Bank of Kovalchuk's and Timchenko's covet the Crimean "Inkerman"

"Daughter" of the bank "Russia" may become the new owner of the Crimean wine producer "Inkerman". The purchase may be the second transaction of the bank in the Crimean winemaking: last year he bought out “New World”.
01.11.2018
RBC
Origin source
The subsidiary of Russia Bank, the Southern Project, may become a new co-owner of the Crimean wine producer Inkerman, Sergey Lebedev, general director of Inkerman International, confirmed to RBC. The fact that the “South Project” is completing negotiations with the plant and the new investor can receive a share already in November, the Sevastopol edition of ForPost reported citing its sources.

As Lebedev told RBC, the “South Project” is “one of the possible candidates” for the role of a new investor in the plant, but not the only one. Nevertheless, according to him, “most of all are concrete with them”. Lebedev did not name other applicants. Negotiations with the investor have been going on for over a year. The interlocutor of RBC expects that by the end of the year they will be finalized. The size of the acquired package in the company is now being discussed - both full redemption and partial entry into the company's capital is possible, Lebedev said. “This is due to the fact that the company has three main owners and none of them owns a controlling stake,” he explained.

The press service of the bank "Russia" did not respond to the request of RBC at the time of publication.

What makes the Crimean "Inkerman"

According to the information on the company's website, the Inkerman vintage wine factory was established in 1961. The company is located on an area of ​​7 hectares, the total area of ​​wine cellars is 55 thousand square meters. meters Holding Inkerman International, headquartered in Stockholm, was established in 2011. It united LLC Inkerman Vintage Wine Factory (it represents the production of a full cycle from grape acceptance to bottling), the state farm OOO Kachinsky + and PJSC Agrofirm Chernomorets. According to SPARK, Inkerman International AB owns 100% of OOO Inkerman Plant of Vintage Wines, LLC Inkerman Wine House, registered in Kiev Torgovyi dіm Inkerman and 75% of OOO Kachinsky +. The other owners of the state farm indicated its general director Mikhail Khosh (12.54%) and Vitaly Koshelev (12.46%). In 2011, Ukrainian entrepreneur Valery Chamoty, who owned the group at that time, sold Horizon Capital investment funds (20%) and Hartwall Capital (40%) to part of his wine business.

The revenue of the “Inkerman Winery of Vintage Wines” in 2017 amounted to 1.8 billion rubles, the revenue of Inkerman Wine House LLC - 1.08 billion rubles, Torgovy Dim Іnkerman TOV - 769 million rubles, and the Kachinsky state farm + ”- 323 million rubles.

For the structure of the bank "Russia" the deal may be the second in the region. At the end of 2017, in the course of privatization, the company South Project became the owner of one of the oldest wineries in the Crimea, the Novy Svet plant. She received a 100% stake in the auction, the amount of the transaction amounted to 1.5 billion rubles.

According to the manager of the WineRetail project, Alexander Stavtsev, the Bank “Russia” is the most logical candidate for the assets of Inkerman: the “New World” acquired earlier does not have its own vineyards for production, and “Inkerman”, which a year ago completely abandoned the use of wine materials, could close this need. In turn, for “Inkerman” such a partnership should help with the solution of land problems encountered by the manufacturer after the transition to Russian jurisdiction, the expert reminds.

According to the position of the government of Sevastopol, the Kaczynski + state farm did not pay rent for three years: according to the company’s version, it could not renew the lease agreement that expired three years ago due to bureaucratic barriers, explained the Sevastopol division of FederalPress. As the agency reported referring to the director of the department of property and land relations, Rustem Zainullin, the authorities of Sevastopol will put up vineyards of the Kachinsky + state farm, if they rent land from the tenant.

According to the file of arbitration cases, the application of the Department of Property and Land Relations of the city of Sevastopol against OOO Kaczynski + about the termination of the lease agreement and return of the leased property was received on September 26, 2017. Currently, the proceedings are suspended until December 7, 2018 in connection with the appointment of an examination by the court.

Wine plans

Crimean winemakers after the annexation of the peninsula to Russia had to adapt to the new regulatory framework for the regulation of the alcohol industry, which differs significantly from the Ukrainian one. For example, local manufacturers had to install software associated with EGAIS. Problems also arose with the issuance of federal excise stamps, without which entrepreneurs could not sell products on the mainland of Russia. In 2014, wine production on the peninsula decreased by 20.1% compared to 2013. In turn, Crimean winemakers have repeatedly offered measures to support the industry - in 2014, Crimean winemakers appealed to Vladimir Putin with a request to introduce retaliatory sanctions prohibiting the import of wines from the European Union, and in 2016, the general director of the Massandra winery, Yanina Pavlenko, proposed to free the Crimean producers from payment of excise tax, provided that the funds will be directed to the laying of vineyards.