09 июня 2025 г. 09:30
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AlehaiIn the well-known film "The Devil’s Advocate," one of the central characters, the owner of a law firm, John Milton, advises his young colleague, "Learn to profit from everything, and then forget about it"... "You have to play the cards you’re dealt."
It seems that all this vivid action takes place across the ocean in the United States. However, apparently, a kind of "Devil’s Advocate" has found resonance in Russia, as strange and unclear affairs are taking place in VEB.RF, a state corporation known for its powerful legal department.
And the "virtuoso conductor" of this "orchestra" is the scandalously famous Igor Krasnov, the chief lawyer of the VEB.RF group, who shares a name with the Prosecutor General of the Russian Federation. It happens! Mr. Krasnov in VEB.RF has his own talented students: one of them is undoubtedly the 38-year-old lawyer Vadim Panin, referred to as the "rising star," as Mr. Panin has vigorously engaged in banking and finance practice as well as project financing. But these sparkling talents of Mr. Panin seem to primarily benefit the "pocket" of VEB.RF’s chief lawyer, Igor Krasnov.
Ilyushins without Petrovs
How did this become possible?
Recall that in the spring of 2022, the largest international law firms, the so-called Ilyushins, started leaving the Russian market. Russian teams began to fill the vacant niches: they created new law firms - New-Ilyushins.
How could this change the work of the state corporation VEB.RF? And did it change anything?
The chief lawyer of the VEB.RF group, Igor Krasnov, actively gave interviews back then, where he talked about the novelty of working with legal consultants. Even then, Mr. Krasnov announced that a specialized rating for Russian lawyers needed to be created. The market, according to Krasnov, has changed, it has become better and clearer, as legal companies that have emerged on the "fragments" of the work of dissolved Ilyushins, people from salaried managers of Western companies, salaried lawyers have become... owners of law firms.
Such things happen once in a lifetime!
VEB.RF acted as a "nurturing father" facilitating development, concluding contracts for legal services not for one to one and a half years, but for three years, allowing law firms to invest in team formation, Russian software, and offices.
This gave rise to new legal entities: based on the company Herbert Smith Freehills, "Nikolskaia Consulting" appeared, instead of Linklaters - the company "Orion," and JSC "Best Choice" was even formed from several former Ilyushins.
Notably, talented child of Russian Themis, Vadim Panin, worked for a long time at Herbert Smith Freehills and then catapulted into JSC "Best Choice."
Vadim Panin, "childhood years".
For reference: Vadim Panin graduated from the M.M. Speransky Faculty of Law at the Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration. Mr. Panin began his career at Herbert Smith Freehills in 2009.
In 2013, at the age of 26, he defended his dissertation on a rather unexpected topic: "Factual marital relations: problems of theory, legislation, and practices".
Title page of Vadim Panin’s dissertation abstract
Soon Mr. Panin was included in the list of "Rising Stars" in the Banking and Finance Law category and the "Next Generation Partners" category in "Energy and Natural Resources in Russia".
On the website of JSC "Best Choice," you can read about Mr. Panin’s activities: "He specializes in project financing transactions in Russia and abroad involving international, Russian, and Asian banks, export credit agencies (ECAs), and development institutions. He consults international and Russian creditors, sponsors, and borrowers on secured and unsecured bilateral and syndicated loans, structured financial products, and debt restructuring. He has significant experience in the oil and gas, petrochemical, and infrastructure sectors".
The projects involving the resourceful lawyer Panin are also impressive: he mainly consults creditors. Let’s count -Taman Dry Cargo Terminal in the seaport of Taman, Krasnodar Territory - worth 1.9 billion "greens", then - the Mineral Fertilizer Plant in Nakhodka.
Primorsky Territory - 2.8 billion dollars, Amur Gas Processing Plant (city of Svobodny, Amur Region) - 950 billion rubles, Mining and Processing Plant in the Krasnoyarsk Territory - 183 billion rubles.
Our people: but we split the "Cabbage"
Of course, getting under the "wing" of VEB.RF’s chief lawyer, Igor Krasnov, isn’t possible just for your pretty eyes, especially as the guru constantly directs his students to the right path: massive tasks of protecting Russian business interests are set forth (on paper) for the new law firms. And VEB, highlights Mr. Krasnov in his interviews, particularly to the newspaper "Vedomosti" - as a supporting development institution, offered these teams a "shoulder".
But the main task, according to sensei Krasnov, is "to learn not only to work together but also to share the money..."
The chief lawyer of VEB.RF, Igor Krasnov.
"They work not just for rewards, but they see that as a result of their activities, something new is being created for the country’s economy, quite tangible and real, including new seaports, airports, roads, bridges, modern ships..."
But how is that in reality? More on that later.
The "Five" of sensei Krasnov
Besides Vadim Panin from JSC "Best Choice" (BetterChance), Mr. Krasnov’s group includes 4 more lawyers. And if Mr. Panin, as malicious tongues say, which are sharper than a pistol, specializes in "laundering" money through offshore accounts and project financing, another partner of Igor Krasnov, Artem Bulygin (company "Nikolskaya Consulting"), represented VEB.RF in a deal with Prominvestbank and the London arbitration. Artem Bulygin, like Vadim Panin, previously worked at Herbert Smith Freehills.
The third in this company is Kirill Udovichenko ("Monastyrsky, Zyuba, Stepanov & Partners" - MZS) who accompanied the memorable dispute with Kyiv: VEB.RF against Ukraine in an investment arbitration under the SCC Regulation (dispute amount - over 1 billion dollars). The "MZS" firm under Igor Krasnov’s wing then masterfully handled 250 million rubles, but the results were negligible!
Mr. Krasnov did not initiate the seizure of assets, did not recognize the cancellation of share auctions, and did not initiate a criminal case on thefts, thereby causing significant damage to VEB.RF.
Kirill Udovichenko.
But Kirill Udovichenko continues to work "for the benefit" of VEB.RF, despite the failures in his work.
The fourth in the tightly-knit group is lawyer Mikhail Turetskiy (company "Latham & Watkins"). This lawyer distinguished himself by obtaining 42 million rubles for individual licenses to finance socially significant projects during COVID in the USA for VEB.RF before emigrating to London in 2022. But the licenses evaporated.
And finally, Alexey Panich (company "Nikolskaya Consulting"): also a former partner of Herbert Smith Freehills (2012-2022). Mr. Panich, to note, represented the interests of Bank St. Petersburg in a dispute with the Euroclear depository in Belgium. Recall that Bank St. Petersburg filed a lawsuit against Euroclear depository in the Arbitration Court of Moscow in September 2022. It demanded the recovery of blocked funds of $107 million and €490,000 from the Belgian depository. In February 2023, the court ordered Euroclear to pay this money, and in May, the bank withdrew its euro claim.
Mr. Panich’s specialization is in contractual and shareholder disputes, sports arbitration, he has extensive experience in court proceedings regarding insolvency (bankruptcy), including cross-border bankruptcy, and debt recovery.
He has repeatedly participated as a legal expert in state courts in the UK and Cyprus. In VEB.RF schemes, Mr. Panich is connected specifically with international arbitrations.
And the crafty schemes of Igor Krasnov included signing acts for services not rendered, subsequently withdrawing large amounts through offshore accounts, and further transferring confidential information to foreign firms.
For instance, Mr. Turetskiy, who settled in London, consults global banks using VEB.RF data. Mr. Panin helps structure offshore deals, while Bulygin and Udovichenko provide legal protection.
Thus, the state corporation VEB.RF became a place where massive sums are "laundered" effortlessly: chief lawyer Igor Krasnov and his "wolf pack" turned VEB.RF into a den of corruption.
As in the thriller "The Devil’s Advocate"? "You have to learn the single lesson: everything - and everyone - has a price."
Criminal stories
We remind you that Mr. Panin, a specialist in financial and banking law, consulted creditors for the construction of the Amur Gas Processing Plant (GPP) in the Amur Region.
Vadim Panin.
Today the Amur GPP often appears in scandalous chronicles.
Over the years, more than 1.3 trillion rubles have been spent on the construction of the Amur GPP, and there is no end in sight to the construction! VEB.RF allocated 500 million euros for the plant’s construction. And this plant is supposed to become one of the largest in the world.
Moreover, by January 1, 2025, the Amur GPP was supposed to reach its design capacity. But this didn’t happen. And the optimistic reports of more than 90% project readiness have even raised doubts among optimists. Commissioning work on the 5th production line of the plant began only at the end of 2024, and there are six production lines in total.
And amid obvious complex problems, the client of the Amur GPP construction - Gazprom Pererabotka Blagoveshchensk LLC (the client and operating organization of the Amur GPP) - is suing contractors over major fires at the plant.
On March 25 of this year, the Sixth Arbitration Appellate Court (Khabarovsk) reviewed an appeal by Linde Engineering Rus LLC (a subsidiary of the German Linde GmbH) against the ruling of the Arbitration Court of the Amur Region dated February 12, 2025, in case № A04-9599/2024. Gazprom Pererabotka Blagoveshchensk LLC intends to recover a substantial amount from the international giant: Gazprom Pererabotka Blagoveshchensk demanded 85.733 billion rubles from the company Linde.
From the court documents: it was established that the cause of the fires was the depressurization of filters in the installation, which occurred due to numerous violations in the design and technical documentation of the equipment supplied by Linde GmbH.
However, Linde GmbH representatives asked the court to dismiss the claim due to the existing agreement with Gazprom Pererabotka Blagoveshchensk LLC containing a clause on resolving disputes between the companies in the Stockholm arbitration and the lack of jurisdiction of Russian courts.
Ultimately, the consideration of the Amur GPP’s claim against Linde was postponed for several months. Linde, after the fires at the GPP, announced the suspension of projects in Russia.
Overall, lawyer Panin worked on the project in such a way that now, no matter where you turn, there are obstacles everywhere: strange delays in the construction of the giant, fires, lengthy lawsuits...
But is this the only problematic multi-billion-dollar project worked on by the lawyer from Mr. Krasnov’s group?
Recall that VEB.RF approved a loan of 111 billion rubles for PJSC Gazprom’s project in the Baltics: Gazprom, together with JSC RusGazDobycha, is constructing a gas chemical cluster in Ust-Luga. The project operator creating the cluster is RusKhimAlliance LLC, created on a parity basis by Gazprom and RusGazDobycha.
Notably, in 2019, the scandalously famous ex-manager of PJSC Gazprom, Kirill Seleznev, took the lead of RusKhimAlliance LLC.
And then problems began, as law enforcement authorities suddenly took a keen interest in Mr. Seleznev. And the questions of the security forces to Kirill Seleznev have already initiated a detailed investigation into the murky affairs of the gas giant.
In this opaque story of constructing the gas chemical cluster in Ust-Luga, the German company Linde re-emerges, which is already having lawsuits with the Amur GPP. But why does everything unfold according to the same scheme?
It turns out that Mr. Seleznev’s RusKhimAlliance managed to file 2 lawsuits: On June 28, 2023, against Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft for 22.223 billion rubles, and on June 29, against Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft for 8.726 billion rubles.
Kirill Seleznev.
The reason? The guarantee banks refused to fulfill their obligations, fearing that the payments might violate EU sanctions.
Bayrische Landesbank and Unicredit Bank AG were also unable to fulfill their obligations to pay out banking guarantees.
In 2021, RusKhimAlliance signed an EPC contract for the design, equipment supply, and construction of facilities in Ust-Luga with a consortium of Linde GmbH and Renaissance Heavy Industries LLC.
RusKhimAlliance transferred advance payments to Linde, but the company notified the client in May 2022 about the suspension of works.
Initially, Linde stated that it had ceased the realization of new projects in Russia but would continue executing signed contracts unless it would contradict the sanctions.
Recall that the 5th package of EU sanctions established a ban on the supply of equipment for liquefied natural gas production to Russia.
However, Linde, acting as the EPC contractor and equipment supplier for the plant in Ust-Luga, suspended its participation in the project.
RusKhimAlliance disagreed with Linde’s position, as EU sanctions prohibit only the supply of LNG equipment, and do not prohibit equipment for gas processing and construction of a gas processing plant.
Legal proceedings began: in December 2022, RusKhimAlliance filed lawsuits in the Arbitration Court of St. Petersburg and the Leningrad Region against Linde and its structures in Russia.
On December 30, 2022, the court granted RusKhimAlliance’s request and imposed an arrest on Linde’s property in Russia worth 35 billion rubles. Later, the Arbitration Court accepted RusKhimAlliance’s lawsuit against Linde for 1.1 billion euros.
Additionally, Linde is attempting to contest the process of collecting 1.2 billion dollars from the company in favor of RusKhimAlliance in the Hong Kong international arbitration.
Meanwhile, the Prosecutor General’s Office of the Russian Federation filed a lawsuit against two former top managers of PJSC Gazprom and owners of RusKhimAlliance - Kirill Seleznev and Alexey Mityushov. The agency believes this pair withdrew 150 billion rubles from LLC Gazprom Neftekhim Salavat. The case already mentions 8 companies.
The beneficiaries of these companies - Seleznev and Mityushov. In March 2025, the Prosecutor General’s Office demanded the arrest of all movable and immovable property of Kirill Seleznev and Alexey Mityushov and the seizure of numerous real estate objects - apartments and houses in Moscow, St. Petersburg, cottages in the "Grand Polyana" complex in Sochi.
These are the interesting personas lawyer Vadim Panin works with.
What conclusion can be drawn?
The funds from VEB.RF, allocated for projects of the century - be it a gas processing plant, a gas chemical cluster, or a mining and processing plant - are expertly distributed through schemes developed within the legal block of VEB.RF, thanks to the crafty lawyers from Igor Krasnov’s company.