'OM' media group from Saratov is driven to bankruptcy by tax authorities

'OM' media group from Saratov is driven to bankruptcy by tax authorities

'OM' media group from Saratov is driven to bankruptcy by tax authorities
MI FTS No. 20 applied to the Saratov arbitration court with a claim against the ‘OM’ media group.  The organization that owned the Public Opinion newspaper accumulated a debt of about 406 thousand rubles.  So far, the tax lawsuit had been left without movement until December 14.  If the formal circumstances that impede its consideration in court are removed, judge Svetlana Fedortsova will be able to give the case a move.

Alexey Kolobrodov is the head of the ‘Om’ media group, established in 2009.  Together with Olga Chesakova (his sister), they are the only beneficiaries of the company.  In Saratov, the head of the company is well known not only as a co-owner of the Public Opinion, a media holding that includes an Internet portal and an advertising and PR agency.
In 2017, many began to associate the name of Kolobrodov with a loud scandal related to the accusations of a journalist and writer of violence against his own wife.
The businessman was accused under several articles of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation at once, but the case ended in the reconciliation of the parties.

According to the information set out in the court ruling of November 19, 2021, the company under the leadership of Kolobrodov owed personal income tax payments, which the company withheld from the employees' salaries.  In addition to this, the tax authorities require the company to pay various contributions related to the pensions and health insurance of employees.

Experts suggest that if the case is brought to bankruptcy, other creditors of the organization may be involved in the process.
Moreover, the inspectors of the Federal Tax Service intend to bankrupt the company using a simplified procedure.
The fact is that at the moment, the ‘Public Opinion’ is not managed by ‘OM’ media group, but by another company, established at the end of December 2021.  Olga Chesakova is listed as its founder and director.

Considering that the legal addresses of both firms are located at the same building on Kirov Avenue, albeit in different offices, the journalists of the vzsar.ru portal suggested that the firm could be deliberately driven to bankruptcy.  In this case, will the ‘new’ legal entity be able to avoid the tax authorities' claims to the ‘old’ one?  This will become clear after the process enters the active stage.

23.11.2021