According to the correspondent of The Moscow Post in the Altai Territory, businessman Andrei Melnichenko could put an eye on OJSC Kuchuksulfat. The management of the enterprise complains that for six months it has been "shaking" from inspections, and they receive constant unequivocal offers to sell the asset. The main area of the plant is the production of high-quality sodium sulfate, but the organization is also engaged in thermal power engineering. And this in the region is actively engaged in the Siberian generating company Melnichenko. Is it possible that the latter decided to eliminate competitors?
At the end of 2020, Kuchuksulfat underwent an extraordinary comprehensive inspection by two supervisory authorities at once - the first service revealed 31 violations, the second - 28 violations worth 1.6 billion rubles. After they even talked about the suspension of the enterprise due to serious inconsistencies with the license agreement: sodium sulfate and artemy cysts were mined in volumes 1.5 times more than were allowed by government agencies. In addition, Kuchuksulfat had questions about renewing the license for the extraction of sodium sulfate.
Then the first reports began to appear that the management of the enterprise regards what is happening only as an attempt at a raider seizure. As stated in the appeal of the board of directors of the company, published in the Arguments of the Week, the pressure comes from "individual representatives of the business community, former and current representatives of controlling and law enforcement agencies (colonels and generals), senior employees of a number of structures of the executive branch of the Russian Federation."
The main profile of the company is sodium sulfate. And in this case, it is more than successful: In 2019, Kuchuksulfat's revenue reached 5.6 billion rubles, and profit - 857 million. This is one of the few factories in the region that managed to increase production by 2.5 times compared to Soviet times. And even in the unstable time for the enterprise, which his leadership complains about, it was able to increase production by 132%. Isn't it a very "tidy" asset? Earlier this was told in detail by The Moscow Post.
But not chemistry, as they say, is united. Kuchuksulfat is also engaged in thermal power engineering, in particular providing it with 90% of the inhabitants of the village of Stepnoy Lake, where it is based. For several years now, the company has been implementing a billion-dollar project to build a new heating plant. And according to Rusprofail, the organization earned 53 million rubles to provide heat to social facilities and the Borovskaya poultry farm.
The last lord of "Kuchuksulfat"
According to the authors of the Altapress portal, allegedly according to sources familiar with the situation, recently interest in Kuchuksulfat has been shown by such financial and industrial groups as AEON, Alfa Group, Rosbilding. But Roman Trotsenko from AEON on good terms with the governor of the region Viktor Tomenko - at the beginning of last year, a controlling stake in Barnaul Airport "flew" under the wing "of the entrepreneur. And such decisions, presumably, are not made without the permission of the head of the region?
But here is the salt: in fact, Trotsenko is not interested in either "chemistry" or "communal" - this is not his area of business. In this case, it can be assumed that if he "attacks" "Kuchuksulfat," then he does it in the interests of some other entrepreneur close to Tomenko.
We follow the warm trail
Who is engaged in this area in the Altai Territory? We go to the official website of the region and see that black in white says: "The Government of the Altai Territory and the Siberian Generating Company signed an Agreement on socio-economic cooperation until 2024." In the photo attached to this press release, Viktor Tomenko himself and the general director of SGK Stepan Solzhenitsyn flaunt. According to Interfax, "the Siberian Coal and Energy Company JSC (SUEK) controlled by Andrei Melnichenko became the main owner of Siberian Generating Company LLC in 2018.
Moreover, as indicated on the official website of the fertilizer producer Eurochem, Melnichenko "is a member of the Board of Directors of the EuroChem Group and SUEK, and also heads the SUEK Strategy Committee and is chairman of the EuroChem Group Appointment, Remuneration and Corporate Governance Committee." That is, the entrepreneur also has "chemical" interests. It turns out two points of contact with Kuchuksulfate at once!
But we will continue about the SG and directly Altai Territory. As stated on the official website of the region: "Since 2017, the investments of the generating company in the heat supply system of the region amounted to about 2.1 billion rubles. SGK is actively involved in the modernization of heat supply systems in the cities of the region, including Barnaul, Biysk and Yarovoy. Such interaction between government and business will contribute to the achievement of the main goals - ensuring reliable heat supply to consumers and improving the quality of housing and communal services provided. So, for example, only in Barnaul for 10 years SGK plans to invest about six billion rubles. A significant part of the funds (4.2 billion rubles) will be allocated for the transfer and construction of heating networks, the repair and reconstruction of central heating stations. Another 1.8 billion rubles will be allocated to increase the efficiency of small boiler houses. "
In other words, the company has been actively developing in the regional heat and power market. But the work is by no means smooth. As Kommersant wrote, in April of this year, "in Barnaul, the upper part of the second chimney collapsed TETs-2 (the structure of the SGK is approx. Ed.)." According to the publication, "the city authorities have introduced a high-alert regime. The regional prosecutor's office organized an audit of the accident, as a result of which it will evaluate the observance of "consumer rights to ensure proper heat supply and hot water supply."
According to Komsomolskaya Pravda, according to the results of the audit, a criminal case has already been opened: "According to preliminary investigation data, in 2020, the technical condition of the reinforced concrete chimney No. 2 and the gas ducts of the Barnaul TETs-2 was examined at the heat supply facility. After the inspection, the management of the enterprise was informed of the limited operability of the 1959 pipe and the possibility of its further operation only after repair [...] However, despite the instructions issued, Barnaul Generation JSC did not carry out repairs. The result was a partial collapse of the chimney on April 11, 2021. "
As Izvestia wrote in 2018, "a communal accident in the village of Yuzhny in Barnaul on December 13 left eight apartment buildings, a kindergarten and a polytechnic college without heat." After that, as the official website of the region wrote, the governor of the Altai Territory instructed to create a reserve fund of special funds in the event of communal accidents, similar to the one that occurred last weekend in Barnaul.
Viktor Tomenko proposed to store heaters and diesel generators to maintain normal temperatures in residents' homes during such infrastructure emergencies in the cold. That is, the governor preferred to buy heaters, rather than make claims to Melnichenko? In this case, it can be assumed that in the Kuchuksulfat case, the head of the region could attract this particular businessman.
Andrey Melnichenko
In 2016, the SGK, it seems, even tried to dictate its conditions in Rubtsovsk, where it is controlled by the Southern CHP. As Continent Siberia wrote, "the leadership of the SGK stated that it was ready to" start providing heat to the city in the very near future. " However, the company refused to buy the old, Northern CHP, saying that the price for it was too high. The SGK also noted that there are alternative options for providing the city with heat, "including by switching the load to the South Thermal Station or by building a new boiler house and transferring consumers of the Rubtsovskaya CHPP to the heat source under consideration." In other words, they wanted to completely go to Rubtsovsk, but decided to save money.
Through towns and villages
The SGK managed to be noted in other regions. According to the National Center for Public Control in Housing and Communal Services, "On September 23, 2016, the structure of SGK LLC - Krasnoyarsk Heat Transmission Company JSC, which is responsible for most of the city's network economy, arbitrarily switched 20,000 consumers of the heat energy supplier independent of SGK LLC to the heat source of SGK LLC [...] On this fact, according to the materials of the audit of the prosecutor's office of Krasnoyarsk, a criminal case has been instituted against officials of Krasnoyarsk Heat Transport Company JSC under Article 300 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation "Self-Government." The Office of the Federal Antimonopoly Service issued an order to eliminate violations of the law "On Protection of Competition," upon the fact of its non-fulfillment, administrative proceedings were launched. The reaction of SGK LLC did not follow - the actions of supervisory and law enforcement agencies are significantly ignored. "
The National Center for Public Control in Housing and Communal Services cites completely shocking information: allegedly, SGK LLC has repeatedly sent to state authorities and local governments actual threats of disconnecting heat supply to socially significant facilities (polyclinics, hospitals, kindergartens, schools) in case of immediate failure to pay for heat energy. "
Dela.ru described in detail the conflict between SGK and Krasnoyarsk Energy Byt - Krasnoyarsk Energy Byt OJSC accuses Siberian Generating Company LLC of deliberately bankrolling Divnogorsk Heat Networks OJSC, previously part of SGK Holding, due to electricity payment debts
Already in 2019, General Newspaper told an entertaining story about the work of the SGK with kindergartens and schools. According to the publication, "SGK billionaire Andrei Melnichenko appealed to the court with a request to collect debts for gas and electricity from social institutions of the city of Montenegrin of the Republic of Khakassia [...] Bailiffs arrested for debts, including property that was purchased for school and kindergartens with parental and sponsorship money. Even toys and furniture were arrested. "
In the same 2019, as Novosibirsk Online wrote, "The accident in the North Chemsky housing estate left more than 40 houses and infrastructure buildings without heating and hot water for several days. And this is at the two coldest nights in a month, when the thermometer fell below 30 degrees. Temporary accommodation facilities were opened in the remaining warm schools, the SGK recommended that residents of the area spend the night visiting, but people preferred to escape themselves - with heaters and additional clothes. "
As you can see, the work of the SGK in different regions, including in the Altai Territory, has repeatedly caused complaints. What if there are questions for the company about the history of Kuchuksulfate? After all, it seems that Melnichenko may have a certain interest in this story. However, these are just speculations.