Nationalized CHEMK staff accused of organizing off-the-books sales

Two employees of the nationalized Chelyabinsk Electrometallurgical Plant (CHEMK) and two entrepreneurs have been accused of organizing a scheme to sell ferroalloys off the books, the Federal Security Service (FSB) for Chelyabinsk Region reported on Thursday, January 22.

According to the Investigative Committee, the scheme operated from October last year until January 21 of this year. Damage from just one episode exceeded 25 million rubles (about $278,000 at current rates). The stolen metal was sold by the organized crime group organizers through the shadow market in Russia, the FSB clarified.

According to the investigation, to accumulate products for off-the-books sales, CHEMK employees, including a shop foreman, underreported shipment volumes for state orders. Additionally, they substituted the products with lower-quality metal. The goods were sold and shipped to several entrepreneurs. It is known that they conducted business using fictitious documents.

The regional department of the Investigative Committee reported that a criminal case has been initiated for embezzlement and misappropriation committed by an organized group. The accused include two CHEMK employees and two entrepreneurs.

Under Part 4 of Article 160 of the Russian Criminal Code, imprisonment for up to 10 years with a fine of up to one million rubles (about $11,100 at current rates) is provided.

How factories and real estate were seized from CHEMK owners

On February 26, 2024, the Arbitration Court of Sverdlovsk Region granted the claim of the Russian Prosecutor General«s Office against JSC »Company Etalon«, businessman Yuri Antipov, and his wife Lyudmila for the return to state ownership of three enterprises of the CHEMK industrial group. According to the Unified State Register of Legal Entities, from March 13, 2024, the Russian Federation, represented by the Federal Agency for State Property Management, became the owner of CHEMK, and from March 15—the owner of »Serovsky Ferroalloy Plant« and »Kuznetsk Ferroalloys«.

On May 7, the Seventeenth Arbitration Court of Appeal refused to satisfy the complaints of Yuri, Lyudmila, and Mikhail Antipov, as well as «Company Etalon».

On May 17, the head of the state corporation Rostec, Sergey Chemezov, first publicly commented on the situation with CHEMK, which was seized in favor of the state by court decision.

All about the fate of CHEMK and Yuri Antipov is in the special section of 74.RU.