On Friday, April 19, the Investigative Committee of Russia reported the arrest of Hotin. A criminal case under Part 4 of Art. 160 of the Criminal Code (appropriation or waste). The penalty for this article is up to 10 years in prison.

The arrest of the former owners of banks so that they compensate for the damage is a proven precedent, indicates TA Tertingny, partner of TA Legal Consulting: “Money for a barrel. It is clear that Khotyn has assets outside the bank’s perimeter, but in an amicable way, apparently, they refused to transfer them to DIA. ”

The Central Bank revoked the license from “Ugra” as early as July 2017. The Hotin Bank set more than one record. DIA payments after the bankruptcy of the bank amounted to a record 170 billion rubles. A large-scale confrontation between the Central Bank and the prosecutor’s office took place around the bank, and former owners continued to fight for the bank even after the license was revoked.

Hotin himself remained in Russia, says a person close to the supervisory board of the DIA. The agency as bank administrator tried to agree on the repayment of loans. After the bank lost its license, most of its legal borrowers stopped paying. But the agreement did not work out, says the source "Vedomosti".

The share in “Ugra”, which became the main source of problems for them, was bought by Hotin and his father Yuri in 2012. Before that, the Hotins managed to make a fortune on Moscow real estate. According to Forbes, the Khotin family owns about 2 million square meters. m, including the Four Seasons hotel near the Kremlin, the Filion shopping center, and others. In 2018, the Khotyn's rental income was estimated at $ 285 million. What led to their collapse?

Research institute gatherers

Hawtin moved to Moscow from Belarus in the mid-1990s., Forbes wrote. At home, they were engaged in the production of household chemicals and in Moscow at first engaged in the same, renting a shop on the territory of the meat processing plant. Mikoyan. In 1998, businessmen purchased one of the buildings for a pittance and began to lease the premises.

Under their control, the buildings of factories and bankrupt enterprises passed, and the former co-owners of this property later told about the attempts, threats, including from Alexey Khotin himself, about the missing physical evidence and refusals to initiate criminal cases, wrote Forbes.

The success of Khotin was attributed by Forbes to the patronage of the ex-chairman of the Federation Council, now the head of the Just Russia faction in the State Duma Sergey Mironov and the then State Duma Speaker Boris Gryzlov. For example, the younger Khotin was an adviser to Mironov. However, Mironov himself denied patronage.

Khotyn has good relations with the former head of the Belarusian Interior Ministry Vladimir Naumov, who introduced them to the former State Duma speaker and head of the United Russia party Boris Gryzlov. Naumov himself could meet Gryzlov in 2003 in Minsk, when a friendly football match was held between teams of veterans of the Ministry of the Interior of Russia and Belarus. Gryzlov, then the head of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, played for Russia, while Belarusian Minister Vladimir Naumov, then acting as the Belarusian minister, played for the neighbors. According to a Forbes source close to the Khotins, something like a friendship began between the heads of the Interior Ministry.

In 2004–2006 Khotyn received a total of about 1 million square meters. m of real estate, mainly former factories, plants and research institutes, Forbes wrote with reference to market participants. Then their development business was credited to Rosbank, the National Reserve Bank (NRB), VTB, Sberbank and Globex. One of the major participants in the M & A market says that the Hotins were independent players and no one stood behind them. He points out that they managed to get property suitable for class B and C offices - far from the center of Moscow.

Great purchases

In 2009, Naumov, who had led the Belarusian Ministry of Internal Affairs for almost 10 years and headed the presidential security service, resigned and moved to Moscow. After that, the Khotin business entered a new level. Their acquaintances told Forbes that Gryzlov called bankers to arrange loans; Gryzlov himself refused to comment on this.

It consists of the Four Seasons Hotel (the former “Moscow” hotel; 180 rooms), the Modny Season Gallery (the area is 41,000 sq. M., Of which 28,500 sq. M are rentable). Khotyn became the owners of the complex in 2015. Experts estimated the deal at $ 350 million.

In the summer of 2011, the Hotins made one of their largest purchases — they purchased the Gorbushkin Dvor and Filion shopping complexes. The transaction was estimated at $ 400–500 million. Four years later, the Hotins bought the building of the former Moscow Hotel from Suleiman Kerimov, now the Four Seasons Moscow Hotel opposite the State Duma, for a comparable amount - about $ 500 million. .

The usual structure of transactions for Khotyn is: 5-10% of the cost themselves, the rest is installment plan or loan money, and the payoff is due to the cash flow that has begun, the source told Vedomosti. Yuri Khotin "always behaved like a person who is not afraid of anything and is very confident of himself," the former high-ranking official said, adding that the Khotin family most likely has the support of security officials of different levels.

In 2011, the Night Hockey League was formed, in which Russian President Vladimir Putin plays. Bank “Ugra” is a long-time partner and co-organizer of the league festivals. The bank also sponsored a mini-football club Dynamo, whose board of trustees was headed by Gryzlov, and projects by designer Anastasia Zadorina, daughter of the head of the Federal Security Service of Russia Mikhail Shekina.

Hotin oil

Since 2011, Alexey Hotin began buying up oil assets, the first of which, the Majorskoe field in the Orenburg Region, he bought almost by accident. Its owner was urgently looking for a buyer, and Hotin was able to quickly find the money, it was about $ 5–10 million, Forbes wrote.

In 2012, businessmen bought the Dulisma oil company from Sberbank for 3.6 billion rubles, then the Arkhangelskoye and Development of St. Petersburg oil companies. In 2013, Hotin acquired 29.9% of Exillon Energy, for the first time becoming a shareholder in a public company. In the summer of 2014, Dulisma bought Irelyakhneft from Alrosa for 1.8 billion rubles. And in 2016, Hotiny even claimed to buy Bashneft, wrote RBC. This company was eventually bought by Rosneft.

From the government, the oil business of Khotin received benefits. The "Dulisma" export exemption was due to the request of the head of Sberbank German Gref even before the company bought Khotyn. Since then, the exemption has been regularly and promptly extended, despite the resistance of the Ministry of Finance. Finance Minister Anton Siluanov estimated budget losses from the benefits of Dulisme at 92.5 billion rubles. until 2033

In just five years, according to Forbes, Hotin made deals worth almost $ 1 billion and formed a package of oil assets with an aggregate production of 2.5 million tons and reserves of 215 million tons.

Oil and Bank

For the rapid development of the oil business, Hotin needed a bank. In 2012, when Khotyn bought "Ugra", it was a small bank, in terms of assets held at the end of the third hundred. Officially, the control was issued in 2015 - Hotin received 52.5%. Under new owners, the bank began to aggressively attract deposits from the public. For five years, the funds of individuals increased by 60 times - from 3 billion to 180 billion rubles. At the same time, Ugra was always considered to be an unreliable bank in the banking environment, its credit ratings were either absent or were very low, Deputy Chairman of the Board of Sovcombank Sergey Khotymsky told Vedomosti.

The territory of the former shoe factory. Moscow approved a development project of approximately 500,000 square meters. m, of which 350,000 square meters. meters of housing; developer - IC "Northern Star". According to SPARK, IC belongs to the MPO "Red Bogatyr". Bank "Ugra" tried to recover from the company 225 million rubles. The court sued the claim of the bankruptcy trustee, the DIA, but a few days before the decision was made, the company began the liquidation process.

Nevertheless, in five years, from the bank of the third hundred, “Ugra” has become a bank that ranks 29th in terms of assets and 15th in terms of deposits. In 2014, because of the crisis in the debt financing market, the Hotins began to re-credit in Yugra. As a result, the bank collected money from the population for loans to related parties - companies from the oil sector and property managers, said Forbes, director of banking ratings for Expert RA Stanislav Volkov.

In 2015–2016 Khotyn laid two loans to the business center - East Gate on Schelkovskoe highway and Tekhnosintez on Ugreshskaya. The bank could narrow down the choice of borrowers who went to state banks, or the development business of Khotinyh became more risky in the eyes of other banks due to the economic recession, said Interfax-CEA chief expert Alexei Buzdalin.

After the temporary administration was introduced in Ugra in July 2017, the details of some operations with oil assets became clear. For example, Cypriot Jarmbent Holdings borrowed about $ 60 million from the bank, laying down the shares of oil Exillon Energy Plc. Then the burden of the shares was removed, and the debt was repaid. It was redeemed by Stroybusinessgroup LLC, which previously borrowed $ 57 million from the bank. Now the bailiffs have this company with a debt of 7.1 billion rubles. can not find.

This transfer of debts from oil companies to questionable firms has been used more than once. The debts of several oil companies - the Polar Lights Company, Negusneft and Kayum Neft (Exillon Energy subsidiary of Alexey Khotin) worth about 10 billion rubles. were transferred to three other companies, two of which are being liquidated, and one bailiff could not be found.

What did not suit the Central Bank

The Central Bank did not like what was happening at the bank, difficulties with the regulator began long before the license was revoked - since spring 2016. From April 1, the regulator limited “Ugra” to accepting deposits from the public. The bank stopped accepting deposits, but began to attract money through the sale of its shares, thus receiving another 1.9 billion rubles from depositors.

For the year, the regulator issued 10 instructions to the bank to complete the formation of reserves for tens of billions of rubles, said Anna Orlenko, director of the Central Bank’s banking supervision department.

Formally, the shopping center was sold in 2015 to Pharmstandard shareholder Viktor Kharitonin. However, sources close to the business claim that Hotin continues to own it. On the site of the Gorbushkin Dvor and the nearby Moscow pipe plant Filit on ul. Barclay Moscow authorities are planning to build 383,000 square meters. m of real estate, of which almost 300 000 sq. m. m - housing.

“Ugra” never argued with the Central Bank and fulfilled all instructions, the former chairman of the board of “Ugra” Dmitry Shilyaev told “Vedomosti”. Although banks usually enter into this discussion, the Chairman of the Supervisory Board of the Moscow State Park and the former First Deputy Chairman of the Central Bank Oleg Vyugin told Vedomosti. Borrowers of "Ugra" promptly wrote to the bank pledges, although Shilyaev denies that these were Hotin's companies. Fitch's senior director, Alexander Danilov, suggested that shareholders fought so hard for the bank because of fear that the Central Bank would get to their other assets.

However, it fulfilled the instructions of “Ugra” only on paper: it made reserves for one loan and immediately dismissed it for others, Orlenko noted.

But in July 2017, the Central Bank took “Ugra” seriously. On July 6, Shilyaev was summoned to the Central Bank and issued a prescription: to charge additional 13.4 billion rubles. reserves and submit reporting forms to 15.00 the next day. “Ugra” did not meet the deadline, submitting reports at 16.45. On July 10, a temporary administration was introduced at the bank, the Central Bank explained this by finding signs of asset withdrawal and falsification of financial statements.

Prosecutor's office against

On July 18, 2017, payments to insured depositors-natural persons were to start, agent banks were ready to issue money. But then the prosecutor's office turned on. She stated that the decisions of the Central Bank were groundless, and demanded to suspend the work of the provisional administration and payments to depositors.

The DIA and the Central Bank conferred that day until midnight, but in the end they decided not to fulfill the requirements of the prosecutor's office, and the refund to the depositors nevertheless began.

The prosecutor's office threatened the head of the Deposit Insurance Agency (DIA), Yuri Isayev, and the head of the temporary administration of Yugra, Dmitry Onegin, to hold them accountable, but in the end did not keep his promise. The head of the Association of Banks of Russia, Garegin Tosunyan, said then that this was the first time that the prosecutor’s office entered into such a confrontation with the Central Bank. “There was no such [confrontation] on any other bank, it was obviously a non-economic history,” Vyugin agrees.

On July 28, the Central Bank revoked the license from the bank, and a year later, in September 2018, the bank was declared bankrupt.

What did the temporary administration find in Ugra?

The collapse of "Ugra" was the largest in the history of Russia. Since the temporary administration of the Central Bank (DIA) was introduced, it overestimated the hole in Ugra several times: first, at 2 billion rubles, then at 143 billion, the last figure, after the bank was declared bankrupt, 160 billion rubles. DIA payments to depositors exceeded 170 billion rubles.

How did the bank manage to grow such a gap between assets and liabilities? More than half of the bank's portfolio accounts for loans to its owners, said First Deputy Chairman of the Central Bank Vasily Pozdyshev. According to the norms of the Central Bank, the amount of such loans should not exceed 10 billion rubles, and in fact was 10 times more.

The report of the temporary administration states that most of the assets of Ugra were loans to 133 companies in the amount of 264 billion rubles. These loans have not been serviced for a long time, some companies go bankrupt or are liquidated, while others have signs of bankruptcy. Moreover, part of such loans "Ugra" issued shortly before the revocation of the license.

The property that the bank received as compensation, it turned out to be impossible to get into the property: the documents were drawn up with errors, and the Federal Register of State Property refused to transfer the property to the bank because of the change of its management.

The debts of the Khotyn oil companies were outweighed by companies that were subsequently either liquidated or the bailiffs could not find them, the interim administration noted. Shilyaev, however, argues that there are no violations in the actions of the bank, and these companies are "links of complexly structured transactions."

What now

Since 2017, the Central Bank tried several times to initiate a criminal case on the facts found in Yugra, but all these attempts were unsuccessful, Kommersant wrote. During this time, Alexey Hotin tried to get control over the meeting of creditors of “Ugra”, but at the last moment lost the support of one of the most active creditors, the head of the Union of Contributors Nikolay Nikolayev.

In June 2017, one of its major assets, the Hotins, sold. According to the industry publication Energy Insider, Rus-Oil sold Gorbushkin Dvor to Pharmstandard’s co-owner Viktor Kharitonin; however, sources close to Khotin noted that the de facto object remained with Khotin. “This reshuffle is nothing more than an attempt to formalize a deal without possible claims of the interim administration in the event of bank bankruptcy of Ugra,” Kommersant wrote, citing Khotin’s consultants. On the day of his arrest, April 19, it became known that the temporary administration of Ugra had filed for bankruptcy of Khotin Oil Company Dulisma JSC.

“Due to some support of the Khotins - or political, or some other - the Central Bank could not achieve arrest. Apparently, now something has changed, ”Vyugin believes. The arrest of the former owners of banks is a proven precedent, Tertychny believes. Other ways are too long and involve legal proceedings in other jurisdictions. As an example, he cites a story with the former owner of "My Bank" Gleb Fetisov. In early 2014, Fetisov was detained on suspicion of fraud. In the SIZO he spent 1.5 years and was released only after he transferred 15 billion rubles to the DIA. Then Fetisov argued that he did it voluntarily, "to maintain business reputation."

But history shows that it is difficult to recover something from the former owners, Vyugin points out. For 11 years, the DIA has managed to recover from the former owners of banks a little more than 100 billion rubles. Of these, only 180 million were actually obtained, that is, less than 1%. At the same time, only those banks that were declared bankrupt three years after Elvira Nabiullina took control of the Central Bank in 2013 found a 1.4 trillion-ruble hole, which follows from the data of the Central Bank. The representative of the Central Bank reported that the information on the appeal of the temporary administration on the management of PJSC Bank Ugra to law enforcement agencies was published on the Central Bank website, the representative of the DIA refused to comment, and could not contact representatives of Khotin.