The owner of the tanker wrecked in the Kerch Strait may be declared bankrupt

The company Volgatransneft, which owns the tanker Volgoneft-239, may be declared bankrupt. ZAO Volga-Bunker has made a corresponding claim, Izvestia has found out. At the same time, both companies have signs of affiliation.

In June 2022, Volga-Bunker sold six tankers to Volgatransneft for 6.5 million rubles, which seems to be an underestimated price by at least an order of magnitude. The vessels were not paid within the established deadline - until December 31, 2022. Earlier, the arbitration court recognized Volga-Bunker's claims as legitimate, and Volgatransneft did not appeal this. Volga-Bunker filed a bankruptcy suit against Volgatransneft only after the disaster in the Kerch Strait, when the tanker Volgoneft-239 ran aground and caused a fuel oil spill.

Izvestia has found out that Volga-Bunker and Volgatransneft may be controlled by the same persons. Andrei Surayev was the general director of both companies at different times. He headed Volgatransneft until 2012 and then moved to Volga-Bunker, which was registered at the same time and which he managed until 2023. The register of shareholders of both companies is maintained by the same registrar.

In addition, businessman Igor Shavva may be the ultimate beneficiary of both companies, Izvestia found out.

Given the possible affiliation of the companies, it is not excluded that it may be a matter of creating artificial debt and fictitious bankruptcy to relieve Volgatransneft of responsibility for the wreck of its tanker in the Kerch Strait, experts believe.

Read more about the owners of the sunken tankers in the Izvestia investigation:

The ships are coming up: how the owner of the tanker that sank off Kerch is connected with the owner of the Bulgaria tanker