Mordashov transfers controlling stake in Sveza Group to management

MOSCOW. Oct 20 (Interfax) - Alexei Mordashov has transferred control of timber processing group parent company Sveza LLC to the company's management, represented by Four Invest LLC.

"There have been changes in the ownership structure of Sveza Group. The group's parent company, Sveza LLC, has been taken over by Four Invest LLC (St. Petersburg), which now holds a 51% stake in the share capital. The founders of Four Invest are the management of Sveza group, Sveza said in a statement.

The company did not disclose the value of the deal, noting that it involved bank financing.

Until now, the parent company of Sveza Group was 100% owned by Mordashov's Severgroup LLC. In the spring and summer of this year, the businessman was included in Western nations' sanctions lists.

According to SPARK-Interfax, the owners of the company, registered in August this year, are the general director Anatoly Frishman, purchasing and logistics director Boris Didenko, marketing director Svyatoslav Sarson and sales director Vitaly Demidenko. Each of them owns 25% of the registered capital of the LLC.

The new owner won't affect the structure of the group, the decision on the change of the owner was made "in order to preserve business stability amid conditions of economic turbulence and external pressure," the statement reads.

Sveza Group specializes in the production of plywood, particleboard and laminated chipboard, and is the largest producer of birch plywood in the world. The group includes Sveza-Les LLC (supplier) and mills producing the products. Production facilities are located in Tyumen, St. Petersburg, Kostroma, Vologda and Sverdlovsk Regions and the Perm Territory. The company produces 1.4 million cubic meters of products annually, including plywood and chipboard.