LIPETSK ICE CREAM MANUFACTURER WILL BE BANKRUPTED

On January 26, 2023, the Department of the Federal Tax Service for the Lipetsk Region appealed to the regional arbitration. The defendant was JSC "Lipetsk Refrigerating Plant". The amount of the claim and the details of the case (no. A36-564/2023) have not yet been disclosed, but financial problems at the enterprise became apparent last year.

The main beneficiary of the company is the family of Alexander Afanasyev, who until recently was the speaker of the Lipetsk City Council. The "main ice cream maker", as the locals call him, owned 48.8% of the company's shares (the latest data is dated 2017). His sister Inna Afanasyeva had the same share in the organization. In the 1990s, the plant became widely known for the production of vanilla ice cream "Lipetsk", sold outside the region.

Prior to his retirement into politics and election as speaker in March 2020, Afanasyev was the head of the combine. Then he handed over the management to his sister, and his share to the company's board of directors. In April 2020, the deputy became deputy chairman of the regional branch of the United Russia political party, headed by Governor Igor Artamonov.

However, over the past few years, the financial condition of the company has deteriorated significantly. Experts attribute this both to the market conditions that have changed against the background of the pandemic, and to the actions of management at the enterprise. Revenue in 2020 shrank to 668 million compared to 775 million a year earlier. In 2021, revenue decreased to 638.6 million. The company ended the year with a profit of 6 million, while in 2020 it was 11 million.

In November 2022, Afanasyev announced that he was resigning from the post of speaker of the City Council and returning to the leadership of the family business. He explained his decision by the need to get involved in the business process to solve financial problems.

The financial valuation of the enterprise, conducted by analysts of the Abireg publication, shows that the company's net assets (according to the production valuation method) can cost about 200 million rubles. Judging by the revenue, the company was estimated at 150 million. At the same time, there is virtually no net profit from the ice cream manufacturer. Despite the 6.1 million profit of the parent company (JSC) and 737 thousand profit of the subsidiary company "Snowflake plus", the holding company "Snowflake" shows losses of 6.8 million.

Experts note the negative dynamics of balance sheet indicators, noted by numerous enforcement proceedings. In 2022, according to the court file, the firm was a defendant in several dozen cases in the courts. The company's accounts receivable reached almost half of its revenue per year, and the amount of loans by the beginning of 2022 amounted to over 312 million.

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