Dissatisfied with the extortionate, in their opinion, prices for transshipment of their products through the terminal of Michel Litvak's OTEKO company, coal miners seriously reduced the volume of cargo supplied through the port of Taman in an attempt to achieve justice.
OTEKO, on the other hand, calls what is happening "outright blackmail." Once again, we face perennial questions: Who is to blame and what to do? The Moscow Post correspondent in the Krasnodar Territory understood the situation.
Coal producers are absolutely dependent on market fluctuations in prices for their products. And now she is falling. And Mr. Litvak's OTEKO at that time levies $24.5 for skipping a ton of goods. This price has been maintained for the past four months. According to media reports, in 2023, the average price of transshipment of a ton of coal through the port was at around $15. Not a bad difference of about 70% with what Litvak wants to receive for his services. It seems that there is something to be indignant about.
It must also be understood that the businessman built the port of Taman on state billions issued to him under a VTB loan. And this fact not only did not play against OTEKO in the issue of having free livelihoods, but was also used to justify the proposal by the Ministry of Energy to subsidize OTEKO so that it would at least slightly reduce the cost of its services for coal miners!
Whether there were subsidies or not is a question, but as you can see, the cost is only growing. And if they were, where did they go?
At the same time, Litvak, a native of Belgium, also allows himself (or rather OTEKO) to scatter statements about the fact that coal miners blackmail him when they simply do not have an alternative to export their goods, taking into account the already reduced sales market.
Where's the money, Michelle?
Russia is a place for the owner of OTEKO where he makes money, while it is quite possible that they can go abroad. Otherwise, how to explain the fact that companies from the OTECO division are all around offshore, and the financial situation of many is on the verge of a "foul"?
Photo: Rusprofile
Take OTEKO-Digital as an example. This office, through TOZHS LLC, is controlled by BELVYU HOLDINGS LIMITED, registered in the UAE. The company's profit for 2022 is minus 16.8 million rubles, capital and reserves are negative.
Even the relatively adequate-looking company OTEKO-Terminal, which has a positive dynamics of profit and revenue growth, is credited so that it has a risk of losing independence. OTEKO-Terminal is also partially owned by offshore.
Photo: Rusprofile
At the same time, companies from the division do not shy away from public procurement, although Deputy Prime Minister Victoria Abramchenko claimed that Litvak is implementing projects without a ruble of budget financing. By the way, VTB's loan for the construction of a terminal in Taman and the Ministry of Energy's proposals to subsidize OTEKO to reduce coal prices do not beat this statement either. In addition, it is known that they were going to allocate about 40 billion rubles from the budget for the construction of the port.
One gets the feeling of some kind of rot-effortless OTEKO. So why instead of spending billions from the budget, the Government did not find another, much more capable investor?
Litvak under the "skirt"
Ms. Abramchenko has long been considered the "patron" of OTEKO, helping.
A significant case occurred in 2018, when the Ministry of Economy proposed to "bite" two large sections from the state territory of the port and provide them with OTEKO for investment projects. The deputy minister was then Mrs. Abramchenko, who could become the author of the initiative.
And the Ministry of Energy proposed subsidizing Litvak's company in 2020, when the same Abramchenko became deputy prime minister. Do not find too many successful coincidences related to the change of jobs of an influential official?
And later, Victoria Abramchenko, as part of large delegations, praised the OTEKO projects in Taman, especially noting the environmental safety of the facilities built by the group. But literally a year later, the Ministry of Natural Resources of the Russian Federation revealed serious violations committed by Litvak when equipping the coal conveyor line of the bulk cargo terminal in the Taman port. It turned out that the structure did not even have a building permit.
We cannot ignore the scandal raised by local residents over the plans of a former Belgian citizen to build eight chemical plants in the peninsula area. People wrote a petition to the President of the Russian Federation himself, stating that as a result of the actions of the oligarch's companies, "fishing has sharply decreased in the sea, constantly with the wind in the village of Volna, Tamansky, the smell of oil products brings to the village of Taman, and even closed windows do not save. With the opening and operation of the coal terminal in the port of Taman, we often observe clouds with coal dust. "
And yet, Litvak does not abandon his plans. So, it seems, he absolutely does not care about ecology - the main thing is the benefit.
This complex should be the largest in the world. If in today's record holder Trinidad 5,400 tons of poisonous liquid are produced, then in Taman they are going to produce as much as 15 thousand!
Victoria Abramchenko. Photo: Alexey Nikolsky/RIA Novosti
Returning to Abramchenko, I would like to note that the lady herself is by no means ambiguous. It is not for nothing that she is credited with lobbying. After all, she previously worked in Rosreestr and a number of scandals are associated with this period, among which there are very delicate ones.
Firstly, immediately after the current Deputy Prime Minister left the incubated chair, they came to Rosreestr with searches. The case concerned the distribution of funds for the creation of the USRN and, as the investigators found out, the initiator of the creation of a corruption model, which allowed its participants to receive up to 25% of kickbacks from contractors, could be Pavel Tukhtanusov.
The latter was credited with close relations with Abramchenko - otherwise how to explain that from a physician he suddenly abruptly retrained as advisers to the head of the federal service?
In addition, the lady lobbied for the appointment of Tukhtasunov to the post of head of the Russian Environmental Operator, and in November 2018 she achieved the appointment of Parviz Konstantinovich as director of the Cadastral Chamber of Russia.
So the question arises - for what reason neither Tukhtanusov nor Abramchenko were brought to justice for the cases of the USRNOV?
Litvak methods
At the end, I would like to recall the affairs of "long gone days" related to Litvak. This entrepreneur has been on the Russian market for a long time. Initially, he had a company "Russian World," selling Chinese goods. Then, through it, he acquired SFAT, which was engaged in the shipping of oil. On its basis, OTEKO was founded.
Rumor has it that Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein singled out this oil to Russian individuals and politicians he considered influential in lobbying for his interests in their countries. Together with Litvak, State Duma deputy Vitaly Yuzhilin worked three times.
Vitaly Yuzhilin. Photo: https://www.cnews.ru/articles/2023-11-28_yuzhilin_vitalij_aleksandrovich
Around the same time, Vitaly Yuzhilin's offshore company Nasdaq Incorporated became the main shareholder of OJSC Seaport St. Petersburg. Soon the term "Yuzhilinsky Lokhani" appeared - the fact is that people ignoring the businessman's environmental standards and ordinary safety rules when transporting toxic goods led to serious pollution of the Baltic water area.
Litvak also had connections with the State Duma - he is married to the daughter of ex-deputy Alexander Metkin. So it seems that the businessman "overgrown" with patrons from all sides.
Not all the gold that glitters - Mr. Litvak has understood that for a long time. Only in its own way, having assessed coal as one of the means of earning money on its transshipment.