It took a while, but now Vladimir Real's markets once went to a Russian investor.

LBBW was also involved in the financing.

Getting close to the oligarch could be difficult.

on a sanctions list.

The British listed the oligarch, who belongs to Vladimir Putin's circle of oligarchs, and froze his assets.

This move came about two months after Russia invaded Ukraine and weeks after the first sanctions were put in place.

Yevtushenkov is not yet on the EU sanctions list.

Inken Schoenauer

Editor in business, responsible for the financial market.

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Yevtushenkov is the founder and longtime majority shareholder of the Russian company and conglomerate Sistema.

In the course of the war he handed over control to his son Felix.

His turnout reportedly fell below 50 percent.

His son is said to have a 15 percent stake in Sistema.

The Russian billionaire is anything but unknown in Germany.

He is connected to Germany's retail trade via the Sistema holding SCP Group.

The German wholesale group Metro sold its Real stores to SCP in 2020.

At that time, the transaction was also financed by the Baden-Württembergische Landesbank LBBW.

Loans over 600 million euros

According to a report in the Lebensmittelzeitung, the loans that were granted at the time should amount to a good 600 million euros.

When asked by the FAZ, LBBW did not want to comment on whether this loan is currently still on the books, citing banking secrecy.

LBBW also did not want to provide any information as to whether the bank was discussing resolving the loan.

If the loan still exists, then there would definitely be an option to dissolve it.

Not because Yevtushenkov is now on the British sanctions list, but because there was a change of ownership at SCP after the beginning of the war – as was the case at Sistema.

A change of control, as it is called in technical jargon.

This is a perfectly normal business process.

If there is a change in ownership in a company, or a change of control, then the terms of the contract change.

As a result, partners can decide to terminate contracts prematurely.

The new owner of SCP is Marjorie Brabet Friel, who has been working for the oligarch for several years.

She is now not only the employed boss of the company, but also the owner of the SCP.

The corresponding entry is deposited with the Transparency Register Luxembourg.

The excerpt that proves this is available to the FAZ and is also publicly available.

Precisely with this, the condition of the change of control would probably also be fulfilled.

Due to the sanctions situation, LBBW is by no means obliged to

draw the change of control card at this point.

However, it should be obvious that the transfer of the shares is a reaction to the sanctions.

suspicion of money laundering

Reputation for LBBW is one thing in this context, but another is the need for explanations and action that the bank could face if the oligarch still slips onto the EU sanctions list.

“With regard to the sanctions, LBBW has already stated in the past that it unreservedly believes that the sanctions imposed on Russia are correct.

And of course the bank is consistently implementing the sanctions,” says the statement when asked by the FAZ. What that means in concrete terms remains open.

Yevtushenkov once founded the conglomerate Sistema.

In the 1990s he was responsible for the privatization of state-owned companies in the Russian capital and built up an empire in the process.

In 2006 he tried in vain to become an investor at Deutsche Telekom and the chip manufacturer Infineon.

When asked why he was involved in Germany, Yevtushenkov said in an interview with the "Lebensmittelzeitung" in July 2020: "Maybe because I like the Germans so much."

Evtushenkov apparently has a very ambivalent relationship with Vladimir Putin.

In 2014 he was placed under house arrest on suspicion of money laundering, but was later released.

Shortly thereafter, President Putin announced the end of the investigation into money laundering against Yevtushenkov.

Politicians in the boat

Incidentally, SCP's partner in the marketing of Real locations was and is a real estate company called X + Bricks.

She too was economically connected to SCP.

At X + Bricks, however, Sascha Wilhelm and the former FDP treasurer Harald Christ are now in charge.

Christ resigned from the office of FDP treasurer on April 23 at the FDP federal party conference.

Russian connections were severed.

Apparently there is no longer any Russian involvement.

Wilhelm and Christ are now the sole owners, it is said.

The role of the former Celesio boss Fritz Oesterle is also somewhat unclear.

He advised SCP and X+Bricks on the Metro Real deal.

In these functions, he also commented on and evaluated the transaction.

Fritz Oesterle sits on the Supervisory Board of LBBW, where he is also a member of the risk committee.

LBBW comments on possible conflicts of interest - also currently in relation to the current loan: "It is correct that Dr.

Oesterle is a member of the Supervisory Board and the Risk Committee of LBBW.

We cannot comment on private mandates held by members of the Supervisory Board.

In principle, the bank's appropriate corporate governance rules ensure that there are no conflicts of interest."