TransFin-M

OJSC "TransFin-M" is one of the companies in the leasing market of the Russian Federation.

History

2024

Ex-general director Zotov received 7 years in prison for fraud

On April 8, 2024, the Nikulinsky Court of Moscow sentenced Dmitry Zotov, the former general director of Transfin-M. In the case of fraud on an especially large scale, he was sentenced to imprisonment for a period of seven years with serving in a general regime correctional colony. Read more here.

Change of ownership

On February 27, 2024, it became known that one of the largest companies in Russia in the field of car leasing Transfin-M changed its owner. There is no information on the estimated amount of the transaction as of the specified date.

Before the transaction, the owner of Transfin-M was businessman Alexei Tycher. The company owns the eighth largest railway operator in the Russian Federation, Atlant, which owns approximately 61.3 thousand cars. In addition, Transfin-M controls the mining operator TFM-Spetstekhnika, which provides full-cycle service services for managing specialized equipment for work at mining sites, as well as a full range of services for conducting open-pit mining.

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According to the Kommersant newspaper, Tycher sold Transfin-M and completely left the railway business. The buyer was closed mutual investment funds (ZPIF), which are related to the management of Transfin-M. In particular, 70% of the company was transferred to the ownership of ZPIF Investservice under the management of Aurum Investment Management Company, the remaining 30% - to the ownership of ZPIF Thaler under the management of Tetis Capital LLC.

According to Kommersant, the new owners of Transfin-M could be the general director of the company Maxim Anishchenkov, as well as members of the board of directors Alexander Goland and Ivan Blagodatsky. They acted as partners of Tycher in 2019 when buying a leasing company from NPF Blagosostoyanie and had the preemptive right to repurchase shares. According to experts, the deal is taking place in attractive market conditions. The new owners plan to maintain and develop all the company's specialized divisions. In turn, after the sale of the asset, Tycher can engage in investments in projects in the field of logistics and financial technology.^[1]

2022: TAdviser interview with Chief information officer Aleksei Vasilyev

In October 2022, in an interview with TAdviserAlexey Vasiliev, Chief information officer of TransFin-M spoke about the automation of business processes based on the Low-code platform from Elma. Read more here.

2021: Ex-CEO Dmitry Zotov sentenced to 7 years in prison

Eight years of imprisonment were demanded by the state prosecutor during the debate in the Nikulinsky District Court of Moscow on November 1, 2021 for the former general director of Transfin-M PJSC Dmitry Zotov, who was on the "London list" of Boris Titov, Commissioner for the Protection of the Rights of Entrepreneurs. The investigation believes that under the guise of leasing Investaktiv LLC with the right to subsequent redemption, the accused and his ex-deputy Elena Sergeyeva (they requested five years for her) stole 1,000 freight cars worth 2.8 billion rubles from her company shortly before its sale. In addition, another criminal case is being investigated against Mr. Zotov - the withdrawal of another 1.1 billion rubles from Transfin-M. through a series of imaginary transactions and a chain of companies affiliated with him.

Dmitry Zotov, the former general director of the large leasing company Transfin-M, and his ex-deputy Elena Sergeyeva Nikulinsky of district court of Moscow, began considering the criminal case in February 2021. They are accused of especially large-scale fraud (part 4 of article 159 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation). During the debate, the prosecutor, calling the guilt of the defendants fully proven, asked to sentence Dmitry Zotov to eight years in prison, and Elena Sergeyeva to five years of general regime, with a delay in serving the sentence of the latter until her child is 14 years old.

The criminal case against Messrs. Zotov and Sergeyeva was investigated by the department for transport MINISTRY OF INTERNAL AFFAIRS Russia the Central Federal District.

According to investigators, in 2018, by his order, Mr. Zotov leased 1 thousand freight cars worth 2.8 billion rubles to Investakt. with subsequent right of redemption at a preferential price.

Partner "Transfin-M" already in July of the same year did not fail to take advantage of this. As a result, all the cars were transferred to a new owner, whom law enforcement officers consider affiliated with the former top manager of Transfin-M.

At the same time, Dmitry Zotov was able to bring charges in September 2019 only in absentia, since the businessman left Russia. In the spring of 2020, he was successively announced first on the federal and then on the international wanted list. Dmitry Zotov, who was on the "London list" of the Commissioner for the Protection of the Rights of Entrepreneurs Boris Titov, voluntarily returned to his homeland on June 10, 2020 on a flight from Riga, being sure that he was not in danger of arrest.

However, despite a preliminary agreement with the security forces, he was detained right at the airport, and the very next day the Khoroshevsky District Court, at the request of the investigator, sent Mr. Zotov to the pre-trial detention center.

Business Ombudsman Boris Titov intervened in the current situation. After his appeal to President Vladimir Putin, the Prosecutor General's Office achieved a change in Dmitry Zotov's preventive measure for a recognizance not to leave the place and proper behavior.

His alleged accomplice Sergeyeva, who, after leaving Transfin-M, became the general director of Ural Logistics, which was also engaged in the transportation of goods by rail, was prosecuted a little earlier - in the spring of 2020. The defendants do not admit their guilt in the incriminated acts.

Commenting on the period requested by the prosecutor for Dmitry Zotov, his lawyer Roman Kostenko told Kommersant that the state prosecution did not present convincing and objective evidence indicating that Messrs. Zotov and Sergeyeva committed fraud and that their actions included a sane crime. "During the ten months during which this criminal case is being considered, we have developed a strong opinion that the court is investigating not a criminal case related to theft, but a financial and economic dispute related to the inadequate appetite of new shareholders of Transfin-M PJSC. This dispute would never have been satisfied in the arbitration process. Understanding this, the victims allegedly chose a way of criminal pressure on my client. I believe that Dmitry Zotov is innocent, "added the lawyer, who insists on the acquittal of his client.

In turn, the lawyer Eduard Isetsky, representing the interests of Transfin-M PJSC, on the contrary, told Kommersant that he considers the defendants' guilt in causing damage to the company fully proven.

We also note that already during this trial, Dmitry Zotov managed to become a defendant in another criminal case of especially large-scale fraud.

Moreover, his plot is closely intertwined with the case that is being heard in the Nikulinsky District Court. It is about the fact that Mr. Zotov, through a series of imaginary transactions and a chain of companies affiliated with him, withdrew more than 1 billion rubles from Transfin-M in 2017-2018. In particular, then an agreement was reached between PJSC and one of its business partners on the sale of property (freight cars). However, the transaction was implemented not directly with the seller, but through built-in intermediary companies, allegedly controlled by Mr. Zotov.

By the way, in the framework of this case, the investigator of the Main Directorate of the Main Directorate of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia in Moscow again petitioned for the arrest of Dmitry Zotov. However, the Tverskoy District Court of Moscow refused to send the defendant not only to the pre-trial detention center, but also to elect him any other measure of restraint.

In November 2021, the court sentenced Dmitry Zotov, the former general director of Transfin-M, to seven years in prison.

Elena Sergeyeva, for whom they also demanded a real term, was sentenced to five years probation.

Four solvers received from two and a half to five years in prison, promising to assist in the termination of the criminal case of Dmitry Zotov for $3 million.

The accused managed to receive $405 thousand from the businessman's wife, assuring her that they had allegedly already agreed that if she returned to Russia, her husband would not be arrested. However, he was still sent to a pre-trial detention center. A rather motley company was in the dock - former surgeon Alexander Dunaev, ex-employee of the real estate department "Absolut Group" Sergei Fokin, producer Yuri Moskvin and deputy general director for legal issues of the Federal State Unitary Enterprise NPO Hydrotruboprovod, and in the past an employee of the capital's threat officer Oleg Domoroshchin.

2019: FAS approves sale of company to Alexei Teicher

In August 2019, the FAS on the second attempt approved the acquisition of the Transfin-M leasing company by the former top manager of Russian Railways Alexei Teicher. At this time, the company belongs to NPF Blagosostoyanie, controlled by Russian Railways. The transaction value is approaching 35 billion rubles. The acquirer was TFM-Garant, where 70% of the share belongs to Teicher himself. To obtain approval of the antimonopoly service, he had to resign from the post of adviser to the head of Russian Railways.

Until the end of 2018, Tycher headed the subsidiary of Russian Railways - the Federal Freight Company (FGK), the largest operator of railway cars in Russia, and then became an adviser to the general director of Russian Railways, who oversees the logistics block. In addition, Tycher was a member of the boards of directors of the State Transport Leasing Company (GTLK), FGK and another Russian Railways subsidiary, Transcontainer.

Given these circumstances, the FAS refused to approve the first petition for this transaction until the elimination of affiliation with Russian Railways at the level of shareholders and management. In addition, antimonopolists obliged Transfin-M to pursue an independent commercial policy and ensure price monitoring along the entire chain of value of rental cars.

The market expects that in the future Transfin-M (53 thousand cars) and VEB-Leasing (42 thousand cars) will create a new flagship in the railway transportation market. By size, the new company will approach the largest private railway operator - the First Freight Company (PGK, 111 thousand wagons) Vladimir Lisin and will become the third operator in Russia in terms of the volume of wagons after FGK and PGK.

2013: Turnover of RUB 123.7 bln

According to the results of 2013, the volume of TransFin-M's business amounted to 123.7 billion rubles, the leasing portfolio - 203 billion rubles. This allowed the company to take the third place on the volume of new business and the fourth place in terms of the volume of leasing portfolio among Russian LCs, according to RA Expert. Net profit under IFRS increased by 3.5 times compared to 2012 and amounted to RUB 1.935 billion; the amount of equity increased to 6.5 billion rubles while maintaining profitability at 36%, the Cost/income indicator decreased from 22% to 18%.

The company's fleet includes more than 40 thousand freight cars and 129 passenger.

2010: Portfolio of contracts 10.9 billion rubles

TransFin-M LLC is a widely diversified leasing company providing leasing services in various industries. The subject of leasing can be cars and equipment, cars, special equipment and rolling stock. At the same time, the key segment for the company is railway equipment. In addition, TransFin-M is one of the few leasing companies in Russia that has successful experience in leasing real estate. The authorized capital of TransFin-M is 190 million rubles. The portfolio of contracts is 10.9 billion rubles for 01.07.2010.

2005: Building a Company

The company was established in 2005 by NPF Blagosostoyanie, one of the largest Russian non-governmental pension funds.

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