Board of Directors. How the owner of Uralchem and Uralkali Dmitry Mazepin bent under an unbearable burden Mazepin biography
After a series of loud
economic and political scandals, head of an agrochemical holding«
Uralchem »Dmitry Mazepin, rumored to be
decided to emigrate to the Baltic states - away from Russian creditors and
investigators...
Where is Dmitry Mazepin running?
What's happening now in
owner's life"Uralkhima" Dmitry Mazepin, something
begins to resemble the events of the novel" Run " the great Russian writer Mikhail Bulgakov. After all,
It seems that«
agrochemical king»
Mazepin decided
leave your homeland forever and move to live for permanent residence in a place that is unfriendly to
Russia's Baltics, where monuments to Soviet liberator soldiers are being destroyed, and
Neo-Nazis regularly organize parades of SS veterans.
However, the head of Uralchem it's even handy. After all, what
The worse the attitude towards Russia in the Baltics, the more likely it is that Mazepin will not be extradited to the Russian authorities. But
now that Dmitry Arkadyevich began to support the Russian opposition, his"Uralchem" fate may well await
YUKOS, and Mazepin himself - the fate of Khodorkovsky.
However, in order to better understand,
why does the owner need"Uralkhima" needed to emigrate to
Latvia, we must first take a look at the latest political scandals in Russia.
The opposition will not lead to any good
It seems that the latest
political and economic events forced Russian entrepreneurs,
associated with the opposition, become noticeably nervous. So the searches of Navalny and Sobchak
showed that"untouchables" no more. Conviction of Sergei Udaltsov for assault
activist«
Young Guard United Russia
»
became a sign for the Russian opposition that the courts were on the side
authorities. But the attention of the Investigative Committee to the matter"Kirovles" and to the role in this matter
ex-leader of the Union of Right Forces, and now governor of the Kirov region Nikita Belykh - to everyone
made it clear that even the opposition head of the region could come under suspicion.
And if so, then what
wait for businessmen who support the opposition?! Searches, as the owner of the NRB
Alexander Lebedev, or the actual takeover of business, like Gennady Gudkov?!!
Although, perhaps, that Dmitry
Mazepin will have it even worse, because he is not a public oppositionist, but, on the contrary,
member of the party" United Russia ". However, membership in«
Putin-Medvedev party»
does not disturb the owner"Uralkhima" sponsor the Russian opposition, which was clearly visible
at the last elections of deputies to the Legislative Assembly of the Kirov Region.
So, for example, in elections
2011 in the Kirov region desperately flashed«
fair locomotive» —
Gennady Gudkov, who stubbornly pretended that he was fighting
with oligarchs and corrupt officials. However, as it turned out, according to the list«
Fair Russia»
then representatives passed
OOO"Uralchem-trans" - logistics company,
controlled by the holding"Uralchem".
So Mazepin, in fact
himself becoming a deputy from"United Russia" dragged into the regional parliament and members«
Fair Russia».
And this is a real betrayal
parties. But United Russia, whose leaders are Putin and Medvedev, have never
forgive betrayals.
And so the “attack” began authorities on all participants«
Kirov campaign».
From the beginning investigators
raided the security holding company owned by the family of Gennady Gudkov, and he was
forced to put his business up for sale. And then Nikita Belykh, almost
did not lose his gubernatorial status after opening correspondence with a famous
oppositionist Alexei Navalny, bankruptcy cases"Kirovles" and fraud during privatization
distilleries in the Kirov region.
So Mazepin’s colleagues«
Kirov campaign»
have already begun to feel
righteous anger of the Russian leadership. However, if politicians are put in
modern Russia is not accepted, then
opposition businessmen may well end up behind bars. Take, to
for example,"YUKOS case" when they imprisoned him
the richest man in Russia at that time - Mikhail Khodorkovsky.
But he, in fact, did
the same as Mazepin - he supported the opposition, intrigued against the authorities and, what
most importantly, he was involved in illegal financial fraud.
It is worth noting that if
Khodorkovsky"manipulated" With
taxes and oil supplies, then Mazepin prefers to deal«
credit fraud", "corny" defrauding their creditors"grandmothers".
« Uralchem » «throws"state?
Here, first of all, it is worth
recall the scandal associated with
loans issued Sberbank OJSC UCC Uralchem. Let us recall that in 2007-2008
years company"Uralchem" was actively purchasing new
assets. Then the company's expansion was financed by borrowed funds, which"Uralchem" received on credit"Sberbank" secured by its own shares.
As a result, Uralchem thus acquired 71% of the shares of OJSC«
» ( VMU), and then bought for $200 million in borrowed funds
7.5% OJSC"Togliattiazot". In total for that period, according to
JSC reporting"Uralchem" the company's debts amounted to
more than a billion dollars.
The more the crisis grew stronger,
the more difficult the financial situation became"Uralkhima". So, after the expansion of Dmitry Mazepin’s holding against the background
the first wave of the global financial crisis at the end"zero" volume of overdue
loan debts to corporative clients Sberbank grew by 40%. A
bank losses due to debts"Uralkhima" amounted to 5 billion rubles.
Just like that, sir
Mazepin actually"threw" state bank for as much as 5"yards".
It would seem that this is the time
to initiate a criminal case. But, according to rumors, the Russian authorities decided to postpone
this«
sweet moment»,
to give to the owner"Uralkhima" pay yourself
debts.
But it was not there!!! After allas of the end of 2011 net debt of Uralchem amounted to $930.8 million.So
Thus, the amount of debt of Dmitry Mazepin’s holding for last years almost not
has changed! This means that he is not going to repay his debts.
After all, it is much easier to withdraw all your assets
abroad," forget " about your debts
Russian banks, and the leadership of the Russian Federation"send" to " everyone knows the place»,
promptly dumping"over the hill" and pretending there«
political refugee».
Corruption "in Mazepa »
But debt problems are not
Mazepin's only difficulties in Russia,
since in the future he may become involved in several
criminal cases that are rumored to be filed soon. Yes, employees
law enforcement I have been worried about the situation with raider takeover for a long time"Togliattiazot" by structures of "Uralchem".
Although no less investigative
authorities may also be interested in the old cases of Dmitry Mazepin, which were developed back in
those times when he was first deputy chairman of the Russian Foundation
federal property (RFFI) and the President of the AK"Sibur". By the way, earlier there were rumors that to create
"Uralchem" Dmitry Mazepin
Vladimir Malin helped, former manager RFBR, whose deputy and protégé in his
time was Mazepin. But this is corruption in its purest form!
Against this background, doubts arise about
legality of the transaction when in 2004 the company«
Design Bureau»,
controlled
Dmitry Mazepin, at an open auction of the Russian Federal Property Fund
(RFBR) acquired a controlling stake in OJSC«
Kirovo-Chepetsk Chemical Plant».
According to rumors, then
Officials from the Russian Federal Property Fund also helped Mazepin win this auction, which is unlikely
whether is legal.
In general, now investigators have
an extensive basis for accusations against Mr. Mazepin, which means that his
escape from Russia is just around the corner. And given how active the investigators are
Now they are conducting searches in the houses and companies of oppositionists, the owner"Uralkhima" may leave
borders of the Russian Federation in the coming weeks and permanently move to Latvia.
WelcometoLatvia
By the way, for this Dmitry Arkadyevich has already
created all the necessary conditions for himself in Riga. So back in 2009, it was registered in the capital of Latvia
100 percent" daughter " holding - Uralchem
Trading. Now this structure controls the export of fertilizers
production of the company.
In addition, Mazepin began to implement
Riga has its own"mega-projects". Moreover, as you can see,
master"Uralkhima" already found a way to
deputies of the Riga Duma, whose ruling coalition consists
from"Concord Center" and LPP/LC. According to rumors, it is in
these political organizations are especially active and active«
Mazepin lobbyists».
The result of this lobbyist
activity was the fact that on July 26, 2011 the Riga City Council issued
permission to build a terminal for transshipment and storage of minerals
fertilizers - which is a joint project of Uralchem Freight Limited
and SIA R ī gas tirdzniec ī bas osta.
Moreover, the project of such a terminal was unanimously approved
Urban Development Committee of the Riga Duma, headed by Sergei Zaletaev.
However, the agreement on the construction of the terminal between Uralchem Freight Limited and
The RTO was concluded back in 2009 (when the economic policy of the capital
was run by the then vice-mayor Ainar Slesers). Then, to implement this
project was established by OOO Riga fertilizer terminal, 51% of which belongs to
holding"Uralchem" and 49% – RTO. Total for the project
It is expected to invest 36 million lats.
As can be seen from the relationship
Dmitry Mazepin with representatives of the mayor's office
Riga and Riga Duma, host"Uralkhima" has already found "its people" there. But it's obvious that
Riga officials and deputies help Mazepin"not for nothing." After all, as we saw in
situation with the elections in the Kirov region, Dmitry Arkadyevich does not spare money for
payment for the services of their lobbyists.
By the way, it’s interesting, but the mayor of Riga
Nil Ushakov, who recently promised that he would defend to the last
interests of the Russian-speaking population of Latvia, too"on your pocket" at Dmitry Mazepin?! After all, you must agree that bribery
Riga mayor would be an excellent strategic step for"Uralkhima" - especially since Dmitry
Mazepin, according to rumors, is ready to invest in
economy of Latvia 150 million dollars.
Note that now, in addition to Uralchem Trading in Riga
The representative office of OJSC has been operating (and for almost 5 years now)"UCHK "Uralchem". And Dmitry Mazepin is implementing enough projects in Latvia
large-scale - take, for example, what it costs just to build inRiga port terminal for storage and
transshipment mineral fertilizers with a capacity of as much as 2 million tons per year!
Riga's ecology is under threat
However, recalling the experience
Russians who«
lucky»
live close to facilities"Uralkhima" I would like to note that residents of Riga will soon be able
just to hate"Uralchem" if because of him in the capital
The same natural disasters will begin in Latvia as in the Russian Federation.
So, for example, February 5
2009 on owned"Uralchem" Kirovo-Chepetsk chemical plant (Kirov region) in
one of the workshops due to depressurization of a pipeline with liquid ammonia vapor
an accident occurred that resulted in the death of one person and the injury of another.
Later"Uralchem" had to fight off
accusations that this tragedy was a consequence of the company's use
corruption schemes for passing examinations and industrial safety inspections.
However, then the locals
journalists wrote that the owners of the plant, wanting to reduce costs, deliberately did not
updated its equipment - and the wear and tear of some mechanisms was up to
300%! In the first half of 2009 alone, about a dozen were recorded there.
accidents As a result, a large-scale massacre almost occurred in Kirovo-Chepetsk
ecological catastrophy.
By the way, on the property"Uralchem" enterprise "Azot" ( Berezniki, Perm region)
A number of emergency incidents occurred. Moreover, among them there were fires and
even emissions of ammonia into the atmosphere.
But because of the activity
included in"Uralchem" OJSC " Voskresensk mineral fertilizers» ( Voskresensk, Moscow region) in this region there were almost
there was no real environmental disaster caused by the release into the air
harmful sulfur vapors.
Where is the guarantee that such a disaster will not happen now?
Riga?!!
After all, if an accident occurs
at the terminal in the port of Riga, then soon not only air, but also water in the capital
Latvia may be poisoned. By the way, according to rumors,"Uralkhima" already have experience of poisoning
the city water supply system of the same Voskresensk near Moscow. With this
the scandalous story of a shell company is connected"Dantès" through which to the Moscow region presumably
waste from French printing enterprises of a German concern was dumped
Siegwerk Group. At one time, this company leased a plot of land in
close proximity to treatment facilities located on the territory
OJSC«
Voskresensk mineral fertilizers».
Of course, Mazepin's subordinates
acted" wisely " and according to the documents they indicated that
LLC needs this land"Dantès" to create a production and warehouse complex. Soon
thousands of barrels of printing waste began to be transported to this territory
activities. But from there, according to independent environmentalists, printing
waste and discharged into local waterways, then entering the city system
water supply
So, where is the guarantee that in
Riga top managers"Uralkhima" will not lie to city authorities about the activities of their
port terminal?! And how can the townspeople believe"Uralchem" after all that he
made in Russia?!!
But, unfortunately, it's worth it
It should be noted that, despite all the indignation of Latvian environmentalists, Dmitry Mazepin
settled in Riga«
seriously and for a long time».
After all, to other EU countries
For"Uralkhima" with its destructive
Ecology production entrance is closed.
So, for example, in France
the loud scandal associated with the attempt has not yet been forgotten"Uralkhima" open an enterprise with
attitude towards the production of ammonium nitrate in the French city of Dieppe. Then
only intervention at the highest government level made it possible to save
flourishing resort area in the Dieppe region from an environmental disaster. Yes and
local residents have repeatedly protested"Uralkhima" mass protests. By the way, then violations
influential Russian companies in the environmental industry have become interested
French Senate deputies from the party"green" Marie-Christine Blandin and Jean Desessard.
And now Uralchem came to Riga. But why
city deputies and officials after
everything that happened continues to help"Uralchem"? Maybe they're just intimidated? Or even bought?! Or maybe
Maybe they just don’t care about their own voters?!!
By the way, knowing the working methods"Uralkhima" option about bribes in the mayor's office
Riga and in the Riga Duma seems the most plausible.
It looks like Dmitry Mazepin,
fearing Russian justice, I decided to move permanently as soon as possible
to Latvia. However, in vain he underestimates
European police or Interpol. However, unfortunately, large bribes
nowadays they can even shut up
law enforcement officer from Europe. And about those who are hungry for money
Riga officials have nothing to say!
All this means that soon
Residents of Riga will have to breathe caustic
air and drink poisoned water. Although, of course, the townspeople still
there is still a chance to save the ecology of Riga. To do this, you need to demand from the mayor of Riga
Nil Ushakov and Latvian President Andris Berzins should be expelled"Uralchem" from the republic and its capital Riga.
But
This is unlikely to happen. After all, corruption, as we know, is invincible. And Dmitry
Mazepin understands this like no one else...
Dmitry Mazepin is one of the richest people in Russia, but at the same time he is a rather non-public person, about whose personality little is known. He quickly burst onto the Forbes list in 2010, ranking in Russian rating 70th place (833rd in the world list), and in three years soared to 33rd position (423rd in the world) with a fortune of $ 3.2 billion.
Dmitry Mazepin's growing fortune is ensured by his "chemical" holding - Uralchem, specializing in the production of mineral fertilizers. The holding was one of the last to emerge in its market sector, and the newcomer had to seriously push out its competitors. Moreover, its formation took place during the crisis years of 2008-2009. At some point, it seemed that the brainchild of entrepreneur Dmitry Mazepin was about to collapse. But Uralchem survived, and all the difficulties were left behind. Today the company shows enviable results. Net profit for 2012 increased by half and reached $665 million, EBITDA increased by 12 percent and amounted to $839 million, the margin for this indicator remained at 35 percent. The company has good market prospects, and the holding's twelve thousand employees feel quite well.
Today, Uralchem is the second in the world and the first in Russia producer of ammonium nitrate, the Russian leader in the production of ammonia, No. 2 in the production of urea and in general in the production of nitrogen fertilizers.
What is the secret of success of Dmitry Mazepin, who managed to create and develop a powerful and successful chemical empire in a short time? People who know this businessman closely are sure that it’s not all about luck, but about his personal qualities: will, determination, strategic thinking, the ability to see the root of the problem. And also in the ability to select a team and value key employees.
Manager talent
Dmitry Mazepin received his first noticeable “top” position at the age of 28, becoming vice president of the Tyumen Oil Company (TNK) for work in Western Siberia. It was there, as the executive director of the oil-producing enterprise OJSC Nizhnevartovskneftegaz, part of TNK, that Mazepin first showed those qualities that would later lead him to create his own successful business. He spoke about this period in his interview with the Ekho Moskvy radio station: “When I arrived in Nizhnevartovsk, the price of oil was 9 dollars, and the cost was 12. Then Nizhnevartovskneftegaz had just joined the Tyumen Oil Company after privatization. To me, As an anti-crisis manager, it was necessary to deal with waste and solve the cost problem in order for the company to at least start working at zero.” In addition, Mazepin managed to successfully resolve the conflict between TNK and the former management team of the Nizhnevartovskneftegaz subsidiary.
After this, Dmitry Mazepin was noticed and appreciated. He was invited to civil service - first as an adviser, and then as first deputy chairman of the Russian Federal Property Fund (RFFI). Almost all of his activities in the department are related to anti-crisis management of privatized assets. While working at the Russian Federal Property Fund, Dmitry Mazepin acquired corporate administration skills and valuable experience in managing industrial assets, which later became very useful to him. Companions note that for Mazepin there are no unsolvable tasks. He combines flexibility and determination, the ability to negotiate, and when necessary, to act quickly and boldly.
In 2002-2003, before founding own business, Dmitry Mazepin worked as president of the Sibur-Holding company. He was invited to this company to replace Yakov Goldovsky, who was arrested for attempting to steal Gazprom's Sibur assets. The main task that the new management of Gazprom set for Mazepin was to return Sibur under the operational control of the parent company and bring it out of a deep crisis. “In 2002, when I arrived, 28 enterprises in Sibur were bankrupt,” Mazepin himself recalls about that time.
Indeed, almost all of the company's gas processing plants were idle. At the very short time Mazepin managed to ensure payment of debts to power engineers, conduct an audit of the technical condition of facilities and restart the enterprises. New leader Sibur also solved the most pressing problem - the months-long delay in workers' salaries. Already three months after Mazepin’s arrival, all wage debts were paid off, and six months later, wages at the enterprises increased: workers, as key personnel, doubled, administrative personnel by 10 percent.
The new leader also faced an acute housing problem for workers at gas processing plants. Having learned that many employees of the Gubkinsky gas processing plant use metal tanks as housing, Mazepin gave instructions to immediately allocate 50 million rubles for construction apartment building and urgently begin its construction.
All these measures brought results. During the short time that Mazepin worked at Sibur, there was a noticeable increase in the processing of associated petroleum gas at several gas processing plants.
Colleagues note that in those difficult times for the holding, it was Mazepin who managed to save Sibur from collapse. The determined “Sibur employee” and former “tanker” (as TNK employees were called) successfully regulated the hotbeds of corporate wars and negotiated, where necessary, with key figures regarding the ownership of assets.
Sharp turn
In 2004, Dmitry Mazepin decides to make a sharp turn in his career and start his own business. He takes the first step - registers Konstruktivnoye Bureau LLC, which began “collecting” chemical assets. Blocks of shares of chemical plants were purchased in the Kirov region (OJSC Kirovo-Chepetsk Chemical Plant) and the Perm Territory (Berezniki Azot and Perm Mineral Fertilizers). In 2005, Mazepin’s new structure managed to consolidate a controlling stake in OJSC KCCHK, and gained control over Berezniki Azot only two years later. From these first acquisitions, the “chemical” specialization of Mazepin’s business was outlined, which later led to the formation of the Uralchem holding, officially created at the end of 2007.
The holding was not built without problems - enterprises were bought in parts (blocks of shares) and mainly with borrowed funds. The acquired assets were tasty morsels, the markets for their products promised good profits, so attempts to redistribute property in the industry did not stop, which turned the processes of business structuring into a constant battle. In addition, when purchasing enterprises, it often turned out that part of their production complex was fragmented and transferred by the previous owners to other companies. It was necessary to restore the integrity of the assets and establish normal management there. However, Mazepin managed to keep the situation under control in the most difficult moments and find solutions to problems. It got to the point that, due to downtime at the Kirov plant caused by disagreements over gas supplies, in 2005 Mazepin paid wages to workers from his personal funds for several months. But already in 2006, after resolving all conflicts and introducing a normal operating scheme, the plant’s profit reached 230 million rubles compared to a loss of 217 million a year earlier. In 2007, profits already exceeded a billion rubles. And the Berezniki Azot, which was not in the best condition, was purchased a year later as part of Uralchem and tripled its financial indicators (in 2006 the profit was 1.2 billion rubles, in 2007 - 1.7 billion, in 2008 - 4.6 billion).
The most difficult moment came at the end of 2008, when immediately after the purchase of Voskresensk Mineral Fertilizers on the rise of the market, a crisis began and prices for fertilizers fell rapidly. At the same time, there are serious shortages of raw materials for VMU, and the question of the future of the enterprise is on the agenda. As well as Uralchem itself. In addition, a new (as part of Uralchem), but in fact quite old and worn-out asset, requires large investments in modernization and basic maintenance of production. At some point, it becomes more profitable to shut down the plant than to sell products at a loss. But the plant stops only for one month - at the very end of 2009, when the supplier completely stopped supplying phosphorus raw materials. The company's employees continued to receive salaries.
The holding needed VMU - with its acquisition, Uralchem enters a new market for phosphate fertilizers, and thus occupies all three segments of the “fertilizer” industry (nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium), offering the market the widest and most complete line of mineral fertilizers.
Mazepin managed to mobilize his team when the situation was aggravated by the failure of the IPO for which the company was preparing in 2008, all due to the same crisis. And, despite the heavy debt burden (by 2009, corporate debt exceeded 12 EBITDA indicators, or $1.4 billion), Uralchem did not lose the confidence of creditors and successfully passed the crisis period.
The decision came at night
By 2010, the crisis had been overcome, markets were going up, but investors were still cautious. Mazepin is again targeting an IPO in the spring. Uralchem is collecting a good book of applications, but the manager understands that his company is worth more than foreign investors value it at that moment (about $600 million for 40 percent of the shares). On the night before the closing of the order book, the Uralchem shareholder makes a difficult decision for himself and refuses the IPO. Analysts then assessed this step differently: some believed that he did the right thing, others that it was in vain to refuse the money offered at that moment. But at the same time, everyone agreed that this decision was a courageous act.
Time has confirmed the correctness of Mazepin’s decision: three years after the cancellation of the IPO, analysts and experts, based on Uralchem’s financial results, estimated the company’s value to be more than 2.5 times higher. Today, the company's debt to EBITDA ratio is less than 1 - this is one of the best indicators for Russian companies comparable level.
After the cancellation of the IPO, Mazepin sets new challenges for the company. In 2011, Uralchem began a large-scale logistics project - the construction of its own terminal in the port of Riga. Today we can say that, despite all the vicissitudes, opposition from competitors and attempts to play the so popular “ecological” card, this project is close to completion. Commissioning of the terminal is scheduled for the fourth quarter of this year.
By the way, Dmitry Mazepin takes a principled position regarding ecology. Each plant has developed its own environmental programs (you must understand that this is, after all, big chemistry), and he asks for their implementation as seriously as for business indicators. From year to year, Uralchem enterprises reduce their impact on the natural environment, allocating significant funds to the environment. For example, in 2012 these costs exceeded 465 million rubles.
At the beginning of 2012, Dmitry Mazepin successfully completed negotiations with Sibur on the sale of a controlling stake in Perm Mineral Fertilizers, beat out other contenders and completed the deal. And Uralchem receives its fourth production asset and consolidates its position in the nitrogen segment of the market. Market experts believe that PMU may not be Mazepin’s last acquisition.
"I'm not a lone hero"
It is worth saying a few words about how Dmitry Mazepin treats his team. In one of his interviews, he says: “I am not a lone hero. There is a team that manages large enterprises with me and has experience and results.” Mazepin most often forms a management team from those people with whom he has already had the opportunity to work once - from those who have been tested more than once, are reliable and are always effective. Who believes in him and in whom he himself believes. Most likely, the key word here is trust. But the more trust on the one hand, the more responsibility on the other. One way or another, the core of Uralchem's top managers has not changed for many years, and this says a lot.
By the way, Mazepin considers not only top managers his team. He is convinced that for an effective manufacturing business, first of all, good production professionals are needed - workers, machine operators, technologists, craftsmen, all those who make the product. And, unfortunately, they are modern market There is not much work, and specialists in some professions have to be literally hunted down. With the collapse of the state vocational education system, domestic production has practically lost new personnel, the prestige of blue-collar professions has fallen, and few young people are interested in working at a factory.
Dmitry Mazepin finds a solution to this problem: his company begins preparations production personnel on our own. For this purpose, Uralchem, together with the Faculty of Chemistry of Moscow State University, is developing advanced training and personnel training programs specifically for Uralchem enterprises, taking into account the specifics of their work. These programs have been operating in the holding for two years now and have proven their effectiveness. Mass training of workers on a fundamentally new basis also requires new middle managers. For them we are developing our own educational program. Dmitry Mazepin personally supervises this entire project and attaches great importance to it. At the same time, the holding is working on how to attract young people into production - those who are just planning to enter universities and even high school students. This is a long-term program on which Uralchem has made a big bet and allocated considerable resources.
Another important aspect of the activities of entrepreneur Dmitry Mazepin is charity. He is deeply convinced that generating profits and providing jobs is not the only return that can be generated big business. He annually allocates hundreds of millions of rubles a year to finance social and charitable projects, many of which he initiates and supervises personally. Even in the most crisis periods, when business experienced an acute shortage of financing, charity did not stop. By the way, Russian Forbes recently included Dmitry Mazepin in the TOP-7 ranking of leading Russian billionaire philanthropists.
Social responsibility for Mazepin is not beautiful words, but an internal need. But here he gives free rein to his preferences - he gives priority to supporting swimming (Mazepin himself is a master of sports in swimming and loves this sport very much).
A lot of what I've achieved has come from swimming and the physical state I'm in. Swimming is a wonderful sight and one of the healthiest activities, says the businessman.
Uralchem has been a partner of the All-Russian Swimming Federation for several years and has been helping the development of this sport in the regions. Mazepin also supports children's educational and health projects, youth sports, developing leisure, seeing in this, as in business, a movement forward.
Dossier
Dmitry Mazepin was born in Minsk in 1968. In 1985 he graduated from the Minsk Suvorov Military School. In 1986-1988 he served in Afghanistan. In 1997 he graduated from the Moscow State Institute international relations(MGIMO) with a degree in Regional Studies, in 2008 - St. Petersburg Institute of Economics and Management with a degree in Organization Management. At the same university in 2012, he defended his candidate’s dissertation on the topic “Formation of a methodological approach to managing the stock potential of an oil industry enterprise.” Awarded Certificate of honor Government of the Russian Federation, medal "For Courage", medal "For Military Merit".
Due to the devaluation of the "wooden" concern, Dmitry Mazepin's concern cannot service $5.4 billion in loans.
Let us remind you that according to the agency "Ruspres", Igor Ivanovich Sechin had a hand in the sharp fall of the national currency, and the depreciation of the ruble is a direct consequence of what was beneficial for Sechin normative act, which came into force at the beginning of August.
Then Vladimir Putin signed a law abolishing fines for non-return of foreign currency earnings for sanctioned exporting companies. Thus, it was able to seriously reduce the supply of foreign currency on the Russian market, which directly threatens the stability of the ruble exchange rate.
The government has obliged to deposit export proceeds into accounts in Russian banks largest exporters at the end of 2014 to stop the sharp collapse of the ruble. Vladimir Putin then personally called companies with a request to “scrape the bottom of the barrel” and sell the currency. As a result, Rosneft and others fell under the currency repatriation law. Gazprom, Zarubezhneft, Alrosa and Kristall. Of these companies, only one - Rosneft - is currently under sanctions, which means it can take advantage of the law.
The net loss of PJSC Uralkali in January-June 2018 amounted to 242 million rubles against a profit of 26.1 billion rubles last year, according to the company’s IFRS report. The company's revenue for the first half of the year increased by 4.2%, to 83.8 billion rubles, gross profit - by 5.8%, to 62.3 billion rubles, operating profit - by 14.4%, to 36.5 billion rubles .
The company explained that financial results was affected by the loss on exchange differences and the revaluation of derivative financial instruments: “Positive exchange differences increase net profit, negative ones, respectively, reduce net profit and lead to a net loss for the period.”
The losses were caused by significant foreign currency debt"Uralkali", which, when the ruble weakens, accordingly increases in ruble terms.
According to the report, the loss on exchange rate differences amounted to 23.5 billion rubles (in 2017 - a profit of 9.1 billion rubles), the loss from changes in the fair value of derivative financial instruments - 1.7 billion rubles (in 2017 - a profit of 429 million rubles). The company declined to comment on its profit forecast for the year.
Uralkali is one of the world's leading producers and exporters of potassium. The company's production assets include five mines and seven processing plants located in the cities of Berezniki and Solikamsk (Perm region). The controlling stake in Uralkali (54.77%) is quasi-treasury, in Uralkali-Technology, 20% each in Uralchem, Dmitry Mazepin and his partner, as well as the former classmate- Dmitry Lobyak. In 2017, the board of directors of Uralkali approved the sale of about 10% of the company's quasi-treasury shares to Uralchem to reduce its debt burden. Market price such a share was about 38 billion rubles. The FAS approved the deal on December 18, in August 2018, the European Commission also allowed Uralchem to acquire about 10% of the shares of Uralkali.
Andrey Lobazov from Aton notes that in general, Uralkali, as an exporter, benefits from the weakening of the ruble. According to him, the company's losses for the first half of the year were mainly “accounting”. At the same time, he draws attention to the fact that Uralkali could show higher net profit, but the company has a large debt in foreign currency. Note that in 2017, the net debt of Uralkali itself decreased by 2.7%, to $5.4 billion, the ratio net debt to EBITDA amounted to 4.01.
Now that the owner of Uralchem, Dmitry Mazepin, has almost completely moved to Latvia, journalists in Russia are increasingly interested in his biography. As it turned out, Mazepin could have become an excellent military man if he had not become an excellent raider.
The National News Agency writes about the biography of Dmitry Mazepin.
80s: Mazepin's Hopes
And after all, Dmitry Mazepin, the current deputy of the Regional Legislative Assembly of the Kirov Region and chairman of the board of directors of Uralchem OJSC, really had a chance to build a good military career at one time.
After all, he, having been born in Minsk on April 18, 1968, could well have chosen the path of an ordinary Soviet person. Moreover, fate itself prepared for him a career as a professional military man. So he graduated from the Minsk Suvorov Military School in 1985, and later studied to become a military translator. And soon young Mazepin ends up serving in Afghanistan, however, he did not take part in hostilities, having served the required two years (from 1986 to 1988) as an ordinary translator.
It seems that a real war, where you need to show heroism and defend the interests of your country with a machine gun in your hands, has forever discouraged Dmitry from continuing to be a military man.
But already in those years, according to rumors, he discovered a commercial streak in himself. Firstly, translations of foreign texts always pay well. And secondly, knowledge foreign languages It helps a lot with “fartsovka”.
However, 1991 was rapidly approaching, when it was already possible to quit with the farce and move into a legal business that was just emerging at that time.
90s: “Cleaner” solves problems
Mazepin met the beginning of the “dashing 90s” in full bloom. So in 1992, he graduated from the prestigious Faculty of Economics of MGIMO, and then, using his connections in Moscow and Minsk, he was able to get a profitable job in the financial sector of Russia and Belarus.
As you know, the beginning of the 90s was a time of the rise of not only strong, but also impudently cunning people who could step over not only themselves, but also others.
So Dmitry very quickly realized all the realities of the heyday of the era of “wild capitalism”. They say that Mazepin understood very quickly what crime and corruption were. But to a lesser extent, using his “military connections”, he realized the value of simultaneous friendship with the security forces.
Then, skillfully maneuvering between the interests of crime and the security forces, he moved forward, mastering new financial horizons. And bribes and kickbacks, according to rumors, only helped him in this.
Perhaps it is precisely the “ability to negotiate” with officials that Mr. Mazzepin owes his sudden career rise.
So in 1992 he became general director insurance company "Infistrakh", although he did not stay there for long, so already in 1993 Dmitry Arkadyevich took the post of deputy director of the branch of CB "Belarusbank". But Mazepin did not stay in this position for long, moving in 1995 to the post of first deputy chairman of the board of JSCB Falcon. But the “official reshuffle” in the life of the future “chemical oligarch” did not stop. And already in 1996, he became deputy general director of VAO Raznoimport.
Of course, many people find it strange how Dmitry Arkadyevich changed so many jobs in such a short time, and at the same time was only a deputy everywhere. Although, knowing some of the features of Mr. Mazepin’s working methods, everything becomes clear.
After all, even then he had a reputation as a “bad person,” “boor,” and “schemer.” But most of all, Dmitry Arkadyevich’s immediate management was much more concerned about his other two outstanding qualities - the desire to “sit on” and the ability to “throw”.
However, it was his aggressive and persistent character that helped Mazepin make his way up the rankings. career ladder. And in 1997, he received the coveted post of vice-president of the Tyumen Oil Company (TNK).
However, at TNK, Dmitry Arkadyevich became far from the simplest top manager, because he acquired an unkind reputation as a “cleaner”. So it was precisely this that the owners of TNCs used to participate in corporate wars. For example, in 1997 Mazepin was appointed executive director OJSC Nizhnevartovskneftegaz, an oil-producing enterprise belonging to TNK.
Moreover, he came to this enterprise as a “cleaner” to eliminate the consequences of the confrontation between the owners of the Tyumen Oil Company and the former general director of Nizhnevartovskneftegaz OJSC Viktor Paliy.
Mazepin won the duel with people affiliated with Paliy in the management of Nizhnevartovskneftegaz. Or rather, he simply organized such a purge in this enterprise that, according to rumors, a lot of employees were fired during it, many of whom were not even associated with Paliy.
So Mazepin worked for TNK until 1998, until he became deputy chairman of the board of the Flora-Moscow bank, although he did not last long there either; already in 1999 he became an adviser to the chairman of the Russian Federal Property Fund (RFFI).
2000s: “The Great Raider Saga” by Dmitry Mazepin
From his first attempt, Mazepin worked in this influential structure until 2001, rising to the position of Deputy Chairman of the Russian Foundation for Basic Research.
Then Dmitry Arkadyevich took a short break in his bureaucratic career and for the whole of 2001 he was the general director of the Kuzbassugol coal company.
However, then (in 2002) he returned to the Russian Foundation for Basic Research and became first deputy chairman there. It is worth noting here that Dmitry Mazepin became quite close with the head of the Russian Federal Property Fund, Vladimir Malin. Let us note that Mr. Malin, like Mazepin, was also very greedy for money. According to rumors, he entered into an unspoken alliance with the future “chemical oligarch” and for generous profits began to help his structures win tenders for the sale of state assets.
Especially business (or rather, even friendly) ties with Vladimir Malin will then help Dmitry Mazepin “chop off” important assets from the state and ultimately create his own Uralchem.
However, this will be in a couple of years.
But in the same 2002, Dmitry Arkadyevich went to work in one of the key structures of Gazprom - AK Sibur, whose president Mazepin served for exactly a year, and in 2003 the head of Gazprom Alexey Miller literally kicked Dmitry Mazepin out of Sibur "
However, during this year, Dmitry Arkadyevich not only managed to prove himself as a first-class raider, removing all the most valuable assets from Sibur, but was able to put together a real “raider group” from his colleagues.
By the way, it was not just anyone who called Dmitry Mazepin to Gazprom, but Sergei Lukash, the deputy chairman of Gazprom for security. Of course, with such recommendations, the credibility of Mazepin Arkadyevich at Gazprom was initially very high. After all, before the future owner of Uralchem took over the management of Sibur, Gazprom made great efforts to break the resistance of the ex-top manager of Sibur, Yakov Goldovsky, who was also involved in the withdrawal of assets.
But, as it turned out, Goldovsky was far from Mazepin! After all, Dmitry Arkadyevich immediately landed a whole “landing party” of representatives of the Nizhny Novgorod “Propane-Butane Group” on Gazprom’s structures, who soon seized power in “Sibur” and in a number of other large “subsidiaries” of the gas monopolist.
Thus, the direct withdrawal from Gazprom of the entire nitrogen industry controlled by it was organized by Dmitry Mazepin, Nikolai Gornovsky and Georgy Brilling.
Moreover, Gornovsky headed Mezhregiongaz, the main internal sales division of Gazprom. Brilling, on behalf of Mezhregiongaz, managed the Azot holding company, which included the Kirovo-Chepetsk chemical plant. From that moment on, Mazepin literally began filling Gazprom with people under his control.
After all, in order to pay market prices for these enterprises, gigantic finances were needed. But Mazepin, Gornovsky and Brilling did not have that kind of money. But Gornovsky found them by imposing inflated prices on gas, which he took from Mezhregiongaz and supplied through his home companies. Regional sales divisions set the required gas consumption limits for enterprises. Thus, in 2002, almost all the shares of AHC Azot were transferred to Brilling’s companies. In other words, funds were withdrawn from enterprises, and shares were bought with these funds.
After this operation, Brilling left for Spain, and Mazepin remained to monitor the stolen property.
Next, Dmitry Arkadyevich begins to take away the main assets from Sibur. So in 2003, AHC Azot came under the control of Neftegazbank. Gazprom tried to return the assets through him, but there was nothing to return. Later, Neftegazbank went bankrupt, the assets remained with Mazepin.
So, it was on the basis of the assets of AHC Azot that the Uralchem holding was created.
But, of course, “Nitrogen” alone was clearly not enough for Mazepin, and he turned his attention to the Kirovo-Chepetsk chemical plant.
Its privatization took place in 2004. It was then that Mazepin miraculously beat Gazprom at the auction for the sale of a state-owned stake in the Kirovo-Chepetsk Chemical Plant (KCHK): it went to the unknown Fintrustcom CJSC, which acted in the interests of Mazepin. Gazprom was confident that Mazepin knew in advance how much his opponents were willing to give, and prepared.
According to unofficial data, Dmitry Arkadyevich was helped to win the competition for the privatization of KSHC by officials from the Russian Federal Property Fund, namely the immediate head of the fund, Vladimir Malin, who, according to rumors, received a substantial kickback for this operation.
Further, having gained control of Azot and KCCHK, Dmitry Mazepin begins to rapidly develop his business. However, during this process, Mazepin actually does not care about the environment, since his enterprises, through their activities, destroy the natural environment in any region where they are located.
Thus, in 2005-2006, the Kirovo-Chepetsk Combine (KCHK) found itself at the center of a scandal: it was repeatedly featured in media reports as a malicious violator of environmental standards.
An unscheduled inspection carried out in the summer of 2005 revealed that ammonium nitrogen, a by-product in the production of mineral fertilizers, exceeded the permissible standards. The concentration in water samples from the Vyatka River exceeded the norm by 10 times. Analysis of soil samples from the plant showed excessive concentrations of heavy metals. In groundwater there is an excess of benzene, as well as the presence of petroleum products and lead.
However, according to rumors, Mazepin managed to pay off the inspectors, since officials soon “hushed up” this scandal.
By the way, a similar scandal occurred in 2006. After all, then, near the Vyatka River, they found Lake Prosnoe, which was covered with several layers of gypsum. KCHK dumped waste into the Prosnitsa River, which flows into the lake. The substances contained between the layers of gypsum, if the lake was flooded, threatened with mass poisoning.
Repeated testing of wastewater revealed that the maximum concentration of ammonia nitrogen was exceeded.
However, even here Dmitry Arkadyevich, according to rumors, again managed to pay off Rosprirodnadzor.
2007 – 2010: At the head of Uralchem
And after the “era of raiding” and a long confrontation with environmentalists, 2007 came, when Dmitry Mazepin created Uralchem and became chairman of the board of directors there.
After this, Dmitry Arkadyevich again expanded his holding, receiving the unofficial title of “chemical oligarch”. So in 2008, Uralchem purchased an additional 75% of Voskresensk Mineral Fertilizers and 9.7% of Togliattiazot, becoming the fifth largest producer of nitrogen fertilizers in the world.
However, here Mazepin became involved in a major financial scandal related to lending to Uralchem by state banks.
So, already owing Sberbank 700 million rubles, Mazepin applied for another loan - three billion. There were rumors that Mazepin received unsecured loans thanks to a special relationship with some Sberbank employees. At the same time, Mazepin decided to challenge in court the transactions he himself had made to acquire new assets in order to evade loan payments.
Against this background, security forces are beginning to show increased interest in Mazepin. At the same time, rumors began to appear in the media for the first time that a criminal case could be opened against the owner of Uralchem for fraud with loans.
But Dmitry Arkadyevich tries not to notice this and continues his active work. Now the center of his interests is Voskresensk near Moscow, where Voskresensk Mineral Fertilizers OJSC (VMU), purchased by Mazepin, is located.
However, under the leadership of Uralchem top managers, the plant in Voskresensk began to fall apart literally before our eyes. After all, having bought in 2008 the profitable Voskresensk Mineral Fertilizer Plant, which successfully exports its products, Uralchem within a year turned it into a hopelessly unprofitable enterprise with “dead” technological equipment, producing products that cannot be sold due to low quality, and carrying out massive layoffs of workers.
This decline of the enterprise was due to the withdrawal of assets from VMU in favor of Uralchem. Moreover, the withdrawal of assets was carried out with the assistance of the mayor of Voskresensk, Yuri Sleptsov, who, according to rumors, was bribed by Uralchem.
At the same time (in 2009-2010), Uralchem entered into a corporate conflict with the Phosagro holding.
2010s: Escape...
In addition to this, unresolved debt problems created problems for Mazepin’s holding.
After all, by 2009, Mazepin was deeply in debt. There was a rumor about his big loss in preference. They began to talk that Mazepin would soon go abroad. Through the Ekho Moskvy radio station, Mazepin even appealed to the government with a request to save him from bankruptcy.
Soon, the rumor about his emigration to the EU in an attempt to hide from creditors and possible criminal prosecution was confirmed.
In 2009, Uralchem registered its subsidiary Uralchem Trading in Latvia, which will control the export supplies of fertilizers, that is, the only income of Uralchem. In Riga, Mazepin also intended to create a profit center for the company.
Soon, an official branch of Uralchem OJSC was opened in the capital of Latvia.
And while Mazepin was implementing his projects abroad, his situation in his homeland became more complicated.
After all, on July 20, 2010, while receiving a bribe in the amount of two hundred thousand rubles, the mayor of Voskresensk, Yuri Sleptsov, was detained, who soon ceased to be the mayor, as he was convicted of bribery.
In the same year, according to rumors, his wife left Mazepin. The owner of Uralchem is going through a personal drama. There are rumors in the press about Mazepin's binge drinking amid nervous shocks and unresolved economic problems.
In 2011, information appeared about the imminent initiation of a criminal case against Mazepin for the withdrawal of assets. In addition, he never repaid Uralchem’s debts. Indeed, as of the end of 2011, Uralchem’s net debt amounted to $930.8 million.
Fleeing from impending criminal prosecution, Dmitry Arkadyevich, having failed on his first attempt to independently become a deputy of the Regional Legislative Assembly of the Kirov Region, is rumored to be “buying” this post in the local branch of United Russia. And indeed Mazepin becomes a parliamentarian instead of an elected deputy, who “for some reason” hastily resigns his mandate in favor of the owner of Uralchem.
However, in the same year, Mazepin, secretly from United Russia, finances the opposition “A Just Russia”. When the public finds out, a huge political scandal breaks out.
Mazepin understands that United Russia members are offended by him, so his “deputy immunity” literally hangs in the balance. So forced emigration to Riga becomes not only a vital necessity for the owner of Uralchem, but also the only salvation from the expected arrest.
By the way, in the same year, the Riga City Council (the ruling coalition of which consists of the Harmony Center and LPP/LC), contrary to public opinion, issues permission for the construction of a terminal for the transshipment and storage of mineral fertilizers - which is a joint project of Uralchem Freight Limited and SIA Rīgas tirdzniecības osta.
In 2012, Mazepin made a tough and aggressive attempt to seize Togliattiazot. Information about this immediately hits the media. Influential deputies, famous public figures and even representatives of the Russian Orthodox Church are coming to the defense of Togliattiazot.
In the summer of 2012, there was talk that a criminal case regarding the seizure of Togliattiazot against Dmitry Mazepin would be opened in the very near future.
Against this background, the public learns from the media that the owner of Uralchem is not only going to emigrate to Latvia, but is also secretly financing in this country both the liberal party “Consent Center” of Nil Ushakov and the neo-fascist party “Visu Latvijai!” Raivis Dzintars.
In addition, newspapers write about Mazepin’s imminent purchase of the main football club of Latvia, Riga Skonto, as well as a hotel next to the residence of Latvian President Andris Berzins.
Journalists also report that the owner of Uralchem has already achieved through the Seimas that he will soon be granted Latvian citizenship.
Perhaps this is where the Russian saga of Dmitry Mazepin ends. As a result of this story, one can only feel sorry for the citizens of Latvia, who will soon receive from Uralchem the same problems as the Russians - corruption scandals, raider takeovers and environmental disasters.
After all, as you know, Mazepin doesn’t care about people or nature. For him, only money is most important! And his life path fully proves this...
For eleven years, Dmitry Mazepin (net worth: $1.3 billion) assembled his agrochemical corporation Uralchem, fighting for assets with Gazprom, Sibur and Phosagro.
By mid-October, Mazepin's corporation absorbed Uralkali, the world leader in the production of potash fertilizers. Today he faces the prospect of restoring the largest cartel in the world for the production of potash fertilizers, like the one that existed until mid-2013 with Belaruskali. However, before the cartel can begin to dictate fertilizer prices to the world, Uralchem risks drowning under the weight of debt: the holding’s net loss for 2014 exceeded RUB 81 billion.
For the cartel!
Back in 2005, Uralkali and Belaruskali formed a powerful cartel that controlled 43% of global potassium production - the Belarusian Potash Company (BPC). The second such large player - Canpotex (including Potash Corp., Mosaic Co and Agrium Inc.) - has a share of 30%. Summer 2013 Uralkali left the trading joint venture with BPC. The partners accused each other of trading outside the joint venture. The collapse of the cartel caused a shock in world markets: prices for potash fertilizers fell from $400 to $300 per 1 ton, global producers lost $20 billion in capitalization in one day. BPC provides about a third of the revenues to the budget of Belarus, and Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, in response to this demarche of the Russian partner, ordered the arrest of Uralkali General Director Vladislav Baumgertner in Minsk and put the main shareholder Suleiman Kerimov on the wanted list through Interpol. Kerimov and his partners sold shares in Urakalia to Mikhail Prokhorov and Dmitry Mazepin, Baumgertner was released, but the Russian-Belarusian potash cartel could not be restored. Lukashenko personally met with Mazepin in April 2014. to discuss this issue, but things did not go further than conversations.
“Today BPC is dumping in order to increase its market share,” says Konstantin Yuminov, an analyst at Raiffeisenbank. Thus, the Belarusians sold a large batch of potash fertilizers to China at the rate of $305 per 1 ton, while Uralkali and Canpotex wanted to raise the price by $25-30. It is necessary to restore prices in the market, and therefore Russian-Belarusian trading cooperation; both Uralkali and BPC want this. In addition, Canpotex is increasing its market share. Thus, the Canadian Potash Corp. once again made a takeover offer to a German competitor, K+S AG. But there are difficulties with the restoration of the Russian-Belarusian cartel.
“The disagreements regarding cooperation between Uralkali and BPC most likely relate to the division of shares in future sales,” suggests Georgy Buzhenitsa, an analyst at Deutsche Bank. BPC wants its share in the joint venture to be larger, since for the first time it began to produce more than Uralkali, Ko's industry sources say. However, the new main owner of Uralkali, Dmitry Mazepin, does not intend to give in. The share of BPC at the end of 2014 is about 16% of world production, the share of Uralkali is 19%. But the latter had an accident at the Solikamsk-2 mine, and this year production will decrease from 12.3 to 10.8 million tons. Belarusians plan to produce no less than last year’s volume of 10.3 million tons, but in fact it may turn out to be more due to dumping. Last year, Uralkali indicated its share at 65%, but Lukashenko did not agree to 35% for BPC; the share of the Belarusian company then was at least 42%, according to Zerich Capital Management calculations. “Without cooperation, Uralkali’s situation is better than that of BPC, but still not as good as with cooperation,” states Ilya Balakirev, chief analyst at UFS IC. “It’s just that the parties cannot agree yet: since the Kremlin now has much more pressing tasks, they decided to postpone this issue until Belarus takes the first step towards it.” The ex-members of the joint venture themselves do not comment on their plans. In addition to the emergency mine, the key shareholder of Uralkali, Dmitry Mazepin, has difficulties servicing debts.
Problem loan
In December 2013, the Uralchem holding bought a 19.9% stake in Uralkali from partners of Suleiman Kerimov, borrowing $4.5 billion (RUB 243 billion) from VTB Capital as collateral for the purchased shares. June 30, 2015 this block of shares cost three times less - only 85 billion rubles. There was a violation of the financial terms of the loan, and VTB Capital had the right to demand early repayment or take back the pledged shares. But VTB Capital, given the sharp drop in the value of Uralkali shares, did not demand early repayment of this loan, according to Uralchem’s semi-annual reports. However, a similar violation of credit conditions occurred in 2014. happened twice, and both times VTB Capital did not demand repayment of the debt. VTB Capital and Uralkali do not comment on the situation. Uralchem says that “the collateral for the loan is not only the purchased shares, but also other assets of the company, and this is enough to secure this loan.” “In such a situation, a subsequent pledge is possible, when property pledged in one bank is re-pledged in another,” says the partner law firm Lidings Andrey Zelenin, - or the mortgagor is a third party. Take the same Mechel: it owes everyone, but at the same time continues to work.”
The question arises: did it make sense to borrow $4.5 billion in order to find ourselves today in a situation close to default on a loan with a stake that has depreciated three times in value? “Uralkali is interesting in the long term,” Ilya Balakirev is convinced. - This is the most efficient company in the world among potash fertilizer producers. But it is worth considering that the deal was clearly political in nature. It was important to remove Kerimov from the shareholders in order to make peace with President Lukashenko. This was done, although cooperation with BPC was never restored.” Since the deal is political and Mazepin paid a lot for his shares high price, VTB Capital will not strictly adhere to its obligations under the loan agreement, experts say.
The large debt of Uralchem is not the only problem of the new owner of Uralkali.
Accident and buy back
It’s not just the billions spent on Uralkali that are causing headaches for Dmitry Mazepin. In November 2014, the Solikamsk-2 mine was flooded, which in 2014 provided the company with 18% of potassium production. Uralkali shares fell 1.3 times on this news. To make up for the loss, Uralkali said it was ready to spend $4.5 billion by 2020 to build two new mines and modernize old ones. After this, Uralkali announced the third buy back, or share repurchase program, in order to make the company private and quickly accept management decisions. Speaking about the consequences of the accident in Solikamsk, senior analyst of the National rating agency Pavel Martynyuk notes that for the company they were not as large-scale as expected - the accident was localized, and production volumes in 2015 were. decreased slightly, “which may indicate the high efficiency of company management.”
Grigory Burlutsky, portfolio manager of Custom Capital Management Company LLC, notes that, despite the impact of external negative factors and accidents, the company in 2014 continued to implement the main strategy to increase production and sales of potassium, the foundations of which were laid in the middle of 2013, under old management. The implementation of this strategy allowed Uralkali to increase potash sales in 2014 by 24% compared to 2013, bringing capacity utilization to a record level. Unfortunately, the mine accident had a negative impact on the company's performance already in 2015 - sales decreased by 7.5% in the first half of the year compared to the same period last year.
October 16 current year 21.98% of shares were purchased through buy back, including 12.5% from the Chinese investment fund Chengdong Investment Corporation for $2.1 billion. Earlier, in April, Uralkali bought through buy back 7.9% of shares from the largest recently co-owner of the company - the Onexim group, Mikhail Prokhorov - for $660 million. As a result, Prokhorov was left with 20%, almost the same as Mazepin. Mazepin's Uralchem did not sell paper either in April or in October. The company's top managers vote with a quasi-treasury stake of 33.54% of shares - and they are all Mazepin's people, including the General Director of Uralkali PJSC Dmitry Osipov. This means that if Prokhorov’s and Mazepin’s shareholdings are equal, PJSC Mazepin controls. Onexim does not comment on the results of the buy back and the reason for investing in Uralkali.
Until recently, experts believed that Mazepin wanted to gain full control over Uralkali, and Prokhorov was looking for buyers. At the same time, Mazepin himself is not yet able to buy out Prokhorov’s shares. “Mazepin cannot even buy back Prokhorov’s 20% stake, which has depreciated threefold,” says Oleg Petropavlovsky, an analyst at the BKS group, “for this, 75 billion rubles are needed. Uralchem already has huge debts. In addition, servicing a VTB Capital loan creates problems for the borrower, since the collateral has dropped significantly in price.”
Dissatisfied with the buy back minority shareholders of Uralkali accused Mazepin of collapsing the company's stock market in order to gain control over it. “The expected share price during the buyback was higher than the real one,” states Ilya Balakirev. - shares were bought back at $3.2 (210 rubles). Quotes fell after corporate reports, lower prices for mineral fertilizers, withdrawal from Western sites, and an unclear situation with emergency assets.”
Dmitry Osipov said that restoration work at the emergency Solikamskaya-2 mine cannot guarantee the adjacent Solikamskaya-1 mine, the company’s main mining asset, from flooding. CFO of Uralkali Anton Vishanenko insisted on the need to increase capital expenditures almost threefold - from 14 billion rubles. in 2014 up to 33.6 billion rubles. in 2015 After the collapse of Uralkali shares in August 2013, when the cartel with Belaruskali was destroyed, its shares no longer recovered to their previous levels (240-250 rubles on the MICEX). So, at the beginning of November they cost only 154-156 rubles on the MICEX. Some analysts believe that the previous quotes will no longer exist. And there is also such a problem as Berezniki - a city located on the Uralkali mines. Salt solutions erode mines and destroy houses. The new owners of the company, Dmitry Mazepin and Mikhail Prokhorov, allocated money for housing construction, transferring in 2013-2014. to the regional budget 3.2 billion rubles. In 2015, no money was transferred. Chairman of the Civil Oversight Public Organization Roman Korotaev says that housing is being built, but people want to receive an additional payment for old housing when moving. As for the new owners, according to Korotaev, “Mazepin is a much less odious figure than, for example, the previous owner of Uralkali, Dmitry Rybolovlev.” In Berezniki, people spent a long time discussing luxury apartments in New York and an island in Greece, which Rybolovlev bought for his daughter by selling Uralkali shares after an accident at a mine located in this city.
Meanwhile, Uralkali until 2020. intends to cut 20% of staff. Prices are falling and production will be cut by 300,000 tonnes this year to stop prices falling further. The new owners are focusing on the Canadian Potash Corp., which employs 3,000 people, while Uralkali employs more than 10,000 workers.
What is Uralkali
This is about 20% of the global potash fertilizer market, supplies to 60 countries, the lowest production cost in the world, its own fleet of mineral wagons, the Baltic bulk terminal, 25% of the port in the Brazilian city of Antonina. Only 10% of products are sold on the domestic market, the rest is exported. UBS analysts estimate that its own railcar fleet and maritime infrastructure allow Uralkali to provide the lowest level of potash delivery costs in the world - $107/t - and in terms of trading opportunities only Canpotex can compare with it.
Uralkali shares are distributed as follows: Onexim has 20%, Uralchem owns 19.99%, 12.61% is pledged to VTB Capital, quasi-treasury securities account for 33.54% (quasi-treasury shares are formed as a result of the transfer the issuer's own shares on the balance sheet of its subsidiaries), in free float - 13.54%. Uralkali’s net profit under RAS for nine months increased by 46%, to 38.6 billion rubles.
Corporate wars
Dmitry Mazepin has repeatedly participated in corporate wars. When in June 2008 he bought 72% of Voskresensk Mineral Fertilizers OJSC (VMU), a producer of phosphate fertilizers, from Phosagro, their prices fell by half. In March 2009, Mazepin's Cypriot company ACF-Agrochem Finance Limited began to challenge this transaction in Moscow arbitration. The main argument of the plaintiff is that VMU shares were purchased at a price higher than the market price (transaction amount - $358.6 million), the company does not pay dividends, this causes damage to shareholders. The claims were rejected. In addition, Mazepa’s Uralchem owed 3 billion rubles. for 24% of VMU shares presented under an offer by a minority shareholder of this company Shades of Cyprus (associated with Phosagro). Mazepin did not pay the offer for two years. Then VMU and Phosagro argued about the price of the main raw material for the production of phosphate fertilizers - apatite concentrate. Phosagro is the monopoly supplier of apatite in Russia. In 2014, Phosagro stopped supplying raw materials, as a result, VMU’s revenue fell by almost 80%, and the loss amounted to 376 million rubles; the plant did not operate for three months. The Ministry of Industry and Trade intervened in the dispute, and only in September of this year the parties agreed to a settlement, and supplies of apatite to VMU were resumed.
But Mazepin’s very first campaign war was with Gazprom. In November 2004, Gazprom intended to buy a state-owned stake of 38.8% in the Kirovo-Chepetsk Chemical Plant (KCHK), but lost at the auction. Soon, about 60% of KCCHK ended up with Dmitry Mazepin’s Konstruktivnoe Bureau LLC. In 2005, Gazprom cut off gas supplies to KCCHK for three months in order to gain control over the chemical plant, but Mazepin withstood the onslaught of the gas monopolist. He raised Kirovo-Chepetsk to rallies, received the support of the then governor of the Kirov region Nikolai Shaklein, personally met with local journalists to tell how Gazprom was strangling the city-forming enterprise, the largest taxpayer in the region. Today, the mineral fertilizer plant of the Kirovo-Chepetsk Chemical Plant (JSC ZMU KChKhK) is part of Uralchem, and the fluoroplastics plant of KChKhK is part of another holding, Halopolymer, which is also controlled by Dmitry Mazepin.
How does Mazepin manage to win corporate wars against players such as Gazprom and Phosagro? Who supports him? Mazepin worked in Russian Foundation federal property (RFBR); later, the head of this government agency, Vladimir Malin, helped the entrepreneur buy the state stake in KCCHK, from which he began to build his agrochemical holding. In addition, then Mazepin assured everyone that he was acting at KCC in the interests of Gazprom, which had plans to consolidate the chemical business. Today, KCCHK produces more fertilizer than other Uralchem enterprises, as follows from its report for 2014. And in 2008, Mazepin surprised the ex-governor of the Kirov region, Vladimir Sergeenkov, with high dividends accrued to himself at KCCHK: “In 2008. owner Mazepin received 5 billion rubles in dividends alone, and the fund wages for 14,000 workers amounted to 1.8 billion rubles. Thus, on average in Russia, owners took approximately 25% of net profit as dividends. Mazepin takes 75%.”
