SAMARA TAX AUTHORITIES RESTARTED BANKRUPTCY OF LEAD SUPPLIER

The bankruptcy process of the AKOM-Invest company is being resumed in the Samara region. The initiator of this was the regional department of the Federal Tax Service, based on the results of inspections of the company's activities in 2015-2017. Experts suggest that the company could actually stop producing products by now.

The company is engaged in the production of lead and is part of the AKOM group of companies, created by Nikolai Ignatiev after his return from Iceland in the late 1990s. Ignatiev himself died in 2020, leaving the industrial flagship of the region to his wife Lilia.

In 2021, the assets of JSC "AKOM" (engaged in the production of batteries) and JSC "TD AKOM" (exclusive distributor) were transferred to it. The holding is managed by JSC "GC AKOM". The beneficiary of the holding, Lilia Ignatieva, left the country after the start of the special operation of the Russian Federation on the territory of Ukraine, flying abroad. Both daughters of Nikolai Ignatiev are also outside Russia.

According to open sources, the company's revenue in 2021 decreased fourfold from 1,720 to 460 million rubles. The number of employees of the company has almost halved (from 82 to 42 employees). Last year, AKOM-Invest finished with losses in the amount of 14.2 million.

The beginning of the insolvency procedure was laid back in May last year. Then the company itself appealed to arbitration, referring to debt obligations in the amount of 848 million rubles. However, a few months after that, the firm asked to suspend the proceedings in order to wait for the judicial acts issued following the results of tax audits to come into force.

According to the Internet portal OBOZ.INFO , the firm is accused of carrying out fictitious transactions related to the turnover of lead. In this way, the company tried to reduce the amount of tax payments. 

As a result, according to the employees of the Federal Tax Service, the treasury missed about 750 million. Taking into account penalties and accrued penalties, the amount of the obligation may exceed 1 billion.

The company's attempts to appeal the claims of the tax authorities in instances of various levels have not been successful. One of the complaints was considered by the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation, on another appeal the verdict was rendered by the Court of Appeal. In all cases, the judiciary sided with the tax authorities, pointing to the evidence of the company's deliberate distortion of economic activity data. As a result, in August, the Federal Tax Service appealed to arbitration, demanding to resume the bankruptcy process.

Unsuccessful litigation of the company with the Federal Tax Service in arbitration courts may threaten criminal records for the company's executives. In recent years, the company has been in the trust management of the former head of Zhigulevsk, Vladimir Klassen. Tax evasion has become the basis for the initiation of a criminal case, the investigation of which is ongoing.

Фото: Изображение от fanjianhua на Freepik