Gelendzhik marina will be built by the son of Chemezov, the wife of Manturov, the “daughter” of Rosneft, and the son of Timchenko…

Anastasia Gorshkova

As of late December 2016, Stanislav Chemezov, the eldest son of Rostec CEO Sergei Chemezov, controls 50% of Gelendzhik Sea Port, the main investor in the construction of a marina in the resort town. A company with links to the business of the family of Industry and Trade Minister Denis Manturov controls the remaining 50%.

Igor Sechin had previously announced that Rosneft would construct a refueling complex for the marina. A company with links to Gennady Timchenko may also be a co-investor in the project, as may Timchenko’s friend and former Development Corporation chief Sergei Maslov, who has been accused of embezzling 1 billion roubles. In 2014, the project was valued at 9.4 billion roubles, of which the state had contributed half.

The planned construction in Gelendzhik of a marina and yacht club (complete with hotel and entertainment complex) was announced in 2013 at the MIPIM exhibition in Cannes. ZAO Gelendzhik Sea Port, the project’s main investor, and the town administration of Gelendzhik jointly signed a declaration of intent; the following year, the project and its budget were incorporated into a federal target programme entitled Development of the Russian Transport System (2010–2020).

Approved on November 2, 2016, a new master plan for Gelendzhik emphasises the fact that “yachting infrastructure can become one of the primary components of the resort town’s coastal industry.” In addition to a 180-yacht marina, the project also includes a passenger port (which will boast a 130-metre quay and a passenger ship terminal) and a cargo port (projected to have an annual freight turnover of 800,000 tons, as compared to 300,000 tons currently).

The investor’s ultimate beneficiaries have never been disclosed. 100% of Gelendzhik Sea Port’s shares belonged to OOO Omega Ship, which was merged with its subsidiary in February 2016. OOO Financial Systems [Finansovye Sistemy], the sole shareholder of Omega Ship, gained direct ownership of Gelendzhik Sea Port as a result of the conversion of shares. This company has been managing the business of the family of Industry and Trade Minister Denis Manturov since 2003.

The links between Financial Systems and Manturov

OOO Financial Systems was registered in 2003, when Manturov became head of Oboronprom. The company’s initial assets were stakes in several defense contractors.
According to Vedomosti, Financial Systems general director Yevgeny Maksimov worked together with Manturov at the Ulan-Ude Aviation Plant – in the capacity of deputy general director. He is also the owner and director of the Centre for Plastic and Endoscopic Surgery, and the director of Moscow’s Lantset clinic, which long belonged to the minister’s wife – Russia’s foremost plastic surgeon Natalia Manturova.

Until 2012, Financial Systems was owned by a Cyprus offshore company called Monticello Holdings Limited before coming under the co-ownership of Guylen Investments Limited and Questoil Limited. According to Vademecum, the owner of Guylen Investments Limited is named by the Cyprus Corporate Register as one Valentin Manturov, a namesake of the father of Russia’s Minister of Industry and Trade.

In addition to Gelendzhik Sea Port, Financial Systems also owns the Mantra winery, the four-star Primoriye SPA Hotel & Wellness, and the Primorye holiday hotel. The IMC ascertained that a section of the latter was transformed into a private residence (titled in the name of Manturov’s father) with an area of over 3000m².

Late last year, Financial Systems’ shareholder structure changed. According to the Unified State Register of Legal Entities (USRLE), 50% of its shares have been owned since December 29 by OOO Financial Investments, a company registered on November 23 and owned solely by Stanislav Chemezov, son of Rostec CEO Sergei Chemezov. The remaining 50% are controlled by Universal Management Capital Ltd (registered in the British Virgin Islands).

Gennady Timchenko and his business partner Sergei Maslov, the former Development Corporation chief who stands accused of embezzling 1 billion roubles, may also be co-investors in the port construction project. According to the USRLE, Gelendzhik Sea Port owns 49% stakes in two companies – OOO Port Gelendzhik (registered September 2015 at the same address as the port itself) and OOO Sea Port Gelendzhik (registered December 2016, also at the same address).

RK Invest owns 26% and 36% stakes in the two companies, respectively. According to the USRLE, the general director and sole shareholder of TRK Invest is one Anatoly Valerievich Yermolayev. The IMC ascertained that this individual has links with the administration of billionaire Gennady Timchenko’s Stroytransgaz group – and with the businessman himself.

When, in 2014, Gennady Timchenko acquired 40% of Alma Holding, which owns and operates a large apple farm in Krasnodar Krai, Anatoly Yermolayev was working as that company’s general director. He is also the director and co-owner of several companies with links to senior Stroytransgaz figures, and namely Alexander Akker, Stroytransgaz’s deputy general resourcing director, and Anatoly Yermolayev, who has held senior positions in various of the group’s companies.

A further 25% of Port Gelendzhik is owned by Timchenko’s friend and business partner Sergey Maslov, who knows one or two things about marinas, having as he does a $70-million yacht called Victoria. But it’s unclear whether Sergei Maslov will ultimately be involved in the Gelendzhik construction project – last autumn, the businessman was accused of embezzling at least 1 billion rubles from the Development Corporation, of which he was the general director. This corporation was implementing the presidential project Industrial Ural–Polar Ural, in addition to several other regional projects financed by the state budget. To guarantee compensation for anticipated damages, Rostov Regional Court seized a $100-million Arkhangelsk property owned by Maslov in November.

Rosneft is also involved in the construction of the new port – its subsidiary RN-Tuapsenefteprodukt has been named as one of “key players” in the investment project on the Rosmortport website. Rosneft chief Igor Sechin spoke in autumn 2014 of the company’s plans “to build a refueling complex in the marina.”

The marina was originally slated for completion by the end of 2017, but the implementation timetable has shifted. According to SPARK-Marketing, the FGUP (federal state unitary enterprise) put 130 million roubles into the development of the project documentation of its subsidiary company Lenmorniiproekt in 2013. The contract was concluded for an eighteen-month period, but a report into the implementation progress of the federal target programme in 2016 suggests that the project design works are still ongoing.

This article was first published by Open Russia