Saving property is the task facing the owners Russian companies. Making purchase after purchase, they pledged their assets to banks. And in a crisis, finding themselves unable to service their debts, they risk losing their shares. But the country's largest bank, Sberbank, got a chance during the crisis to become the owner of attractive assets and decided to take advantage of this chance. According to Ashot Khachaturyants, Sberbank wants its subsidiary Sberbank Capital to become the largest investment company countries. Khachaturyants spoke about how this task is being accomplished in an interview.

— Why in 2000 did you decide to “give up” with own business and become an official?

— By 2000, we had already built good business in the field of oil refining and oil trading, further growth was limited, since large and much stronger players occupied a significant market share. Financial questions I had already decided for myself at that moment. I was young and I needed drive, something new. Drive, in a good way, is my driving force in life. I decided to try myself in a completely different sector. I have always been interested in how the state machine works, especially in a situation where public service come interesting people with a new look, such as, for example, German Gref. Working with such people is immediately exciting. Therefore, without hesitation, I accepted the offer to work at the Ministry of Economic Development.

— How did you meet Gref?

— I was introduced to Gref at one of the events. I learned a lot from working at the Ministry of Economic Development. At that time, Gref was on the board of directors of Gazprom, and as an adviser to the minister, I was directly responsible for interaction with Gazprom, for example, for preparing documents for the boards of directors. The company was going through big changes at the time, a new team had just arrived, so it was a very dynamic time. Subsequently, I headed the investment policy department of the Ministry of Economic Development, where I participated in shaping the ministry’s position regarding the budgets and investment programs of the largest state-owned companies. I must say that I gained a wealth of experience in interacting with our monopolies and an understanding of how our economy actually works.

— Why did you leave this job and join the FSB?

— I moved to this structure in 2004 at the invitation of Vladimir Egorovich Pronichev (Director of the Border Service of the FSB of Russia. — Vedomosti). First, to understand the financial component of the federal target program on the arrangement of borders in the Caucasus, because there were some difficulties there...

- Stole?

— No, I just needed the experience of the Ministry of Economic Development and Trade combined with good expertise in the field of finance. To implement the Federal Target Program, it was created special department within the FSB, which on a daily basis was involved in organizing the construction and arrangement of the border in the Caucasus. I was the head of this department. In less than four years, we managed to arrange the state border throughout the entire North Caucasus, from sea to sea. These are not columns, this is a huge infrastructure that provides technical means border protection, communications, construction of outposts. I went there constantly, supervised the distribution of money and construction.

— Was there a drive for this?

- Huge. Working there today is perhaps the most significant event in my life. The program had to be completed in a very short time; it was under the control of the president. The program had to be adjusted; initially it was not entirely calculated correctly. The contractors were all local. We transferred them to other coefficients and during the first three months brought the budget 743 million rubles. pure savings. The total construction budget was more than 20 billion rubles.

- Do you have a title?

- No title. It was a general's position, but I remained an absolutely civilian.

— Were there any dangers in your work?

— Once in Dagestan, the helicopter in which we were sitting crashed into a cable during takeoff, and everything could have ended quickly, but, fortunately, it didn’t work out. Of course, this work was accompanied by an increased level of adrenaline, but the main thing is still the understanding that you are doing a really important thing that has an absolutely real, tangible result.

— Was she somehow rewarded?

— Yes, the Order of Merit for the Fatherland, III degree.

— What happened after the FSB?

— When the Caucasus program was implemented, Vladimir Egorovich Pronichev, who also heads the central council of the Dynamo sports society, asked me to take up projects for the revival and development of the Dynamo regional sports infrastructure. Since then, I have been a member of the Dynamo central council, where I continue to oversee this program. And after a while Gref called me and invited me to meet. This was in 2008. Gref said that the bank was creating new company Sberbank Capital, which should become one of the largest investment companies in Russia, and he invites me to head it.

— Why did Sberbank decide to create its own investment company?

— Firstly, this is an additional service for bank clients. Often large corporate clients They need not only the organization of lending, but also the attraction of additional investments or, for example, the correct organization of the transaction for which the loan was raised. So for the bank it is Additional income and customer loyalty. Previously, these tools were not available to him. Secondly, through such an instrument the bank can independently invest its own funds in promising projects and receive investment income.

— How was it planned to create an investment company, details of this plan?

— In 2008, it was planned to carry out corporate changes, attract a team, and provide the company with financial resources. And then the crisis struck, and during the crisis our tasks changed. Today our main task is to work with problem assets of the parent bank. In any case, our goal in the medium term remains the same - we must become the largest investment company in the country.

— Does Sberbank Capital have a business plan?

— Today we have been formulated strategic goals: resolve issues with large and socially significant problem assets and ensure the return of funds to the balance sheet of the parent bank. At the same time, we must understand that the simple sale of collateral in the current conditions is often not able to ensure the return of funds, which means that we must offer a solution that will allow the value of the collateral to be returned. Most often, this means that we must ensure the survival of such an asset and allow it to develop. Only under such conditions will it be able to restore its value after some time, and we will be able to return the bank’s funds in full. The second important task is the break-even of Sberbank Capital itself. We cannot be a burden for the parent bank. We are a business, albeit today with a strong social component. We do not have a specific business plan in numbers. In a crisis, when it is unclear what and in what condition you will get to work, it is impossible to plan financial indicators.

- But now it’s already clear whether you are working with a profit or not?

— In November we must sum up the work for nine months. The only thing I can say [now] is that we are a profitable company.

— What makes up the profit?

— Our income, like that of all investment companies, is formed from commissions and investment income from those projects where we invest our money. The money we earn covers our operating costs and the cost of maintaining the distressed assets that we receive.

— Do you know the amount of arrears on Sberbank loans in general?

— I don’t have general figures, since we work only with specific projects. Expert assessment - up to 6%.

— How is the system for working with problem debtors built at Sberbank?

— As soon as the debtor stops servicing the debt, a signal about this is sent to the department for working with problem assets at Sberbank and to us. We have our own investment committee. When a request is received from a bank on a particular topic, we consider this task at our investment committee, how interesting it is to us as a business project, whether we can save the bank’s money, the property that was transferred to us, and return the funds to the bank as much as possible. We have the opportunity to refuse to accept a particular project. If we see its futility, we believe that this opportunity has been missed, then this is already a matter of bankruptcy, the security service...

- The collector?

— Probably yes, now the department for working with problem assets has set a course for forming a short list of collectors and management companies.

— By what criteria are projects selected? Which overdue loans remain with the bank, and which are transferred to Sberbank Capital?

— Criteria such as the debtor’s industry or the scale of the problem are not taken into account. This is a movement in two directions. On the one hand, we evaluate all the problem assets of the bank, look at where, with proper work, we can best ensure an increase in the value of the asset and return funds to the bank. On the other hand, the most socially important problematic projects are immediately transferred to us for work, since the parent bank is interested in the quality management and development of such assets, primarily due to their social significance. In this case, we are no longer asked. Thus, it turns out that we work with the largest debtors. After we take on a project, we must decide what tactics to choose when working with this asset: act as a portfolio or strategic investor, whether to include our representatives on the board of directors, whether control over operating activities is necessary, etc. Specific tactics always depend on the situation in a particular company, on the quality of management, on the reasons why the company found itself in such a situation. In any case, we are obliged to find a solution that will contribute to the development of the company to the maximum extent. Sometimes you just need to lend your shoulder, and sometimes you need to completely take control. Sometimes we see additional prospects that may arise when several homogeneous assets are combined under a single management. In such cases, we prefer to build it as a new business.

- For example?

— Our first project is “Alpi”. The most difficult. The collateral [from the bank] included stores that assigned the debt to us under assignment agreements without a discount at par, and then the debtors assigned the entire chain to us. Then we did a lot of work there, held a competition, hired a management company, and re-signed a total of 620 contracts. Further work with municipal authorities, all network maintenance fell on us. And we had to do all this. Moreover, the loan is more than $200 million and it is clear that it was very important for the bank that this asset be dealt with.

— After Alpi, what did you do?

- After big deal was with Capital Group, as a result of which Sberbank Capital received 60,000 sq. m. under management. m according to the Moscow City project and 15,000 sq. m according to the project “City of Yachts”. Plus, we, as co-investors, are participating in the completion of this complex and we ourselves sell apartments in these two projects. And part of the loan money is used. Of course, we need to capitalize what we received.

— How much money are you investing in this project?

— Investments to complete construction will amount to $180 million. Of this, [we are investing] $90 million. Sberbank Capital is included in the project as a co-investor.

- Who gives the loan?

- Sberbank of Russia.

— What volume of investments in general will be required for the development of projects that are of interest to Sberbank Capital? Source of funds? What are your plans in this regard?

— It’s impossible to assess now. This depends on the type and volume of incoming projects.

— How many assets and for what amount are in Sberbank Capital?

— At the moment, we have 11 projects under management or in operation with a total value of over $4 billion.

— How much are the projects awaiting decisions on?

— Projects worth about $3 billion are being discussed right now. There are more projects on the way for a total amount of over $7 billion. This is something that is now in varying stages of development.

— Your clients are probably shaking: you will work with them in such a way as to resolve the issue to your advantage, perhaps by keeping the shares?

- I don’t know if they are shaking or not...

- Well, how can we not be afraid of you? It depends on you which asset the owner will lose, which one he won’t, and under what conditions...

— Firstly, this is always a matter of agreement and we are always for dialogue. Secondly, why be afraid of us - we are not raiders. We help. We will always choose a development option that will allow, even in the longer term, to fully return the funds of the parent bank and at the same time allow us to preserve jobs and social stability in these companies. On the other hand, we always understand that we are solving the problem of returning funds to the balance sheet of the country’s key bank, on the stability of which a lot depends.

— Which of this has already been decided (under what conditions), what is being decided? What's in the collateral?

— For obvious reasons, I can only talk in more detail about completed transactions. Alpi - restructured more than 6 billion rubles. debt, became owners of 370,000 sq. m of area, we manage objects. Global Ports - we own 10% of the shares and participate in management. Orton Oil - more than $800 million in debt was restructured, and a real estate asset (estimated at $27 million) that we manage became our property. "Polymetal" - as part of debt restructuring, we entered into an option on the company's shares with an exercise period of four years, we participate in the board of directors. “Aurora Oil” - the deal was closed, we own 5% of the shares, we participate in the management of the company. "Mosmart" - provided loan financing in the amount of 3.9 billion rubles, received a controlling stake in the company, we take part in the management of the company.

- What about “Rolf”? Do you have his shares?

- No. We restructured the loan for $50 million. We assessed the risks, actively negotiated, and helped the bank come to certain decisions that were mutually beneficial.

— Sberbank Capital applied for a 50% stake in Barkley. Why couldn't we agree on this?

— We closed the deal with Barkley last week, providing the company with a new loan in the amount of $160 million to repay an overdue loan to Sberbank in the amount of $110 million. $30 million will be used to repay debts to other creditors of Barkley. We received 51% as collateral. shares of the company, as well as investment rights to all developer sites for a total amount of 7 billion rubles.

— One of your development projects is PIK. Why can’t you come to an agreement with Kerimov, whose structures own the blocking stake in the group?

— Kerimov is not personally involved in restructuring this deal. We are working with the management of Nafta-Moscow. An initial agreement has been reached, and the deal is now being detailed.

- What have you already agreed on?

“They received a state guarantee, and now the conditions for debt restructuring are finally being settled.

— Will you get a share in PIK?

— It’s not clear yet. In light of the creation of our own development subsidiary, some projects in which PIK participates are also very interesting for us. It will be comprehensive solution, it will be accepted shortly.

- What is the size of the loan from another large development company - Coalco?

— I can’t say now, since negotiations on restructuring Coalco’s accounts payable are currently in progress.

— What is the situation with the Coalco loan?

- We have land and GVSU as collateral - this is a large construction company[works in Moscow and the Moscow region].

— Are you laying claim to part of Coalco’s shares, its companies, land, and finished projects?

— The process is very complex, various options are being considered. I must say that Coalco shareholder Mr. Anisimov is a very constructive negotiator.

- Well, if he is such a constructive negotiator, then why can’t you come to an agreement? What are the main differences?

— The discrepancies are in the parameters for assessing what they have. In the assessment of collateral. There are no other fundamental differences.

— So he is ready to part with Coalco shares? Are they also on bail?

- You see, you go deeper into the details of the deal. And this is exactly the part that I cannot disclose until the transaction is completed.

— When do you plan to complete negotiations?

— I hope that by mid-November we will complete and announce.

— Will the agreements with Coalco be approximately the same as with PIK?

— There may be nuances. These are different companies.

— How are negotiations progressing on restructuring the loan to Don-Stroy?

“We haven’t agreed on anything yet.” Their assets are being assessed. To reach an agreement, mutual agreement on the value of the collateral is necessary. I don't know specific numbers, it's still a work in progress. But we are participating in the negotiation process.

- But you will also join the capital?

— There is no solution yet. There are several options for the development of events.

— Tell us about the restructuring of the Tsarev Sad company, which is building a large office complex on Bolotny Island opposite the Kremlin.

— “Tsarev Sad” is an unfinished construction project that was transferred to Sberbank as part of debt restructuring. This object has been frozen for 10 years.

In September 2009, based on the results of the competition, we identified the construction customer, who is currently conducting pre-design studies of the territory. There are several options for developing this area. Sberbank Capital plans to complete the project over the next five years: build a modern complex with restaurants, offices, underground parking, and a hotel with total area about 80,000 sq. m. We also plan to reconstruct the historical building “Kokorevskoye Compound” - both from the point of view of preserving the cultural and historical heritage, and from the point of view of ensuring the safety of its operation.

— Sberbank Capital and Urals Energy signed an agreement to transfer 100% of the shares of NK Dulisma into the ownership of your company. Will you be selling the company?

- We will be thinking. This is our only oil asset. The total debt of Urals Energy is $630 million. We continue to work to resolve it. Another 35% of the company’s other asset, Taas-Yuryakh Neftegazodobycha, will probably go to us. Now this package is being registered [at Sberbank Capital]. Next, we will either consolidate all the oil assets that we have and sell them as a package. Or we will manage it for a while and wait for their value to rise. Because Dulisma needs to be managed now, the company needs to be prepared for winter. We chose a management company, it sorts out accounts receivable, looks at who to pay, who not to pay, and where the debt was artificially created. But it is already completely clear that: a) we will return the money and b) we will make money on these assets. The debt will be closed.

— With whom else are you currently discussing debt restructuring or providing additional financing?

— We are currently in various stages of negotiations with [the following] companies: “Mair” (on whose [debt] we have received rights of claim in the amount of 2.25 billion rubles), “Aspek”, “Glavstroy”, OJSC “Tamp”/“ Samokhval”, MosCity Group, “VIM-avia”, “GT-CHPP/Energomash” - the cost is being assessed, the structure and terms of the transaction are being agreed upon with the owners. Sberbank Capital specialists are also members of Sberbank’s working groups for restructuring accounts payable for a number of other companies.

— Has the formation of the Sberbank Capital team been completed?

— The formation of the team is close to completion. The core is 10 people who worked with me before, including at the Ministry of Economic Development and Trade.

— How many people do you employ in total?

— There are 80 people in the main office in Moscow. Since we are creating a branch network, that is, Sberbank Capital subsidiaries are opening in all regional banks. Branches have already been opened in eight priority banks, where 75% of all accounts payable are actually generated. We are not going to expand our staff to gigantic proportions. Still, the idea is for Sberbank Capital to be a highly professional and not particularly large company, even in the future. We resort to outsourcing where it is possible and effective. Where professional management companies are needed, we select them on a competitive basis. Next step after selection management company— where we have a lot of assets and we see great prospects is the organization of a subsidiary company.

— Does Sberbank Capital already have subsidiaries?

- Yes. We have a subsidiary, the Savings Capital company, which will deal with development projects. A separate subsidiary company can be created from metallurgical projects.

- Why metallurgical?

“They suffered the most during the crisis due to falling prices for raw materials and are now the most promising in terms of value recovery.

— What assets can end up in the metallurgical subsidiary? "Mair"?

— It’s too early to talk about it now. The creation of such a company is in the plans.

— What “daughters” will still be created?

- In general, your job is not dusty. It is convenient to work with large clients. The same Vasily Anisimov is a comfortable negotiator and a major entrepreneur. But if you take some problematic factory in the Yaroslavl region - the “frostbitten” owner withdraws assets, it is very difficult to get the debt out of him and come to an agreement with him... You don’t work with people like that. Why? Because all you are giving is the gradual formation of an investment company with promising assets?

— Precisely because we are an investment company. We do not have the goal of turning into a collection agency - there are specialized departments and organizations for this. Our goal is not to turn into a financial and industrial group that would work in all industries. Our task is to work with cost, so it is logical that we work where the importance of this factor is high for the parent bank. Another important factor is social. I want to say that the return of Sberbank’s money to Sberbank, which has 70 million depositors - money from pensioners, disabled people, and so on, is no less important a social task than saving some enterprise where an ineffective owner works. Of course, we feel a social function. We cannot afford what some private banks can afford. Because we cannot be so aggressive in negotiations. Many enterprises have jobs, entire industries, and in the development business, for example, investors. PIK has 16,000 depositors. And we have no right to allow such a company to go bankrupt. That's what it is social function, which is carried by Sberbank. We, as part of Sberbank, provide our management and investment expertise in such projects and must ensure that this social function does not create losses for the parent bank. Often this is very possible, and we prove this with our projects.

— What is the most difficult thing about working with distressed assets? Were there any cases when the owners tried to “cunning” - withdraw assets, etc.?

— The most difficult thing is to come to an agreement with incompetent borrowers, who sometimes simply do not want to enter into constructive negotiations, and sometimes they try to withdraw assets from the company. But this is part of our job.

— Were there any cases when entrepreneurs tried to bribe you in one form or another in order to achieve more favorable conditions for themselves?

— One way or another, most owners big business have known me personally for a very long time. Therefore, they do not take actions that would offend both me and them.

— Were there any attempts to bribe your employees?

- Fortunately, no. Bye. I personally interviewed almost all the new people who came to the company and whom I did not know before. And he warned about the degree of responsibility, and about working with very difficult clients, and that, of course, there would be temptations. But I still hope that the motivation system that has been developed at Sberbank will allow people to work honestly. I just sincerely believe in it. And I think that people who came here for a long time, want to work and have an interesting job, simply will not allow themselves to do this.

— As a person dealing with problem borrowers, you should have an idea of ​​the solvency of enterprises across the country. In your opinion, is it improving?

— It varies greatly by industry. I am not a macroeconomist and cannot give an assessment for the entire country, since we are engaged in targeted projects. I can only speak in relation to the enterprises and industries in which I work. For us, the main indicator of positive changes is the demand for our existing assets and the rate of return Money. So, if we talk about retail, then in this sector we see a gradual recovery associated with the restoration of supplier confidence in retail chains who were able to resolve the issue of reducing their debt burden. Retail sales- this is a constant cash flow, and here the main thing for retailers was to ensure regular deliveries and fill shelves. In development, we see a revival in the sale of apartments. In September - October of this year, we sold more apartments than were sold in the previous nine months. The metallurgy and oil industries are recovering quite quickly, depending on global trends and export prices for raw materials.

— In fact, Sberbank Capital is already leading this preparatory work, during the restructuring of problem loans, retaining promising assets. And when will Sberbank Capital become, as planned, an investment company - one of the largest in the country?

“Today we already think and act like an investment company. We are already considering some projects for direct investment. In my opinion, now is a good time to enter a number of projects. We are interested in projects with a yield of 25%. We try not to consider [projects with profitability] below this indicator. In general, we plan that within three years the private equity area should be equal in business volume to the area of ​​working with distressed assets.

— Where do you plan to enter as investors?

- We're still watching closely. No decisions have been made. Industries that are interesting are named.

— So Sberbank is now ready to finance the purchase of new assets that have fallen in price during the crisis? Approximate amount of funds that Sberbank Capital is willing to spend on acquiring new assets?

— Today, the key area, as I have already said, is the management of distressed assets, which, believe me, are sufficient. Purchasing new assets is in the future.

— Do you have bonuses?

— Of course, the team must be motivated to achieve results. This is an issue that is being resolved and, I think, will be resolved in the near future by the president of the bank. We are now determining the parameters of the team's compensation depending on the results. I personally do not have any guaranteed bonus. You understand that during a crisis, discussing your bonus is simply unethical.

— What is the drive of your work at Sberbank Capital? Would you like to stay with the company for a long time?

“I would like to stay here just as long as I am needed here.” That is, when a well-functioning mechanism is created, when, I hope, we come out of the crisis and become a full-fledged investment company, I think that at that moment I will be able to calmly leave.

— You have already worked at the most different positions, we tried a lot of things. What will you do when your job at Sberbank ends? Are you going to retire?

- I would like to believe in it. Those who know me say that I won't succeed. But I really want to believe in it. I will take care of my children, who practically do not see me now. I have three sons - 18, 16 and 9 years old. The older ones are students. When I can fully devote my time to my family, then I will be an absolutely happy person.

Business

Before joining the Ministry of Economic Development and Trade, Khachaturyants was engaged in his own business in oil refining and oil trading. Initial investments, according to him, were not required, since by that time he had formed good connections with oil companies Western Siberia, which shipped the first batches of oil to the company for sale. It was processed according to a tolling scheme at several refineries and resold. The monthly refining volume reached 80,000 tons of oil. “By 2000, we had built a good business, but further growth was limited, since a significant market share was occupied by large and much stronger players, by that time I already felt like a wealthy person, I successfully invested the money I earned and transferred it to management, financial future my family was provided for, the experience of civil service became interesting.” Khachaturyants says that he is “a very conservative investor and lost practically nothing during the crisis.”

Hobby

“I was involved in alpine skiing and football from the age of nine. At one time he played for the city’s football team. But now there is no time for sports. I work 14-16 hours a day. The strongest emotions outside of work are when I come home and can talk to my children.”

Children

“My middle son is studying at the physics department at Moscow State University. The eldest graduated from school in London, studies at the university there, his main subject is mathematics. And the Japanese language and Japanese philosophy. Once we went to Japan, and he was fascinated by this country.”

Biography

Born in 1968 in Kislovodsk. Graduated from the Moscow Institute of Oil and Gas named after. Gubkin in 1991. In the same year he came to work at Gazexport

1993
representative of the Siderka company in the CIS, then started his own oil trading business

2003
Head of the Investment Policy Department of the Ministry economic development

2004
Head of the Department of the target program "State Border of the Russian Federation (2003-2010)" FSB of Russia

2008
General Director of Sberbank Capital LLC

What unites the son of Yuri Chaika and the sons of Ded Khasan

The investment division of Sberbank - the company Sberbank - Capital - is now experiencing better days. Too much noise has begun to arise around matters that love silence and privacy. A few months ago, the head of Sberbank Capital, Mr. Ashot Khachaturyants, appeared in the public sphere with almost the only interview, the key message of which was the phrase “We are not raiders.” Now there is a wave of publications in the press convincingly proving that Mr. Khachaturyants was somewhat disingenuous in this interview. One after another, the victims voice their claims against Khachaturyants and demand justice, although in most cases it is physically impossible to restore it: people lost their business completely and irrevocably, and some are glad just because they were able to maintain their freedom.

Deferred extradition for Makushkin

The story of the collapse is very revealing in this regard. famous entrepreneur Viktor Makushkin. In the 2009 ranking of Russian billionaires compiled by Finance magazine, he ranked 208th with a property value of 3.5 billion rubles. However, by mid-2010, Makushkin lost almost all of his assets and was forced to flee Russia (presumably, he is currently in Cyprus).

The collapse of the empire of Viktor Makushkin - the multidisciplinary group MAIR - began with a loan from Sberbank in the amount of about 2 billion rubles, which was received in January 2008. The money was intended for the reconstruction of the Sulina metallurgical plant of JSC Staks in the Rostov region and the reinforcement plant of JSC Arzil in the city of Georgievsk, Stavropol Territory. The loan was secured by mortgage agreements, as well as pledge of equipment and shares of all enterprises included in the MAIR group. It should be noted that in the ranking of the 200 largest non-public companies by Forbes magazine at the end of 2008, the MAIR Industrial Group took 121st place, with revenue of 19.9 billion rubles.

For some time, the group did not have problems servicing its debt. But soon after the creation of Sberbank Capital, headed by Ashot Khachaturyants, the enterprises of the MAIR group unexpectedly faced serious pressure from law enforcement agencies. In particular, a criminal case was opened against the director of Staks CJSC and Arzil OJSC Sergei Musatov under Part 2 of Art. 171 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (“Illegal entrepreneurship”). As Kommersant reported, employees of the ORCh-1 UBEP GUVD for the Rostov region, together with colleagues from the 5th department ORB-8 of the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs, found out that the Krasnosulinsky Staks plant had been producing steel from scrap ferrous metals for about a year, without a license from Rostechnadzor, for which Musatov allegedly illegally earned 1.172 billion rubles. As a result of the “raid” of the security forces, Musatov fled abroad, and the normal functioning of the enterprises was actually disrupted.

This, in turn, created serious problems for Makushkin with servicing his debt to Sberbank. Trying to correct the situation and save the group’s enterprises that were “on their side,” the owner of MAIR initiated them. At the same time, in an interview with Expert, he assured that “if during the bankruptcy process the plant goes to Sberbank, we are ready to rent the plant from Sberbank and in the future buy it back.”

However, Sberbank and Ashot Khachaturyants had slightly different plans. Now Makushkin himself has become a defendant in the criminal case: the bank reported to law enforcement agencies that MAIR took out a loan, allegedly not initially intending to repay it. As a result, on August 10, 2009, criminal case No. 304094 was opened against Viktor Makushin “on the fact that the latter, together with an unidentified group of persons from among the managers, shareholders and employees of the MAIR Industrial Group, fraudulently stole more than two billion rubles from Sberbank of Russia on the grounds of a crime , provided for in Part 4 of Art. 159 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation." In addition, criminal cases No. 304117 and No. 59734 were initiated “on the grounds of a crime under the same article against unidentified persons.” Rumor has it that Khachaturyants received some advice in connection with these criminal cases, not just anyone, but the son of the Prosecutor General of the Russian Federation, Yuri Chaika, Artyom Chaika.

Without waiting for further developments, Makushkin was forced to hide abroad. This finally freed Sberbank’s hands. The bankruptcy procedure for IARC enterprises, launched through the Arbitration Court of the Stavropol Territory, was immediately blocked. Immediately after this, on September 21, 2009, Sberbank appealed to the same court with statement of claim on debt collection from IARC under loan agreements. The court's decision satisfied the claims.

Viktor Makushkin, at that time concerned not so much with preserving his business as with the desire to remain free, retroactively agreed with the conditions imposed on him. In addition, in March 2010, through his representatives in Russia, he proposed to transfer to Sberbank 77% of the shares of Rusvtormet-Tsentr OJSC, which is the sole owner of not only Sulinskoye and Georgievskoye, but also 4 others metallurgical plants MAIRA. On May 12, 2010, the parties entered into a share purchase and sale agreement, as a result of which Sberbank, with a debt of 2 billion rubles, gained control over the debtor enterprises, whose market value is approximately 5 times greater. At the same time, the interests of other creditors of the MAIR group were completely ignored, since the bankruptcy procedure for enterprises was never introduced.

In exchange for his compliance, Makushkin was promised exemption from criminal prosecution. However, this was not part of Sberbank’s plans. The authors of the scheme (Ashot Khachaturyants and Igor Kondrashov) reasonably reasoned that “having gotten off the hook,” Makushkin could protest the deals that were unfavorable for him and continue to fight for his assets. Therefore, it was in their interests to keep the entrepreneur “on the run” for as long as possible (which is what is happening right up to the present day).

Formally, Sberbank admitted in 2009 that its accusations against Makushkin were deliberately false. “Sberbank believes that all controversial issues have been resolved, it has no material or other claims, and the debt under loan agreements has been repaid from its assets. Considering that Makushin paid interest on loan agreements in good faith until March 20, 2009, it can be assumed that there are no grounds for continuing criminal proceedings against Makushin. Based on this, Sberbank withdraws its civil claim against Makushin, filed in three criminal cases. At the same time, Sberbank of Russia, as a victim, does not see in the actions of Makushin and other shareholders, managers and employees of the MAIR group signs of theft of funds under loan agreements committed fraudulently, and believes it is possible in accordance with clause 5 of part 1 of Art. 42, art. 119., art. 120 of the Code of Criminal Procedure of the Russian Federation, the termination of criminal cases due to the absence of corpus delicti in the actions of these persons,” said the bank’s letter sent to the head of the Main Investigation Department at the Main Internal Affairs Directorate in Moscow, Major General of Justice I. A. Glukhov (copy: to the Prosecutor General of the Russian Federation, Yu. Ya. Chaika).

However, the investigator of the First Department of the Investigative Committee of the Main Investigation Department at the Moscow City Internal Affairs Directorate Ponomarev A.P. immediately refused to terminate the criminal cases against Makushkin, citing the fact that they allegedly belonged to the category of cases of public prosecution, and the prosecution of Makushkin continued. “It is clear that, most likely, we will win the trial and this whole nightmare makes absolutely no sense,” said Viktor Makushin’s lawyer, Genrikh Padva, in an interview with Expert. “But in the meantime, if there is extradition, Makushin will be transported here, and he will sit here in prison for quite a long time - someday there will be a trial. His money has been seized, and he will be without a livelihood, because all the money was spent on production - and he has a wife and three minor children. We tell the investigator: now there is no civil suit, so at least give him the money, he needs to live on something, feed his wife and children, he needs to pay a lawyer. But they don’t give back the money, although Makushin actually gave these two factories to the state.”

More than a year and a half has passed since then, but the situation has not changed. Makushkin continues to hide in Cyprus, the case of his extradition, according to the internal terminology of law enforcement agencies, is “frozen,” and at the enterprises former group MAIR is the owner of Sberbank - Capital of Ashot Khachaturyants.

Raid on RedMart

We described the adventures of Viktor Makushkin in such detail only because in his case, the asset seizure scheme developed in the depths of Sberbank Capital under the leadership of Ashot Khachaturyants was, perhaps, the simplest and most transparent. In other situations, such as the seizure of the property of a large Vladivostok retailer - Far Eastern LLC regional company“DRC” (RedMart network) is much more difficult for an unprepared outside observer to understand. There you can see only the outlines of familiar “developments” and the final result, disappointing for the former owners.

The owner of the company, Evgeny Olomsky, in one of his interviews described the actions of his creditors as follows: “In September-October 2008, Sberbank begins to tighten the terms of the agreements. Unsecured loans have been completely abolished. Overdraft loans have been halved, and these are exactly what working capital, which allow the business to live. Plus, interest rates on existing contracts increase almost monthly. As a result, in just a month or a month and a half, about 30 percent of the DRC’s money is being pulled out of circulation. This is a very large amount of funds. Going chain reaction: there is nothing to pay for supplies, there is no product on the shelves, you cannot satisfy the consumer market, therefore, the buyer leaves you. We take into account that there is already a crisis, the population is impoverished”... That is. at this stage, Sberbank deliberately created conditions for problems with debt servicing.

As with the situation around MAIR, the credit institution did not agree to any conflict resolution schemes, except for one - full recovery of the pledged property. Olomsky complains: “In writing, we proposed at least three variants of agreements that did not affect the interests of Sberbank, but improved our position. We have repeatedly offered repayment of loans, and in full: debt, overdue interest, and even fines and penalties. Only one answer was received, and with such enslaving conditions that it was easier to bear responsibility for current obligations.” Finally, direct accusations are heard from the head of the DRC: “There are raider motives, which are completely obvious to me. In March-April, we sent proposals to Sberbank to sell the pledged assets. Previously it was impossible to sell them because prices were very low. In the spring, the property could be sold at good prices, making it easy to satisfy the needs of the bank, all creditors and suppliers. Any debts were easily paid off, and the company could save some jobs.”

But Olomsky never received any response to these proposals. Sberbank has put up the RedMart chain seized from an entrepreneur, worth about 1 billion rubles, for sale. At the same time, the benefits for bankers became obvious. For example, the right to lease for 25 years a plot of land at 29 Nekrasovskaya Street in Vladivostok, with an area of ​​1338 meters, was proposed to be purchased for 8.470 million rubles. When issuing loans to Olomsky’s structures, Sberbank valued the same plot of land at only 16,940 rubles, or 500 times cheaper than the sale price. Similar proportions were noted for other assets seized from Olomsky. One of the potential buyers of assets, entrepreneur Tatyana Barabasheva, in an interview with the Far Eastern agency PrimaMedia, noted in this regard: “I have no complaints about RedMart. But the bank behaves inappropriately. I could be wrong, but, in my opinion, a definite attempt is being made raider takeover enterprises. Pre-trial sale of property is not allowed. Now they are confiscating the property by court and will make a revaluation, which “due to the fall in real estate prices” will probably give the property a lower value. Then the property may be sold to whoever needs it.”

It is curious that this story could not have happened without the participation of law enforcement agencies. In September 2009, Evgeniy Olomsky (by the way, at that time a deputy of the local Legislative Assembly) was charged anecdotally with the fact that a year earlier he allegedly fired several shots from an air gun at a video camera located on the house, and thereby deliberately destroyed someone else’s property, “causing significant harm to the victims material damage" The criminal case, apparently due to its great public importance, was investigated by the investigative department for the city of Vladivostok of the investigative department of the Investigative Committee under the prosecutor's office Russian Federation in Primorsky Krai. Immediately after the initiation of this criminal case, Olomsky completely stopped resisting the actions of Sberbank.

Over the past year and a half, the fate of Olonsky’s former assets has not become clear. It is only known that in March 2010 RedMart opened for the first time after a long pause new shop networks. The new owners of the assets have not been named. Evgeny Olomsky himself - apparently out of harm's way - refused to go to the elections to the Primorye Legislative Assembly and, in fact, completely disappeared from the information space.

Attack on Energomash

The pinnacle of Sberbank-Capital's creativity today should be recognized as the bankruptcy process of one of the giants of the Russian nuclear industry - the Energomash holding (the main owner is Alexander Stepanov, No. 151 in the ranking of billionaires by Finance magazine at the end of 2008).

By 2006, Energomash, owned by Stepanov, employed 12 thousand workers. The holding held over 60% of the domestic market for pipelines for nuclear power plants and 65% of the market for energy technology boilers. Up to 20% of the products were supplied to China, India and Iran, the rest was intended for the largest Russian buyers - RAO UES of Russia, Gazprom, Rosenergoatom (a structure of Rosatom State Corporation) and oil companies. Thanks to a diversified portfolio of orders, as well as a virtual monopoly position on some types of products, the holding was quite stable and showed good results. financial results. Compared to 2002, revenue according to IFRS in 2006 increased 2.3 times, amounting to $720.8 million, net profit reached $12.7 million.

By that time, Energomash was opening a new direction - a project for the development of small-scale generation. A new company is being created specifically for it - "GT-CHP Energo". As Finance magazine reported, a prototype of fully automated gas turbine power plants of the cogeneration cycle was created, which could be scaled for construction in any climatic conditions. The shareholders expected to build 1 thousand units (about 400 installations) with an energy capacity of 9 MW and a thermal capacity of up to 41 Gcal/hour. The highlight was that the equipment would be manufactured at the facilities of the factories included in the Energomash group. So construction costs were reduced by 30-50%. Without external networks and open switchgears, the construction of the station would cost 1 billion rubles with a payback period of 5-7 years. Nevertheless, due to the scale of the entire project, the total costs were expected to be huge even at present times - $5.5 billion by 2020. In total, Energomash had invested 17 billion rubles in the development of GT-CHP Energo by the time problems arose. Another 12 billion rubles were provided by Sberbank in the form of a loan for a period of 5 years. Also, GT-CHEnergo managed to place three bond issues totaling 4 billion rubles, and successfully repaid the first two. In addition, in June 2008, Energomash managed to sell to one of its creditors, the Kazakh BTA Bank, for $300 million a 7.8% stake in the additional issue of the parent Energomash UK Ltd, registered in the UK. Thanks to the proceeds, the total debt of GT-CHEnergo decreased to 14.2 billion rubles.

But in the winter of 2008 - on the initiative of Ashot Khachaturyants, who came to Sberbank Capital - Sberbank unexpectedly changed the principles of the agreements with GT-CHE Energo. At that time, Khachaturyants had a strategic goal - to capture the entire Energomash, and not just GT-TPP Energo. There was also a ready customer for the holding’s assets - the head of Rosatom, Sergei Kiriyenko, to whom the option of acquiring Energomash through a raider scheme seemed more profitable than buying it from the legal shareholders (corresponding negotiations were also underway at that time).

As Finance magazine notes, if initially Sberbank financing was opened for a project of 120 units, now Energomash shareholders were told only 70. “But the equipment had already been manufactured for 120 units, the funds were spent,” he is indignant in an interview to the publication, holding shareholder Alexey Pleshchev. “This is either an irony of fate, or done on purpose: 70 blocks is the break-even point, exactly the number of installations when the company can pay interest, but not repay the loan.” Thus, GT-CHEnergo, which had previously managed to service a Sberbank loan, began to accumulate overdue debt. At the end of 2008, it amounted to 317.3 million rubles, and by the end of the second quarter of 2009 it increased to an astronomical amount of 734.3 billion rubles. In March, there was a technical default (then became a default) on the bond coupon in the amount of only 106.8 million rubles.

GT-CHEnergo continued to commission new stations and increase profits from the operation of the 14 that were already on its balance sheet. But debt arrears grew at an accelerated pace. In early November, the company initiated self-bankruptcy. Other enterprises of the group also declared themselves bankrupt. In addition to their own debt of 10 billion rubles, they also had guarantees for the obligations of GT-CHE Energo in the amount of 14 billion rubles, which they were unable to fulfill. According to the leaders of Energomash, they managed to agree on restructuring with all creditors, the debt of the plants was extended for up to 8 years. Sberbank was a creditor, and a collateral - only for the generation project, and it was the only one that did not cooperate.

He, as always in such cases, had other plans. In order to attack the assets of Energomash, Ashot Khachaturyants is lobbying for the creation of a joint venture with Rosatom, the Power Engineering Group, in which Sberbank retains a 49% stake. The enterprise was supposed to receive loans from Sberbank to purchase generating assets sold by Sberbank Capital at competitive bidding. It is clear that the price of lots would be less than the real value of even fixed assets. And since Energomash enterprises also passed bankruptcy proceedings in connection with the guarantees for GT-CHEnergo, then with some effort the situation could have turned out in any way. Including putting up for auction at several times lower prices the power engineering assets of the entire group that are valuable to Rosatom. “The position of Sberbank and Rosatom was thus outlined very clearly - we will not buy, you will give it away for free,” commented the interlocutor of Finance magazine in one of the investment companies on the situation as of October 2010.

It is still premature to talk about the final victory of the Khachaturyants group over Energomash - the holding, which has its own serious resources, continues to resist a hostile takeover. At the end of November 2010, a certain “ open letter", in which the owners of Energomash are referred to as scammers. In parallel with this, German Gref, as usual, turned to the Prosecutor General’s Office with complaints about the actions of Alexander Stepanov. If Ashot Khachaturyants does not deviate from the script, criminal cases await Energomash management in the near future.

Business for a rainy day

It is quite logical to assume that the money legally and not entirely legally earned by Ashot Khachaturyants in his position at Sberbank-Capital from the implementation of the above (and many other) projects “with signs of raiding” should be invested somewhere.

According to open sources, Ashot Khachaturyants is a co-founder of the Astrakhan LLC PKF Rossera. His senior partner in this business is Andrei Chernomyrdin, the son of the former Russian Prime Minister and Ambassador of the Russian Federation to Ukraine Viktor Stepanovich Chernomyrdin. In addition, in the Unified State Register of Legal Entities there is a mention of Ashot Khachaturyants as a co-founder of the Moscow LLC Northern Capital. There is no reliable information about the type of activity and turnover of these companies.

Much more interesting is information that is not officially confirmed anywhere. Informed sources report that Ashot Khachaturyants is the actual owner of the BAMO holding, well known throughout Russia. The company specializes in construction, as well as the production of windows and facade structures. According to the most rough estimates, over the past 5 years its turnover amounted to about 35 billion rubles. Among the holding's clients are the Federal customs Service, Government of the Moscow Region, Ministry of Transport of Russia, Gazprom, IKEA, FM Logistic, SWEDWOOD, RITTER SPORT, "HOCHTIEF".

The head office of Ashot Khachaturyants' company (and the offices of more than 30 companies controlled by him) are located at Bolshoi Kharitonyevsky Lane, 21, building 4. This building is a famous architectural monument, the “Volkov-Yusupov Chambers”. It was once on the balance sheet of the Military Historical Museum, then the Agricultural Academy. In the early 2000s, the BAMO company came to the site as a contractor for its reconstruction, but subsequently, after a series of rather high-profile scandals, it mysteriously gained a foothold as the absolute owner.

Among other things, Khachaturyants’s own company is currently designing sports facilities in Sochi and expects to receive contracts for similar work for the 2018 FIFA World Cup. Khachaturyants’s confidant is a partner law firm“YUST” Igor Kondrashov - it was no coincidence that he was assigned to the Russian bid committee for this event under the pretext of providing legal advice and services. Another promising direction for the development of Khachaturyants’ personal business is the activities of the state corporation Rosavtodor, in which, according to sources, the so-called “Armenian lobby” is very strong.

Since we are talking about the Armenian roots of Khachaturian, it would be useful to mention his philanthropic activity. The head of Sberbank Capital is well known in his historical homeland - Yerevan - as one of the main sponsors of the construction of the largest temple in the city. Khachaturyants also generously finances the construction of an Armenian temple in Moscow, on Olympic Avenue. They say that the complex should ultimately be no smaller in area than the Cathedral of Christ the Savior, and the selected pink marble for its decoration is ordered exclusively from Armenia for patriotic reasons.

The Government of Armenia appreciates the efforts of Khachaturyants. In 2005, his company BAMO was transferred to SKK Im. K. Demirchyan is the largest sports and concert complex in the republic, the epicenter of the cultural life of Yerevan. It is reported that “the complex contains a universal sports hall with 10,000 seats, an ice arena, concert hall, designed for 2500 spectators, an original foyer, a conference hall, a panoramic hall, a press center, various rooms for sports games, entertainment and relaxation."

The wife of Ashot Khachaturyants, Karine Vladimirovna, is also not idle. For many years, she has been a co-founder of the Sheremetyevo International Children's Center CJSC, which, in particular, owns a plot of 11.3 hectares directly adjacent to the airport of the same name. In 2007, plans to build on it were reported business center worth 50 million dollars. Businesswoman Khachaturyants' partners in this company are Vladimir Bazlov (disrespectfully referred to by some fellow countrymen as Vova Baumansky) and Boris Minakhi, longtime acquaintances of the founders of Wimm-Bill-Dann David Yakobashvili and Gavriil Yushvaev, as well as heirs Vladimir Leviev, a former member of the Gazprom board, died suddenly in 2006.

Such extensive and not always advertised business interests of Khachaturyants cannot remain unnoticed by the criminal community. In addition to the so-called The “Bauman” criminal group, which allegedly controls the activities of Khachaturyants through his wife, has unconfirmed information about the entrepreneur’s contacts with the sons of the famous crime boss Ded Khasan. Through them, supposedly, all controversial issues that inevitably arise during business development are resolved.

“What we protect is what we have”

It would be naive to assume that, having owned a diversified construction holding and a number of companies of “unclear profile,” Ashot Khachaturyants did not try to use his position in Sberbank Capital to support them.

Rumor has it that it was in the interests of his BAMO holding that he lobbied for the seizure of a number of industrial and development assets in a number of regions of Russia. BAMO’s interest is also seen in the announced creation of its own construction company under the auspices of Sberbank, which can be headed by the former co-owner of the PIK group, Yuri Zhukov. In exchange for lobbying support for the project, Khachaturyants allegedly plans to receive multi-billion dollar construction contracts in the new structure.

The order of magnitude of the amounts that constitute Khachaturyants’ potential benefit can only be guessed from indirect evidence. What can we talk about if his appointment at Sberbank-Capital in 2008 alone helped him save at least 150 million rubles!..

We are talking about an arbitration claim by Moscow Sberbank against Khachaturyants' company ZAO BAMO-STROYMATERIALY for failure to fulfill obligations under contracts. The claim was registered back in December 2002, and subsequently traveled through the authorities for many years. And so, by the time recovery in favor of the bank was almost inevitable, in December 2008, Sberbank unexpectedly abandoned its claims and transferred the right to claim the claim to a certain company Mezhregionproekt, which many associated with Khachaturyants. Naturally, immediately after this the story of the case is interrupted. Sberbank never commented on the reasons for such an unexpected retreat.

Dozens of victims of the Sberbank-Capital raid are currently waiting for President Medvedev’s response to their appeals in connection with the seizure and appropriation of their property by a group of high-ranking raiders. According to some reports, entrepreneurs who suffered from the activities of Sberbank Capital and Ashot Khachaturyants personally intend to unite soon. If this happens, all already established and not yet known to the general public cases of “asset recovery” with signs of raiding will finally be systematized, analyzed and receive a clear legal assessment. It will be interesting to follow the reaction of law enforcement agencies to the corresponding class action lawsuit.

This article reflects the sole opinion of its author.

The upcoming audit of the implementation of the federal program for the development of Russian border, which Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin intends to carry out, will become the basis for new personnel changes. This time, the head of Sberbank-Capital, Ashot Khachaturyants, may lose his chair and, most likely, his freedom.

His unprofessional activities, which strongly smack of corruption and outright treason, have long caused heartburn among the top leadership. However, Mr. Khachaturyants remained that bug in the mattress that does not let you sleep and is difficult to catch. And this despite the fact that all his “bites” were scrupulously recorded by the media.

Thus, with the arrival of Dmitry Bezdelov to the leadership of Rosgranitsa in 2008, an audit of the expenditure of funds under the targeted state program “State Border of the Russian Federation 2003–2011”, which was supervised by Ashot Khachaturyants, was carried out. Its results caused culture shock among the public and black envy among thieving officials.

During his participation in the implementation of the program, the estimate increased significantly, and many of the planned activities were not completed. For example, out of 1965 objects, only 394 were built, and the cost of constructing railway checkpoints exceeded the plan by 8 times, and in some cases by 15 times. At the same time, their number decreased from 21 to 3. As a result, the initially envisaged volume of resource support for the program for the construction of special facilities actually increased from 54 to 105 billion rubles.

Billions of dollars of fraud revealed by the new leader Federal agency on the arrangement of the state border of the Russian Federation, could have shaken the foundations of the corruption hierarchy in the country if they had then received proper coverage and support from the security forces. However, the results of the audit did not become a death sentence for Khachaturyants, who in any case, and apparently with good reason, boasted of his connections in the leadership of the FSB. He openly spoke about the then head of the Russian Border Troops, Vladimir Pronichev, as the person who brought him into the federal program.

Having assessed the ratio of the scale of the disaster and the severity of the punishment for it, Dmitry Bezdelov decided to continue the glorious work of Ashot Khachaturyants, in which, in fact, he asked for his help. The tandem of the experienced budget cutter Khachaturyants and the money-hungry Bezdelov resulted in the theft of a billion rubles from funds allocated for the construction of a border checkpoint on the border with Abkhazia. The thefts were discovered in 2013 and the head of Rosgranitsa was forced to resign from his post. And with the resignation of Vladimir Pronichev - this long-time friend and companion of Ashot Khachaturyants - a criminal case was opened against Bezdelov.

But Khachaturyants again found himself outside the influence of security forces. Because among the number of personal “defenders” and companions, such influential characters still remain in power, such as, for example, the head of Sberbank German Gref and the head of the State Duma Committee on Constitutional Legislation Vladimir Pligin.

However, there is a limit to everything. Including the unpunished romp of bedbugs.

Patience ran out when the obese Khachaturyants began to publicly boast of his unsinkability and sabotage of the country. His words that no one would come to us even without borders, thrown in the heat of a dispute with a correspondent of one of the popular economic publications, became a vivid illustration of the saying “a word is not a sparrow, it flies out, you can’t catch it.”

“Go to hell... with your corruption schemes! If you want to know, these borders in the south and east didn’t give up to anyone at all. Because they are violated only by ourselves, when we help some Ukrainians to fight with others! That’s it, keep the borders open at least 24 hours a day, no one will trample on us, and here you are telling me about “the money is being stolen, there is not enough for improvement”!” - in this original way Khachaturyants commented on the accusations regarding his active participation in the theft of budget money allocated for the implementation of the target program.

Tried to take over... Norilsk Nickel! More precisely, he didn’t try, but was close to it.

But still, it turned out well. Even though it didn't work out.

More often, however, Khachaturyants succeeds. For example, one unlucky oligarch - more precisely, former oligarch Viktor Makushin, who once owned the multidisciplinary group MAIR, took out a loan from Sberbank in 2008. The loan was transferred to Sberbank-Capital, a subsidiary of Sberbank engaged in collection activities. It is this “daughter” that Khachaturyants leads.

Now Makushin and his whole family are hanging out in Cyprus, but they are in poverty. His accounts were frozen, and his “empire” was successfully digested by Sberbank-Capital. They say that the manager of the metallurgical assets of Sberbank Capital, Igor Shlensky, personally flew to Cyprus to transfer shares from the unfortunate Makushin to the office of Khachaturyants. Shlensky entered the prison building under the guise of an assistant lawyer.

Today, many interested parties already know that a loan from Sberbank is fraught with dangerous consequences, and German Gref’s statements about his commitment to the principles of a civilized market are nothing more than a soothing hypnosis for future victims of the “raiding factory.”

Perhaps, however, Gref does not know who he has warmed up in his bosom, and hypnosis in Lately doesn’t really work: experts and journalists closely monitor Khachaturyants’ “hunting” successes and scare away the “game” with their shouts.

Raiders sometimes shout back: recently, Kommersant-Voronezh, for example, published a “victorious report” - .

This is Europe’s largest enterprise for the production of granite crushed stone, which Sberbank-Capital is actively “squeezing” from the current owner, Sergei Poymanov.

The “relation” is obviously premature: the court only confirmed the debt of Pavlovskgranit, which no one refused there - the only question is how to pay. This is the question that is actually being resolved.

The publication aroused small raiders, for whom Khachaturyants became a “guru,” if not a “saint.” And they, on their specialized resource “Zakhvat.ru”, began vying with each other to discuss the schemes of the “main raider of Russia”, using, among other things, the example of “Pavlovskgranit”. The diagrams themselves, obtained by someone and posted on one of the banking forums, look complicated on the outside, but in essence are very simple. There are strong and weak sides enemy (“Pavlovskgranit”) and staged step-by-step algorithms for judicial “assaults” were built.

But in fact, the very first point of the takeover scheme is, in fact, a loan from Sberbank. The loan was taken out for a considerable amount - 5.5 billion rubles. Sberbank demanded everything as collateral: company shares, fixed assets, real estate... And it received it, since no one expected a crisis. And the loan, meanwhile, was taken exactly in 2008.

The crisis greatly helped the Sberbank raiders: the loan immediately became “problematic”. The management of Pavlovskgranit, however, did not know that the loan to the enterprise was issued “with an afterthought”, and honestly proposed restructuring. There seemed to be nothing to be afraid of: the Pavlovskgranit quarry could produce raw materials for another 86 years, granite was in demand on the market...

The task here, of course, is not to detect crime, but simply to prevent Pavlovskgranit from getting out. An additional task is to provoke crime: withdrawal of assets, deliberate bankruptcy and other ways to “jump off”. But Poimanov, mindful of Makushin’s fate, is in no hurry to “jump off”, but instead makes loud statements in the State Duma.

Well, publicity is really appropriate here. Otherwise, point four will be the complete takeover of the enterprise and its transfer to the buyer - Yuri Zhukov, the owner of the National Nonmetallic Company. Zhukov was mentioned in this capacity by participants in the discussion on Zakhvat.Ru - both with reference to some insider information, and simply guided by common sense. “Inside” is the text of the agreement between Sberbank Capital LLC represented by general director Khachaturyants A.R. and Klever Asset Management represented by the Chairman of the Board of Directors, Yu.V. Zhukov. for the acquisition by Zhukov of the debt of Pavlovskgranit.

There are no seals or signatures, but common sense really suggests that the document is most likely genuine. Firstly, Zhukov has already captured the Sychevsky Mining and Processing Plant in a similar way. Secondly, having received Pavlovskgranit, Zhukov will become a monopolist in the industry. And finally, thirdly, Zhukov was once invited to head Sberbank-Development, the development division of Sberbank, which was supposed to consolidate the development assets managed by Sberbank Capital. The division never came into existence, but this invitation speaks volumes.

In addition to a comfortable position at Sberbank, Khachaturyants occupies an equally comfortable position under the wing of Chaika, or rather, two Chaikas at once: Artem Chaika is a personal friend of Ashot Khachaturyants.

Khachaturyants began collaborating with German Gref at the beginning of the 2000s - in the position of adviser to the Minister of Economic Development. In 2003-2004, Khachaturyants headed the Investment Policy Department of the Ministry of Economic Development and Trade - and, apparently, even then he assessed the prospects...

However, Khachaturyants was able to turn around only in 2008, when a crisis loomed on the horizon. He came to Gref (already the head of Sberbank) and received carte blanche. Apparently, the head of Sberbank trusts his old friend so much that he himself does not delve too deeply into his affairs, delegating control over Sberbank Capital to Svetlana Sagaidak, director of troubled assets at Sberbank.

Khachaturyants took advantage of Gref’s trust as much as possible by organizing a “raiding factory” at the main bank of the country.

According to the “Capture” experts, the first thing you look for is “goods” and, preferably, “merchant”. A “product” is any Sberbank borrower whose loan, at least in the future, can be made problematic. Then, with the help of the Seagulls, father and son, persecution of the borrower is organized: the Prosecutor General's Office, the Department of Economic Security of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, courts, inspections, arrests of accounts... All this, as we know, in Russia can be done out of the blue: any businessman is at least good at something, yes turns out to be “guilty”.

As a result of numerous checks, the business “deteriorates”: contracts are broken, partners begin to fear “vicious relationships”, accounts are frozen... And now the loan has become “problematic”. Now you can sue, demanding a partial or even complete transfer of the business to Sberbank-Capital: thanks to the Chaikas, everything has been caught in the courts too.

In general, Sberbank’s credit policy, as noted at “Zakhvato”, indicates assistance in corporate raiding.

Despite numerous promises from the President and Prime Minister, for the majority of borrowers there was no reduction in interest rates. From the already mentioned “Pavlovskgranit” they still demand an extortionate 17%. With strange persistence, Sberbank does not agree to restructuring, although it would seem that if the rate were reduced to a reasonable 9-10%, the bank would still receive considerable benefits, because today loans are given at 7-8%...

But Khachaturyants not only “gnaws granite”; he is no less actively developing a wide variety of Russian business assets.

A list of Khachaturyants' victims is already being compiled by some media outlets. In addition to the mentioned MAIR, these are the oil assets of Dulisma and Taas-Yuryakh Neftegazodobycha, intercepted from Urals Energy, real estate of retailers Alpi and RedMart, real estate of Capital Group (Moscow City and Yacht City), business the Crystal Towers center and the contracting company Main Military Construction Directorate Center (taken over from Coalco).

Pavlovskgranit is still resisting. He succeeds in this, first of all, because Pavlovskgranit is a city-forming enterprise in a single-industry town. The economic stress to which this Sberbank enterprise is subjected is fraught with unpredictable consequences for Russia, including social and political ones. And these consequences raise legitimate concerns among final decision makers.

Now we can only wait for an answer from the country’s leadership: will the President and Prime Minister tolerate the fact that they have a raider and a prosecutor at their side who are actually building a “state within a state.”

Saving property is the task facing the owners of Russian companies. Making purchase after purchase, they pledged their assets to banks. And in a crisis, finding themselves unable to service their debts, they risk losing their shares. But the country's largest bank, Sberbank, got a chance during the crisis to become the owner of attractive assets and decided to take advantage of this chance. According to Ashot Khachaturyants, Sberbank wants its subsidiary Sberbank Capital to become the largest investment company in the country. Khachaturyants told Vedomosti about how this task is being accomplished.

— Why did you decide to give up your own business in 2000 and become an official?

— By 2000, we had already built a good business in the field of oil refining and oil trading; further growth was limited, since large and much stronger players occupied a significant market share. I had already decided the financial issues for myself at that time. I was young and I needed drive, something new. Drive, in a good way, is my driving force in life. I decided to try myself in a completely different sector. I have always been interested in how the state machine works, especially in a situation where interesting people with a new perspective, such as, for example, German Gref, come to the public service. Working with such people is immediately exciting. Therefore, without hesitation, I accepted the offer to work at the Ministry of Economic Development.

— How did you meet Gref?

— I was introduced to Gref at one of the events. I learned a lot from working at the Ministry of Economic Development. At that time, Gref was on the board of directors of Gazprom, and as an adviser to the minister, I was directly responsible for interaction with Gazprom, for example, for preparing documents for the boards of directors. The company was going through big changes at the time, a new team had just arrived, so it was a very dynamic time. Subsequently, I headed the investment policy department of the Ministry of Economic Development, where I participated in shaping the ministry’s position regarding the budgets and investment programs of the largest state-owned companies. I must say that I gained a wealth of experience in interacting with our monopolies and an understanding of how our economy actually works.

— Why did you leave this job and join the FSB?

— I moved to this structure in 2004 at the invitation of Vladimir Egorovich Pronichev (Director of the Border Service of the FSB of Russia. — Vedomosti). First, to sort out the financial component of the federal target program for the improvement of borders in the Caucasus, because there were some difficulties there...

- Stole?

— No, I just needed the experience of the Ministry of Economic Development and Trade combined with good expertise in the field of finance. To implement the Federal Target Program, a special department was created within the FSB, which on a daily basis was involved in organizing the construction and arrangement of the border in the Caucasus. I was the head of this department. In less than four years, we managed to arrange the state border throughout the entire North Caucasus, from sea to sea. These are not posts, this is a huge infrastructure that provides technical means of border protection, communications, and the construction of outposts. I went there constantly, supervised the distribution of money and construction.

— Was there a drive for this?

- Huge. Working there today is perhaps the most significant event in my life. The program had to be completed in a very short time; it was under the control of the president. The program had to be adjusted; initially it was not entirely calculated correctly. The contractors were all local. We transferred them to other coefficients and during the first three months brought the budget 743 million rubles. pure savings. The total construction budget was more than 20 billion rubles.

- Do you have a title?

- No title. It was a general's position, but I remained an absolutely civilian.

— Were there any dangers in your work?

— Once in Dagestan, the helicopter in which we were sitting crashed into a cable during takeoff, and everything could have ended quickly, but, fortunately, it didn’t work out. Of course, this work was accompanied by an increased level of adrenaline, but the main thing is still the understanding that you are doing a really important thing that has an absolutely real, tangible result.

— Was she somehow rewarded?

— Yes, the Order of Merit for the Fatherland, III degree.

— What happened after the FSB?

— When the Caucasus program was implemented, Vladimir Egorovich Pronichev, who also heads the central council of the Dynamo sports society, asked me to take up projects for the revival and development of the Dynamo regional sports infrastructure. Since then, I have been a member of the Dynamo central council, where I continue to oversee this program. And after a while Gref called me and invited me to meet. This was in 2008. Gref said that the bank was creating a new company, Sberbank Capital, which should become one of the largest investment companies in Russia, and he invited me to head it.

— Why did Sberbank decide to create its own investment company?

— Firstly, this is an additional service for bank clients. Often, large corporate clients need not only to organize lending, but also to attract additional investments or, for example, to properly organize the transaction for which the loan was raised. Thus, for the bank this means additional income and customer loyalty. Previously, these tools were not available to him. Secondly, through such an instrument the bank can independently invest its own funds in promising projects and receive investment income.

— How was it planned to create an investment company, details of this plan?

— In 2008, it was planned to carry out corporate changes, attract a team, and provide the company with financial resources. And then the crisis struck, and during the crisis our tasks changed. Today our main task is to work with problem assets of the parent bank. In any case, our goal in the medium term remains the same - we must become the largest investment company in the country.

— Does Sberbank Capital have a business plan?

— Today we have formulated strategic goals: to resolve issues with large and socially significant problem assets and ensure the return of funds to the balance sheet of the parent bank. At the same time, we must understand that the simple sale of collateral in the current conditions is often not able to ensure the return of funds, which means that we must offer a solution that will allow the value of the collateral to be returned. Most often, this means that we must ensure the survival of such an asset and allow it to develop. Only under such conditions will it be able to restore its value after some time, and we will be able to return the bank’s funds in full. The second important task is the break-even of Sberbank Capital itself. We cannot be a burden for the parent bank. We are a business, albeit today with a strong social component. We do not have a specific business plan in numbers. In a crisis, when it is unclear what and in what condition you will get to work, it is impossible to plan financial indicators.

- But now it’s already clear whether you are working with a profit or not?

— In November we must sum up the work for nine months. The only thing I can say [now] is that we are a profitable company.

— What makes up the profit?

— Our income, like that of all investment companies, is formed from commissions and investment income from those projects where we invest our money. The money we earn covers our operating costs and the cost of maintaining the distressed assets that we receive.

— Do you know the amount of arrears on Sberbank loans in general?

— I don’t have general figures, since we work only with specific projects. Expert assessment - up to 6%.

— How is the system for working with problem debtors built at Sberbank?

— As soon as the debtor stops servicing the debt, a signal about this is sent to the department for working with problem assets at Sberbank and to us. We have our own investment committee. When a request is received from a bank on a particular topic, we consider this task at our investment committee, how interesting it is to us as a business project, whether we can save the bank’s money, the property that was transferred to us, and return the funds to the bank as much as possible. We have the opportunity to refuse to accept a particular project. If we see its futility, we believe that this opportunity has been missed, then this is already a matter of bankruptcy, the security service...

- The collector?

— Probably yes, now the department for working with problem assets has set a course for forming a short list of collectors and management companies.

— By what criteria are projects selected? Which overdue loans remain with the bank, and which are transferred to Sberbank Capital?

— Criteria such as the debtor’s industry or the scale of the problem are not taken into account. This is a movement in two directions. On the one hand, we evaluate all the problem assets of the bank, look at where, with proper work, we can best ensure an increase in the value of the asset and return funds to the bank. On the other hand, the most socially important problematic projects are immediately transferred to us for work, since the parent bank is interested in the quality management and development of such assets, primarily due to their social significance. In this case, we are no longer asked. Thus, it turns out that we work with the largest debtors. After we take on a project, we must decide what tactics to choose when working with this asset: act as a portfolio or strategic investor, whether to include our representatives on the board of directors, whether control over operating activities is necessary, etc. Specific tactics always depend on the situation in a particular company, on the quality of management, on the reasons why the company found itself in such a situation. In any case, we are obliged to find a solution that will contribute to the development of the company to the maximum extent. Sometimes you just need to lend your shoulder, and sometimes you need to completely take control. Sometimes we see additional prospects that may arise when several homogeneous assets are combined under a single management. In such cases, we prefer to build it as a new business.

- For example?

— Our first project is “Alpi”. The most difficult. The collateral [from the bank] included stores that assigned the debt to us under assignment agreements without a discount at par, and then the debtors assigned the entire chain to us. Then we did a lot of work there, held a competition, hired a management company, and re-signed a total of 620 contracts. Further work with municipal authorities, all network maintenance fell on us. And we had to do all this. Moreover, the loan is more than $200 million and it is clear that it was very important for the bank that this asset be dealt with.

— After Alpi, what did you do?

— Then there was a major deal with Capital Group, as a result of which Sberbank Capital received 60,000 sq. m. under management. m according to the Moscow City project and 15,000 sq. m according to the project “City of Yachts”. Plus, we, as co-investors, are participating in the completion of this complex and we ourselves sell apartments in these two projects. And part of the loan money is used. Of course, we need to capitalize what we received.

— How much money are you investing in this project?

— Investments to complete construction will amount to $180 million. Of this, [we are investing] $90 million. Sberbank Capital is included in the project as a co-investor.

- Who gives the loan?

- Sberbank of Russia.

— What volume of investments in general will be required for the development of projects that are of interest to Sberbank Capital? Source of funds? What are your plans in this regard?

— It’s impossible to assess now. This depends on the type and volume of incoming projects.

— How many assets and for what amount are in Sberbank Capital?

— At the moment, we have 11 projects under management or in operation with a total value of over $4 billion.

— How much are the projects awaiting decisions on?

— Projects worth about $3 billion are being discussed right now. There are more projects on the way for a total amount of over $7 billion. This is something that is now in varying stages of development.

— Your clients are probably shaking: you will work with them in such a way as to resolve the issue to your advantage, perhaps by keeping the shares?

- I don’t know if they are shaking or not...

- Well, how can we not be afraid of you? It depends on you which asset the owner will lose, which one he won’t, and under what conditions...

— Firstly, this is always a matter of agreement and we are always for dialogue. Secondly, why be afraid of us - we are not raiders. We help. We will always choose a development option that will allow, even in the longer term, to fully return the funds of the parent bank and at the same time allow us to preserve jobs and social stability in these companies. On the other hand, we always understand that we are solving the problem of returning funds to the balance sheet of the country’s key bank, on the stability of which a lot depends.

— Which of this has already been decided (under what conditions), what is being decided? What's in the collateral?

— For obvious reasons, I can only talk in more detail about completed transactions. Alpi - restructured more than 6 billion rubles. debt, became owners of 370,000 sq. m of area, we manage objects. Global Ports - we own 10% of the shares and participate in management. Orton Oil - more than $800 million in debt was restructured, and a real estate asset (estimated at $27 million) that we manage became our property. "Polymetal" - as part of debt restructuring, we entered into an option on the company's shares with an exercise period of four years, we participate in the board of directors. “Aurora Oil” - the deal was closed, we own 5% of the shares, we participate in the management of the company. "Mosmart" - provided loan financing in the amount of 3.9 billion rubles, received a controlling stake in the company, we take part in the management of the company.

- What about “Rolf”? Do you have his shares?

- No. We restructured the loan for $50 million. We assessed the risks, actively negotiated, and helped the bank come to certain decisions that were mutually beneficial.

— Sberbank Capital applied for a 50% stake in Barkley. Why couldn't we agree on this?

— We closed the deal with Barkley last week, providing the company with a new loan in the amount of $160 million to repay an overdue loan to Sberbank in the amount of $110 million. $30 million will be used to repay debts to other creditors of Barkley. We received 51% as collateral. shares of the company, as well as investment rights to all developer sites for a total amount of 7 billion rubles.

— One of your development projects is PIK. Why can’t you come to an agreement with Kerimov, whose structures own the blocking stake in the group?

— Kerimov is not personally involved in restructuring this deal. We are working with the management of Nafta-Moscow. An initial agreement has been reached, and the deal is now being detailed.

- What have you already agreed on?

“They received a state guarantee, and now the conditions for debt restructuring are finally being settled.

— Will you get a share in PIK?

— It’s not clear yet. In light of the creation of our own development subsidiary, some projects in which PIK participates are also very interesting for us. This will be a comprehensive decision and will be made soon.

- What is the size of the loan from another large development company - Coalco?

— I can’t say now, since negotiations on restructuring Coalco’s accounts payable are currently in progress.

— What is the situation with the Coalco loan?

— We have the land as collateral and GVSU is a large construction company [operating in Moscow and the Moscow region].

— Are you laying claim to part of Coalco’s shares, its companies, land, and finished projects?

— The process is very complex, various options are being considered. I must say that Coalco shareholder Mr. Anisimov is a very constructive negotiator.

- Well, if he is such a constructive negotiator, then why can’t you come to an agreement? What are the main differences?

— The discrepancies are in the parameters for assessing what they have. In the assessment of collateral. There are no other fundamental differences.

— So he is ready to part with Coalco shares? Are they also on bail?

- You see, you go deeper into the details of the deal. And this is exactly the part that I cannot disclose until the transaction is completed.

— When do you plan to complete negotiations?

— I hope that by mid-November we will complete and announce.

— Will the agreements with Coalco be approximately the same as with PIK?

— There may be nuances. These are different companies.

— How are negotiations progressing on restructuring the loan to Don-Stroy?

“We haven’t agreed on anything yet.” Their assets are being assessed. To reach an agreement, mutual agreement on the value of the collateral is necessary. I don't know specific numbers, it's still a work in progress. But we are participating in the negotiation process.

- But you will also join the capital?

— There is no solution yet. There are several options for the development of events.

— Tell us about the restructuring of the Tsarev Sad company, which is building a large office complex on Bolotny Island opposite the Kremlin.

— “Tsarev Sad” is an unfinished construction project that was transferred to Sberbank as part of debt restructuring. This object has been frozen for 10 years.

In September 2009, based on the results of the competition, we identified the construction customer, who is currently conducting pre-design studies of the territory. There are several options for developing this area. Sberbank Capital plans to complete the project within the next five years: to build a modern complex with restaurants, offices, underground parking, and a hotel with a total area of ​​about 80,000 sq. m. m. We also plan to reconstruct the historical building “Kokorevskoye Compound” - both from the point of view of preserving the cultural and historical heritage, and from the point of view of ensuring the safety of its operation.

— Sberbank Capital and Urals Energy signed an agreement to transfer 100% of the shares of NK Dulisma into the ownership of your company. Will you be selling the company?

- We will be thinking. This is our only oil asset. The total debt of Urals Energy is $630 million. We continue to work to resolve it. Another 35% of the company’s other asset, Taas-Yuryakh Neftegazodobycha, will probably go to us. Now this package is being registered [at Sberbank Capital]. Next, we will either consolidate all the oil assets that we have and sell them as a package. Or we will manage it for a while and wait for their value to rise. Because Dulisma needs to be managed now, the company needs to be prepared for winter. We chose a management company, it sorts out accounts receivable, looks at who to pay, who not to pay, and where the debt was artificially created. But it is already completely clear that: a) we will return the money and b) we will make money on these assets. The debt will be closed.

— With whom else are you currently discussing debt restructuring or providing additional financing?

— We are currently in various stages of negotiations with [the following] companies: “Mair” (on whose [debt] we have received rights of claim in the amount of 2.25 billion rubles), “Aspek”, “Glavstroy”, OJSC “Tamp”/“ Samokhval”, MosCity Group, “VIM-avia”, “GT-CHPP/Energomash” - the cost is being assessed, the structure and terms of the transaction are being agreed upon with the owners. Sberbank Capital specialists are also members of Sberbank’s working groups for restructuring accounts payable for a number of other companies.

— Has the formation of the Sberbank Capital team been completed?

— The formation of the team is close to completion. The core is 10 people who worked with me before, including at the Ministry of Economic Development and Trade.

— How many people do you employ in total?

— There are 80 people in the main office in Moscow. Since we are creating a branch network, that is, Sberbank Capital subsidiaries are opening in all regional banks. Branches have already been opened in eight priority banks, where 75% of all accounts payable are actually generated. We are not going to expand our staff to gigantic proportions. Still, the idea is for Sberbank Capital to be a highly professional and not particularly large company, even in the future. We resort to outsourcing where it is possible and effective. Where professional management companies are needed, we select them on a competitive basis. The next step after choosing a management company - where we have a lot of assets and we see great prospects - is the organization of a subsidiary company.

— Does Sberbank Capital already have subsidiaries?

- Yes. We have a subsidiary, the Savings Capital company, which will deal with development projects. A separate subsidiary company can be created from metallurgical projects.

- Why metallurgical?

“They suffered the most during the crisis due to falling prices for raw materials and are now the most promising in terms of value recovery.

— What assets can end up in the metallurgical subsidiary? "Mair"?

— It’s too early to talk about it now. The creation of such a company is in the plans.

— What “daughters” will still be created?

- In general, your job is not dusty. It is convenient to work with large clients. The same Vasily Anisimov is a comfortable negotiator and a major entrepreneur. But if you take some problematic factory in the Yaroslavl region - the “frostbitten” owner withdraws assets, it is very difficult to get the debt out of him and come to an agreement with him... You don’t work with people like that. Why? Because all you are giving is the gradual formation of an investment company with promising assets?

— Precisely because we are an investment company. We do not have the goal of turning into a collection agency - there are specialized departments and organizations for this. Our goal is not to turn into a financial and industrial group that would work in all industries. Our task is to work with cost, so it is logical that we work where the importance of this factor is high for the parent bank. Another important factor is social. I want to say that the return of Sberbank’s money to Sberbank, which has 70 million depositors - money from pensioners, disabled people, and so on, is no less important a social task than saving some enterprise where an ineffective owner works. Of course, we feel a social function. We cannot afford what some private banks can afford. Because we cannot be so aggressive in negotiations. Many enterprises have jobs, entire industries, and in the development business, for example, investors. PIK has 16,000 depositors. And we have no right to allow such a company to go bankrupt. This is the social function that Sberbank performs. We, as part of Sberbank, provide our management and investment expertise in such projects and must ensure that this social function does not create losses for the parent bank. Often this is very possible, and we prove this with our projects.

— What is the most difficult thing about working with distressed assets? Were there any cases when the owners tried to “cunning” - withdraw assets, etc.?

— The most difficult thing is to come to an agreement with incompetent borrowers, who sometimes simply do not want to enter into constructive negotiations, and sometimes they try to withdraw assets from the company. But this is part of our job.

— Were there any cases when entrepreneurs tried to bribe you in one form or another in order to achieve more favorable conditions for themselves?

— One way or another, most owners of large businesses have known me personally for a very long time. Therefore, they do not take actions that would offend both me and them.

— Were there any attempts to bribe your employees?

- Fortunately, no. Bye. I personally interviewed almost all the new people who came to the company and whom I did not know before. And he warned about the degree of responsibility, and about working with very difficult clients, and that, of course, there would be temptations. But I still hope that the motivation system that has been developed at Sberbank will allow people to work honestly. I just sincerely believe in it. And I think that people who came here for a long time, want to work and have an interesting job, simply will not allow themselves to do this.

— As a person dealing with problem borrowers, you should have an idea of ​​the solvency of enterprises across the country. In your opinion, is it improving?

— It varies greatly by industry. I am not a macroeconomist and cannot give an assessment for the entire country, since we are engaged in targeted projects. I can only speak in relation to the enterprises and industries in which I work. For us, the main indicator of positive changes is the demand for our existing assets and the speed of return of funds. So, if we talk about retail, then in this sector we see a gradual recovery associated with the restoration of supplier confidence in retail chains, which were able to resolve the issue of reducing their debt burden. Retail sales are a constant cash flow, and here the main thing for retailers was to ensure regular deliveries and fill shelves. In development, we see a revival in the sale of apartments. In September - October of this year, we sold more apartments than were sold in the previous nine months. The metallurgy and oil industries are recovering quite quickly, depending on global trends and export prices for raw materials.

— In fact, Sberbank Capital is already carrying out this preparatory work, retaining promising assets during the restructuring of problem loans. And when will Sberbank Capital become, as planned, an investment company - one of the largest in the country?

“Today we already think and act like an investment company. We are already considering some projects for direct investment. In my opinion, now is a good time to enter a number of projects. We are interested in projects with a yield of 25%. We try not to consider [projects with profitability] below this indicator. In general, we plan that within three years the private equity area should be equal in business volume to the area of ​​working with distressed assets.

— Where do you plan to enter as investors?

- We're still watching closely. No decisions have been made. Industries that are interesting are named.

— So Sberbank is now ready to finance the purchase of new assets that have fallen in price during the crisis? Approximate amount of funds that Sberbank Capital is willing to spend on acquiring new assets?

— Today, the key area, as I have already said, is the management of distressed assets, which, believe me, are sufficient. Purchasing new assets is in the future.

— Do you have bonuses?

— Of course, the team must be motivated to achieve results. This is an issue that is being resolved and, I think, will be resolved in the near future by the president of the bank. We are now determining the parameters of the team's compensation depending on the results. I personally do not have any guaranteed bonus. You understand that during a crisis, discussing your bonus is simply unethical.

— What is the drive of your work at Sberbank Capital? Would you like to stay with the company for a long time?

“I would like to stay here just as long as I am needed here.” That is, when a well-functioning mechanism is created, when, I hope, we come out of the crisis and become a full-fledged investment company, I think that at that moment I will be able to calmly leave.

— You have already worked in a variety of positions, you have tried a lot of things. What will you do when your job at Sberbank ends? Are you going to retire?

- I would like to believe in it. Those who know me say that I won't succeed. But I really want to believe in it. I will take care of my children, who practically do not see me now. I have three sons - 18, 16 and 9 years old. The older ones are students. When I can fully devote my time to my family, then I will be an absolutely happy person.
“I lost practically nothing during the crisis”

Before joining the Ministry of Economic Development and Trade, Khachaturyants was engaged in his own business in oil refining and oil trading. Initial investments, according to him, were not required, since by that time he had established good connections with oil companies in Western Siberia, which shipped the first batches of oil to the company for sale. It was processed according to a tolling scheme at several refineries and resold. The monthly refining volume reached 80,000 tons of oil. “By 2000, we had built a good business, but further growth was limited, since a significant market share was occupied by large and much stronger players, by that time I already felt like a wealthy person, I successfully invested the money I earned and transferred it to management, financial future my family was provided for, the experience of civil service became interesting.” Khachaturyants says that he is “a very conservative investor and lost practically nothing during the crisis.”

“I was involved in alpine skiing and football from the age of nine. At one time he played for the city’s football team. But now there is no time for sports. I work 14-16 hours a day. The strongest emotions outside of work are when I come home and can talk to my children.”
Children

“My middle son is studying at the physics department at Moscow State University. The eldest graduated from school in London, studies at the university there, his main subject is mathematics. And the Japanese language and Japanese philosophy. Once we went to Japan, and he was fascinated by this country.”