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Owners of the Russian chemical combine Togliattiazot had recently fall into another unfavourable story — several Russian newswires reported that a common law wife of Vladimir Makhlai, exiled Russian oligarch and combine’s principal owner, is under investigation managed by The Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation, a leading investigative unit managed by the Procuracy of the Russian Federation. Regulator is going to review earning statements of Valentina Semenova, which attracted the attention of investigative agency by hefty annual earnings number of 100 million Russian roubles (approximately $3.3 million) which she received from Togliattiazot combine for the last year. The reward can be judged as a very significant compensation to the person, who initially established herself on the combine in the duty of junior secretary.
Investigators yet have to decide whether available facts are be sufficient for opening a criminal case, but it is evident that such transactions couldn’t be completed without primary orders from Director general of the combine Evgeniy Korolev and by initial instruction from Vladimir Makhlai. According to the sources, Makhlai lives and operates his ammonia empire from London hiding from prosecution initiated against him in Russia back in 2005. Back then he was accused in fraud and tax evasion on a large scale. Operational control of the combine is managed by Evgeniy Korolev and son of Vladimir Makhlai — Sergey. Sergey Makhlai also uses distant methods while controlling the enterprise. Living in US in the state of Carolina, he constantly travels from his home in the states to Switzerland managing operations of combine’s assigned trader Ameropa AG. Togliattiazot is one of the largest Russian chemical combines with annual production capacity of up to 3 million tons of ammonia. According to the financial data available on the market, revenues of the plant in 2010 corresponded to 623 million US dollars. The number seems to be not very transparent, as Russian media accuses Makhlai family and Togliattiazot management in using tolling schemes while performing sale operations. They sell at the low prices to associated traders keeping group’s profit center abroad and avoiding tax payments to the budget. While Vladimir Makhlai presumably holds a refugee status in the United Kingdom, his son, Sergey Makhlai is reported to hold a US citizenship and may be subjected to taxation by US Government. Prior to the elections, US authorities became very sensitive for any signs of offshore and tax evasion activity. In July, US magazine Vanity Fair revealed that Mitt Romney had a Swiss bank account worth $3 million (SFr2.9 million), according to his 2010 tax return. President Obama’s election camp, while fighting for the ballot, attacked Mitt Romney’s Swiss bank accounts with a political parody “Miss Swiss Bank Account”. This could be a simple strike-back or a sign that next US President will be very sensitive to any financial unclearness. * – This article originally appeared on Tilde Finance and has been republished with permission.
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