THE BANKRUPT FLEET WAS ACQUIRED BY THE SUBSIDIARY OF SBERBANK

The flotilla of Palmali Сompany from Rostov, which went bankrupt in 2018, was acquired by a subsidiary of Sberbank for RUB 4.031 billion. The initial cost of the fleet was 5.7 billion rubles. It turned out that SBK Dolina Company, controlled by Sberbank through a number of firms, now became the owner of barges, oil tankers and boats as the sole bidder. More than fifty vessels were transferred to the new owner in a single lot.

Palmali LLC is a part of the Palmali Shipping Group, which is headquartered in Turkey. The company, which actively worked in the Caspian region and the Volga and Don basins, owes its creditors 25 billion rubles, about 13 billion of which are the liabilities to Sberbank. Considering that the sold fleet was part of the mortgaged property, we can say that the creditor bought it from himself. Attempts to find another buyer during previous auctions were unsuccessful.

It is still unknown, which of its own structures Sberbank will transfer the acquired flotilla of 46 oil tankers to.

Experts note that the use of river-sea tankers in economic activities is currently associated with a number of problems existing in the oil product transportation market.

A decrease in the volume of exports and dumping by Russian Railways, whose tariffs during the navigation period turn out to be lower, actually make the transportation of fuel oil by water unprofitable. At the same time, the quality of the waterways themselves in the Volga and Don basins requires optimization.

At the moment, the bankruptcy proceedings at Palmali are underway. It still owes large sums to many companies. About 6 billion rubles, in particular, the company owes legal entities, the main beneficiary of which is the entrepreneur Mubariz Mansimov from Azerbaijan.