Servers are trying to return to Berezin

Information about searches at the office of Andrey Berezin's major investment company Euroinvest in 2019 were later ruled invalid through the court, but we decided to double-check the information. During the investigation by The Sankt-Petersburg Post correspondent, it was found out that the story which formed the basis of events four years ago continued in 2023. So what is going on with the millionaire's assets?

Before moving on to the investigation itself, it should be noted that if you enter Berezin's surname into search engines like Yandex and Google, part of the search results will be hidden. American Google even specifies that "some search results may have been removed in accordance with local law." According to our sources, Berezin has been fighting in courts for several years against fake news spread by Russian-speaking "publications", mainly located in post-Soviet countries.

Berezin, who is regarded as one of the most serious businessmen in St. Petersburg and the Leningrad region, has been treating his reputation very carefully in recent years. So, when in 2019 a number of media outlets, including the publication "Fontanka", reported on the alleged searches in Andrey Berezin's company "Euroinvest", stating that they could be related to the case of purchasing servers from a certain German company for $15 million, the businessman went to court demanding that the information be declared invalid.

The court satisfied the claim. Berezin was able to prove that no criminal cases based on materials from the Baltic Customs were initiated against him and LLC "Euroinvest". The case number was not mentioned in any of the publications mentioned in the case, and the court materials clearly stated that "on February 6, 2019, a search was not carried out in the premises occupied by LLC "Euroinvest" in connection with the investigation of criminal case No. 11804009715000094 initiated by the Baltic Customs on the grounds of a crime provided for in paragraph "a" part 2 of the article 193.1. Criminal Code of the Russian Federation". It was also clarified that "Andrey Valeryevich Berezin as of February 6, 2019 did not have procedural status in a criminal case".

Fontanka.ru also mentioned in its publication a certain large distributor of office equipment – Complete Company, which allegedly purchased Hewlett-Packard servers worth $15 million from a certain German company in 2010, but did not receive the goods. The publication then wondered whether there were any signs of fund withdrawal in the deal. After all, five years later, the fate of $8.5 million was also decided. Now, there are no lawsuits from this company against the media that mentioned it in the 2019 publications. There are also no lawsuits from Berezin's business partner Vasily Pavlov, whom “Fontanka” reported as the manager of the German company that was supposed to provide Complete Company with the aforementioned servers.

Partner duo

Vasily Pavlov, who was mentioned in the publications, is a former business partner of Berezin. According to Delovoy Peterburg, Pavlov is a member of DP's Billionaires 2022 Rating.

Over the years he has held stakes in 21 companies, including seven operating ones – KhD LLC, Rancho-Ohota LLC, Neoprint LLC, NPO Neoprint LLC, Dreamcas LLC, RSI LLC and Udarnik LLC. Dreamkas Company operates in the IT sphere and in 2021 Roskomnadzor even tried to prosecute it under an article on entrepreneurial activity in violation of the conditions stipulated by a special permit.

It is known from another court dispute that Dreamkas was also engaged in the sale of equipment.

In addition, Pavlov's company RSI also has an asset in software production – a stake in SET LLC. And another RSI subsidiary, Crystal Service Integration LLC, which is one of the top 5 largest IT suppliers to the retail sector, is also involved in supplying equipment to state-owned companies.

All of this indirectly suggests that Pavlov may well have been linked to the aforementioned imports of servers from abroad, as his business is also based in this area (three other later liquidated companies were related to computer repair and peripheral computer equipment). Moreover, Vasily V. Pavlov appeared in the registers as a managing director of the German company Crysdorf GmbH. And it was the unnamed German company, which, according to Fontanka.ru, Pavlov was related to, that was to supply servers to Complete Company, for which the payment was made. So maybe it was Crysdorf GmbH?

This is by no means the only company in Vasily Pavlov's assets registered in Germany, though. He was also involved with the firm Wäsch Etiketten Gesellschaft mit beschränkter Haftung.

As for his connection to the oligarch Berezin, he and Pavlov had several assets in common in the past, such as the Centre “Crystal” LLC, where both owned stakes. A number of public sources also mention LLC AuditExpert Company.

It is this LLC "AuditExpert Company" that was mentioned in the story of 2019 about the delivery (or rather the possible underdelivery of servers from Germany) and among the owners of this firm, which in 2022 was unexpectedly liquidated, were both Vasily Pavlov and Andrey Berezin.

Andrey Berezin left the company in September 2021 and Megacentre Ltd. became the new owner. And in December 2021, all the remaining former co-owners left the LLC. Megacentre remained the main owner. In February 2022, the share capital of LLC AuditExpert Company increased from RUB 10,000 to RUB 944,8 million. Thus, Megacentre's stake grew to RUB 944,7 million. In another month – in March 2022 AuditExpert Company got the status of "going into liquidation" and in June of the same year it was liquidated.

The same fate was in store for Megacenter, which ceased to exist from July 2022.

Just a month before the decision on liquidation, the company's share capital and the share of the main owner increased. The question arises - why such manipulations? The answer is hidden in the law. The point is that all the undistributed profits and remaining finances are divided among the owners of the MegaCentre, which also went into liquidation.

One would think, why should we dig up old business dealings – the story of the 2019 servers? It's very simple – some participants from that time reappeared in legal relationships with German companies, but specifically in 2022 and 2023. So let's try to figure it out.

A problem with two well-knowns

Complete Company LLC, previously mentioned as a buyer of servers from a German company, has existed since 1996. It operates in the wholesale trade of computers, computer peripherals and software. The firm has been a supplier on at least 145 government contracts worth over 1.1 billion rubles. Among its clients were the Saint Petersburg Metropolitan (35 contracts worth 266 million rubles), the Federal Service for Alcohol Regulation (11 contracts worth 326 million rubles), Rostelecom (ten contracts worth 136 million rubles) and many others, including legal entities of the Roscosmos State Corporation division, the Russian Ministry of Justice and the regional departments of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. One can roughly understand the extent to which a private firm is embedded in the IT infrastructure of major state assets and departments, as well as banks and large commercial companies in various sectors of the economy.

The owner of Complete Company LLC, which showed revenues of 820 million rubles in 2022, is Vitaly Kurguta, who is not actually a public figure. Kurduta has five companies in his business portfolio that deal with computer and equipment trading, as well as software development. These companies, like the parent company, are suppliers under government contracts.

Among the partners of Complete Company, according to the website, are both Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) and personal computer and printing machinery maker HP Inc. (created as a result of the split from HPE).

The arbitration database indicates that LLC "Hewlett Packard Enterprise" (a Russian subsidiary of HPE) violated its obligations under contracts with the aforementioned company. During 2022 and 2023, Complete Company filed four lawsuits against the German-based company. From the materials of one case it follows that the defendant "unreasonably ceased activity in the Russian Federation in breach of its obligations, which is confirmed by a notification dated June 2, 2022".

At the same time, the LLC has contractual relations with the HPE company for technical maintenance services for end customers' equipment, including Megafon, Moscow Metro, Tikhvin Freight Car Building Plant, Etalon and St Petersburg Metro. And, according to the materials, the money was paid to Hewlett Packard Enterprise as an advance payment, but the work was not performed. And interestingly enough, one of the disputes between the firms – for recovery of unjust enrichment of RUB 75,154,924.41 under partnership agreement No 2BNZP dated 21.07.2015 – the court considered in closed session because "the materials of the case contain information that constitutes commercial secrecy". This is a curious statement. The reference by Fontanka.ru to the 2015 deal in which $8.5 million sailed out of the country comes to mind. Wasn't that the deal in question? This case also revealed the companies to which equipment with technical support had been sold, but the latter was not provided in the end, although it was paid for through the HP Care Pack. The list of companies and agencies is impressive.

In another legal dispute, a contract from 2015 was also mentioned. The defendant terminated the contract for technical support of the software and was eventually charged more than RUB 128 million in unjust enrichment. Hewlett Packard Enterprise LLC was owned all these years by offshore companies registered in the Netherlands.

As for the missing servers case, our correspondent concluded that there is no evidence of a connection between "AuditExpert" and Berezin's structures, about which several sources wrote. The only connecting link is the former partner of Andrey Berezin, Vasily Pavlov, who was a member of Auditexpert's shareholders. But there is a curious nuance here too – there has never been any relationship between Vasily Pavlov and Complete Company, other than a partnership, which is not surprising given the scope and clients of Complete that we have written about above.

And to conclude, the case against Complete Company also ended up going nowhere and was dismissed.

As for Andrey Berezin's assets, it is clear that a major reorganization of assets is underway, although sources in Berezin's structures claim that it is a staff reorganization aimed at improving their efficiency and manageability.

Previously we reported that Andrey Berezin's Euroventure Foundation continues clinical trials of an oncorobot for cancer treatment (link)