar with the founders of "Tsentrobuvi", and they themselves asked him to "help with finances." For a third of the company's shares, the partners paid $ 35 million. According to Khachatryan, it seemed to them that the chain of shoe discounters could be expanded to 1000 stores. Together with the subsidiary network Centro, we managed to open almost 1,500. Now there are less than 300 left. The shareholders and management of Tsentrobuvi had too different ideas of what a successful business is.

Monster or pyramid

The chain that sells cheap footwear for the whole family has accelerated well in the wake of the previous crisis. Its revenue grew from 14.2 billion rubles in 2009 to 45.4 billion rubles in 2013. “Sometimes up to 20 stores in different cities could open a day,” recalls one of her former managers. The company has become a leader among sellers of clothing and footwear with a market share of 6% in monetary terms (Euromonitor estimate based on 2015 results).

The arrival of experienced, ambitious and charismatic investors - Sergey Lomakin and Artem Khachatryan - was necessary for Tsentrobuvi, market participants and those who were familiar with the situation within the company unanimously declare. “The manner in which Gurevich did business with Svetlov was more like looking for a black cat in a dark room. They needed a leader who would set the vector of development, and they found him in Lomakin. He literally charmed both of them, ”says a longtime acquaintance of Gurevich. Artem Khachatryan says that he came with Lomakin to Tsentrobuv in order to earn money due to the favorable situation in the shoe market. In the operational management, according to him, the partners almost did not participate: “Neither I, nor Sergey have never been on the staff of the company, but he sometimes advised something for development. For example, he had the idea to launch the youth network Centro. "

Tsentrobuvi's own profit was not enough for aggressive development. “With the arrival of Sergei Lomakin, its model began to resemble a pyramid that had to be quickly erected with constant attraction of borrowed funds, and then sold to foreign investors,” says Dmitry Vernimont, who calls himself a friend of Gurevich (he does not talk about himself). In 2009, Vernimont, under personal guarantees, lent $ 10 million to his old acquaintance, relying on his decency (Gurevich owned 40.4% of the company's shares). Later, the debt was formalized as a loan for one of the structures of a shoe holding.

For the first time, Tsentrobuv announced its IPO in the winter of 2011 by hiring Morgan Stanley and Renaissance Capital as consultants. At that time, the company was valued at more than $ 1.5 billion. Then the plan for placement on the London and Hong Kong stock exchanges was moved by six months due to the instability of the stock market. By May 2012, the owners were already valuing their company at $ 2 billion. “The owners were constantly striving to pump up capitalization as much as possible, sometimes not noticing that they were taking the wrong steps, including opening unnecessary outlets, which were often unprofitable,” comments the founder and the president of the shoe chain Zenden Andrey Pavlov. In 2011, with revenue growth of 51% net profit "Tsentrobuvi" decreased by one third, and the amount of debt obligations more than doubled and amounted to 40% of revenue. In the company's report, these changes were explained by the costs of opening stores and building a warehouse complex: further development the network will make a profit. "
Several times "Tsentrobuv" negotiated with investors, and then thwarted deals. One of Gurevich's former business partners, familiar with the course of the negotiations, recalls a case when, in response to an offer from an Asian fund to sell the company for $ 1.5 billion, the main shareholder walked out, kicking the door with the words "$ 1.8 billion and not a dollar less!"

Lomakin and Khachatryan had enough worries without Tsentrobuv. They developed their own Fix Price network, together with the Germans - the Takko Fashion project, invested in Modis clothing. But in 2013, General Director Andrey Nesterov, who had worked in the company for almost ten years, left Tsentrobuv. He received a $ 5.6 million bonus - remuneration for a record EBITDA of $ 228.9 million in 2012. Now Khachatryan says that the financial indicators of "Tsentrobuvi", in all likelihood, were overestimated by the management, although the shareholders received their dividends. One of the lenders with whom Forbes spoke directly says that the company's balance sheet was drawn. Did any of the shareholders initiate the CEO's departure? According to former manager "Tsentrobuvi", control was taken over by Sergey Lomakin: he took everything strategic decisions - about expansion, volumes of purchases, loans, although in fact he did not put his signature anywhere. Lomakin himself did not find an opportunity to answer Forbes questions. We also failed to communicate with Gurevich.

Outwardly, "Tsentrobuv" still looked successful, including for the owners themselves. “The shareholders believed that the company was a monster and no one would be able to move it,” recalls Andrei Pavlov of his old conversation with Anatoly Gurevich. Indeed, "Tsentrobuv" for a long time determined the rules of the game in its market, until in 2012–2013 it was encouraged by Kari, which opened its stores in shopping centers next to Tsentrobuvue and squeezing it out of the Chinese factories where orders were placed. Other chains of shoe discounters also developed - Zenden, Mattino. In Vernimont's opinion, Tsentrobuv has never been able to build an effective model of repayment of funds. Operating costs were very high - for example, employees of the real estate department were paid, he believes, colossal bonuses both for opening new stores and closing unsuccessful points.
“We should have devoted more time to Tsentrobuvi,” Khachatryan admits now. - When you invest, you need to participate in business development, and I did not. That is why it turned out: they invested 100 rubles, and got 50 ”.

Belated rush

Tsentrobuvi's financial liabilities were of little concern to the company's shareholders until the end of 2014, despite the fact that debts were constantly growing. According to reports received by Forbes from a representative of Lomakin and Khachatryan, over five years, the debt increased 7.5 times - from $ 74.2 million in 2008 to $ 560.8 million in 2013. The growth of the dollar exchange rate at the end of 2014 sharply worsened the situation, doubling Centrobuvi's obligations to Asian partners in terms of rubles. Payments were automatically lost and centralized purchases of goods stopped. “Since the beginning of 2015, the company has been living off footwear stocks worth about 16 billion rubles,” says Vernimont.
In the spring of 2015, Andrei Nesterov returned to Tsentrobuv as a crisis manager. The network's shareholders did not believe that the point of no return had already been passed. Nesterov came not alone, but with an investor - the founder and president of the Legacy Square Capital fund, Vladimir Palikhata. He promised to allocate 4 billion rubles for working capital, but in the end he did not invest anything. As Palikhata explains, because Lomakin and Khachatryan, for their part, did not contribute the agreed amount of 4.2 billion rubles and could not agree on a complete restructuring of debts with all banks.

Artem Khachatryan assures that he and his partner did not promise to invest anything, since they did not conduct any negotiations with Palikhata, they learned about his arrival after the fact and opposed it. “I made the wrong move, trusting Nesterov a second time, who brought Palikhat with him, deceived the shareholders, promising to return the invested funds, and in the end the company was left with debts anyway,” Khachatryan laments. Together with Gurevich, he signed a conceptual agreement with Nesterov: the returned top manager, together with a minority shareholder Dmitry Svetlov, takes over operational management, attracts investors, evens out the situation and settles accounts with shareholders who provided the company with loans from personal funds. In particular, under the agreement, Lomakin was owed about $ 10 million, Khachatryan - $ 4 million. According to Dmitry Vernimont, who has a copy of the concept agreement, the cost of Tsentrobuvi was tied to the number of stores that can be preserved.

The deal to transfer the asset under the management of two managers in exchange for “future payments” looked unnatural, people familiar with the situation say, and caused discontent among the largest lender, Gazprombank. Shareholders' hopes for a successful outcome were dashed when, after the fact, it became known about the transactions carried out without their consent. "Tsentrobuv", according to Vernimont, reassigned the lease agreements for the premises of 270 stores of LLC "Fashion" (the founder, according to SPARK, is a certain Svetlana Yung). A contract for the use was concluded with the same company trade marks Centrobuv and Centro. New goods were purchased through Fashion Shoes. Dmitry Svetlov negotiated deliveries with small importers and local producers. At the end of 2015, it was planned to purchase shoes in Turkey, but nothing came of it due to the crisis in Russian-Turkish relations.

“The shareholders were disunited, everyone tried to realize their ambitions,” recalls Dmitry Vernimont. In the fall of 2015, wanting to get his money back, he agreed to be appointed as an advisor general director "Tsentrobuvi". And he was dismissed in July 2016 at the initiative of President Andrei Nesterov "in connection with the optimization of the management structure." According to Vernimont's calculations, about 4.5 billion rubles were spent on paying interest on loans in 2015. Store maintenance required about 1 billion rubles per 100 outlets. Top managers' salaries averaged 2 million rubles a month. Thus, by February 2016, Tsentrobuvi's financial resources were depleted.

Retail pique

Lomakin suggested that Igor Yakovlev, the founder of Kari, and Dmitry Kostygin, co-owner of Yulmart, take part in saving the network. “A year ago, Sergey Lomakin came to me, he was looking for an expert in the shoe market to assess the situation from the outside and find a solution,” adds Andrey Pavlov from Zenden. “I suggested dividing the loan obligations into parts and solving them in order of priority.” Pavlov intended to participate in closing debts to Gazprombank for 3 billion rubles in half with Lomakin and wanted to get best shops Centro. The fact that everything fell through, he was informed by representatives of the bank. President Zenden says he doesn't particularly regret: there were many nuances that would later raise questions from other creditor banks. Zenden realized its plans to increase its market share by purchasing the Thomas Munz chain. Now he will not take shops from "Tsentrobuvi" under any circumstances: "Outlets offer almost nothing, but we are no longer interested in this."

The total amount of Tsentrobuvi's debt obligations, according to Vernimont, is 37 billion rubles. In the spring of 2016, its largest creditor - Gazprombank (8.6 billion rubles in liabilities) - turned to the Moscow Department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs for Combating Economic Crimes with a request to assess the activities of the owners and management of JSC Trading house Centrobuv ". A case was initiated under Art. 159.4 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation "Fraud in the field business activities»In relation to unidentified persons (Resolution of the Main Investigation Department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs in Moscow dated May 25, 2016). but federal law of July 3, the article was declared invalidated, and the question of the investigation was suspended.

According to the representatives of Sergey Lomakin and Artyom Khachatryan, negotiations on the settlement of the debt are underway with all creditors, including Gazprombank. Vladimir Palikhata, for his part, says: “We are working with banks to acquire rights of claim accounts payable "Tsentrobuvi". Part of the debts in the amount of 1 billion rubles is already at our disposal. " He considers the shoe market to be interesting and promising, but does not talk about further plans.

On October 25, 2016, the Moscow Arbitration Court is scheduled to consider the bankruptcy case of the network at the request of the Credit Bank of Moscow and the Sandorini company, which manages the real estate leased by Centrobuv. Meanwhile

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Shareholder "TsentrObuvi" commented on the wanted list

Sergei Lomakin, a shareholder of CenterObuv, who was previously put on the federal wanted list on suspicion of embezzling a loan taken from a bank, suffered from a campaign launched against him by the controlling shareholders of a shoe chain, the Retail Brands Collection (RBC), which owns 32.6 % "CenterObuvi" in the interests of Sergei Lomakin and Artem Khachatryan.

"The controlling shareholders of the company, which own about 60%, Anatoly Gurevich, Dmitry Svetlov and the president of the CenterObuv group, Andrey Nesterov, in collusion with corporate raiders, controlling the operating business, withdraw the company's assets and prevent the signing of agreements with creditors," RBC said in a statement.

Anatoly Gurevich drove Lomakin and Artem Khachatryan into debt

How CenterObuv went bankrupt

One of the October days of 2015, Anatoly Gurevich, the co-owner of TsentrObuv, gathered the management of the chain and introduced them to the new shareholder Dmitry Vernimont, says former employee companies. “Consider him [Vernimont] instead of me,” Gurevich said.

Another source, a close acquaintance of Gurevich, explains that the businessman borrowed money from Vernimont in order to improve matters at TsentrObuv: for whom the loan was issued - for Gurevich himself or some network structure, the interlocutor could not answer, but he is sure that Gurevich had personal obligations.

As a result, Vernimont got the entire share of Gurevich in "CenterObuv" - 40.4%. Another 32.8% belongs to the former owners of Kopeyka Sergei Lomakin and Artem Khachatryan, 16.3% belongs to the co-founder of TsentrObuvi Dmitry Svetlov. Small shares - 6.7% and 3.3% - belong to Leonid Makaron and Vladimir Levy; 0.5% is on the balance sheet of the company itself (for more details on the ownership structure, see the diagram).

How Palikhata became the main raider of Moscow

Today no one hides that Palikhata is receiving active participation in the fate of "Tsentrobuvi" (other projects of the fund were not disclosed). “Vladimir Mironovich knows how to make bankruptcy! - Dmitry Vernimont, a representative of one of the largest shareholders of the company, Anatoly Gurevich (40.3% of shares), says to Dengam. - By agreement with him, the current general director Leonid Venzhik has been appointed, negotiations are underway with banks. All accounts were transferred to B&N Bank so that the company would not be deprived of the opportunity to conduct operational activities at once, you understand what a tragedy it would be ”. In addition, according to Vernimont, Palihata managed to maintain a network of about 300 stores - they were transferred to the Feshnshoes company, and through the restart of this network it is planned to partially pay off external ($ 140 million debt) and internal (RUB 1.6 billion) creditors and banks. Together with partners Dmitry Svetlov and Leonid Makaron, Gurevich owns a controlling stake, so Palikhata's alliance with this group of shareholders is more than logical. Although Gazprombank is the main creditor (it controls about 40% of the company's debts), Palikhata gained full access to operational management, and minority shareholders, who claim that they are making efforts to pay off their debts (repaid debt to VTB, partly to MKB and Sberbank), such an opportunity , they said, are deprived. How Palikhata, who has neither shares nor debts, in this case managed to gain control over the company is not clear.

Minority shareholders are a group of shareholders removed from management: Sergey Lomakin and Artem Khachatryan (16.4% each). “We, of course, cannot say that there was a takeover of the company in the classical understanding of this process. Palikhata's representative headed the company with the support of its largest shareholders - Gurevich and Svetlov, but this happened in violation of the shareholder rights of RBC (Retail Brands Collection represents the interests of Khachatryan and Lomakin. - "Money"), - Artem Khachatryan believes. - Decisions on the "plant" in the Palikhata company, the change of the board of directors and the general director were accepted without us - we learned about this after the fact. We have never supported the arrival of Palikhata. There were meetings with him, but at them it was clear that he did not plan to help the company, but plans to build new business in the new legal entity, having gained control through the general director over the assets of Tsentrobuvi itself. According to our information, no investments were made in Tsentrobuv. " In addition, Khachatryan notes, "his role in the negotiation process with banks is unclear: he does not cover debts, but the restructuring itself is being hampered." Lomakin and Khachatryan are afraid of Palikhata's assassination attempt on their other retail assets.

Lomakin "shoes"

Repair "CenterObuv"

Another source, a close acquaintance of Gurevich, explains that the businessman borrowed money from Vernimont in order to improve things at CenterObuv: for whom the loan was issued - for Gurevich himself or some network structure, the interlocutor of RBC could not answer, but he is sure that Gurevich had personal obligations.

As a co-owner of a chain of stores, Sergei Lomakin "shod" creditors for 30 billion rubles. and "made legs"

The history of "TsentrObuvi" began in 1992 - Lomakin was a freshman at that time and had not thought about business yet. Moscow entrepreneurs Anatoly Gurevich and Dmitry Svetlov first were engaged in wholesale trade shoes, and in 1996 they opened their first store. The concept of a discounter did not come immediately; entrepreneurs decided to sell Chinese shoes made of artificial materials at minimal prices in the early 2000s. “Few people remember, but it was in TsentrObuv that they were the first to exhibit all the shoes in trading floor: employees need an order of magnitude less, and the customer is more comfortable, ”recalls a former employee of the chain Alla.

Tsentrobuv Trading House was founded in 1992. According to SPARK, 99.9% of the company's shares are registered with the Cyprus-based Plazia Consulting Ltd. The retailer's minority shareholders are also its founders Anatoly Gurevich and Dmitry Svetlov. At the end of 2014, the chain's revenue exceeded 34 billion rubles, and its net profit amounted to about 147 million rubles.

The debtor from TsentrObuv: how a shareholder of the chain ended up on the federal wanted list

A little later, Retail Brands Collection (RBC), which owns 32.6% of CenterObuv Trading House and represents the interests of the wanted businessman and his partner Artem Khachatryan, promptly circulated a statement (available to RBC), in which it indicated that Sergey Lomakin had become a victim of the campaign launched against him by the controlling shareholders of the shoe chain.

Shareholder "CenterObuvi" accused the co-owners of the company in collusion with raiders

The main shareholder of CenterObuv, Sergei Lomakin, who was put on the federal wanted list for embezzling a loan from Gazprombank, knows that a criminal case has been opened against him. This was announced by a representative of the businessman. At the same time, in his entourage, a statement was spread that other co-owners of the company were misleading the investigation and were in collusion with the raiders.

Wanted co-owner of "Tsentrobuvi" complained about the main shareholders of the network

One of the co-owners of Tsentrobuvi, Sergei Lomakin, fell victim to a campaign organized against him by the controlling shareholders of the chain. This is reported by RBC with reference to the statement of the Retail Brands Collection (RBC), which owns 32.6% of Tsentrobuvi in \u200b\u200bthe interests of Sergei Lomakin and Artem Khachatryan.

"Tsentrobuv" was under the threat of bankruptcy

Tsentrobuv, Russia's largest footwear chain, faces bankruptcy. In late March Court of Arbitration Moscow has introduced a monitoring procedure against the company, according to the case card. It is planned that the bankruptcy case of the network will be considered on September 6.

According to the court's data, the debt of "Tsentrobuvi" to the firm "Sandorini" exceeds four million rubles. According to the Kommersant newspaper in its April 4 issue, the overall liabilities of the retailer may amount to more than 25 billion rubles.

The Moscow Arbitration Court has introduced a monitoring procedure with respect to the Russian shoe chain "CenterObuv" due to a debt of 4 million rubles. However, the retailer's total liabilities may exceed RUB 25 billion.

According to the newspaper, the Moscow Arbitration Court introduced a monitoring procedure for the company due to debts.

The main applicants, Sandorini and Credit Bank of Moscow (MCB), demand 4.09 million rubles from the company. However, according to the newspaper, the total liabilities of the network may exceed 25 billion rubles.

The largest footwear chain "Tsentrobuv" is on the verge of bankruptcy

Currently, a monitoring procedure has been introduced with respect to the company. The chain's debt is estimated at 4 million rubles, but in general, the retailer's liabilities may exceed 25 billion rubles.

Tsentrobuv, a large Russian footwear chain, is on the verge of bankruptcy. Currently, a monitoring procedure has been introduced with respect to the company. The chain's debt is estimated at 4 million rubles, but in general, the retailer's liabilities may exceed 25 billion rubles.

Surveillance in the Tsentrobuv trading house was introduced at the suit of the Sandorini company and the Moscow Credit Bank (MCB). The bankruptcy proceedings are scheduled for September 6.

The co-owner of "Tsentrobuvi" Dmitry Svetlov told the publication that the strategy of the company's management after the introduction of surveillance has not yet been determined. The company is currently negotiating debt restructuring, Kommersant reports.

"Tsentrobuv" chain is threatened with bankruptcy of Belrynok

The Moscow Arbitration Court has introduced a monitoring procedure against Tsentrobuv Trading House JSC, the largest Russian footwear chain, writes. It is noted that the main applicant for this case acts "Sandorini", and also the Moscow Credit Bank (MCB). Despite this, the network is still the leader in the number of retail outlets in the Russian Federation, and in addition to general level sales. According to the latest preliminary information from SPARK, 99.9% of the company's shares are registered in the Cyprus-based Plazia Consulting Ltd. The retailer's minority shareholders are also its founders Anatoly Gurevich and Dmitry Svetlov. Belrynok

The "CenterObuv" chain was on the verge of bankruptcy

The main applicants are Sandorini (the debt to them is 4.09 million rubles) and Credit Bank of Moscow (MCB). Despite this, the chain is still leading in the Russian market in terms of sales and the number of outlets, said Mikhail Burmistrov, head of Infoline-Analytics. Plenipotentiaries for Sandorini and MKB declined to comment.

Tsentrobuv postponed IPO until spring

Tsentrobuv "unites more than 550 own and franchised shoe discounters under the Tsentrobuv and Centro brands in Moscow and the region, Krasnodar, Samara, Yekaterinburg, Perm, etc. Among the co-owners are the founders of Kopeyka Sergey Lomakin and Artem Khachatryan (own 33% of the retailer) , Anatoly Gurevich and Dmitry Svetlov. According to SPARK-Interfax, the revenue of CJSC TD Centrobuv in 2009 amounted to 14.238 billion rubles. (about $ 475 million). Earlier, a Kommersant source close to the network reported that the company's revenue in 2010 according to IFRS is about $ 720 million, EBITDA - $ 135 million, EBITDA margin - 18.7%.

Anatoly Gurevich gained control over the "CenterObuv" network

The founders of the Kopeyka grocery chain Sergey Lomakin and Artem Khachatryan are leaving the shareholders of the Tsentrobuv shoe chain. Full control over the network will pass to another co-owner - US citizen Anatoly Gurevich.

"Tsentrobuv" changed hands

The Tsentrobuv chain changed its owner. As MegaMagnat learned, the former owners of the company, businessmen Sergei Lomakin and Artem Khachatryan, are transferring full control over the Tsentrobuv stores to US citizen Anatoly Gurevich and are leaving the shareholders. The deal, the amount of which the parties chose not to name, has already received approval from the Federal Antimonopoly Service.

FAS allowed businessman Gurevich to acquire structures of the Tsentrobuv group

The Federal Antimonopoly Service (FAS) of Russia satisfied the petition of Anatoly Gurevich, the co-founder of Tsentrobuv, Russia's largest shoe retailer, to acquire Tsentrobuv Trading House, the parent company of the group, as well as Tsentro LLC, by purchasing 100% of the company's voting shares Falcon Productions Ltd., follows from the materials of the department.

"CenterObuv" expects to reach Hong Kong

CenterObuv is the largest chain of shoe stores in Russia, founded in 1996. The main shareholders of the company are Anatoly Gurevich, Dmitry Svetlov, Sergey Lomakin, Artem Khachatryan.

CenterObuv. The board of directors of a chain of shoe stores is replenished

Former Kopeyka shareholder Sergei Lomakin joined the board of directors of the CenterObuv shoe chain, said a top manager of the Kopeyka chain. Anatoly Gurevich, the chairman of the board of directors of TsentrObuvi, conveyed through his secretary that the entrepreneur was appointed an independent director in May.

The owners of "Tsentrobuv" want the company's business to be open and understandable to investors

The history of "CenterObuv" began back in 1992 with the wholesale trade of footwear. In 1996 several large Moscow stores merged under the TsentrObuv brand. At present, all over Russia there are more than 550 own and franchised shoe discounters under the Centrobuv and Centro brands in Moscow and the region, Krasnodar, Samara, Yekaterinburg, Perm, etc. The main beneficiaries of CJSC Trade company Tsentrobuv: Anatoly Gurevich, Dmitry Svetlov, Sergey Lomakin, Artem Khachatryan.

Former Kopeyka shareholder Sergei Lomakin joined the board of directors of the TsentrObuv shoe chain, said the top manager of the Kopeyka chain. Anatoly Gurevich, Chairman of the Board of Directors of TsentrObuvi, conveyed through his secretary that the entrepreneur had been appointed an independent director in May.

One of Mr. Lomakin's business partners says that he and Artem Khachatryan (also a former shareholder of Kopeyka) are interested in entering the equity capital of the shoe chain. According to him, negotiations are underway on at least a 25-percent share in the shoe operator TsentrObuv Trade House CJSC. A source close to the TsentrObuvi shareholders confirmed the negotiations. Mr. Gurevich emphasized that "now Sergey Lomakin is not a shareholder of the chain." The top manager of the Russian footwear network knows that the founders of Kopeyka began negotiations about four months ago. Sergei Lomakin declined to comment; it was not possible to contact Artem Khachatryan yesterday. A source close to the entrepreneurs confirmed the information.

Ex-co-owners of Kopeyka expand their business

CenterObuv Company unites 309 own and franchised shoe stores in Moscow, St. Petersburg and others. The main beneficiaries are Anatoly Gurevich, Chairman of the Board of Directors and Dmitry Svetlov, General Director.

The co-owner of the "CenterObuv" chain was the founder of the "Pronto-Moscow" publishing house

In total, CenterObuv has 7 shareholders, the largest are the founders of Kopeyka Sergey Lomakin and Artem Khachatryan (they own approximately 33%, as of 2009) and top managers of the chain Dmitry Svetlov and Anatoly Gurevich, said one of the organizers of the IPO CenterObuvi (Renaissance Capital and Morgan Stanley). The network intends to host on Londonskaya stock exchange (LSE) or the Hong Kong Stock Exchange in the fall of 2011, and the company's valuation will be close to $ 2 billion, sources in investment banks said. During the placement, it is planned to sell securities for about $ 500 million - shares of existing shareholders and an additional issue.

FFMS registered bonds of Tsentrobuvi for 12 billion rubles

The main owners of the company are Anatoly Gurevich, Dmitry Svetlov, Sergey Lomakin and Artem Khachatryan.

The founders of "Kopeyka" can leave "CenterObuv"

So, Artem Khachatryan and Sergey Lomakin, who founded grocery chain "Kopeyka" may leave the composition of the shareholders of "CenterObuv", and full control over the company will be exercised, apparently, by Anatoly Gurevich.

The Main Investigation Directorate (GSU) of the Main Directorate of the Ministry of Internal Affairs for Moscow has brought charges in absentia against the co-owner of the Tsentrobuv chain, Sergei Lomakin. The businessman is accused of embezzling a loan in the amount of 9 billion rubles, issued for the development of a shoe network by Gazprombank in 2013-2014. The co-owner of "Tsentrobuvi" has been put on the federal wanted list. As an interim measure to compensate for damage, the assets of Sergei Lomakin, including the Fix Price chain of stores, may be arrested.

The investigator of the Main Investigation Department of the Main Directorate of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation in Moscow charged Sergei Lomakin, co-owner of the Tsentrobuv chain, with "particularly large fraud" (part 4 of article 159 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation) The corresponding decision was made in absentia, since he did not appear at the summons to the investigators, and does not live at the place of registration. Already after the accusation in absentia, the businessman was summoned to the Main Investigation Department again, just in case, and when he did not come again, he was put on the federal wanted list.

As Kommersant previously reported, the Moscow police opened a criminal case against the co-owner of Tsentrobuvi on May 25 this year at the request of Gazprombank's management. Initially, it was investigated under Art. 159.1 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, however, in August, the investigator "weighed down" the crime incriminated to the entrepreneur, reclassifying the actions of the accused as ordinary fraud.

As follows from the bank's initial statement to law enforcement agencies, Sergey Lomakin was involved in the theft of funds allocated to the retailer in 2013-2014 for a total of RUB 9 billion. The shoemaker received about 8.2 billion rubles of this amount, after which he stopped servicing the loan. An audit conducted by the bank in May 2016, as follows from the statement of the credit institution, revealed 12 dubious transactions related to the withdrawal of credit funds from the shoe company. So, in the summer of 2014, 4.3 billion rubles. were transferred to LLC "Fullainvest", LLC "Irma" and LLC "Nikta", which the investigation associates with Sergei Lomakin. In addition, by June 30, 2014, another 400 million rubles were withdrawn from Tsentrobuvi. According to the investigation, these transactions could significantly affect the financial position of borrowers and, as a result, resulted in their inability to meet their loan obligations.

According to Kommersant's sources, soon the investigation intends to apply to the court with a motion for the arrest of Sergei Lomakin in absentia. If this request is granted, the person involved in the case will be put on the wanted list by Interpol. At the same time, the investigation is now checking other companies of the businessman for possible involvement in the withdrawal of funds. In particular, according to Kommersant's sources, searches have already been carried out at Best Price LLC, which manages the Fix Price chain of stores. Sources in the Ministry of Internal Affairs told Kommersant that in the near future the investigation may apply to the court with a petition to seize Sergey Lomakin's assets as an interim measure to compensate for the damage caused by the accused.

Established in 1993, "Tsentrobuv" operates about 700 stores and is the largest network for the sale of footwear in Russia. On March 29, the Moscow Arbitration Court introduced a monitoring procedure with respect to Tsentrobuv Trading House JSC. Apart from Gazprombank, Sberbank and VTB are also on the list of Tsentrobuvi's creditors. At the end of 2014, the network's debt exceeded RUB 25 billion.

In Sergey Lomakin's entourage, his criminal prosecution is associated with a corporate conflict between the company's shareholders. Retail Brands Collection, which owns 32.6% of Tsentrobuvi in \u200b\u200bthe interests of Sergei Lomakin and his business partner Artyom Khachatryan, states that all the blame for the criminal prosecution of the businessman rests with the "controlling shareholders of the company" owning about 60% of Tsentrobuvi shares. These co-owners, the statement said, "in collusion with corporate raiders, give false testimony and mislead the investigation", divest the company's assets, preventing the signing of agreements with creditors. Tsentrobuvi categorically declined to comment.

Vladislav Trifonov

To flee abroad, leaving the wreckage of a recently flourishing business and millions of dollars in debt, is a scheme that is rapidly gaining popularity. This year, it looks like the owner of TsentrObuvi, Sergei Lomakin, will become the champion in terms of the scale of its implementation: the company's debts are estimated at 30 billion rubles, the investigation is studying the transactions for which it seems that money was withdrawn, and the entrepreneur himself, who at one time founded such successful projects in retail like Kopeyka and Fix Price seem to be gone.

At the height of the 2008 crisis, 35-year-old Sergei Lomakin was already considered a successful businessman. On the sale of the Kopeyka chain to Uralsib Bank, he earned about $ 120 million, which he invested in various discounter chains. At the beginning of 2009, one of such transactions was agreed - Lomakin and Khachatryan bought a third of the shares of CenterObuv for $ 40 million. “The amount of investment is such that CenterObuv will get tired of opening new stores,” the businessman rejoiced then.

Now Sergey Lomakin is no longer in Russia. He doesn't answer on his cell phone either. In relation to LLC “TsentrO” and JSC “TD“ TsentrObuv ”" the court introduced a monitoring procedure. Less than 200 outlets remained from the network of 1.5 thousand stores. Former partners, in response to the claims of creditors, turn the arrows to Lomakin: they say, this is him knocked out loans, determined the strategy and agreed on deals, after which the company was virtually left without funds.

Penny knight

Sergey Lomakin, a graduate of the Moscow Mining University, laid the foundations for future capital in the year when other businessmen went bankrupt. A year after defending his diploma, in 1998, Sergei, together with fellow student Artem Khachatryan and entrepreneur Alexander Samonov, founded the Kopeyka supermarket chain. The partners spied on the format of the discounter store in the West, thinking that in a crisis year russian market it will fit. And although in business they had only a couple of years behind them wholesale coffee, they managed to realize the idea very professionally. “It was one of the best management teams in the sector who built their business from scratch,” Viktor Shlepov, who came to Kopeyka in 2003 to manage finances from Uralsib Bank, told Finance magazine: the latter bought 50% of the company's shares ...

Artem Khachatryan

The main shareholder of Kopeyka was Samonov - being 12 years older and having more serious experience in business, he received 60% of the shares, Lomakin and Khachatryan - 20% each, but the development strategy, as the partners have repeatedly stated, was worked out jointly. A business model was tested at Kopeyka, which was subsequently implemented at TsentrObuvi - aggressive development with active fundraising from the market. As a result, by the middle of the 2000s, the chain already had more than 300 stores and was one of the ten largest food retailers in the country. The shareholders were planning an IPO, wanting to sell their stake at a company's value of at least $ 1 billion, but the market considered this price too high and the deal did not take place. But a year later, in 2007, at the same price the remaining 50% stake in Kopeyka was sold to the same Uralsib.

Lomakin and Khachatryan received about $ 250 million from the deal for two, founded the investment company Sun Investments Partners and began to actively invest, as already mentioned, in discounters. First, rather out of habit, into grocery retail (they bought 25% in the capital of the Ural network "Monetka"), and then into the clothing store: again, a network was founded according to the Western model, where everything is sold at the same price - Fix Price, summer 2008 acquired 5-7% of Modis, which sells “fashionable clothes at affordable prices,” and then targeted footwear.

“All investments had one ideological leader - they were united by Sergey Lomakin,” - Giedrius Pukas, managing partner of the investment company Quadro Capital Partners, which merged with Lomak's Sun Investments, which by that time was already called Retail Brands Collection. “We are generators of competitive advantage. We follow how we can beat competitors, ”Lomakin himself explained his investments. Pukas and Lomakin were partners and often appeared in public together: now Pukas does not want to talk about this partnership, and the page with information about the past cooperation has been removed from the Quadro Capital website.

Throw-away shoes

The history of TsentrObuv began in 1992 - Lomakin was a first-year student at that time and had not yet thought about business. Moscow entrepreneurs Anatoly Gurevich and Dmitry Svetlov first were engaged in the wholesale of footwear, and in 1996 they opened their first store. The concept of a discounter did not come immediately; entrepreneurs decided to sell Chinese shoes made of artificial materials at minimal prices in the early 2000s. “Few people remember, but it was in“ CenterObuv ”that they were the first to display all the shoes in the sales area: employees need an order of magnitude less, and the buyer is more comfortable,” recalls the former employee of the chain Alla.

By 2008, "TsentrObuv" has become a leader in the Russian footwear market. The network consisted of 309 own and franchised shoe stores in Moscow, St. Petersburg and other cities and was estimated at $ 200 million, but stalled during the crisis. Svetlov and Gurevich thought about launching a youth line: young visitors bought two to three times more shoes than buyers “over 30”, and were ready for the fact that the purchased pair would fall apart by the end of the season. With this audience in mind, we decided to master the fast fashion format - cheap tracing of fashionable footwear. However, to run Centro (so called new network) investments were needed, and no one was in a hurry to invest in an opaque and risky shoe business. Nevertheless, Lomakin, who had been transporting Chinese goods to Russia at low prices for several years, became interested in the company.

After the “infusion”, the sales of “CenterObuv” really began to grow by leaps and bounds. In 2009, the chain opened 50 Centro at 28 russian cities... On next year - the same amount. At the same time, stores and the main chain were opened. By the end of 2011, TsentrObuv had 598 stores of the same name in Russia and 148 Centro stores with a total annual revenue of RUB 30 billion. At the same time, "TsentrObuv" also aimed at european market - her stores were opened one after another in Poland, Latvia, Lithuania and Ukraine.

In 2011, Lomakin announced that TsentrObuv was preparing for an IPO. Soon the listing was postponed for a year, and then completely canceled "due to unfavorable conditions." Lomakin was not very distressed: what difference does it make how to attract investment, he said. Moreover, he had new project - together with the German clothing retailer Takko Fashion, he undertook to develop a network of inexpensive stores under the Family Fashion brand.

In 2012, TsentrObuv showed record growth: total stores increased to 1,168, over the next two years the chain added a couple of hundred more points - according to various estimates, up to 1,300-1500, the profit was estimated at 40 billion rubles. Such a rapid growth, as in “Kopeyk”, was ensured at the expense of credit funds: “CenterObuv” was credited in a dozen banks. Sources of "Deneg" confirm that it was Lomakin who knocked out loans for the development of the network: given the success of his projects, good knowledge retail and confident stories about IPO, bankers willingly gave money. “He knew how to persuade,” recalls one of the employees of the bank where CenterObuv was credited, “and the company seemed stable.”

In the ring of creditors

At the beginning of 2015, the counterparties of "CenterObuv" for the first time faced the fact that the shoe chain number one did not pay the bills. At first, landlords and suppliers were asked to wait a bit, then they began to be ignored altogether. Payment refusals were widespread. After waiting for several months, the creditors went to court. By June 2015, 160 claims had been filed against the company for a total of 228 million rubles, and then their number grew exponentially. "Debts for rent are more than seven months, calls are not answered," complained one of the landlords in a group on the social network, "filed a lawsuit, asked to wait, if he was ready to forgive half of the debt, promised to pay even tomorrow." It got to the point that landlords simply closed the shops themselves, sending staff home.

At about the same time, TsentrObuv stopped paying Chinese suppliers - the corporation's Asian office was closed. “A citizen of China contacted me - only her factory“ CenterObuv ”owes about $ 7 million. And this is not the only and not the largest Chinese supplier,” says Olga Kosets, President of the International Public Organization for Support and Protection of Small and Medium Business “Business People”. According to various estimates, the total amount of debt to suppliers can reach up to $ 100 million. With the stop of payments, of course, supplies also stopped - the employees of the chain do not hide: they were selling stocks for almost the entire 2015.

The answer to the question of how the largest shoe chain was left without funds and with debt on loans of 25 billion rubles worries many. The police are checking the version about the withdrawal of funds through fictitious transactions. One of the largest creditors of the chain, Gazprombank, drew the attention of law enforcement agencies to these transactions (the debt to it is 8.6 billion rubles). A source close to the bank claims that in 2015, while monitoring the financial condition of the debtor, however, the management of TsentrObuvi assured the creditors that the transactions did not go beyond normal business activities. One way or another, the network bought and then sold several times cheaper a number of foreign legal entities, did not skimp on the acquisition of brands and trademarks that it did not use in the future, the debts of counterparties were converted into minority stakes in these enterprises, and then recognized as impaired due to the lack of corporate control above them. The corporation also entered into commission agreements with suppliers - it issued funds for the purchase of goods and entrusted them with the implementation. After the completion of the contract, the suppliers transferred a small “profit” to the customer (less than 1% of the amount received), and postponed the return of the funds received until later. “Many transactions within the TsentrObuv network created conditions for VAT refunds,” the source said, “that is, if the fictitious, exclusively paper-based nature of these transactions is confirmed, it may turn out that damage was caused not only to the group's creditors, but also to the state” ...

Finding the Guilty One

The top management of the company places responsibility for all disputable transactions on Lomakin. “Mr. Lomakin, being one of the majority shareholders of Centrofasion Corp. (BVI), from April 2013 to March 2015, he was appointed a managing shareholder of the company with the right to make any operational decisions for all companies, including the companies TsentrObuv Trading House JSC and TsentrO LLC, "says in the document signed by the current general director Leonid Venzhik (available to the editorial office).

AT last years Lomakin, indeed, began to curtail his activities in Russia: he put up the Monetka chain (a franchisee of the Ural chain) for sale, got rid of the Modis stake. The purchase of a controlling stake in the Italian company Malo, specializing in cashmere products, made a splash - it cost Lomakin no less than $ 40 million. However, as they say in secular circles, it was a gift from a rich husband to his wife, model Natalia Lomakina. On the occasion of the purchase, the couple threw two loud parties in and in, and for the second they even brought the founder of the brand, Giacomo Canessa.

However, TsentrObuvi believes that the attempt to blame Lomakin is not entirely convincing. “Until the end of 2014, the shareholders often held meetings with us,” says CenterObuv, “Svetlov, and Gurevich, and Lomakin were there. And instructions came not only from Lomakin. You know, they did not sign directly: each had its own seals, not official ones, but for internal documents. And we knew roughly where whose orders were. " Another former employee continues the topic: “It is obvious that there was some kind of split between them, and Svetlov now pretends that he was allegedly not aware of Lomakin's actions. But how can this be? "

Yelena Gerasimova, the general director of Yurkollegiya, who, prior to the introduction of the monitoring procedure, helped TsentrObuv's creditors to repay debts under writ of execution, does not exclude that part of the debts can still be collected through bankruptcy proceedings. “The arbitration manager will certainly check the activities of the managers for deliberate bankruptcy,” says Gerasimova, “and all dubious transactions will be challenged. If the assets were withdrawn, they will try to return them, and since the company did not report in time about the impossibility to pay off the claims of creditors, the management should be held subsidiary liable. ” True, while the court and the case, there will seem to be no one to attract, and there is nothing to return.

©, 11.04.2016

"Tsentrobuv" will be tried on in the police

Vladislav Trifonov, Anatoly Kostyrev

As it became known to Kommersant, one of the creditors of the Centrobuv chain of stores - Gazprombank (GPB) - asks the Ministry of Internal Affairs to check the legality of the activities of the owners and management of the retailer. The bank suspects them of fictitious transactions and withdrawal of funds provided under the credit line. Tsentrobuvi claims to be cooperating with GPB and conducting a joint audit.

GPB asks police officers to provide a legal assessment financial activities the beneficiaries and management of Tsentrobuvi Trading House JSC on the eve of the introduction of a monitoring procedure against the company (see Kommersant dated April 4). With such a request, the bank, one of the largest creditors of Tsentrobuvi, addressed the head of the Moscow Department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs on the fight against economic crimes and the fight against corruption, Major General Sergei Solopov. The statement (a copy is in the "Kommersant") said that in 2013-2014 GPB signed an agreement on opening a credit line with LLC "Centro" and JSC "TD" Tsentrobuv ”" to finance economic activities. To secure the return of funds, the borrowers provided the bank with guarantees for each other. After the expiry of the repayment period this year, the companies formed a debt to GPB for 8.6 billion rubles.

From the text of the statement it follows that GPB suspects the leadership of "Tsentrobuvi" in the withdrawal of funds. According to Kommersant's sources, GPB counted 12 transactions, the legality of which raised doubts. Lawyer Trofim Popov (representing the interests of GPB) confirmed that his client "has questions" to the owners and management of the retailer on a number of transactions and financial transactions, including those with GPB's credit funds. “We ask you to check if they were fictitious,” he said. The lawyer believes that the transactions could significantly affect the financial position of "Centro" and TD "Tsentrobuv", "which resulted in the inability of borrowing companies to meet their credit obligations." The statement mentions one of the owners of "Tsentrobuvi" - Sergei Lomakin, named the controlling shareholder.

Tsentrobuv, established in 1992, today operates about 700 stores and is the largest footwear chain in Russia. According to SPARK-Interfax, 99.99% of Tsentrobuv Trading House JSC is owned by the Cyprus-based Plazia Consulting Ltd, the main beneficiaries of which are Sergey Lomakin and Artem Khachatryan. The shareholders also include Leonid Makaron, Vladimir Levyi, as well as the founders of the retailer Dmitry Svetlov and Anatoly Gurevich. LLC "Tsentro" (engaged in import and export) is also 99.99% owned by Plazia Consulting Ltd.

According to GPB, Sberbank, VTB and Moscow Credit Bank (MCB) are also on the list of Tsentrobuvi's creditors. According to SPARK, the long-term and short-term liabilities of Tsentrobuv Trading House JSC at the end of 2014 exceeded RUB 25 billion.

Tsentrobuvi emphasizes that the introduction of the monitoring procedure in the company was coordinated with all the main creditors, primarily with GPB. “To date, the management and management of the company, in close cooperation with GPB, are conducting a comprehensive audit, including for the period of issuing and using fixed assets,” the retailer's representative assured.

Herbert Smith Freehills partner Alexey Panich suggests that GPB's appeal to law enforcement agencies was made in order to put additional pressure on the borrower. According to the lawyer, if law enforcement officers prove the fictitiousness of transactions, property or cash, appearing in them, will be returned to the bankruptcy estate. The Ministry of Internal Affairs said that if, based on the results of the pre-investigation check, a criminal case is initiated, it will not happen earlier than in a month. Most likely, the ministry added, the case will be based on the theft of credit funds, and the accusation at the initial stage is unlikely to be personalized.