The director of the shoe center is wanted. Repairs for TsentrObuv: will its new owner save the chain’s business? The Centrobuv chain of stores is suspected of fictitious transactions and the withdrawal of funds from Gazprombank.

On September 6 Arbitration court Moscow is scheduled to consider the bankruptcy case of the chain at the request of two creditors (now in TsentrObuv).

Besides, The main investigative department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs in Moscow suspected the withdrawal of assets from TsentrObuv and May 25th excited against unidentified personscriminal case under Article 159.4 of the Criminal Code (fraud). The initiation of the case was preceded by an inspection carried out after the statement of one one of the largest creditors of CenterObuv - Gazprombank.

Will shareholders of CenterObuv be able to » end the conflict and save the business?

"CenterObuv"

The TsentrObuv group of companies, the largest in its segment both in terms of number of stores and revenue, was created in 1992. Develops two chains - discounters "TsentrObuv" and youth stores Centro.

The company orders the bulk of goods (80%) from factories in China, and places 20% of orders in Russia. According to InfoLine-Analytics, revenue in 2015 amounted to 28.2 billion rubles, and the number of stores was 748.

Investors from Kopeyka

After sale "Kopeyki" in 2007 (see reference) Lomakin and Khachatryan were looking for new projects for investment. EventuallyThey gave $35 million of the more than $120 million they received for 32.8% of TsentrObuv.

“We knew Gurevich and Svetlova , periodically exchanged information about the state of the market, the introduction of technologies, even people sometimes migrated between companies,” recalls Khachatryan about the beginning of cooperation. They invested so much money that “ CenterShoes "should have been 'tired of opening new stores,' quoted Lomakin in 2009, newspaper Kommersant.

With the money received, TsentrObuv launched another chain of stores - youthCentro. It was not difficult: at that time« CenterShoes ", which already united 310 of its own and franchise shops, in fact, competed only with market stalls.

According to Khachatryan, the founders of CenterObuv wanted new partners to help them with financing development and strategy, but without diving into the operational business. He and Lomakin, says Khachatryan, “discovered a large scope of work on procurement, category management, new product items", participated in the development of the program for opening new stores.

Lomakin and Khachatryan were only members of advisory boards, that is, they met with other shareholders informally. But they had their own representative on the board of directors of CenterObuv: votes on it were distributed in proportion to the shares of the owners. According to the shareholders' agreement, some decisions, including changes in the general director, could be made by at least 75% of the votes. Basically, everyone relied on the general director Andrei Nesterov, who worked at CenterObuv almost from its very creation.

The funds poured into the business had an effect, Khachatryan believes: in 2011, the network already united twice as many stores - 746 points operated from the border with the European Union to the border with Japan. In the fall of the same year, the owners of the network were preparing an IPO on the London and Hong Kong stock exchanges: it was planned to sell both shareholders’ securities and shares of an additional issue; the minimum placement volume was to be $500 million.

But later, due to the fact that there was no unanimous decision among the shareholders to conduct a placement on the stock exchange, preparations were suspended. “Even before 2013, it was necessary to sell the share to an investor to cover debts, but everything was a gem and it seemed that it would be like this forever. Therefore, all the shareholders did not agree among themselves either on entering the stock exchange or on possible transactions with funds,” explains an acquaintance of Gurevich and Svetlov.

In 2011, TsentrObuv was included in the rating of the fastest growing Russian retailers compiled by InfoLine-Analytics. Sales of the network increased by 58.4%, to 29.3 billion rubles, for comparison: Adidas gained 27.4 billion rubles in Russia that year. Over the course of the year, TsentrObuv also managed to increase its retail space by 49.3%, to 227 thousand square meters. m.

At the end of 2011, the company distributed dividends in the amount of about $90 million. And for his success, the shareholders presented Nesterov with a share of 0.5%.

What are Lomakin and Khachatryan famous for?

In the early 1990s, Sergey Lomakin, Artem Khachatryan and Alexander Samonov were involved in the distribution of coffee, and in 1998, with the same team, they decided to invest in retail and founded one of the first Russian discounter chains, Kopeika.

By 2007, Kopeika had 330 stores with revenue of $980 million. In the same year, the partners sold the remaining 50% of Kopeika to the financial corporation NIKoil.Nikolai Tsvetkov(later - Uralsib).In December 2010, the corporation resold Kopeika to X5 Retail Group (manages the Pyaterochka, Perekrestok, and Karusel chains).

Samonov confirmed to RBC that the value of their deal was in the range from $600 million to $700 million. By that time, Khachatryan and Lomakin each owned 10% of Kopeika, that is, from this deal alone they could earn $120-140 million between them.

After the sale of Kopeyka, Lomakin and Khachatryan continued to invest in retail, mainly through the Sun Investments Partners fund (later renamed Retail Brands Collection). For example, in 2008 it became known that they acquired minority shares in the Modis chain, which sells “fashionable clothing of its own brands at affordable prices.”

Bonus for the CEO

At the beginning of 2012, a new player burst onto the market - the Kari shoe discount chain, created by former owner"Eldorado" by Igor Yakovlev. In just over a year, Yakovlev opened 480 Kari stores in Russia, Ukraine, Kazakhstan and Poland. “It’s like comparing a 2004 Olympic champion and a “hungry” novice athlete at a competition in Rio de Janeiro. The newcomer has a different motivation, he is “hungry”, and the leader is perhaps overly self-confident,” recalls Khachatryan.

Against the backdrop of increasing competition between shareholders, the first quarrels began. Lomakin wanted to take more part in managing the chain, and Gurevich, fascinated by the talents of the “Russian retail star,” was ready to give in to him, says a source close to CenterObuv. Therefore, Nesterov was de facto moved from the position of general director to the position of financial director. “Nesterov did not agree with what Lomakin was doing, and since the shareholders refused to delve into his claims, he decided to leave the company,” says RBC’s interlocutor. When he left the company at the end of 2013, he was paid a bonus of $5.6 million - the 0.5% price fixed in 2011.

For a qualitative breakthrough, the shareholders decided to hireEnglishman Peter Ridler , who previously ran Monsoon Accessorize. But Ridler did not work even a year: hewas not ready to fully immerse himself in new business and he himself offered his own resignation. Contact the manager failed.

Although the networks themselves - both CenterObuv and Centro - had their own general directors - Marcin Tokaz and Evgeniy Peshkun, respectively, in 2014 the shareholders decided to divide different areas of business among themselves in order to better understand what was happening with the company. Lomakin was in charge of sales, Khachatryan was in charge of logistics, Svetlov was in charge of purchasing and supplying goods, Gurevich was in charge of finances, and Levy was in charge of security. This distribution is confirmed by both Khachatryan and Svetlov. Khachatryan notes that together with Lomakin they were simultaneously developing their personal business projects, that is, their work at CenterObuv was more like supervision.

At that time, the network had two main legal entities - JSC Trading house"TsentrObuv" (trade operator) and LLC "CentrO" (importer Chinese goods). The network rented premises for a period of 3-5 years, and most of the warehouses were also leased - in St. Petersburg, Nizhny Novgorod, Rostov, Yekaterinburg and Novosibirsk.The only own distribution center with an area of ​​50 thousand square meters. m was acquired by the company in 2012. The Moscow office is also owned. Shoe Center » on 2nd Khutorskaya. To work with the main suppliers - Chinese factories (80% of purchases) - a company was created in Hong Kong Sinai."

When shareholders really immersed themselves in management, “one by one skeletons began to emerge from the closet ", says Khachatryan. For example, it turned out that purchase prices for Kari from some suppliers were 20% lower than for " Shoe Center " “But if the deferred payment for the goods is 180 days, the goods are naturally more expensive. It's ok to work with imported goods", objects Svetlov's acquaintance . The Chinese provided large deferments to many players, says InfoLine-Analytics CEO Mikhail Burmistrov, but often with Chinese suppliers a situation arises when the company believes who purchases goods directly , but in fact, he formalizes the transaction with an intermediary company - and these are additional costs.

A source among shareholders believes that TsentrObuv approached the crisis year of 2014 in a “slack” state and was heavily dependent on bank loans. The fall of the ruble, sanctions and the Central Bank's increase in the key rate have had a dramatic impact on the network, he believes. On the one hand, the retailer has practically lost two foreign markets - Polish and Ukrainian. “Imagine, we turn on the TV, and there - military equipment against the backdrop of our store, everything is clear,” says RBC’s interlocutor. In 2014, sales of CenterObuv in Ukraine fell by almost 42%, to $61.1 million, according to the network’s materials. The reports indicate that the Polish division was sold to a third party, with which CenterObuv continued to operate as a franchise. TsentrObuv wrote off the losses incurred in these markets.

It got to the point that one of the shipments of goods worth 500 million rubles. “TsentrObuv” could not buy it on its own - Khachatryan and Lomakin themselves purchased this product, says a source close to the company. Khachatryan does not comment on this.

At the end of 2014, one of the partners of CenterObuv witnessed the unfolding drama: within 24 hours, 60 people from the development department, who were involved in selecting premises for new stores, were fired. According to RBC's source in the management of CenterObuv, in 2014, only about 400 people were laid off.

Gurevich decided to return Nesterov so that he could deal with debt restructuring, say Khachatryan and Svetlov. RBC has a copy at its disposal employment contract Nesterov dated April 1, 2015: the agreement guarantees that upon its termination there will be no at will employee, the company will have to pay him $5 million.

New owner

In April 2015, TsentrObuv had to repay a loan of 3 billion rubles. in front of VTB Bank. The company did not have such funds; according to Khachatryan, Lomakin, at the request of other shareholders, negotiated with the bank to extend the payment period and agreed on a deferment. A VTB representative declined to comment.

Claims were filed from the owners of the premises of the Centro and TsentrObuv stores: the chains did not pay rent for several months. In total, in 2015, according to SPARK, 477 lawsuits were filed against CentrObuv companies for total amount 5.9 billion rubles, and in 2016 - another 232 applications for 514 million rubles.

Svetlov and Gurevich were inclined to start bankruptcy proceedings, but Lomakin and Khachatryan did not agree with this. To save TsentrObuv, Lomakin offered to contribute his own 8 billion rubles. and promised to negotiate with banks on debt restructuring on his own. The time was approaching to order an autumn-winter collection of goods in China worth 100 million rubles. According to the top manager of CenterObuv, from June to August the shareholders prepared documents for the deal and agreed that in September the first tranche from Lomakin in the amount of 300 million rubles would arrive. But, according to an RBC source, Lomakin broke his promise. True, another source claims that Lomakin constantly heard rumors “about some new investors” and he did not want to risk money.

At that time, the shareholders were so disunited that they began to negotiate with new investors on their own. The president of the Rosenergomash concern, Vladimir Palikhata, became interested in the company, says an acquaintance of Svetlov and Gurevich. Palikhata offered 4 billion rubles. provided that Lomakin pays part of the network’s debt. In fact, from that moment on, the shareholders were divided into those who supported the new investor and those who did not want such a partnership, says Khachatryan, and in the end the deal did not take place. Palikhata did not respond to RBC's request.

Is the owner of Centrobuva facing a criminal case due to the withdrawal of assets?

"Connections / Partners"

"Themes"

"Ratings"

"News"

The shareholder of TsentrObuv commented on the wanted notice

Sergei Lomakin, a shareholder of the TsentrObuv company, who was previously put on the federal wanted list on suspicion of theft of a loan taken from a bank, suffered from a campaign launched against him by the controlling shareholders of the shoe chain, according to a statement received by RBC from Retail Brands Collection (RBC), which owns 32.6 % "TsentrObuv" in the interests of Sergei Lomakin and Artem Khachatryan.

“The controlling shareholders of the company, owning about 60%, Anatoly Gurevich, Dmitry Svetlov and the president of the TsentrObuv group Andrey Nesterov, in collusion with corporate raiders, controlling the operating business, are withdrawing the company’s assets and preventing the signing of agreements with creditors,” RBC claims in a statement.

Anatoly Gurevich drove Lomakin and Artem Khachatryan into debt

How TsentrObuv reached bankruptcy

On one October day in 2015, the co-owner of CenterObuv Anatoly Gurevich gathered the chain’s management and introduced them to the new shareholder Dmitry Vernimont, he says former employee companies. “Consider him [Vernimont] instead of me,” Gurevich said.

Another source, a close acquaintance of Gurevich, explains that the businessman borrowed money from Vernimont in order to improve matters at CenterObuv: who the loan was issued for - Gurevich himself or some structure of the network, the interlocutor could not answer, but he is sure that Gurevich had personal obligations.

As a result, Vernimont received Gurevich's entire share in TsentrObuv - 40.4%. Another 32.8% belongs to the former owners of Kopeika Sergei Lomakin and Artem Khachatryan, 16.3% belongs to the co-founder of CenterObuv Dmitry Svetlov. Small shares - 6.7% and 3.3% - belong to Leonid Makaron and Vladimir Left; 0.5% is on the balance sheet of the company itself (for more details on the ownership structure, see the diagram).

How Palikhata became the main raider of Moscow

Today, no one hides the fact that Palikhata takes an active part in the fate of Centrobuva (other projects of the fund are not disclosed). “Vladimir Mironovich knows how to make bankruptcy! - Dmitry Vernimont, a representative of one of the largest shareholders of the company, Anatoly Gurevich (40.3% of shares), tells Dengam. “By agreement with him, the current general director, Leonid Venzhik, has been appointed, negotiations are underway with banks. All accounts were transferred to B&N Bank so that the company would not immediately lose the opportunity to conduct operational activities, you understand what a tragedy that would be.” In addition, according to Vernimont, Palikhata managed to preserve a network of approximately 300 stores - they were transferred to the Fashion Shoes company, and through the restart of this network it is planned to partially pay off with external (debt $140 million) and internal (1.6 billion rubles) creditors and banks. Together with partners Dmitry Svetlov and Leonid Makaron, Gurevich owns a controlling stake, so Palikhata’s alliance with this group of shareholders is more than logical. Although the main creditor is Gazprombank (controls approximately 40% of the company's debts), Palikhata received full access to operational management, and minority shareholders who claim that they are making efforts to pay off their debts (the debt to VTB has been repaid, partially to MKB and Sberbank) are, according to them, deprived of such an opportunity. How Palikhata, who has neither shares nor debts, managed to gain control of the company in this case is not clear.

Minority shareholders are a group of shareholders removed from management: Sergey Lomakin and Artem Khachatryan (16.4% each). “We, of course, cannot say that there was a takeover of the company in the classical sense of this process. Palikhata’s representative headed the company with the support of its largest shareholders - Gurevich and Svetlov, but this happened in violation of the shareholder rights of RBC (Retail Brands Collection represents the interests of Khachatryan and Lomakin. - “Money”), says Artem Khachatryan. - Decisions about the “plant” in Palikhata's company, the change of the board of directors and the general director were accepted without us - we found out about this after the fact. We never supported the arrival of Palikhata. There were meetings with him, but at them it was clear that he did not plan to help the company, but planned to build a new business in a new legal entity, gaining control through the general director over the assets of Centrobuva itself. According to our information, no investments were made in Centrobuv.” In addition, Khachatryan notes, “his role in negotiation process with banks: it does not cover debts, but the restructuring itself is slowed down.” Lomakin and Khachatryan are also afraid of Palikhata’s attempts on their other retail assets.

Lomakin “puts on his shoes”

Repair "CenterObuv"

Another source, a close acquaintance of Gurevich, explains that the businessman borrowed money from Vernimont in order to improve matters at CenterObuv: to whom the loan was issued - to Gurevich himself or some structure of the network, RBC's interlocutor could not answer, but he is sure that Gurevich had personal obligations.

As a co-owner of a chain of stores, Sergei Lomakin defrauded creditors of 30 billion rubles. and "did my legs"

The history of CenterObuv began in 1992 - Lomakin was then a first-year student and had not yet thought about business. Moscow entrepreneurs Anatoly Gurevich and Dmitry Svetlov first engaged in wholesale footwear trade, and in 1996 they opened their first store. The concept of a discount store did not come immediately; to sell Chinese shoes from artificial materials Entrepreneurs decided at the minimum prices at the beginning of the 2000s. “Few people remember, but it was in TsentrObuv that they were the first to display all shoes in trading floor“: we need an order of magnitude fewer employees, and it’s more convenient for the buyer,” recalls former employee of the chain Alla.

“Trading house “Tsentrobuv”” was founded in 1992. According to SPARK, 99.9% of the company's shares are registered with the Cypriot Plazia Consulting Ltd. Minority shareholders of the retailer are also its founders Anatoly Gurevich and Dmitry Svetlov. At the end of 2014, the network’s revenue exceeded 34 billion rubles, and net profit amounted to about 147 million rubles.

Debtor from TsentrObuv: how a chain shareholder ended up on the federal wanted list

A little bit later Retail company Brands Collection (RBC), which owns 32.6% of the TsentrObuv trading house and represents the interests of the wanted businessman and his partner Artem Khachatryan, promptly issued a statement (available to RBC), in which it indicated that Sergey Lomakin was a victim of the campaign launched against him by the controlling shareholders of the shoe chain.

“The controlling shareholders of the company, owning about 60%, Anatoly Gurevich, Dmitry Svetlov and the president of the TsentrObuv group Andrey Nesterov, in collusion with corporate raiders, controlling the operating business, are withdrawing the company’s assets and preventing the signing of agreements with creditors,” RBC stated in a statement.

A TsentrObuv shareholder accused the company’s co-owners of colluding with raiders

The main shareholder of the TsentrObuv company, Sergei Lomakin, who has been put on the federal wanted list for the theft of a Gazprombank loan, knows that a criminal case has been opened against him. This was announced by a representative of the businessman. At the same time, his circle circulated a statement that other co-owners of the company were misleading the investigation and were in collusion with the raiders.

The wanted co-owner of Centrobuv complained about the chain’s main shareholders

One of the co-owners of Centrobuv, Sergei Lomakin, became a victim of a campaign organized against him by the controlling shareholders of the chain. RBC reports this with reference to a statement by Retail Brands Collection (RBC), which owns 32.6% of Centrobuv in the interests of Sergei Lomakin and Artem Khachatryan.

"Tsentrobuv" was under threat of bankruptcy

Russia's largest shoe retail chain, Centrobuv, is facing bankruptcy. At the end of March, the Moscow Arbitration Court introduced a monitoring procedure against the company, according to the case file. It is planned that the chain's bankruptcy case will be considered on September 6.

According to the court, the debt of Tsentrobuvi to the Sandorini company exceeds four million rubles. As the Kommersant newspaper writes in its issue dated April 4, in total, the retailer’s liabilities may amount to more than 25 billion rubles.

The Moscow Arbitration Court introduced a surveillance procedure against the Russian shoe chain TsentrObuv due to a debt of 4 million rubles. However, the retailer’s total obligations may exceed 25 billion rubles

According to the publication, the Moscow Arbitration Court introduced a monitoring procedure against the company due to debts.

The main applicants, Sandorini and the Moscow Credit Bank (MCB), demand 4.09 million rubles from the company. However, according to the publication, the network’s total liabilities may exceed 25 billion rubles.

The largest shoe retail chain "Tsentrobuv" was on the verge of bankruptcy

Currently, a monitoring procedure has been introduced against the company. The chain's debt is estimated at 4 million rubles, but in general the retailer's liabilities may exceed 25 billion rubles

A large Russian shoe retail chain, Centrobuv, is on the verge of bankruptcy. Currently, a monitoring procedure has been introduced against the company. The chain's debt is estimated at 4 million rubles, but in general the retailer's liabilities may exceed 25 billion rubles.

Surveillance at the Centrobuv trading house was introduced at the request of the Sandorini company and the Moscow Credit Bank (MCB). The bankruptcy hearing is scheduled for September 6.

Co-owner of Centrobuv Dmitry Svetlov told the publication that the strategy for the actions of the company’s management after the introduction of surveillance has not yet been determined. The company is currently negotiating debt restructuring, Kommersant reports.

The Centrobuv chain is threatened with bankruptcy Belrynok

The Moscow Arbitration Court has introduced a surveillance procedure against JSC Trading House Centrobuv, the largest Russian shoe retail chain, writes “. It is noted that the main applicant for this case Sandorini performs, as well as the Moscow Credit Bank (MCB). Despite this, the chain still remains the leader in the number of outlets in the Russian Federation, and in addition in the overall level of sales. According to the latest preliminary information from SPARK, 99.9% of the company's shares are registered with the Cypriot Plazia Consulting Ltd. Minority shareholders of the retailer are also its founders Anatoly Gurevich and Dmitry Svetlov. Belrynok

The CenterObuv chain is on the verge of bankruptcy

The main applicants are Sandorini (the debt to them is 4.09 million rubles) and the Moscow Credit Bank (MCB). Despite this, the network continues to lead the Russian market in terms of sales volumes and number of outlets, stated Mikhail Burmistrov, head of Infoline-Analytics. Representatives from Sandorini and MKB declined to comment.

Tsentrobuv postponed its IPO until spring

Tsentrobuv" unites more than 550 own and franchise shoe discounters under the brands "Tsentrobuv" and Centro in Moscow and the region, Krasnodar, Samara, Yekaterinburg, Perm, etc. Among the co-owners are the founders of "Kopeyka" Sergey Lomakin and Artem Khachatryan (own 33% of the retailer) , Anatoly Gurevich and Dmitry Svetlov. According to SPARK-Interfax, the revenue of CJSC TD Centrobuv in 2009 amounted to 14.238 billion rubles. (about $475 million). Earlier, a Kommersant source close to the network reported that the company's revenue for 2010 according to IFRS was about $720 million, EBITDA - $135 million, EBITDA margin - 18.7%.

Anatoly Gurevich gained control of the CenterObuv network

The founders of the Kopeika grocery chain, Sergei Lomakin and Artem Khachatryan, are leaving the shareholders of the Centrobuv shoe chain. Full control over the network will pass to another co-owner - US citizen Anatoly Gurevich.

"Tsentrobuv" changed hands

The Centrobuv chain has changed its owner. As MegaMagnat learned, the former owners of the company, businessmen Sergei Lomakin and Artem Khachatryan, are transferring full control over the Centrobuv stores to US citizen Anatoly Gurevich, and are leaving the shareholders. The deal, the amount of which the parties chose not to name, has already received approval from the Federal Antimonopoly Service.

FAS allowed businessman Gurevich to acquire the structures of the Tsentrobuv group

The Federal Antimonopoly Service (FAS) of Russia granted the request of the co-founder of the Tsentrobuv company, Russia's largest footwear retailer, Anatoly Gurevich, to acquire CJSC Trading House Tsentrobuv, the parent company of the group, as well as Centro LLC, by purchasing 100% of the company's voting shares “Falcon Productions Ltd,” follows from the department’s materials.

"TsentrObuv" expects to reach Hong Kong

"TsentrObuv" is the largest chain of shoe stores in Russia, founded in 1996. The main shareholders of the company are Anatoly Gurevich, Dmitry Svetlov, Sergey Lomakin, Artem Khachatryan.

CenterShoes. New addition to the board of directors of the shoe store chain

Former Kopeika shareholder Sergei Lomakin joined the board of directors of the TsentrObuv shoe chain, said a top manager of the Kopeika chain. The Chairman of the Board of Directors of CenterObuv, Anatoly Gurevich, conveyed through the secretary that the entrepreneur was appointed as an independent director in May.

The owners of Centrobuv want the company’s business to be open and understandable to investors

The history of TsentrObuv began back in 1992 with wholesale trade shoes. In 1996, several large Moscow stores united under the TsentrObuv brand. Currently, throughout Russia there are more than 550 own and franchise shoe discounters under the brands "TsentrObuv" and Centro in Moscow and the region, Krasnodar, Samara, Yekaterinburg, Perm, etc. The main beneficiaries of JSC " Trade company"Tsentrobuv": Anatoly Gurevich, Dmitry Svetlov, Sergey Lomakin, Artem Khachatryan.

Former Kopeika shareholder Sergei Lomakin joined the board of directors of the TsentrObuv shoe chain, said a top manager of the Kopeika chain. The Chairman of the Board of Directors of CenterObuv, Anatoly Gurevich, conveyed through the secretary that the entrepreneur was appointed as an independent director in May.

One of Mr. Lomakin’s business partners says that he and Artem Khachatryan (also former shareholder"Kopeyki") are interested in entering the share capital of the shoe chain. According to his information, negotiations are underway for at least a 25 percent stake in the shoe operator CJSC Trading House TsentrObuv. A source close to CenterObuv shareholders confirmed the negotiations. Mr. Gurevich emphasized that “now Sergey Lomakin is not a shareholder of the network.” The top manager of the Russian shoe chain knows that the founders of Kopeyka began negotiations about four months ago. Sergei Lomakin declined to comment; it was not possible to contact Artem Khachatryan yesterday. A source close to the entrepreneurs confirmed the information.

Former co-owners of Kopeyka are expanding their business

The TsentrObuv company unites 309 own and franchise shoe stores in Moscow, St. Petersburg, etc. The main beneficiaries are the Chairman of the Board of Directors, Anatoly Gurevich, and the General Director, Dmitry Svetlov.

The co-owner of the CenterObuv chain turned out to be the founder of the Pronto-Moscow publishing house.

In total, CenterObuv has 7 shareholders, the largest are the founders of Kopeika Sergey Lomakin and Artem Khachatryan (owning approximately 33%, as of 2009) and top managers of the network Dmitry Svetlov and Anatoly Gurevich, said one of the organizers of the IPO of CenterObuv. (Renaissance Capital and Morgan Stanley). The network intends to float on the London Stock Exchange (LSE) or the Hong Kong Stock Exchange in the fall of 2011, and the company's valuation will be close to $2 billion, sources in investment banks said. During the placement it is planned to sell approximately $500 million worth of securities - shares of existing shareholders and an additional issue.

FFMS registered Tsentrobuv bonds for 12 billion rubles

The main owners of the company are Anatoly Gurevich, Dmitry Svetlov, Sergey Lomakin and Artem Khachatryan.

The founders of Kopeyka may leave TsentrObuv

Thus, Artem Khachatryan and Sergey Lomakin, who founded the Kopeyka grocery chain, may leave the shareholders of CenterObuv, and Anatoly Gurevich will apparently exercise full control over the company.

On one October day in 2015, the co-owner of CenterObuv Anatoly Gurevich gathered the chain’s management and introduced them to the new shareholder Dmitry Vernimont, says a former employee of the company. “Consider him [Vernimont] instead of me,” Gurevich said.

Another source, a close acquaintance of Gurevich, explains that the businessman borrowed money from Vernimont in order to improve matters at CenterObuv: who the loan was issued for - Gurevich himself or some structure of the network, the interlocutor could not answer, but he is sure that Gurevich had personal obligations.

As a result, Vernimont received Gurevich's entire share in TsentrObuv - 40.4%. Another 32.8% belongs to the former owners of Kopeika Sergei Lomakin and Artem Khachatryan, 16.3% - from the co-founder of CenterObuv Dmitry Svetlov. Small shares - 6.7% and 3.3% - in Leonida Makaron and Vladimir Left; 0.5% is on the balance sheet of the company itself (for more details on the ownership structure, see the diagram).

In addition, the Main Investigation Department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs in Moscow suspected the withdrawal of assets from TsentrObuv and on May 25 opened a criminal case against unidentified persons under Article 159.4 of the Criminal Code (fraud). The initiation of the case was preceded by an inspection carried out after a statement from one of the largest creditors of CenterObuv - Gazprombank .

Will CenterObuv shareholders be able to end the conflict and save the business?

"Penny" infections

After the sale of Kopeyka in 2007 (see reference), Lomakin and Khachatryan were looking for new projects for investment. As a result, they gave $35 million of the more than $120 million they received for 32.8% of TsentrObuv.

“We knew Gurevich and Svetlov, periodically exchanged information about the state of the market, the introduction of technologies, even people sometimes migrated between companies,” Khachatryan recalls about the beginning of cooperation. They invested so much money that TsentrObuv had to “get tired of opening new stores,” the Kommersant newspaper quoted Lomakin in 2009.

With the money received, TsentrObuv launched another chain of stores - youth Centro. It was not difficult: at that time, TsentrObuv, which already united 310 of its own and franchise stores, essentially competed only with market stalls.

According to Khachatryan, the founders of CenterObuv wanted new partners to help them with financing development and strategy, but without diving into the operational business. He and Lomakin, says Khachatryan, “discovered a large scope of work on purchasing, category management, new product positions,” and participated in the development of a program for opening new stores.

Lomakin and Khachatryan were only members of advisory boards, that is, they met with other shareholders informally. But they had their own representative on the board of directors of CenterObuv: votes on it were distributed in proportion to the shares of the owners. According to the shareholders' agreement, some decisions, including changes in the general director, could be made by at least 75% of the votes. Basically, everyone relied on the general director Andrei Nesterov, who worked at CenterObuv almost from its very creation.

in more size

The funds poured into the business had an effect, Khachatryan believes: in 2011, the network already united twice as many stores - 746 points operated from the border with the European Union to the border with Japan. In the fall of the same year, the owners of the network were preparing an IPO on the London and Hong Kong stock exchanges: it was planned to sell both shareholders’ securities and shares of an additional issue; the minimum placement volume was to be $500 million.

But later, due to the fact that there was no unanimous decision among the shareholders to conduct a placement on the stock exchange, preparations were suspended. “Even before 2013, it was necessary to sell the share to an investor to cover debts, but everything was a gem and it seemed that it would be like this forever. Therefore, all the shareholders did not agree among themselves either on entering the stock exchange or on possible transactions with funds,” explains an acquaintance of Gurevich and Svetlov.

In 2011, TsentrObuv was included in the rating of the fastest growing Russian retailers compiled by InfoLine-Analytics. Network sales increased by 58.4%, to 29.3 billion rubles, for comparison: Adidas that year earned 27.4 billion rubles in Russia. Over the course of the year, TsentrObuv also managed to increase its retail space by 49.3%, to 227 thousand square meters. m.

At the end of 2011, the company distributed dividends in the amount of about $90 million. And for his success, the shareholders presented Nesterov with a share of 0.5%.

Bonus for the CEO

At the beginning of 2012, a new player burst onto the market - the Kari shoe discount chain, created by former owner of Eldorado Igor Yakovlev. In just over a year, Yakovlev opened 480 Kari stores in Russia, Ukraine, Kazakhstan and Poland. “It’s like comparing a 2004 Olympic champion and a “hungry” novice athlete at a competition in Rio de Janeiro. The newcomer has a different motivation, he is “hungry”, and the leader is perhaps overly self-confident,” recalls Khachatryan.

Against the backdrop of increasing competition between shareholders, the first quarrels began. Lomakin wanted to take more part in managing the chain, and Gurevich, fascinated by the talents of the “Russian retail star,” was ready to give in to him, says a source close to CenterObuv. Therefore, Nesterov was de facto moved from the position of general director to the position of financial director. “Nesterov did not agree with what Lomakin was doing, and since the shareholders refused to delve into his complaints, he decided to leave the company,” the interlocutor claims. When he left the company at the end of 2013, he was paid a bonus of $5.6 million - the 0.5% price recorded in 2011.

For a qualitative breakthrough, the shareholders decided to hire the Englishman Peter Ridler, who previously headed the company Monsoon Accessorize. But Ridler did not work for even a year: he was not ready to completely immerse himself in the new business and he himself offered his own resignation. The manager could not be contacted.

Although the networks themselves - both CenterObuv and Centro - had their own general directors - Marcin Tokaz and Evgeniy Peshkun, respectively, in 2014 the shareholders decided to divide different areas of business among themselves in order to better understand what was happening with the company. Lomakin oversaw sales, Khachatryan oversaw logistics, Svetlov oversaw purchases and supplies of goods, Gurevich oversaw finances, and Left oversaw security. This distribution is confirmed by both Khachatryan and Svetlov. Khachatryan notes that together with Lomakin they were simultaneously developing their personal business projects, that is, their work at CenterObuv was more like supervision.

At that time, the network had two main legal entities - JSC Trading House TsentrObuv (trade operator) and LLC TsentrO (importer of Chinese goods). The network rented premises for a period of 3–5 years, and most of the warehouses were also leased - in St. Petersburg, Nizhny Novgorod, Rostov, Yekaterinburg and Novosibirsk. The only own distribution center with an area of ​​50 thousand square meters. m was acquired by the company in 2012. The property also owns the Moscow office of TsentrObuv on 2nd Khutorskaya. To work with the main suppliers - Chinese factories (80% of purchases) - the Sinai company was created in Hong Kong.

When shareholders really became immersed in management, “one by one skeletons began to emerge from the closet,” Khachatryan claims. For example, it turned out that purchase prices for Kari from some suppliers were 20% lower than for TsentrObuv. “But if the deferred payment for the goods is 180 days, the goods are naturally more expensive. This is normal for working with imported goods,” argues Svetlov’s acquaintance. The Chinese provided large deferments to many players, says General Director of InfoLine-Analytics Mikhail Burmistrov, but often with Chinese suppliers a situation arises when the company believes that it is purchasing goods directly, but in fact is finalizing a deal with an intermediary company - and these are additional costs.

A source among shareholders believes that TsentrObuv approached the crisis year of 2014 in a “slack” state and was heavily dependent on bank loans. The fall of the ruble, sanctions and the Central Bank's increase in the key rate have had a dramatic impact on the network, he believes. On the one hand, the retailer has practically lost two foreign markets - Polish and Ukrainian. “Imagine, we turn on the TV, and there is military equipment in the background of our store, everything is clear,” says the interlocutor. In 2014, sales of CenterObuv in Ukraine fell by almost 42%, to $61.1 million, according to the network’s materials. The reports indicate that the Polish division was sold to a third party, with which CenterObuv continued to operate as a franchise. TsentrObuv wrote off the losses incurred in these markets.

In the main Russian market, sales of CenterObuv dropped by a third. “The company could not service its debts because the interest on the loans was equal to the rent payments,” says a source in the top management of CenterObuv. The retailer began to delay payments to Chinese factories, and they, in turn, reduced the terms of payment for goods: in the end they agreed on 90 days versus the usual 180. “It was clear that if this continued, the company would not be able to answer for its obligations to the banks , nor to suppliers. And the most important thing for her life is to continuously purchase new goods and sell them,” explains a source among the shareholders.

It got to the point that one of the shipments of goods worth 500 million rubles. “TsentrObuv” could not buy it on its own - Khachatryan and Lomakin themselves purchased this product, says a source close to the company. Khachatryan does not comment on this.

At the end of 2014, one of the partners of CenterObuv witnessed the unfolding drama: within 24 hours, 60 people from the development department, who were involved in selecting premises for new stores, were fired. According to a source in the management of CenterObuv, in 2014, only about 400 people were laid off.

Gurevich decided to return Nesterov so that he could deal with debt restructuring, say Khachatryan and Svetlov. RBC has at its disposal a copy of Nesterov’s employment contract dated April 1, 2015: the agreement guarantees that if it is terminated not at the employee’s own request, the company will have to pay him $5 million.

New owner

In April 2015, TsentrObuv had to repay a loan of 3 billion rubles. The company did not have such funds; according to Khachatryan, Lomakin, at the request of other shareholders, negotiated to extend the payment period and agreed on a deferment.

Claims were filed from the owners of the premises of the Centro and TsentrObuv stores: the chains did not pay rent for several months. In total, in 2015, according to SPARK, 477 claims were filed against CenterObuv companies for a total amount of 5.9 billion rubles, and in 2016, another 232 claims were filed for a total of 514 million rubles.

Svetlov and Gurevich were inclined to start bankruptcy proceedings, but Lomakin and Khachatryan did not agree with this. To save TsentrObuv, Lomakin offered to contribute his own 8 billion rubles. and promised to negotiate with banks on debt restructuring on his own. The time was approaching to order an autumn-winter collection of goods in China worth 100 million rubles. According to the top manager of CenterObuv, from June to August the shareholders prepared documents for the deal and agreed that in September the first tranche from Lomakin in the amount of 300 million rubles would arrive. But, according to the source, Lomakin broke his promise. True, another source claims that Lomakin constantly heard rumors “about some new investors” and he did not want to risk money.

At that time, the shareholders were so disunited that they began to negotiate with new investors on their own. The president of the Rosenergomash concern, Vladimir Palikhata, became interested in the company, says an acquaintance of Svetlov and Gurevich. Palikhata offered 4 billion rubles. provided that Lomakin pays part of the network’s debt. In fact, from that moment on, the shareholders were divided into those who supported the new investor and those who did not want such a partnership, says Khachatryan, and in the end the deal did not take place. Palihata did not respond to the request.

At the same time, Lomakin, according to Khachatryan, negotiated a deal with the Russian shoe chain Zenden, which was ready to contribute 3 billion rubles. Zenden owner Andrey Pavlov confirmed that he had conducted due diligence, but did not comment on the amount of possible investments. The deal did not go through because, according to him, the company had too many a large number of shareholders who could not come to common decisions. “It is impossible to completely solve the company’s problems; the point of no return for rescue was passed too long ago,” says Pavlov.

In November 2015, according to Khachatryan, Gurevich, Vernimont and Palikhata met on behalf of CenterObuv with creditors, in particular with Gazprombank. Palihata said that he was “only an observer.” Khachatryan also insists that after the transfer of Gurevich’s share to Vernimont in CenterObuv, the board of directors changed and now he and Lomakin do not have their own representatives on the board. Also, without their consent, the accounts were transferred to another bank and a new general director was appointed, Leonid Venzhik, who, Khachatryan claims, is Palikhata’s childhood friend.

So far, the remaining major shareholders have not made any predictions about the future of the company or their future participation in it. “We work according to the actual weather. We are in constant contact with banks, but we have actually not had access to information about the company since October 2015,” Khachatryan said. Lomakin only said that the dialogue with banks on loan restructuring continues.

Svetlov noted that everything that happens in the company occurs in agreement with its creditors; he declined to comment further.

"CenterObuv"

The TsentrObuv group of companies, the largest in its segment both in terms of number of stores and revenue, was created in 1992. Develops two chains - discounters "TsentrObuv" and youth stores Centro.

The company orders the bulk of goods (80%) from factories in China, and places 20% of orders in Russia. According to InfoLine-Analytics, revenue in 2015 amounted to 28.2 billion rubles, and the number of stores was 748.

What are Lomakin and Khachatryan famous for?

In the early 1990s, Sergei Lomakin, Artem Khachatryan and Alexander Samonov were engaged in the distribution of coffee, and in 1998, with the same staff, they decided to invest in retail and founded one of the first Russian discounter chains, Kopeika.

By 2007, Kopeika had 330 stores with revenue of $980 million. In the same year, the partners sold the remaining 50% of Kopeika to the financial corporation NIKoil of Nikolai Tsvetkov (later Uralsib). In December 2010, the corporation resold Kopeika to X5 Retail Group (manages the Pyaterochka, Perekrestok, and Karusel chains).

Samonov confirmed that the value of their deal was in the range from $600 million to $700 million. By that time, Khachatryan and Lomakin each owned 10% of Kopeyka, that is, from this deal alone they could earn $120–140 million between them.

After the sale of Kopeyka, Lomakin and Khachatryan continued to invest in retail - mainly through the Sun Investments Partners fund (later renamed Retail Brands Collection). For example, in 2008 it became known that they acquired minority shares in the Modis chain, which sells “fashionable clothing of its own brands at affordable prices.”

What is known about Dmitry Vernimont

According to Profile magazine, Vernimont was born in 1963 and graduated from the Plekhanov Russian Academy of Economics and the Institute of Finance. From 1997 to 1999, he served as advisor to the general director at Gazprom's subsidiary Gazkomplektimpex.

In 1999, he was appointed advisor to the Minister of Taxes and Duties Alexander Pochinok. As the magazine reported, Vernimont’s responsibilities included interaction with enterprises of the fuel and energy complex on issues of payments to the federal budget.

The SPARK system contains information about the full namesake of Vernimont, who owns 100% of the company Evolution Music Production LLC, whose main activity is publishing magazines and sound recordings.

Criminal case

In May, documents were seized at the CenterObuv office. Since April, the Ministry of Internal Affairs has been checking the legality of the activities of the owners and management of TsentrObuv and Centro at the request of one of the largest creditors - Gazprombank. The bank suspected the company of fictitious transactions and withdrawal of funds from a credit line provided in September 2013.

RBC obtained a copy of the resolution of the chief investigation department Ministry of Internal Affairs in Moscow dated May 25, 2016 on the initiation of a criminal case under Article 159.4 of the Criminal Code against unidentified persons. The resolution states that for the companies “Trading House “TsentrObuv” and “TsentrO” the bank opened two credit lines with a limit of 8.6 billion rubles. By September 1, 2014, 8.2 billion rubles had been transferred to companies.

But back in the summer of 2014, as the Ministry of Internal Affairs found out, one of the CenterO employees invested 4.3 billion rubles. in Fullainvest LLC, Irma LLC and Nikty LLC. Apart from being expressly prohibited by the loan agreement, the bank was not notified of the transactions. The investigation also believes that before June 30, 2014, someone from the company’s management withdrew 400 million rubles.

The company's shareholders do not comment on the criminal case. Gazprombank and management economic security and Anti-Corruption Directorate of the Ministry of Internal Affairs did not provide comments.

Anna Levinskaya

With the participation of Ivan Golunov

Ilya Rozhdestvensky

Three years ago, Centrobuv was planning an IPO. In the penultimate ranking of the largest private companies in Russia, it took 148th place. Now the company is facing multibillion-dollar debts and lawsuits from creditors and former partners. Its shareholders have not acted together for a long time. Some are trying to close their obligations to banks and deal with the criminal case for fraud, initiated by Gazprombank. Others collect the debris of business in the regions and go for interrogations. On September 14, it became known that one of the retailer’s shareholders, Sergei Lomakin, was put on the federal wanted list.

“For me and the other shareholders, this story is not over yet,” says Artem Khachatryan, owner of a 16.4% stake in Centrobuv. The story began in 1996, when wholesalers Anatoly Gurevich and Dmitry Svetlov decided to build retail network. By 2008, about 300 stores operated under the Tsentrobuv guise, and the founders of the Kopeika chain, Sergey Lomakin and Artem Khachatryan, became interested in the dynamically growing business. Having sold Kopeyka, they were looking for where to invest the money. Lomakin knew the founders of Tsentrobuvi, and they themselves asked him to “help with finances.” The partners paid $35 million for a third of the company’s shares. According to Khachatryan, it seemed to them that the chain of shoe discounters could be expanded to 1,000 stores. Together with the subsidiary network Centro, they managed to open almost 1,500. Now there are less than 300 left. The shareholders and management of Centrobuv had too different ideas of what a successful business is.

Monster or pyramid

The chain, which sells cheap shoes for the whole family, experienced good growth in the wake of the previous crisis. Its revenue grew from 14.2 billion rubles in 2009 to 45.4 billion rubles in 2013. “Sometimes up to 20 stores could open in different cities in a day,” recalls one of its former managers. The company has become a leader among sellers of clothing and footwear with a market share of 6% in in monetary terms(Euromonitor estimate based on the results of 2015).

The arrival of experienced, ambitious and charismatic investors - Sergei Lomakin and Artem Khachatryan - was necessary for Centrobuv, market participants and those who were familiar with the situation within the company unanimously stated. “The manner in which Gurevich and Svetlov conducted business was more like searching for a black cat in a dark room. They needed a leader who would set the vector of development, and they found him in Lomakin. He literally charmed both of them,” says a longtime acquaintance of Gurevich. Artem Khachatryan says that he came to Tsentrobuv with Lomakin to make money due to the favorable conditions in the shoe market. In the operational management, he said, the partners had almost no participation: “Neither I nor Sergey were ever on the company’s staff, but he sometimes advised something for development. For example, he came up with the idea of ​​launching the youth network Centro.”

Centrobuv's own profit was not enough for aggressive development. “With the arrival of Sergei Lomakin, its model began to resemble a pyramid that had to be quickly erected with constant involvement borrowed money, and then sell it to foreign investors,” says Dmitry Vernimont, who calls himself a friend of Gurevich (he does not talk about himself). In 2009, Vernimont lent $10 million to his longtime acquaintance under personal guarantees, relying on his integrity (Gurevich owned 40.4% of the company’s shares). Later, the debt was formalized as a loan to one of the structures of the shoe holding company.

Centrobuv first announced its IPO in the winter of 2011, hiring Morgan Stanley and Renaissance Capital as consultants. At that time, the company was valued at more than $1.5 billion. Then the plan for placement on the London and Hong Kong stock exchanges was postponed by six months due to the instability of the stock market. By May 2012, the owners valued their company at $2 billion. “The owners constantly sought to pump up capitalization as much as possible, sometimes not noticing that they were taking the wrong steps, including opening extra retail outlets, which were often unprofitable,” comments the founder and President of the Zenden shoe chain Andrey Pavlov. In 2011, with revenue growing by 51%, Centrobuv's net profit decreased by a third, and the amount of debt obligations more than doubled and amounted to 40% of revenue. In the company's report, these changes were explained by the costs of opening stores and building a warehouse complex: “In the future, the development of the network will bring profit.”
Several times Centrobuv reached agreements with investors and then broke the deal. One of Gurevich’s former business partners, familiar with the progress of the negotiations, recalls an incident when, in response to an offer from an Asian fund to sell the company for $1.5 billion, the main shareholder walked out, kicking the door with the words “$1.8 billion and not a dollar less!”

Lomakin and Khachatryan had enough worries even without Tsentrobuvi. They developed their own Fix Price network, together with the Germans - the Takko Fashion project, and invested in the Modis clothing store. But in 2013, General Director Andrei Nesterov, who had worked in the company for almost ten years, left Centrobuv. He received a bonus of $5.6 million - compensation for record EBITDA of $228.9 million at the end of 2012. Now Khachatryan says that financial indicators Centrobuvi, in all likelihood, was overvalued by management, although shareholders received their dividends. One of the creditors with whom Forbes spoke directly says that the company’s balance sheet was being rigged. Was any of the shareholders the initiator of the departure of the CEO? According to former manager"Tsentrobuvi", the management was taken over by Sergei Lomakin: he made all strategic decisions - about expansion, volumes of purchases, loans, although he actually did not sign anywhere. Lomakin himself did not find an opportunity to answer Forbes’ questions. I also failed to communicate with Gurevich.

Outwardly, Centrobuv still looked successful, including to the owners themselves. “The shareholders believed that the company was a monster, and no one could move it,” Andrei Pavlov recalls his long-standing conversation with Anatoly Gurevich. In fact, Tsentrobuv for a long time determined the rules of the game in its market, until in 2012-2013 it began to be pushed by Kari, which opened its stores in shopping centers next to Centro Shoes and squeezing it out of the Chinese factories where orders were placed. Other chains of shoe discounters also developed - Zenden, Mattino. According to Vernimont, Tsentrobuv was never able to build an effective repayment model. Operating costs were very high - for example, employees of the real estate department were paid, as he believes, colossal bonuses both for opening new stores and for closing unsuccessful outlets.
“We should have spent more time on Centrobuva,” Khachatryan admits now. - When you invest, you need to participate in business development, but I didn’t do that. That’s why it happened: they invested 100 rubles and received 50.”

Belated emergency

The financial obligations of Centrobuv were of little concern to the company's shareholders until the end of 2014, despite the fact that the debts were constantly growing. According to reports obtained by Forbes from a representative of Lomakin and Khachatryan, over five years the debt increased 7.5 times - from $74.2 million in 2008 to $560.8 million in 2013. The increase in the exchange rate value of the dollar at the end of 2014 sharply worsened the situation, doubling Centrobuv’s obligations to Asian partners in ruble terms. Payments automatically went wrong, and centralized purchases of goods stopped. “Since the beginning of 2015, the company lived on shoe inventories worth about 16 billion rubles,” states Vernimont.
In the spring of 2015, Andrei Nesterov returned to Tsentrobuv as a crisis manager. The network's shareholders did not believe that the point of no return had already been passed. Nesterov did not come alone, but with an investor - the founder and president of the Legacy Square Capital fund, Vladimir Palikhata. He promised to allocate 4 billion rubles for working capital, but in the end I didn’t invest anything. As Palikhata explains, because Lomakin and Khachatryan, for their part, did not contribute the agreed upon amount of 4.2 billion rubles and were unable to agree on a complete debt restructuring with all banks.

Artem Khachatryan assures that he and his partner did not promise to invest anything, since they did not conduct any negotiations with Palikhata, they learned about his arrival after the fact and opposed it. “I made the wrong move, trusting Nesterov for the second time, who brought Palikhata with him, deceived the shareholders by promising to return the invested funds, and in the end the company was still left with debts,” Khachatryan laments. Together with Gurevich, he signed a conceptual agreement with Nesterov: the returning top manager, together with minority shareholder Dmitry Svetlov, takes over operational management, attracts investors, straightens the situation and pays off with shareholders who provided loans to the company from personal funds. In particular, under the agreement, Lomakin was owed about $10 million, Khachatryan - $4 million. According to Dmitry Vernimont, who has a copy of the conceptual agreement, the cost of Centrobuva was tied to the number of stores that could be saved.

The deal to transfer the asset under management to two managers in exchange for “future payments” looked unnatural, say people familiar with the situation, and caused dissatisfaction with the largest creditor, Gazprombank. Shareholders' hopes for a successful outcome were dashed when it became known after the fact about transactions carried out without their consent. "Tsentrobuv", according to Vernimont, assigned the lease agreements for the premises of 270 stores to Fashion Shoes LLC (the founder, according to SPARK, is a certain Svetlana Yung). A contract for use was concluded with the same company trademarks"Centrobuv" and Centro. Purchases of new goods were carried out through Fashion Shoes. Dmitry Svetlov negotiated supplies with small importers and local manufacturers. At the end of 2015, it was planned to purchase shoes from Turkey, but nothing came of it due to the crisis in Russian-Turkish relations.

“The shareholders were divided, everyone tried to realize their ambitions,” recalls Dmitry Vernimont. In the fall of 2015, wanting to get his money back, he negotiated his appointment as an adviser general director"Centro-shoes". And he was fired in July 2016 on the initiative of President Andrei Nesterov “in connection with the optimization of the management structure.” According to Vernimont's calculations, about 4.5 billion rubles were spent on interest payments on loans in 2015. Maintaining stores required about 1 billion rubles for 100 outlets. Payments to top managers averaged 2 million rubles per month. Thus, by February 2016 financial resources The "central shoes" are exhausted.

Retail pique

Lomakin offered to participate in saving the network to the founder of Kari Igor Yakovlev and co-owner of Yulmart Dmitry Kostygin. “A year ago, Sergey Lomakin contacted me; he was looking for an expert in the shoe market to assess the situation from the outside and find a solution,” adds Andrey Pavlov from Zenden. “I suggested dividing loan obligations into parts and solving them in order of priority.” Pavlov intended to participate in closing debts to Gazprombank for 3 billion rubles in half with Lomakin and wanted to receive in return best stores Centro. Bank representatives informed him that everything had gone wrong. The president of Zenden says that he does not particularly regret it: there were many nuances that would later raise questions from other lending banks. And Zenden implemented its plans to increase its market share by purchasing the Thomas Munz chain. Now he will not take stores from Centrobuv under any circumstances: “ Outlets They offer it almost for nothing, but we are no longer interested.”

The total amount of Centrobuv's debt obligations, according to Vernimont, is 37 billion rubles. In the spring of 2016, its largest creditor, Gazprombank (8.6 billion rubles in liabilities), turned to Moscow department Ministry of Internal Affairs for Combating Economic Crimes with a request to evaluate the activities of the owners and management of Tsentrobuv Trading House JSC. A case was initiated under Art. 159.4 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation “Fraud in the field entrepreneurial activity» in relation to unidentified persons (Resolution of the Main Investigation Department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs for Moscow dated May 25, 2016). However federal law On July 3, the article was declared invalid, and the question of the investigation was suspended.

According to representative Sergei Lomakin and Artem Khachatryan, negotiations on debt settlement are ongoing with all creditors, including Gazprombank. Vladimir Palikhata, for his part, says: “We are working with banks to acquire the rights to claim the accounts payable of Centrobuv.” Part of the debts amounting to 1 billion rubles is already at our disposal.” He considers the shoe market interesting and promising, but does not talk about future plans.

On October 25, 2016, the Moscow Arbitration Court is scheduled to consider the bankruptcy case of the chain at the request of the Moscow Credit Bank and the Sandorini company, which manages the property leased by Centrobuv. Meanwhile

home » How to earn » The director of the shoe center is wanted. Repairs for TsentrObuv: will its new owner save the chain’s business? The Centrobuv chain of stores is suspected of fictitious transactions and the withdrawal of funds from Gazprombank.