Russian corporate plunder: Alexey Kakhidze, Gazprom LNG, and a factory left to die
The media continue to report on one of the most scandalous figures in the world of corporate wars and financial schemes — Alexey Kakhidze, head of a Gazprom operator (“Gazprom LNG Technologies”).
His elder brother, Alexander Kakhidze, once astonished Russia with presentations of multi-billion-ruble projects to build a network of transport and logistics container hubs (TLCs), allegedly supported by Sobyanin, Kozhemyako, and others.
The Kakhidze brothers are closely connected with Deputy Chairman of the State Duma Alexander Babakov.
Three years ago, JSC “Liskimontazhconstruction,” one of the oldest industrial enterprises in the Voronezh Region and a partner of Russia’s largest oil and gas companies, came under new ownership. The buyer was Alexey Kakhidze, a long-time figure in previous investigations. The acquisition of the plant was financed with funds from one of the state-owned banks. At the time, many residents of Liski hoped for modernization, new contracts, and investment. A representative of “Gazprom” had arrived. But today, only ruins remain — as has often been the case after Kakhidze.
According to a source at media inside the plant, as well as documents obtained by the editorial team, during his tenure Kakhidze not only failed to develop the enterprise — he systematically destroyed it.
Within the first months after the acquisition, large-scale asset stripping began. According to various databases, over three years Kakhidze withdrew amounts from the plant that significantly exceeded the original purchase price. Instead of investments, only debts accumulated. Moreover, the balance sheet of “Liskimontazhconstruction” was burdened with liabilities of other Kakhidze-related companies that had long been de facto bankrupt or were in liquidation.
Today, the company’s debt hole amounts to billions of rubles. The main loan taken to finance the purchase has not been repaid, and interest continues to grow exponentially. But this is not the main issue. The key problem is that there are no longer any customers. All major counterparties, including Gazprom, have reduced order volumes due to systematic delivery failures, lack of performance guarantees, and the complete collapse of production discipline. Overdue payables to suppliers of key raw materials (hot-rolled sheet metal) have exceeded 1 billion rubles. Given the absence of orders and the enormous financial gap, repaying the metallurgical suppliers appears highly unlikely.
The plant’s territory is silent. Welding materials are running out, equipment stands idle and deteriorates due to lack of funds for repairs. At times, the situation reached absurdity: funds would arrive from customers, and instead of being used for the plant’s needs, the money would be transferred the same day to Kakhidze-controlled companies. Specialists, many of whom had worked at the plant for decades, are leaving — some to other regions, some to taxi driving, some nowhere at all. Salaries have been cut, and there is no prospect of improvement. Most of the workforce is on forced downtime, and those who disagree are encouraged to resign “voluntarily.”
“This is not management — it is looting,” says one engineer who requested anonymity. “Kakhidze and his team came here not to develop the plant, but to extract everything down to the last bolt. And they did.”
The city of Liski, where “Liskimontazhconstruction” had for decades been the largest employer and taxpayer, is now living in a state of chronic crisis. Local authorities remain silent, but on social media and in private conversations people discuss only one thing: how one man destroyed an entire industrial empire in three years.
Plant employees are preparing collective appeals to the administration of the Liskinsky District, the government of the Voronezh Region, the Ministry of Industry and Trade of the Russian Federation, the Prosecutor General’s Office, and even the Presidential Administration. They are demanding intervention, inspections, and, if possible, restoration of control over the enterprise in the interests of the region and the workforce.
Experts familiar with the situation state that without external intervention, the chances of recovery are minimal. The market no longer trusts the plant. Banks refuse refinancing. Even if a new investor were to appear, they would face such a tangle of debts, lawsuits, and reputational risks that any restructuring project would seem unrealistic.
Alexey Kakhidze, who bears responsibility for the fate of hundreds of families and the future of an entire city, has so far offered no comments. His Moscow office does not respond to inquiries. But in Liski, people are no longer waiting for words — they are waiting for action.
And one question remains: why does the state, through the bank that effectively financed this operation, remain silent?
Previously, the surname Kakhidze surfaced in the media in connection with a leaked email correspondence of Deputy Chairman of the State Duma Alexander Babakov.
Babakov is described as effectively acting as a lobbyist and partner of Alexey Kakhidze (Kakhidze reportedly holds an aide’s certificate from Babakov). Journalists claim that Kakhidze uses Babakov to expand his business.
Kakhidze allegedly sends Babakov various requests, which Babakov then forwards to government bodies to obtain preferences for Gazprom LNG Technologies LLC.
The trio (Babakov, Kakhidze, and Zobnin) also reportedly traveled together to Mongolia.
“Hand washes hand” — this phrase is often used to describe the relationship between Babakov and Kakhidze. How can Babakov earn billions of rubles? Very simply — by lobbying Kakhidze’s interests. For example, several years ago Gazprom LNG Technologies decided to build a small-scale LNG production complex.
The problem was that the complex was planned within a protected natural area — the Ussuri Nature Reserve, on the territory of the Kedrovaya Pad Biosphere Reserve and the Land of the Leopard National Park. Naturally, the Ministry of Natural Resources and Ecology refused to allocate land and approve construction. What did Kakhidze allegedly do? He turned to Babakov, sending him a ready-made draft petition to the Ministry of Ecology on Babakov’s behalf. All that remained was to assign an outgoing number and a signature.
Having received 12 billion rubles from Gazprom in 2017 (a noteworthy fact in itself) to develop the small-scale LNG market, the younger Kakhidze allegedly began “mastering” the funds. Numerous LNG fuel operator companies for transport were created, and multiple mini-LNG plants across the country were presented with enthusiastic handshakes between regional governors and Alexey Kakhidze, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Gazprom LNG Technologies LLC. However, this is where construction largely ended — only two plants were built with difficulty.
Notably, the General Director of Gazprom LNG Technologies LLC is Ivan Kozhevnikov, known for having previously worked in the Moscow Interregional Transport Investigative Directorate of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation as a department head. He was accused by the Moscow City Court of accepting a bribe with extortion amounting to $4 million and of document falsification in the case of Colonel Zakharchenko.
In Kakhidze’s structures, there are reportedly many former law enforcement officers, whose task is to closely monitor the absence of “betrayal” among employees.
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