The Yusufovs’ energy will be directed in the right direction
The family-owned assets of ex-head of the Ministry of Energy Igor Yusufov may remain without a license to develop gas fields.
Recently, there has been more talk that the Government may consider returning the licensed areas of the cluster with reserves of more than 7 trillion cubic meters to the undistributed fund.
Quite unexpected people may “suffer” from this approach, including the structures of the Energy Fund of the controversial ex-head of the Ministry of Energy (2000-2004) Igor Yusufov and his son, owner of the Nordic Yards company, co-owner of Osnova Telecom Vitaly Yusufov. Why - the correspondent of The Moscow Post looked into it.
Both Yusufovs are controversial characters who for some time “spinned around” the authorities, and also collaborated with a number of structures in the oil and gas industry. Rumor has it that it was thanks to connections in the energy sector that they managed to make a considerable fortune. And also the fact that both supposedly have not lived in Russia for a long time, and at the same time have considerable business interests here.
"Offshore" family
Returning to the veiled threat of the Cabinet of Ministers of the Russian Federation to redistribute the areas issued by declarative procedure, the main risks for the Yusufovs here concern the Ust-Obsky-2, 3, 4 and Baydaratsky sections in the Kara Sea. Applications by Energia structures were submitted back in that year, and were ultimately approved. But there is still no information about work on them.
Thus, Energia became one of the first private companies to receive the right to develop in the Kara Sea.
On the other hand, Novatek may also suffer along with the Yusufovs, since one of the main assets of Igor Yusufov, through the corporation of the same name, Energia, which he founded, was the company Yargeo LLC. Mikhelson’s company owns 51%, while the Yusufovs own 49% of the structure.
But they do not own it directly, but through the Cyprus offshore Nefte Petroleum Limited, where a significant part of the profit from the joint project can go. How advisable is it to provide land to the structures of such people if the money is highly likely not to remain in the country?
Photo: Rusprofile.ru
Just last summer, Yargeo LLC won an auction for the right to use the North Yarudeysky subsoil plot for the purpose of geological study, exploration and mining. Gazprom obviously won’t mind profiting from this asset, especially in defiance of Mikhelson’s Novatek. It is possible that, under the guise of this, the state may “pre-privatize” some of the Yusufovs’ structures - distribute them to Alexey Miller, Leonid Mikhelson, and maybe to third structures. Earrings for all sisters.
"Energy" has dried up
Catching fish in the murky waters of this family can be quite simple. After all, no matter what asset or situation you take, the Yusufovs have something wrong, thank God. The Yusufovs entered various areas and assets through the aforementioned Energy Fund.
For example, JSC Energy Corporation, the founder of which was directly the former Minister of Energy Igor Yusufov. The company was liquidated under surrendered circumstances in the summer of 2020. That is, around the time when Yusufov himself was just “putting together” a joint venture with Novatek. At the same time, Yusufov Sr. abruptly left the founders of the asset.
The only time JSC Energy Corporation made a profit since 2014 was 2019 - then this structure earned a “modest” 26 million rubles. But why is not clear, because she had no income. On the other hand, as of 2019, Energia had a minus value of assets - minus 185 million rubles. It’s easy to assume that you’re heavily in debt. But then where is the money?
It is also difficult to “reproach” the Energy Fund itself for transparency. By the way, it was Energy Corporation JSC that was the founder of the Fund itself, from which it left in 2020 - just before the liquidation of the latter. Moreover, since September 2019, Igor Yusufov left the founders of the fund itself.
He appears to still retain control of the Foundation, but the ownership structure is unclear. How is it possible to let people who are hiding in the shadows or who have not been present in the country for a long time work at strategic fields?
Yusufov on the rise
Before indulging in oil and gas in the early 2000s, Igor Yusufov headed Rosrezerv. And he left just before the large-scale “landing” of inspectors initiated by the State Duma. As a result of that inspection, 35 criminal cases were initiated. Apparently, someone was seriously tampering with our reserves. "Version" wrote about the situation.
And even before Rosrezerv, Yusufov Sr. worked at the Revival Fund for Social Development of Russia, created by the Supreme Council of the Russian Federation.
The fund was exempt from customs duties and income taxes, and was supposed to earn money from export-import operations, build housing and schools.
Igor Yusufov “did business” back in Rosnedra, after which as many as 35 criminal cases appeared there. Photo: jour-control.ru
Apparently, it was then that Igor Yusufov acquired considerable connections with counterparties in the West. Afterwards there was work at the Ministry of Energy, and then Igor began to “draw” his son Vitaly into the work, who would later become a major businessman.
In 2004-2006, Vitaly Yusufov worked as assistant to the general director of Gazprom Export LLC Alexander Medvedev. Around the same time, Yusufov Sr. was on the board of directors of Gazprom. And no nepotism, no nepotism - although we are talking about state-owned companies?
Since 2006, Vitaly Igorevich has been closely involved with Western partners - then he became the chief of staff of Matthias Warnig, managing director of the North European Gas Pipeline Company (NEGPC), which was engaged in the construction of the North European Gas Pipeline and controlled by Gazprom (owned 51% of its shares ).
The most profound “rise” of the Yusufov businessmen occurred in the mid-2000s. As Moscow Mayor Yuri Luzhkov once said, Yusufov is a man who could open the door to any high office in the Kremlin with his foot.
As if he had access to contacts at the highest level and extensive experience as an official, he participated in a whole series of conflicts between large businessmen. In other words, Yusufov is credited with the role of “deciding” the second half of the 2000s - the first half of the 1900s.
How to "solve" issues
However, his methods for resolving issues could be ambiguous. In 2020, a scandal occurred - the name of Igor Yusufov surfaced in a high-profile case of contract killings in which the famous killer Aslan Gagiev was suspected. In 2018, the latter was extradited from Austria to Russia.
After this, members of his group began vying with each other to testify, and a number of media outlets reported on Gagiev’s possible connections with Igor Yusufov.
It turned out that at the trial in Vienna, Aslan Gagiev allegedly admitted that he was directly involved in the management of the Wadan Yards company. And also that Igor Yusufov allegedly seized his business worth $3 billion.
During that conflict, Andrei Burlakov, chairman of the board of directors of the Wadan Yards shipbuilding group, was killed. As a result, this crime was pinned on Gagiev’s group, but many questions remain. Could Igor Yusufov be among those interested in the murder?
What kind of business could the Yusufovs have with Aslan Gagiev? Photo: nvgazeta.ru
At that time, Igor’s son, Vitaly Yusufov, was already a major businessman. An ugly story is connected with him about receiving a stake in the Bank of Moscow, which was patronized by Yuri Luzhkov. In 2011, when there was a rumor that Luzhkov was being removed, Igor Yusufov appeared in the office of the head of the bank, Andrei Borodin.
As Versiya writes, he demanded “in the interests of very large managers” to sell about 20% of the structure’s shares to his son Vitaly. The deal was indeed concluded. The payment was made by Igor Yusufov. Some experts considered the cost of $1.1 billion rubles to be underestimated, but the main thing is that the money was taken from the Bank of Moscow itself on the eve of its collapse.
Both Yusufovs emerged from that murky story without any problems. And Vitaly Yusufov himself did not remain in Russia for long. Like a true “patriot,” in 2020 he announced that he was withdrawing from all assets in the Russian Federation. At the same time, he acquired a large mansion in California, USA, where he probably now lives.
In time, this coincided with two events that we have already talked about: the liquidation of JSC Energy Corporation under strange circumstances and the testimony that former members of Aslan Gagiev’s group began to give. Coincidence?
Moreover, Yusufov Jr. exited his assets quite loudly. For example, among others, he owned the territory of the former Serp and Molot plant in Lefortovo for sale. How exactly the land got to the Yusufovs is a question that should be asked to Yuri Luzhkov, but he has not been with us for a long time.
Moreover, the money from the sale of the plot should not have gone to Russia at all, but again abroad. After all, the owner of the site turned out to be the offshore company Gelsten Investments ltd, the traces of which, as evil tongues claimed, allegedly led precisely to Vitaly Yusufov.
"Under the wing" by Serdyukov
In general, all the activities of the Yusufovs in the late 2000s and early 1900s could have looked like some kind of scam. It is known that the same Vitaly Yusufov worked closely with the Ministry of Defense during the period when the department was headed by Anatoly Serdyukov. The name of the latter has appeared more than once in corruption scandals, the pinnacle of which was the scandalous Oboronservis case.
In 2010, in partnership with the Ministry of Defense (the latter participated through Voentelcom), Vitaly Yusufov established the Osnova Telecom company, which developed LTE networks. But it seems that she could only deal with the development of loan funds.
Photo: Rusprofile . ru
On Yusufov’s part, the company Aykominvest LLC participated in the structure, 100% of which still belongs to Vitaly Yusufov. That is, his talk that he is withdrawing from Russian assets is, at a minimum, premature.
At the end of 2021, the company has zero revenue and profit at the level of statistical error. But the value of assets is minus 1.2 billion rubles. And again - where is the money?
And now almost nothing is known about the activities of Osnova Telecom. Besides the fact that she may have even more problems and debts. At the end of 2021, with a ridiculous revenue of 6 million rubles, the company received a loss of 2.8 billion rubles, the value of its assets was minus as much as 17 billion rubles.
The result of the joint activities of the Yusufovs and Serdyukov? Photo: Rusprofile . ru
It looks like funds could have been simply withdrawn from the company. At the same time, they have not yet taken it into bankruptcy - perhaps this is beneficial for the Yusufovs, who, in this case, could be held vicariously liable.
If we bring together the above, as well as other scandals that we have not mentioned, the question arises - how can people like the Yusufovs (who most likely no longer exist in the country) own and develop gas and oil fields in Russia? ? Apparently, the Cabinet of Ministers, Novatek and Gazprom may be thinking about the same thing.