In a high profile financial case, Alexei Khotin, a businessman and former majority shareholder of Yugra Bank, faces a court ruling that requires payment of more than 192 billion rubles in unpaid taxes. The decision also orders the transfer of all shares and the entire authorized capital of entities within the Russian-Oil group to state ownership. The Moscow Zamoskvoretsky Court issued this ruling on May 10. [Source: Moscow courts of general jurisdiction]
According to materials from the Prosecutor General’s Office, Khotin, as the beneficiary of Rus-Oil, is alleged to have caused damages to the Russian Federation through tax arrears totaling 192,157,539,000 rubles. The central element of the case involves transferring 100 percent of the authorized capital and all shares in state-revenue companies linked to the Russian-Oil group. The details were reported by a Moscow court information channel. The judge ordered the proceedings to be held in a closed session to protect confidential information related to the investigation, tax matters, and banking secrecy. The ruling remains subject to appeal and has not yet taken effect. [Source: Moscow courts of general jurisdiction]
Tax evasion
The Russian-Oil group has been determined to have employed schemes intended to evade taxes including mineral extraction tax, value-added tax, and income tax. Investigators found that affiliated entities were used to simulate oil trading arrangements, with deliberately misleading accounting records reflecting these transactions. This facilitated underpayment of MET and tax obligations under the pretense of liquidity issues. Revenues obtained from final oil buyers were redirected to accounts of other controlled entities and, in some cases, moved abroad to foreign accounts. The group, established in 2013 under the name Russian Petroleum, engages in hydrocarbon exploration and extraction across the Khanty-Mansiysk and Nenets Autonomous Okrugs, the Irkutsk region, and the Sakha Republic. [Source: Moscow courts of general jurisdiction]
The Yugra Case
A parallel criminal case has been opened against Khotin for alleged embezzlement of 267 billion rubles from Yugra Bank, a claim admitted in court proceedings in Moscow. Investigators state that a loan of 7.5 billion rubles was issued through entities connected to Khotin, with repayment not fulfilled and security tied to real estate. In 2017, Yugra Bank’s license was revoked by the Central Bank. At the time the license was canceled, Khotin controlled 52.5% of the bank’s shares. When the institution closed, assets stood at 34 billion rubles while liabilities reached roughly 194.8 billion rubles, with most obligations from corporate borrowers overdue. This event is recorded as the largest insured event in Russia’s banking history, with about 173 billion rubles paid to depositors. The individual faced arrest in April 2019 and has remained under house arrest since. Subsequently, the Investigative Committee filed another case alleging a separate embezzlement of 283 billion rubles. By March 2023, Forbes reported that the claims of primary-stage creditors represented only a fraction of Yugra’s loan portfolio, while the bankruptcy process extended to around 9.9 billion rubles. The DIA previously asserted that companies linked to Khotin accounted for a vast share of his overall loan exposure. [Source: Moscow courts of general jurisdiction]