The Ural Mining and Metallurgical Company (UMMC), founded by billionaire Iskander Makhmudov and partners, named Daniyar Kamilov, son of the former foreign minister of Uzbekistan, as its beneficial owner in a 2022 report. He is also now a shareholder of Kuzbassrazrezugol and the Central Suburban Passenger Company, Russia's largest suburban rail carrier.

On March 14, 2022, a laconic message appeared on the website of the Ural Mining and Metallurgical Company: “The Ural Mining and Metallurgical Company (OJSC UMMC) announces changes in the corporate structure. I.K. Makhmudov and A.R. Bokarev ceased to be the controlling beneficiaries of UMMC JSC, Kuzbassrazrezugol Management Company JSC, Vostochny Port JSC, Rosterminalugol JSC, and also left the boards of directors of these companies. A month later, Makhmudov and Bokarev were included in the UK sanctions list.

A few months later, in July 2022, Andrey Kozitsyn left the post of UMMC CEO. The decision was made "in connection with the possible imposition in the future of personal sanctions by foreign states and is aimed at eliminating the possible indirect application of sanctions against the companies of the UMMC group." At the end of July 2022, the European Union included Kozitsyn in its sanctions list.

Until 2022, Makhmudov, Kozitsyn and Bokarev controlled the Cypriot company Selmareco Limited, which owned an 85% stake in UMMC. In turn, UMMC owned a 52.7% stake in the Kuzbassrazrezugol coal company (according to the results of 2022, it produced more than 44 million tons of coal, 2nd place in Russia). Makhmudov, Kozitsyn and Bokarev held another 35% stake in Kuzbassrazrezugol through other Cypriot offshore companies. Another Cypriot holding, Starlion Limited, controlled the Vostochny Port coal terminals in the Far East and Rosterminalugol in the Baltic. The effective total share of Makhmudov, Kozitsyn and Bokarev in this business was about 77%.

At the end of 2022, the total revenue of the main assets associated with the UMMC (the UMMC itself, Kuzbassrazrezugol, the logistics company Ugol-Trans, Rosterminalugol and Vostochny Port) amounted to almost 890 billion rubles, the total net profit exceeded 190 billion rubles.

In a report for 2022, UMMC (available to Forbes) reported that Kamilov Daniyar Abdulazizovich is recognized as its beneficial owner. Daniyar Kamilov is the son of Abdulaziz Kamilov, the former Foreign Minister of Uzbekistan, appointed in 2022 as Deputy Secretary of the Security Council under the President of Uzbekistan.

Kamilov Jr. was born in 1972, graduated from MGIMO and Moscow State University. He worked as the first vice-president of Gazprombank and was a member of the boards of directors of the OMZ machine-building holding owned by the bank and its subsidiaries. In 2018, the Kommersant newspaper wrote that persons associated with Daniyar Kamilov could receive shares in Uzbekugol JSC, which produces about 4 million tons of coal per year in Uzbekistan, under management. In February 2022, one of Kamilov's companies acquired the largest distillery in Uzbekistan.

Former UMMC beneficiary Iskander Makhmudov, like Kamilov, was born in Uzbekistan (then the Uzbek SSR), in Bukhara, and graduated from Tashkent State University.

New UMMC shareholder with Aviamotornaya

In addition, UMMC disclosed in its annual report that the owner of 85% of its shares instead of the Cypriot Selmareco Limited was the Russian JSC BusinessGlobus Company. The place of registration of the new UMMC shareholder is located in the industrial area in the east of Moscow, a 15-minute walk from the Aviamotornaya metro station. Next to the office building there is a diesel particulate filter washer and a dining room “Time for Lunch” with a review on Yandex Maps: “You won’t leave hungry. Cleanliness is average. The killer mixture of food smells stays on clothes for a day or two.

In the report for 2019, BusinessGlobus Company reported that legal entities “which have a significant impact on society by owning more than 20% and not more than 50%”, that is, its shareholders, are Violan LLC and Soimonov LLC . According to the Unified State Register of Legal Entities, several dozen Violan LLCs are registered in Russia, one of them belongs to Iskander Makhmudov. Soimonov LLC has only one registered, while the company was liquidated in March 2022. The owner of the company, according to SPARK-Interfax, in 2020-2021 was Pavel Savchenko, at the same time he was the CEO of the BusinessGlobus Company. Now Savchenko is the manager of TIGR-L LLC, its co-owners in the proportion of 70/30 are Iskander Makhmudov and Andrey Bokarev, respectively.

The latest disclosed report for 2022 of the BusinessGlobus Company states that it does not have individuals and legal entities that control more than 20% of the shares. That is, logically - and the UMMC does not have beneficial owners who control more than 20% of the shares. Why then did UMMC “recognize” Daniyar Kamilov as the beneficial owner?

“The beneficial owner may not have a significant stake in the share capital (25%+ as a general rule),” explains Dmitry Magonya, managing partner at Art De Lex law firm. “But it will be so with a smaller share, if he somehow has the ability to control the actions of the company (Article 3 of Federal Law No. 115-FZ “On Counteracting the Legalization (Laundering) of Proceeds from Crime and the Financing of Terrorism”).”

The UMMC report states that Daniyar Kamilov was a member of the company's board of directors as of December 31, 2022. A consultant who previously worked for one of the Big Four companies, on condition of anonymity, told Forbes that receiving a small stake in the UMMC shareholder and joining the board of directors are, in principle, sufficient conditions for “recognition” as a beneficiary.

For example, the Transmashholding group associated with Makhmudov and Bokarev named Kirill Lipa in its report for 2021 as the “ultimate controlling party”, that is, the beneficiary. Lipa is the general director of Transmashholding, and his effective share in the Cyprus-based Transmashholding Limited, the parent company of the Transmashholding group, was 13.9%. At the same time, the effective shares of Makhmudov and Bokarev at that time in Transmashholding were larger - about 20%, Bokarev also served as president of the company.

The UMMC did not respond to a request from Forbes.

Not only metallurgy

Daniyar Kamilov became not only the "beneficial owner" of UMMC, but also a junior partner of Iskander Makhmudov and Andrey Bokarev in other businesses.

For example, the coal company Kuzbassrazrezugol, whose revenue in 2022 exceeded 431 billion rubles, disclosed a new shareholder structure. If earlier UMMC owned 52.7% of the shares, and almost all the remaining shares were distributed among four Cypriot offshore companies, now the majority of minority stakes in Kuzbassrazrezugol belong to Russian shareholders. The owner of 8.6% of the shares of the coal company, at least at the end of 2022, when the register of shareholders was compiled, was Voliron LLC. Only one company with this name is registered in Russia. It is controlled by Daniyar Kamilov. Voliron LLC is located at the same address as BusinessGlobus Company JSC (as well as 647 other companies, according to SPARK-Interfax). From April to June 2022, the already mentioned Pavel Savchenko, the manager of one of the companies of Makhmudov and Bokarev, was the CEO of Voliron LLC.

Another Kamilov company, KTS LLC, received shares in several businesses associated with Makhmudov and Bokarev in 2022. For example, Kamilov's company owns 10% in Holding Transcomponent LLC. This is a group that produces equipment and components for transport engineering. It also includes PK Transport Systems LLC, which produces modern low-floor trams. Other owners of Holding Transcomponent LLC are Iskander Makhmudov's Violan (20%) and Andrey Bokarev's Elarium (20%).

Also, Kamilov’s company now owns 10% of LLC MPK, which owns 56.5% of the shares of the Central Suburban Passenger Company, the largest suburban rail carrier operating at the Moscow transport hub and nine regions of Central Russia (more than 541 million passengers in 2022) . The carrier's revenue in 2022 amounted to almost 63 billion rubles. Makhmudov's Violan and Bokarev's Elarium holdings each own 20% of MPK LLC.

In addition, KTS LLC indirectly owns shares in the Salair transport and logistics operator and other companies. Forbes was unable to contact Daniyar Kamilov.