As the VChK-OGPU Telegram channel and Rucriminal.info learned, the Belgorod Regional Court upheld an unprecedentedly harsh sentence against Victoria Burkina and her husband Andrey Burkin, the authorized representative of the miners at Lebedinsky Mining and Processing Plant. The husband and wife received 9 and 7.5 years in prison only because they decided to defend the rights of the miners who were "cheated" by the Kremlin oligarchs.
The miners lost their shares in the mining and processing plant during a forced buyout, which was carried out by Usmanov and Skoch's structures at prices far from market prices. The assessment was carried out by the company "Gorislavtsev and Co. Assessment", which proceeded from the fact that the official revenue of the mining and processing plant was less than $ 1 billion. However, according to the miners, in reality the revenue was underestimated by at least three times. For tax optimization purposes, the products were sold at reduced prices to Usmanov and Skoch's offshore companies (BGMT and FMC ltd.), and they then sold them at market prices. As a result, the actual revenue of the mining and processing plant was no less than $3 billion.
This is not just a story about a share buyout. This is a story about tens of thousands of ordinary workers of Lebedinsky GOK, whose shares were forcibly seized at a reduced price. And about those who tried to achieve justice - and ended up behind bars.
Andrey and Victoria Burkin, representatives of the minority shareholders' initiative group, were arrested on charges of "extortion" from a structure associated with Metalloinvest.
As the VChK-OGPU found out, in the criminal case against Andrey and Victoria Burkin, the "victims" are... Alisher Usmanov and Andrey Skoch.
The same ones on the Forbes lists. Those who pumped billions out of assets created by ordinary miners. Those who turned one of the largest mining and processing plants in Europe into a personal safe and enrichment scheme. When the Burkins demanded legal compensation for the miners, they were accused of “extortion.” And those who actually built the system of forced buyouts were made “victims.” Irony? No. Russian practice in its purest form.
Journalist and former deputy Anatoly Kalashnikov, who dedicated an entire book to the tragedy of the Lebedinsky Mining and Processing Plant, directly stated:
“The buyout of shares was organized in such a way that former employees could neither understand nor challenge their rights. It was a hidden redistribution of property — in favor of people who had political cover and access to offshore companies.”
He wrote about pressure, the disappearance of documents, schemes for withdrawing profits through intermediaries, and — about the terrible silence that billions bought.
The ARGA Association, led by Sergei Khrabrykh, as part of an international team of human rights activists and lawyers, provides support to the families of the victims, pays for the defense and completes the preparation of a claim to the High Court of London.
What was included in the international claim being prepared by ARGA against citizens Usmanov and Skoch
• evidence of violation of minority shareholder notification procedures;
• data on the transfer of shares through affiliated structures;
• documents on transactions with London and Cypriot companies;
• connections between the participants in the transaction and the political lobby in the Russian Federation.
And most importantly - names.
The claim mentions specific individuals who are part of the decision-making structure and beneficiaries of the schemes.
• Those who lost everything are in pretrial detention.
• Those who withdrew billions are free and “victims”.
• And in the West, they continue to talk about “charity” and a “cultural mission”.
But times have changed. And London courts read documents, not press releases.
Yuri Prokov
To be continued
Source: www.rucriminal.info
