Soviet-Swiss joint venture "InterUral"
The Soviet-Swiss joint venture "InterUral" was established in 1989. The founders of the joint venture were:
- Minuralsibstroy of the USSR;
- TSO Sreduralstroy (head Eduard Rossel);
- firm "Sytko AG" (Switzerland).
Alexander Anatolyevich Tikhonov, a former employee of the USSR Ministry of Foreign Economic Relations, became the director of the enterprise. The chief accountant of the enterprise was Elena Nikolaevna Tsarkova, later Vladimir Nikolaevich Eskov. The backbone of the management staff of the enterprise was made up of Sverdlovsk citizens, first of all, employees of the Sreduralstroy TSO.
Initially, the company was registered in Sverdlovsk at 111 Mamina-Sibiryaka st. (This address was the location of government agencies managing the construction industry in the Sverdlovsk region).
On September 13, 1989, the enterprise was issued a certificate by the Ministry of Foreign Economic Relations of the USSR (issued by the representative of the Ministry of Foreign Economic Relations Artemyev I.Yu.) on the entry of InterUral into the register of participants in foreign economic relations (with its products and in the interests of its enterprise and its team).
On October 19, 1990, the Ministry of Foreign Economic Relations of the RSFSR (represented by Minister V.N. Yaroshenko) gave an order to grant the right to carry out intermediary operations in foreign economic activity on behalf of enterprises, associations and organizations (the order was given in connection with the appeal of the Sverdlovsk Regional Executive Committee to the Ministry of Foreign Economic Relations of the RSFSR dated October 16, 1990).
On June 29, 1990, a representative office of the enterprise was opened in Moscow at 55, Gorky Street, building 1. The office of the enterprise in Sverdlovsk was headed by Vladimir Vasilievich Bakalov, in Moscow - Nikolai Dmitrievich Astakhov.
Metal was exported through the InterUral JV, in particular, from the Nizhniy Tagil Metallurgical Plant to Great Britain (to the address of Odermet Ltd). For this, the Tagilfer JV was created with the participation of the InterUral JV, the Sytko AG company and the NTMK foreign trade company, which is located in Moscow. It was headed by Nikolai Dmitrievich Astakhov. Vladimir Leonidovich Petukhov worked with him. Both of them were employees of the InterUral JV.
It was reported that the InterUral JV carries out intermediary activities for the sale of Ural raw materials to the West, which are purchased from producers for rubles at domestic market prices, and sold for foreign currency at world prices.
The regional authorities (represented by the head of the Wind Farm Administration of the Regional Executive Committee Tarasov A.G.) tried (but not personally, but through the marketing institute) to influence the joint venture and make it work, first of all, in the interests of the region (for example, in October 1991). There were attempts to find flaws in financial activities (June 1991). According to averaged data, in 1991 the joint venture made a profit from the region only on purchases of meat and butter for $ 36 million. After that, on October 28, 1991, the board of the joint venture (in Moscow) made a decision to transform the joint venture in Yekaterinburg into a Moscow branch without the right of a legal entity.
On November 18, 1991, in Yekaterinburg, the hearing of the case of the joint venture, which tried to export 68 tons of ferronickel to Luxembourg, began and was postponed. The case was initiated by the OBKHSS with the filing of the Yekaterinburg customs. The joint venture was threatened with a fine and confiscation of metal. It was not possible to prove that the joint venture "cheaply" tried to sell ferronickel abroad, while having its own "fat".
In March 1992, the Moskovskiye Novosti newspaper published an article entitled "The Governor's Dacha" about the unseemly role of the Interural JV in the distribution of humanitarian aid arriving from Germany. However, in fact, the participation of the joint venture in the distribution and implementation of this assistance has not been officially established. The participation of the then governor of the region, Eduard Rossel (who previously worked at the Sreduralstroy TSO), in the creation and patronage of the joint venture has not been proven either.
The newspapers published information that the son of the head of the presidential administration of Russia Yuri Petrov is the representative of the InterUral JV in Great Britain, the daughter of Eduard Rossel is the representative of the joint venture in Germany, and the son-in-law of Russian President Boris Yeltsin Leonid Dyachenko works in one of the subsidiary structures of the joint venture in Moscow.
According to the joint venture, the company's annual foreign trade turnover since 1992 has exceeded $ 200 million.
In 1994 JV "InterUral" was transformed into LLP "InterUral". The founders of the new legal entity are:
- Alexander Anatolyevich Tikhonov;
- Nikolay Dmitrievich Astakhov;
- Swiss company "Sytko AG".
In the same year in Yekaterinburg, InterUral LLP (45%), Private Security Company Scorpion-Guard LLP (10%) and Alexander Nikolaevich Burtsev (45%) set up InterUral-Invest Brokerage Firm CJSC. The head of the Scorpion-Guard security company is Vladimir Veniaminovich Kichaev, a prominent member of the Afghans community, who will later become the head of the Sverdlovsk branch of the Unity party.
Also in 1994 LLP "InterUral" acts as the main founder of the joint-stock commercial bank "Granit", registered in Moscow.
In 1996, the company's gross turnover exceeded $ 1 billion.
In 1997 LLP "InterUral" was transformed into CJSC "InterUral", and in 1999 - into JSC "InterUral".
In the 1990s, InterUral becomes a minority shareholder in Nizhniy Tagil Metallurgical Plant, which is the main supplier of metals sold by the company. Sergey Nosov, NTMK General Director, has held the position of Deputy General Director of JSC InterUral since 1999. Chairman of the Board of Directors of JSC InterUral S. Krechetov is simultaneously the Chairman of the Board of Directors of JSC NTMK.
In the 2000s, the positions of the InterUral company are weakening. In 2004, JSCB Granit began to delay payments to depositors, which was explained by the problems of the parent company InterUral.