THE "DAUGHTER" OF THE AKOM GROUP OF COMPANIES HAS BEEN DECLARED BANKRUPT

On April 18, 2023, the arbitration of the Samara region, which considered case No. A55-13675/2021 on the bankruptcy of the company "AKOM-invest", declared it insolvent. Bankruptcy proceedings are set for a period of six months. The court approved Igor Kovalev, representing the SRO AU Central Federal District, to manage the company at this stage of bankruptcy.

The company "AKOM-invest" was part of the group of companies "AKOM", which has a turnover of over 10 billion per year. The holding is one of the largest manufacturers of batteries in Russia. In May 2017, the organization applied to the arbitration of the Samara region with an application for its own bankruptcy, indicating a debt of 18,62,871.52 rubles.

As Rusbankrot noted, almost the next day (May 18), the arbitration judge introduced interim measures related to the blocking of the company's accounts by the tax authorities. In particular, the court banned the compulsory collection of additional amounts accrued by the Federal Tax Service No. 19 (over 583 million).

However, the litigation of the Zhiguli-Togliatti holding with the tax authorities did not end there. As the Samara Review reported in May 2022, AKOM failed to challenge the facts of illegal tax optimization schemes in the period from 2015 to 2017.

Employees of the Federal Tax Service found that the organization concluded imaginary transactions, according to which it allegedly purchased lead and sold scrap. This scheme has significantly reduced tax liabilities. The amount of tax authorities' claims amounted to about 750 million, which, taking into account penalties and penalties, exceeds 1 billion, local media write.

Even then it became clear that the bankruptcy process suspended by the company for the period of proceedings with the tax authorities was likely to be resumed. The interim measures were canceled in March 2022. The amount of several dozen executive orders issued against AKOM-invest by this time exceeded 900 million.

In December 2022, the arbitration introduced a monitoring procedure in AKOM-invest. By this time, the assets of the company were managed by Vladimir Klassen, the former mayor of Zhigulevsk. Until recently, he remained a trustee. The widow of the former owner Nikolai Ignatiev did not enter the inheritance rights.

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