From $35 Million Bank Credit to Bankruptcy: The Corporate History of Kompressor Komplex (Based on disclosure.ru Public Documents)

This is an experiment. An AI was asked to analyze the public page of JSC “Kompressor Komplex” on disclosure.ru (the Russian Center for Corporate Information Disclosure). The task was to study the reports, attempt to reconstruct the company’s transaction history, and examine its affiliated persons. Here’s what emerged.

All data comes from open sources, with over 120 documents analyzed. You can visit the link disclosure.ru/issuer/7811037607/, download the annual reports and lists of affiliated persons from 2008–2018, and verify each fact yourself.

Who Owned the Plant Before 2011

According to annual reports, until 2009 control over the enterprise was consolidated around LLC Rokada, which held 53.36% of shares [Annual Report 2009, Section 6.2]. The General Director of Rokada was Alexander Chistyakov [Report 2009, Section 5.2]. He also chaired the plant’s Board of Directors.

Alexander Ivanovich Chistyakov [according to unverified information, he is Konstantin Sokolov’s father-in-law; Chistyakov is his wife’s surname] served continuously on the Board of Directors from 2007 to 2015 inclusive, serving as chairman from 2007–2011. From 2012 to 2015, he remained a regular board member and held the position of President for Strategic Management. After 2016, his name no longer appears in the Board of Directors.

In 2009, the plant was controlled by a group of individuals close to management with ties to the factory.

2011: The First Change of Ownership

In 2011, the ownership structure changed. Russian companies — LLC Rokada (holding 53.36% of shares) and LLC Karfin Invest (holding 23.99% of shares) — disappeared from the shareholder list. They were replaced by two foreign entities:

• DACLERN SERVICES LIMITED (a Cypriot company) with a 53.36% stake
• CREST WAVE BETA INVESTMENTS LIMITED (British Virgin Islands) with a 23.99% stake [Report 2011, Section 6.2]

The controlling stake moved to Cyprus. Who the real beneficiaries of these companies were remains unclear from the reports.

2012: The Loan, Guarantee, and Collateral

The most revealing events occurred one year later, in 2012. The annual report for that year contains a lengthy section titled “Company Transactions,” which reveals:

1. “LLC Argo takes a loan from Sberbank. The amount — $34.7 million USD” [Report 2012, “Company Transactions” section]. Based on standard LBO (leveraged buyout) lending practices, where borrowed funds cover 70–80% of the acquired stake’s value, the total share package that Argo was likely purchasing (presumably the shares previously held by Cypriot and offshore structures, comprising about 77% of the authorized capital) would have cost approximately $43–50 million. Consequently, 100% of the plant at that time would have been valued at $55–65 million. This estimate is indirectly supported by the value of the collateralized property (over 1.5 billion rubles, which at the 2012 exchange rate amounted to about $50 million). The plant (Kompressor Komplex) acted as guarantor and placed as collateral nearly all of its buildings and land (collateral valued at over 1.5 billion rubles).
2. In the same year, a debt transfer agreement was signed. Argo’s debt was transferred to the plant itself.

Board of Directors: 2011–2018

All data below comes from annual reports and official amendments to affiliated persons lists published on disclosure.ru.

Board of Directors 2011
Source: 2011 Annual Report, “Board of Directors” section

1. Chistyakov Alexander Ivanovich (Chairman)
2. Denisenko Vladimir Vasilievich
3. Kovalevskaya Tatyana Vladimirovna
4. Novak Vyacheslav Viktorovich
5. Petrov Pavel Semenovich
6. Sokolov Konstantin Anatolievich
7. Sokolov Ilya Vyacheslavovich *
8. Tonkacheev Evgeny Borisovich
9. Shaydak Yury Pavlovich

* Ilya Vyacheslavovich Sokolov (a possible relative or namesake of Konstantin Sokolov) is listed as a Board member (2011–2016) and General Director of LLC IFG-Basis-Proekt [2013 Annual Report]. He managed the project to convert a building on Nevsky Prospect, 7–9 into a hotel, which has been linked to Konstantin Sokolov, Evgeny Tonkacheev, and the IFG Basis fund.

Board of Directors (after reelection on April 16, 2012)
In 2012, changes occurred. Until April 16, the composition was similar to 2011; afterward, a new board was elected at an extraordinary shareholders’ meeting.

1. Chistyakov Alexander Ivanovich
2. Denisenko Vladimir Vasilievich
3. Katoraychik Olga Igorevna
4. Magay Lyudmila Grigorievna
5. Petrov Pavel Semenovich
6. Sokolov Ilya Vyacheslavovich
7. Sokolov Konstantin Anatolievich
8. Tonkacheev Evgeny Borisovich
9. Kalenchits Dmitry Valentinovich

Board of Directors 2013
Source: 2013 Annual Report, “Board of Directors” section

1. Chistyakov Alexander Ivanovich (0.99% stake)
2. Petrov Pavel Semenovich (0%)
3. Denisenko Vladimir Vasilievich (0%)
4. Kalenchits Dmitry Valentinovich (0%)
5. Katoraychik Olga Igorevna (0%)
6. Tonkacheev Evgeny Borisovich (0%)
7. Sokolov Konstantin Anatolievich (0.0042%)
8. Sokolov Ilya Vyacheslavovich (0%)
9. Magay Lyudmila Grigorievna (0%)

Board of Directors 2014
*Source: 2014 Annual Report + Amendments to Affiliated Persons List dated May 28, 2014*

1. Chistyakov Alexander Ivanovich (0%)
2. Sokolov Ilya Vyacheslavovich (0%)
3. Kobzev Daniil Sergeevich (0%) (Commercial Director, later General Director)
4. Yasnova Svetlana Alexandrovna (0%)
5. Kotelkin Yury Vladimirovich (0%)
6. Burkun Svetlana Valerievna (0%)
7. Kolchina Elena Evgenievna (0%)

Board of Directors 2015
Source: 2015 Annual Report, “Board of Directors” section

1. Chistyakov Alexander Ivanovich (President for Strategic Management, 0%)
2. Sokolov Ilya Vyacheslavovich (0%)
3. Burkun Svetlana Valerievna (0%)
4. Dubenko Irina Nikolaevna (0%)
5. Obertov Evgeny Evaldovich (0%)

Board of Directors 2016
Source: 2016 Annual Report, “Board of Directors” section

1. Serebryakov Yan Vladimirovich (0%) — Managing Director, PJSSC Sberbank
2. Sokolov Ilya Vyacheslavovich (0%) — the only remaining member from the “old team”
3. Korobko Andrey Vladimirovich (0%) — Deputy Chairman of the Board, Moscow Bank of Sberbank
4. Gainova Svetlana Vyacheslavovna (0%) — Project Manager, Problem Asset Management Department, PJSSC Sberbank
5. Tovchigrechko Yury Mikhailovich (0%) — Deputy Head of Management, LLC Sberbank Capital

Board of Directors 2017 (Transitional Composition)
Source: Shareholders’ Meeting Minutes dated June 29, 2017

1. Serebryakov Yan Vladimirovich — representative of PJSSC Sberbank
2. Svistunov Yury Alexandrovich — representative of PJSSC Sberbank
3. Kulyukin Denis Alexandrovich — representative of PJSSC Sberbank
4. Prokopenko Dmitry Sergeevich — representative of PJSSC Sberbank
5. Borodaev Stanislav Viktorovich — representative of PJSSC Sberbank

Board of Directors Elected After Grossmann Rus Acquired the Plant (January 15, 2018)
*Source: Extraordinary Shareholders’ Meeting Minutes dated January 15, 2018 (file: changes+to+board+composition.pdf, p. 4)*

1. Kulyukin Denis Alexandrovich — representative of PJSSC Sberbank
2. Gerard Edwin Daniel Hofmann-Corsano
3. Dmitriev Kirill Borisovich — representative of LLC GROSSMANN RUS
4. Dayev Mikhail Vyacheslavovich — representative of LLC GROSSMANN RUS
5. Sprygin Roman Sergeevich — representative of LLC GROSSMANN RUS

The Outcome

The offshore entities received the proceeds from the share sale. Kompressor Komplex became indebted to Sberbank.

Timeline of Subsequent Events

• Konstantin Sokolov, according to the 2013 report, held a stake in the plant itself — 0.0042% [2013 Annual Report, “Board of Directors” section].
• 2012–2018: Kompressor Komplex is associated with the Liechtenstein alternative investment fund Gothard Investment/Umbrella Fund [GIF Pitch Book 2012, Kommersant 09.12.2019].
• 2016: Top Sberbank managers join the plant’s Board of Directors [2016 Report, “Board of Directors” section].
• 2017: Control transfers to LLC GROSSMANN RUS. Its representatives join the Board [2017 Report].
• 2019–2022: The plant is declared bankrupt.
• 2023–2024: The plant’s assets are sold off [Kommersant 08.23.2024].

Conclusions

Analysis of the documents paints a picture all too familiar in 2010s Russia: offshore companies, a multi-million dollar loan secured against the plant, debt transferred onto the enterprise, and bankruptcy.

First, the plant’s shares “sail away” to Cyprus and offshore jurisdictions. Then, a structure tied to the new owners takes out a massive loan from Sberbank — the plant puts up its workshops as collateral, and the debt ends up on the enterprise itself. The money disappears in an unknown direction.

Konstantin Sokolov and Evgeny Tonkacheev appear on the plant’s board just as this scheme begins and vanish precisely when the plant starts to sink.

In the end, the plant goes bankrupt, its assets are sold at auction, and — as is so often the case — no one is held accountable.