Famous Sergey Vasiliev becomes a PNT investor
LLC “Vega Finance”, the former subsidiary of “Petersburg Oil Terminal”, became the property of Sergei Vasiliev, a long-time partner of Mikhail Skigin, the father of the head of PNT. Prior to that Cyprus companies Mobalco Holding Limited and Tujunga Enterprises Limited with beneficiaries from Panama featured as owners through the chain of ownership.
Alexander Arbouzov, Partner of the Duvernoix Legal law firm, explains what happened as a modern trend: "The reasons why, it would seem, such a "Russian" Cyprus began to be abandoned are due to the fact that Cyprus joined the number of countries that imposed sanctions against Russia. Cypriot banks often began to freeze the operations of Russian-owned companies, it became risky to receive dividends in Cyprus. On the other hand, in Russia, the presence of a holding company from an "unfriendly country" raises concerns among counterparties, especially those who have state participation. You can't explain to them that the beneficiary is a Russian. The Russian who has now replaced the Cypriot owner, as a rule, is the former beneficiary from Cyprus.”