IDS Group's business in Yamal sank

VTB and the Federal Tax Service are taking billions of rubles from the oilfield services holding.
Companies of the well-known federal IDS Group, including the Novy Urengoy Drilling Authority, were faced with large-scale financial problems. Against the background of external negative factors: the collapse in oil prices, the devaluation of the ruble and the numerous restrictions associated with the spread of the coronavirus infection COVID-19, the assets of businessmen Gadzhi Gadzhiev and Arthur Dulgeru are attacked in court by creditors. In March, VTB Bank filed a multibillion-dollar lawsuit against six companies included in the IDS Group. At the same time, along with a credit institution, counteragents and tax authorities exert powerful pressure on servicemen in courts, debts to which also amount to hundreds of millions of rubles. And if on the eve of 2020 the leaders of the group assured thousands of workers of “temporary turbulence” and an imminent improvement in the situation, current events are more likely in favor of the approaching critical state of the group's assets. Disappointing forecasts are also given by industry experts.

VTB Bank jointly requires more than 3.63 billion rubles from the companies Intellect Drilling Services, AIS Navigator, AIS Management, MTK, Transmil and AIS Drilling (included in IDS Group controlled by businessmen Haji Hajiyev and Arthur Dulger).

At the same time, partners and tax officials are claiming hundreds of millions of rubles for enterprises, which jeopardizes the execution of projects in fields where, in particular, employees of Novourengoy Drilling Operations LLC (NUBR, Transmila's 100% asset) are employed.

A meeting on the claim of the state bank to the oilfield holding is scheduled for April 13. Details have not yet been disclosed, however, apparently, we are talking about the debts of the enterprises of the group on loans. Earlier, VTB placed in the Unified Federal Register a message about its intention to go to court demanding that a number of holding companies (including Transmil LLC) be declared bankrupt.

Claims from counterparties accepted by the courts almost daily are superimposed on the large debts of servicemen to bankers. So, in the context of its presence on the Yamal-Nenets Autonomous Area, the current position in LLC Novourengoy Drilling Operations LLC, its parent company Transmil, as well as Intellect Drilling Services LLC, attracts attention in the first place. It was to this group's flagship company that the IDS leadership planned to transfer the entire staff of the NUBR in early 2020.

However, at present, the parent enterprise, as mentioned above, is among the defendants in VTB's multi-billion-dollar lawsuit, and the total amount of counterparty claims against it over the past year is 4.7 billion.

Since the spring of 2019, the company's partners' appeals to arbitration have actually become in-line, and new applications are now registered almost daily. By the way, at the end of February the same VTB filed a separate lawsuit for 155.5 million against Intellect Drilling Services for breach of obligations under finance lease agreements. Its consideration is scheduled in the Moscow Arbitration Court on April 22.

Claims for tens of millions of rubles for breaches of the terms of the supply and contract agreements have recently been filed by the Moscow LLC Consolidated Services, LLC Sibitek from Nizhnevartovsk, and the Yugmash plant from Adygea.
It is also worth mentioning that currently there is a bankruptcy lawsuit in the capital’s arbitration called Intellect Drilling Services, filed by Nizhnevartovsk Drilling Technologies LLC, which lists about two dozen more plaintiffs. The court has not yet accepted the documents for consideration, demanding before April 24 to eliminate inaccuracies in the application.

At the same time, the company is increasing the volume of debts on enforcement proceedings, which currently amount to 388 million rubles, of which 275 million of them relate to taxes and fees. A number of accounts of the flagship company IDS Group are blocked at the request of the Federal Tax Service.

Transmil LLC, whose asset is the Novy Urengoy Drilling Operations Directorate, is in a similarly difficult, in all likelihood, position. The company also has a number of accounts blocked, and new claims from counterparties are being submitted to the courts. A number of partners have already notified of their intentions to seek bankruptcy of an enterprise that specializes in holdings in transport and warehouse operations, and Bazis Technical Center LLC has already filed an asset insolvency lawsuit. Statements on joining the case were also sent by Sberbank and the structure of VTB Bank. Currently, the consideration of the claim is postponed.

We add that Transmila also has a debt of more than 30 million rubles in enforcement proceedings, 20 million of which relates to taxes.

The subsidiary of Transmil LLC, the NUBR, in turn, has been permanently generating losses over the past few years. At the end of 2018, they amounted to 16.2 million, and apparently, in the past year, the situation only worsened. The court is currently considering a bankruptcy petition from the Department of the Federal Tax Service for the Yamal-Nenets Autonomous District. At the end of January, the lawsuit on the financial insolvency of the enterprise, filed by Promservice LLC, was also accepted by the Moscow Arbitration Court.

The growth of debts on enforcement proceedings at the NUBR also shows a pronounced negative dynamics, having almost doubled since mid-December - from 76 to 131.7 million rubles. 68 million of them currently account for debt to fiscals. There are problems with the payment of wages and other obligatory payments, as evidenced by the regular interest in the company from the representatives of the State Labor Inspectorate in the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Area.

Meanwhile, in the industry community, discussing current trends against the background of currency volatility, a collapse in oil prices and the situation with the COVID-19 pandemic, they do not experience rainbow illusions. According to the interlocutors of the agency, oil and gas services are waiting for “hard times”.

“Of course, service workers will suffer first. In all likelihood, contracts will be phased out. According to my information, Gazprom Neft structures will be less affected by this. At the same time, it is not known how offshore and a number of other projects plan to survive. If investment programs are not saved, suppliers of oil and gas equipment will fly next. According to my forecasts, petrochemicals will develop, and small-tonnage, which gives a high margin. There could be a boom. But as for drillers, geophysicists, and geologists, here, in my opinion, the situation does not inspire optimism, ”concludes Alexander Romanihin, an analyst with the Center for Suppliers of Fuel and Energy Complex Rating Agency (TEK Rating).