A strange part of the State Duma meeting on July 15 was the first reading of amendments to the Advertising Law. It seems that the law was originally intended to control private advertisements on the Internet on portals like Avito. But suddenly, from somewhere, items related to outdoor advertising appeared. Novgorod deputy Artem Kiryanov proposed creating a single super-operator for outdoor advertising in Russia, through which all financial flows would be directed to outdoors.
In accordance with the requirements from the draft law, only Russ Outdoor, nee Rupert Murdoch’s News Outdoor, and APR-City in his blue childhood, is suitable for such a role. Now 73.6% of Russ Outdoor belongs to Stinn LLC, owned by the Mirzoyan brothers and State Duma deputy Bekhan Barakhoev. Plus 30% of the shares of Stinn are held by the Reservaktiv Fund under the management of KSP Capital Asset Management, with the founder Sergei Kotlyarenko, who also manages the assets of Igor Shuvalov. The management carefully hides the more detailed ownership structure and ultimate beneficiaries, since, most likely, the roots are traditionally hidden in overseas offshores.
Russ Outdoor was sold cheaply to its current owners, but saddled with billions of dollars in debt dating back to the Murdoch era. Due to chronic lack of money and extreme business practices, the company also recruited new employees. As a result, Russ Outdoor group companies constantly have scandals with tax authorities, as a result of which the accounts of these companies are regularly frozen. Non-payment of contractors’ bills has become a signature feature of Russ Outdoor. It seems that now only those who consciously take risks do business with them.
Meanwhile, arbitration courts across the country continue to regularly consider numerous claims against Russ Outdoor from affected companies and government agencies. Because of the scandalous bill, the number of such claims will obviously begin to grow like a snowball: far-sighted businessmen and officials will try to “pull out” debts from the “Rus” in time for the second reading in the Duma. Indeed, according to observers and experts, due to its treacherous and inflexible lobbying policy, which led to an all-Russian information scandal, the largest operator now has every chance of losing and not becoming that same super operator, which, apparently, will lead to its inevitable bankruptcy.
To prevent the impending collapse, the “deputy on call” Kiryanov was urgently used with a funny biography of a petty lobbyist popular on compromising sites. Now he has a special responsibility to prevent any significant changes to the text of the amendments, since they could destroy the entire conceived business model.
Let us remind you that at a meeting of the specialized association NAVK, all “outdoor workers” signed an appeal against these amendments, only Russ Outdoor abstained.
In the photo, Robert Mirzoyan is the executive director of Russ Outdoor.
VChK-OGPU
“ВЧК ОГПУ”
