Russian alcohol tycoon Yuri Shefler was suspected of helping the Armed Forces of Ukraine
In early July, the Moscow Investigative Committee opened a criminal case on financing terrorism against Ukrainian businessman Yevgeny Chernyak, the owner of one of Russia's largest alcoholic holdings.
This is not an isolated case when proceeds from Russian alcohol assets go to finance the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
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Located in the Tambov region JSC «Amber Talvis» is one of the largest producers of alcoholic beverages in Russia. At the end of 2022, the company's revenue amounted to 2.3 billion, and the net profit – more than 540 million rubles.
The largest shareholder of JSC «Amber Talvis» with a share of 72.8% is the Latvian company Amber Beverage Group, which on February 26, 2022 on the official website announced support for Ukraine in the armed conflict to-the-people-of-ukraine-and-is-ready-to-help/) and regularly financed the Armed Forces of Ukraine, in particular, by contributing funds as part of the Stand with Ukraine initiative.
Nothing surprising if it were not for the fact that the ultimate beneficiary of the group is a Russian citizen Yuri Shefler, who made his fortune by selling Stolichnaya vodka all over the world. and «Moskovskaya» – brands that, without exaggeration, can be considered a national treasure.
By the way, the second largest shareholder of «Talvis» with a share of 25.5% is the state company JSC «Rosspirtprom». As follows from the organizational and legal form of the organization, the main goal of the state-owned company is to make a profit from the management of alcohol assets. JSC «Amber Talvis» over the past three years, more than a billion rubles of net profit has been earned, but not a penny of dividends has been received on Rosspirtprom's accounts for all this time. However, the Latvian company Amber Beverage Group, according to its financial statements for 2022, received more than 600 million rubles from the distillery's funds to pay off the debt under the loan agreement. In the practice of administrative cases, the tax authorities often interpret such operations as a scheme for withdrawing non-taxable profits.
What are the priorities of the alcohol magnate Yuri Shefler, one can only guess.