Makfa management co now under state ownership - register
CHELYABINSK. May 17 (Interfax) - The Russian Federal Property Agency (Rosimushchestvo) is now the owner of M-Group Management Company LLC (Moscow), which manages Makfa JSC, the parent company of the group of the same name, a major producer of pasta, flour and cereals.
The Unified State Register of Legal Entities was amended to reflect the change of owner on May 16.
M-Group Management Company LLC is still headed by Yulia Ivanova.
M-Group Management Company also manages Ramkon LLC from the Moscow region, ownership of which also passed to Rosimushchestvo on May 16.
The lawyer Pavel Khlyustov, acting for M-Group Management Company LLC in the case involving the expropriation of Makfa and its companies, said the emergence of a new owner "does not mean that the current general director will automatically change, or the management company."
"Rosimushchestvo must make a separate decision on who they will appoint, who will manage all this. This will probably take some time, perhaps up to 14 days, as is usual for other cases related to Rosimushchestvo, when they will gain control," the lawyer told Interfax.
He also said he planned to file an appeal against a ruling by the Chelyabinsk Central District Court on May 8 after the rationale for the judgment has been prepared.
As reported, 18 limited liability companies, which are defendants in a lawsuit filed by the Prosecutor General's Office (PGO), became state property on May 15.
The Chelyabinsk Central District Court during a hearing on May 8 ruled to uphold the PGO's claim to expropriate Makfa and related companies. The court's ruling was accepted for immediate execution. The case was considered behind closed doors.
The defendants besides Makfa include 33 other legal entities, including JSC Smak, seeking to expropriate stakes in Makfa and related companies. The defendants also include 13 individuals, including former Chelyabinsk Region Governor Valery Yurevich and former Senator Vadim Belousov, as well as Alexander, Mikhail and Natalya Yurevich and Irina Belousova.
The PGO was seeking to expropriate stakes in Makfa and related companies due to the corrupt origin of the business. It argues that the main defendants Mikhail Yurevich and Vadim Belousov did not stop doing business while working for government bodies, in violation of anti-corruption legislation, and effectively owned a group of commercial companies, did not declare information about them or submit it to control authorities, and used their position of power to further business interests. The defendants, according to the PGO, managed their business assets through relatives and proxies.
The group's core business is JSC Makfa, which according to its website and market participants is one of the world's top five makers of pasta products, and is also on the list of systemic companies in Russia's agribusiness sector. Makfa includes 26 other companies. The lawsuit puts their combined value at 46 billion rubles, annual revenue at 41 billion rubles and gross profit at 13.6 billion rubles.
Makfa, which makes pasta products, groats, cereal flakes, flour and backing mixes, has an assortment of over 150 products. The company has production facilities in Chelyabinsk, Sverdlovsk and Kurgan regions, and Altai and Stavropol territories.
Mikhail Yurevich served as governor of Chelyabinsk Region from 2010 to 2014, prior to which he was mayor of Chelyabinsk. He was subsequently placed on the international wanted list in a criminal case involving a large bribe totaling 3 billion rubles.