{"id":45511,"date":"2019-02-11T15:36:37","date_gmt":"2019-02-11T12:36:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bivol.bg\/?p=45511"},"modified":"2019-02-12T16:07:16","modified_gmt":"2019-02-12T14:07:16","slug":"sanctioned-russian-oligarch-shareholder-in-dsk-bank","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bivol.bg\/en\/sanctioned-russian-oligarch-shareholder-in-dsk-bank.html","title":{"rendered":"Sanctioned Russian Oligarch \u2013 Shareholder in DSK Bank"},"content":{"rendered":"\n



Billionaire Megdet Rahimkulov<\/a> and his shares in monopoly companies – from Russian “Gazprom” and VTB to the Hungarian OTP Group and MOL<\/strong>
<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Listed as 52nd<\/sup><\/a><\/strong> in the Russian\nedition of the Forbes magazine list <\/strong>of the wealthiest Russians, Megdet\nRahimkulov is a major shareholder in the Hungarian OTP Group – the owner of DSK\nBank in Bulgaria. In March 2018, the National Bank of Romania (the country\u2019s\ncentral bank) banned the sale of Banca Rom\u00e2neasca to OTP because of\ncontroversial transactions. This did not prevent the Hungarians from buying\nExpressbank in Bulgaria from the French Soci\u00e9t\u00e9 G\u00e9n\u00e9rale. In February 2019,\nthey reached another agreement with the French for Mobiasbanca in Moldova. The\nregulators in Sofia and Chisinau are ignoring the fact that OTP’s top\nshareholder is on the US sanctioning list.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

As of January 30,\n2018, the former Gazprom<\/strong> representative in Budapest, considered to be\nthe wealthiest Hungarian with a personal wealth of USD 1.9 billion (according\nto Forbes.ru), is on the US Treasury Department’s Sanctions List along with\ndozens of oligarchs close to the Kremlin.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Megdet Rahimkulov (Mihail\nNikolaevich Rahimkulov)<\/strong> is a shareholder in Russian State monopolies such\nas Gazprom<\/strong> and Vneshtorgbank (VTB<\/strong>, known as the Bank of the KGB and the FSB or the\nBank of the Kremlin), which held about 10% in the now-collapsed Bulgarian private\nlender – Corporate Commercial Bank (CCB)<\/strong>.\nRahimkulov\u2019s portfolios in Russia and Hungary are controlled by the family-run Kafajat Kft<\/strong>, which the oligarch manages\ntogether with his sons.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"


Megdet Rahimkulov is number 52 on the Forbes Russia list with USD 1.9 billion, photo by Forbes.ru
<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

The Russian has been a shareholder in Hungary’s largest bank\nOrsz\u00e1gos Takar\u00e9kp\u00e9nzt\u00e1r (OTP Group Plc.)\n<\/strong>since 2007. OTP Group<\/strong> controls\nbanks not only in Hungary, but also Russia (OTP Bank), Ukraine (OTP Bank),\nSlovakia (OTP Banka Slovensko ), Serbia (OTP banka Srbija), Croatia (OTP banka\nHrvatska), Montenegro (\u0426\u0440\u043d\u043e\u0433\u043e\u0440\u0441\u043a\u0430 \u043a\u043e\u043c\u0435\u0440\u0446\u0438\u0458\u0430\u043b\u043d\u0430 \u0431\u0430\u043d\u043a\u0430 \u2013 Montenegrin Commercial\nBank), Romania (OTP Bank Romania SA) and Slovenia (OTP Banka Slovenska).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The leading Hungarian oil company Magyar Olaj \u00e9s G\u00e1zipari R\u00e9szv\u00e9nyt\u00e1rsas\u00e1g (MOL)<\/strong> is also in OTP, with\n8.57%. Megdet Rahimkulov, himself, is a shareholder in MOL, where the State\nholds a share of about 33%.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

MOL Group is a regional player – it has a network of 2,000 gas\nfilling stations in Hungary, Slovakia and Romania.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

MOL<\/strong> was to become\none of the shareholders in the suspended Nabucco<\/strong>\ngas pipeline project for transit of Azerbaijani natural gas to Europe through\nTurkey, Bulgaria, Romania, Hungary and Austria.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Hungarians play\nside by side with the Russians<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The acquisition of the French Soci\u00e9t\u00e9 G\u00e9n\u00e9rale Expressbank (SocGen)<\/strong> by DSK Bank – OTP Group<\/strong>, was approved on November 14, 2018. On January\n15, 2019, OTP announced that the transaction had been completed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to the Bulgarian Capital<\/em> weekly, by September 2018, the total assets of both banks (Expressbank and DSK Bank) were BGN 19.4 billion. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"

The management of Kafajat<\/g> Kft, photo by moneymakerfactory.ru <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

This is a slightly more than the assets of the largest Unicredit Bulbank<\/strong> of the Italian group UniCredit S.p.A.<\/strong> Obviously, the deal\nhad not encountered any problems, as employees in Expansbank branches have been\nalready using business cards with the DSK\nBank – OTP Group<\/strong> logo before the New Year holiday, Bivol has learned.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The third largest bank in the Republic of Moldova – Mobiasbanca S.A. (Groupe Soci\u00e9t\u00e9 G\u00e9n\u00e9rale)<\/strong>\n– is also about to be sold to OTP Group.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The price is not known but is lower than the EUR 39 million\nthat the Bulgarian Doverie – United\nHolding PLC<\/strong> will pay for the second largest bank by assets in Moldova – Moldindconbank SA<\/strong> (see in Bivol HERE<\/a>\nand HERE<\/a>)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“They have finally reached an agreement on the price,”\na source at Mobiasbanca<\/strong> commented for\nBivol.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to the source, Mobiasbanca has a smaller network\nof branches, which means lower sale value than that for other banks recently\nprivatized in Moldova. The approval of the National Bank of Moldova (NBM) and\nthe National Committee for Financial Stability of the country is forthcoming.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"

“Expressbank” becomes part of the Hungarian OTP Group, which owns DSK Bank in Bulgaria, photo by Dnevnik\/Capital<\/em> <\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Only Bucharest handled security more seriously. There, the regulator, the National Bank of Romania (NBR), banned the takeover of Banca Rom\u00e2neasc\u00e3 S.A.<\/strong> (owned by the National Bank of Greece – NBG<\/strong>) by OTP Bank Rom\u00e2nia S.A.<\/strong> as early as March 15, 2018.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to the Romanian newspaper Ziarul Financiar (ZF)<\/em>, “the regulator’s ban is an\nunprecedented case in the history of the country”.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“The NBR looked very carefully at the transactions\nbetween 2012 and 2015 through OTP Bank Rom\u00e2nia, which have caused many suspicions,”\nZF writes. The bank regulator in Bucharest, however, did not provide any\ndetails. OTP has been in Romania since 2000 when it acquired Robank<\/strong> and Millennium Bank<\/strong>. According to data for 2017, OTP holds 2.2% of the\nRomanian banking market.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Greetings from the 1990s<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Megdet Rahimkulov created his business empire in the early\n1990s, when the USSR’s Gas Industry Ministry was transformed into the Gazprom<\/strong> monopoly. He then became the\nGeneral Manager of the Interprocom<\/strong>\ncompany, which later became one of the leading suppliers of IT equipment for\nGazprom.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 1994, Rahimkulov headed the Hungarian gas trader Panrusgaz<\/strong>, a joint venture between\nGazprom and MOL. Since 1996, he has been Chairman of the Russian Credit Bank’s\nSupervisory Board, \u201cCompany Finance Project\u201d. According to the Romanian edition\nof the US magazine Newsweek<\/em>, as a\nformer top manager, Rahimkulov holds at least 10% in Panrusgaz.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The publication also mentions the seizure of Altalanos ErtekForgalmi Bank (AEFB)<\/strong> by\nthe Gazprom representation in Budapest, led by Rahimkulov. In 2005, the bank\nwas bought out by the Russian-Hungarian billionaire. The Hungarian press\nannounced in 2007 that Rahimkulov had sold AEFB, and the money earned had been\ninvested in MOL<\/strong> and OTP Bank<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"

The Hungarian MOL controls over 2,000 gas filling and service stations in Hungary, Slovakia and Romania <\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

In 2011, against debt, Rahimkulov gained control over the\ncompany \u201cVellhim<\/strong>\u201d, producing hair\nsprays, air fresheners and auto cosmetics. In 2013, he sold the company to the\nGerman Henkel<\/strong> Corporation for USD 40\nmillion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to data by Forbes.ru, Rahimkulov\u2019s two sons are Hungarian\ncitizens. A check by Bivol in the Bulgarian Trade Register did not find any\nlegal entities with the names of Mihail Nikolaevich Rahimkulov, Ruslan Mihailovich\nRahimkulov and Timur Mihailovich Rahimkulov.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pray not to be bought\nout<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Newsweek<\/em> devoted\nto the oligarch its article “Putin’s\nPawns, Mother Russia, Daughter Hungary and Grandchildren MOL and OTP<\/a>.”\nNewsweek Rom\u00e2nia<\/em> cites George\nFriedman, the founder of the American geopolitical intelligence platform and\npublisher Stratfor<\/strong>, whose email on\nRussia’s interests in MOL<\/strong> has leaked\nto Wikileaks<\/strong> and was published by it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is written in the email that “according to a\ndiplomatic source, most of MOL’s shares are in Russian hands”.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Russian oil company Surgutneftegas<\/strong> was also a shareholder in MOL<\/strong> with 25%, along with the well-known\nin Bulgaria Czech State-owned CEZ Group<\/strong>\n(7.3%), while the shares of the Hungarian State were only 7.1%.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"

The Newsweek<\/em> Rom\u00e2nia<\/em> article on OTP Group, MOL and Megdet Rahimkulov <\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Surgutneftegas<\/strong>\nsuddenly became one of MOL’s largest shareholders after a secret deal in 2009\nwhen the Russians had bought the shares of the Austrian OMV<\/strong>. “MOL was Russia’s first target, the second goal in the country\nwill be Hungary’s largest bank, OTP Group,” according to the same\ndiplomatic source said in Budapest.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“In general, we can say that Russia’s direct and\nindirect interests in MOL have already exceeded 50%”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

OMV<\/strong> was publicly\naccused of “covering up Russian interests”. The accusation was voiced\nby Zsolt Hern\u00e1di, MOL<\/strong> Group Chairman\nand CEO before the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Hungarian Parliament. The\nhearing was about the unwelcome shareholder Surgutneftegas<\/strong> of Russian billionaire Vladimir Bogdanov<\/strong>, who since 2018 is also on the US sanctions list.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"

Surgutneftegas had secretly acquired 25% of MOL in 2009 <\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Representatives of the Russians had not been admitted to the\nmeetings of MOL shareholders. This was followed by lengthy court battles, which\nended with the purchase of shares of the Russian giant by the Hungarian State\nagainst USD 1.88 billion in May 2011. The authorities in Budapest saw the secret\ndeal as a “hostile takeover” by Moscow.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“It was a heavy fight,” is how Hungarian Prime\nMinister Viktor Orban<\/strong> commented on\nthe fight to not allow Surgutneftegas<\/strong>\nin MOL. “No country can be strong if it is totally vulnerable to the\nsupply of energy resources,” Orban said then.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Billionaire Megdet Rahimkulov and his shares in monopoly companies – from Russian “Gazprom” and VTB to the Hungarian OTP Group and MOL Listed as 52nd in the Russian edition of…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":20614,"featured_media":45392,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"give_campaign_id":0,"_crdt_document":"","_relevanssi_hide_post":"","_relevanssi_hide_content":"","_relevanssi_pin_for_all":"","_relevanssi_pin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_unpin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_include_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_exclude_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_no_append":"","_relevanssi_related_not_related":"","_relevanssi_related_posts":"","_relevanssi_noindex_reason":"","rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":[],"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","kia_subtitle":"","_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"_wpas_customize_per_network":false},"categories":[5544,5806],"tags":[9134,5583],"class_list":["post-45511","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-comments-en","category-leading-en","tag-dsk-bank","tag-gazprom-en"],"yoast_head":"\nSanctioned Russian Oligarch \u2013 Shareholder in DSK Bank - 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The person in the circle on the picture is a banker with Bulgarian roots, Vladimir Mollov. The Geneva-based newspaper Le Temps examines the behind-the-scenes essence of this connection. 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This testimony should take place in the legal case filed by Russian\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Comments"","block_context":{"text":"Comments","link":"https:\/\/bivol.bg\/en\/category\/comments-en"},"img":{"alt_text":"matvienko","src":"\/images\/stories\/matvienko.jpg","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":15716,"url":"https:\/\/bivol.bg\/arkhangelsky-en.html","url_meta":{"origin":45511,"position":4},"title":"Arkhangelsky case in France and in Bulgaria","author":"\u0415\u043a\u0438\u043f \u043d\u0430 \u0411\u0438\u0432\u043e\u043b\u044a","date":"30 October 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"The Kremlin leaders do not like criticism and get particularly nervous when people of substantial wealth diverge from it. \u00a0Inconvenient oligarchs are being chased through the state prosecution mechanism (in Russia, it is still militarized and prosecutors wear uniforms) and through banks close to the government. Thus, Mikhail Khodorkovsky is\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"Arkhangelsky\"","block_context":{"text":"Arkhangelsky","link":"https:\/\/bivol.bg\/tag\/arkhangelsky"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":43448,"url":"https:\/\/bivol.bg\/en\/who-acquired-electricite-de-france-hydro-power-plants-near-sofia-for-eur-16-million.html","url_meta":{"origin":45511,"position":5},"title":"Who Acquired \u00c9lectricit\u00e9 de France Hydro Power Plants near Sofia for EUR 16 million?","author":"\u041d\u0438\u043a\u043e\u043b\u0430\u0439 \u041c\u0430\u0440\u0447\u0435\u043d\u043a\u043e","date":"27 October 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"French energy giant \u00c9lectricit\u00e9 de France secretly sold the \u201cKokalyane\u201d Hydro Power Plant (HPP) and the \u201cPassarel\u201d HPP near the Bulgarian capital Sofia on Monday, October 22, 2018. Both HPPs now belong to the Luxembourg-based Akuo Energy. \u0422he brother of J\u00e9r\u00f4me Cahuzac, France's scandalous ex-Budget Minister and a prot\u00e9g\u00e9 of\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Investigations"","block_context":{"text":"Investigations","link":"https:\/\/bivol.bg\/en\/category\/investigations-en"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/bivol.bg\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/EDF.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/bivol.bg\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/EDF.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/bivol.bg\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/EDF.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/bivol.bg\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/EDF.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/bivol.bg\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/EDF.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x"},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bivol.bg\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45511","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bivol.bg\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bivol.bg\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bivol.bg\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/20614"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bivol.bg\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=45511"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/bivol.bg\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45511\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bivol.bg\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/45392"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bivol.bg\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=45511"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bivol.bg\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=45511"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bivol.bg\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=45511"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}