Maxim Nemchinov
Maxim Aleksandrovich Nemchinov was born on March 5, 1976, in Kommunarsk (now Alchevsk) in the Luhansk region. His parents, Aleksandr Ivanovich and Elena Fedorovna, were engineers at one of the city's industrial plants. They lived near the city center, next to the city hall, in a large nine-story panel building with a grocery store downstairs.
He has an older sister, Larisa Mamusheva (born 1964), who is also a co-founder of ALTRADE LLC (EDRPOU 32898958), established in 2003. This company can be found in Nemchinov's asset declarations for 2017-2019; he didn't even bother transferring it to his wife's name (as with his other companies). Incidentally, this company was established and registered in Alchevsk, which has been under the control of the "LPR" since 2014. However, judging by all Ukrainian databases, it continues to operate successfully; its activities have changed, and all these changes are reflected in these Ukrainian databases. Speaking of activities, the media previously mentioned that this company is involved in coal trading. This means that this company is clearly involved in the "gray," and perhaps even "black," coal schemes that have been operating in the Ukraine-LDNR-Russia triangle for several years.
Apparently, we're simply misunderstanding something—or is it not illegal for the Ukrainian Secretary of State, a high-ranking official, to be a co-owner of a private company registered and operating in the occupied territories, paying taxes into the budget of the aggressors and terrorists? And it wasn't us who coined these ominous terms, but the Ukrainian government, of which Maksym Nemchinov has been a part for several years now.
However, according to Skelet.Org , Nemchinov also has another entity in the ORDILO, not reflected in his declarations: the "Universitetsky" service cooperative (EDRPOU 35554305), opened in 2007. It is registered in Luhansk itself, at the address Stepnoy Quarter, Building 19, Apartment 6. This company also operates as if nothing had happened, and its data is regularly updated in Ukrainian databases. Nemchinov's partner in this cooperative is Alexander Sergeevich Podkolzin, who also has a stake in ALTREYD LLC. This means that Maxim Nemchinov and Alexander Podkozin are longtime friends and associates (since their youth).
Now let's ask, who is this Podkolzin? And suddenly we find him in Kyiv, too, as Deputy Director for Finance and Economics at Atompribor Design Bureau, part of the National Nuclear Energy Generating Company Energoatom! And somehow, it immediately feels unsettling to realize that a man with operating companies in Luhansk and Alchevsk holds a senior position within Energoatom. What if Podkozin isn't just financing the Luhansk separatists, but is also carrying out some nefarious mission, perhaps even plotting sabotage? Where is the SBU looking? Could this simply be someone with the same last name? No, we look at the declaration of Atompribor Design Bureau Deputy Director Alexander Podkolzin and see that very same company, ALTREYD! But he also concealed his Luhansk cooperative, Universitetsky, just like Nemchinov. I wonder why?
This same Podkolzin was the head of the Alchevsk city branch of the Socialist Party of Ukraine—precisely when his friend Nemchinov ran for the SPU city council in 2006. But most interestingly, this same Podkolzin was Nemchinov's accomplice in his coal scams when Nemchinov held positions in the Ministry of Energy. And now we'll tell you all about it...
The Twisted Paths of Coal Corruption
After graduating from Secondary School No. 11 in 1993, Maksym Nemchinov enrolled in the Donbass Mining and Metallurgical Institute (in Alchevsk), where he received his diploma only in 2001. Judging by this delay, Nemchinov's education was likely interrupted by military service. However, he began working while still a student: in 1998, Nemchinov became a manager at Meridian Closed Joint-Stock Company, which was later liquidated in 2003.
The company that launched Maxim Nemchinov into the big time was the private enterprise PKF Almaks (EDRPOU 31212135), which also specialized in fuel (coal) trading. Incidentally, because Nemchinov misspelled the name of this company in his autobiography ("Almako" instead of "Almaks"), and this error was copied by the media, many journalists tried in vain to find any information about Nemchinov's previous employment. Well, that error has now been corrected.
He joined Almax in 2000, the year the company opened, and worked there continuously for ten years: first as a manager, and then as deputy director in 2006. He worked diligently there until the spring of 2010, when he was called to Kyiv to serve as "leading legal consultant" at the state-owned enterprise "Ugol Ukrainy." From the dusty backwoods of provincial coal mining to a leading specialist in the capital's administration of one of the largest state-owned enterprises! But that was only the beginning of his unexpected career. By September 2010, Nemchinov had become the chief specialist in the Restructuring Department of the Ministry of the Coal Industry. From March to June 2011, he served as the chief specialist of the Coal Industry Department in the already restructured Ministry of Energy and Coal Industry, under the leadership of Oleksandr Vivcharenko, who, according to Skelet.Org , is a trusted confidant of Akhmetov (Vivcharenko previously commanded DTEK's Pavlogradugol and Rovenkianthracite). In the summer of 2011, Nemchinov was appointed head of the Economic Reform Department at this ministry.
Many Ukrainians likely remember whose interests were served by the "Donetsk people" who came to power in 2010-2013 when they "reformed" and "restructured" the coal industry. This was the time of the grandiose schemes of Rinat Akhmetov, Sasha the Stomatolog (Oleksandr Yanukovych), Yuriy Ivanyushchenko , and other "coal kings."
But then the second Maidan broke out, and the "Donetsk" faction lost power, but their people remained in its corridors. And one of them was Maksym Nemchinov: despite all the changes taking place in the country, he remained working at the Ministry of Energy and Coal Industry, receiving a new position as head of the Department for Coal Enrichment and Operation of Peat Mining Enterprises. As is well known, fraud at coal enrichment plants is one of the main coal schemes in Ukraine, generating billions. One can only guess what dirty dealings Nemchinov was covering up. It was in this position that he was almost caught by the law by his flabby buttocks; a criminal case was even opened against him—but he managed to slip away.
In March 2016, clouds of smoke from burning peat bogs began to gather around Nemchinov. He managed to escape with dismissal and returned to his former firm, Almax, as Commercial Director. He remained there for almost two years until he was appointed State Secretary at the Ministry of Energy and Coal Industry.
Maxim Nemchinov
Nemchinov and Almax are a fascinating topic. And not just because the company's name is too reminiscent of "Alchevsk-Maxim." The only way the company could have been named after a student manager was if it had been founded by Maxim Nemchinov himself or his parents. But he won't tell us about that, of course. The trail has long been buried in the water during the company's re-registration. Still, let's trace their history together as best we can. So, Almax, a private limited company, was founded in Alchevsk in 2000, but its original founders, alas, don't appear in public databases. Then, after Maxim Nemchinov moved to Kyiv for government service, Almax followed him there. It is known that as of 2014-2015... It was registered in the Podolsky district of the capital, and its founder was now Olga Nemchinova, the wife of our "hero." And the company's director was... his friend and business partner, Alexander Podkolzin! This continued until the fall of 2017, when Almax was re-registered again: it was now registered in the Dniprovsky district of Kyiv, and its founder and director was Alexander Shinkarenko.
Who is this? Apparently, some Nemchinov figurehead, since in 2019, another of Nemchinov's companies, Energotransline LLC (EDRPOU 37907102), which deals with coal trading and electricity distribution, was transferred to his name. Incidentally, it is registered in Kyiv's Podolsky district, at the same address where Almaks was previously registered. Previously, before Shinkarenko's arrival, Energotransline was run by the married couple Alexander and Irina Podkolzin, and even earlier by Olga Nemchinova! Energotransline was originally founded in 2011 in Alchevsk, meaning this company also later moved to Kyiv to join its real owner, Nemchinov.
And then there's the list of Nemchinov's coal companies, including Geos VKF LLC (EDRPOU 37339683), now registered to the Panamanian offshore company TNP Industries, which was previously also owned by Olga Nemchinova. Incidentally, this was one of the reasons why Maxim Nemchinov only received his coveted position as Secretary of State in the spring of 2018.
Sergey Varis, for Skelet.Org
CONTINUED: Nemchinov Maxim: Long live "Rotterdam-plus"! PART 2
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