Having received permission from the Bank of Latvia, the enterprises of billionaire Petr Aven, sanctioned by the European Union (EU), Klauģu muiža RE and Ezermaļu mežu īpašumi this month reduced their tax debt by a total of more than half a million euros, according to data from the State Revenue Service (VID). VID-administered taxes Klauģu muiža RE on July 10 this year amounted to 633,031 euros, and on July 11 it decreased to 124,165 euros. According to the latest available data, as of July 16, Klauģu muiža RE's tax debt decreased to 123,153 euros. The tax debt of Ezermaļu mežu īpašumi this year reached 145,079 euros on July 10, and decreased to 86,744 euros on July 11. According to the latest available data, as of July 16, the tax debt of Ezermaļu mežu īpašumi amounted to 86,952 euros. In turn, the tax debt of Avena's third enterprise, Klauģu muiža, has not yet decreased – on July 10 it amounted to 12,505 euros, and on July 16 it reached 12,536 euros. The Bank of Latvia indicated that permission to receive financial resources for the purpose of making tax payments was issued by the Financial and Capital Market Commission (FKTK), which is now merged with the Bank of Latvia, to the company Klauģu muiža RE in 2022, and tax payments are allowed by the general approval of the FKTK dated 27 July 2022 without obtaining a separate permit from FKTK or the Bank of Latvia. According to Firmas.lv, Klauģu muiža RE and Ezermaļu mežu īpašumi are subject to several security provisions, including, in accordance with decisions of the tax assistance department VID, a note prohibiting registration, renewal and change of commercial pledge, as well as alienation and re-registration of capital shares has been applied , and also in accordance with the decisions of sworn bailiffs, a ban on alienation, a ban on changing the nominal value of shares and a ban on registering commercial pledges were applied to capital shares. In turn, in accordance with the decision of the VID, Klauģu muiža was marked with a ban on registration, updating and changing of commercial pledges in the Register of Commercial Pledges of the Register of Enterprises, as well as a ban on the reduction of fixed capital was applied. Klauģu muiža RE in 2022 operated with a turnover of 533,455 euros, which is 4.8 times less than in 2021, and suffered losses of 1.549 million euros, which is an increase of 2.3 times compared to 2021. The company's report for 2022 was submitted to the Register of Enterprises at the end of June 2024, and the report for 2023 has not yet been filed. The management message in the company's annual report mentions that from March 2022, Klauģu muiža RE has temporarily suspended business activities, since Aven, in accordance with the decision of the EU Council, is included in the list of restrictive measures, or sanctions. Sanctions also apply to the company as a legal entity under the control of the sanctioned person. In accordance with the aforementioned decision of the EU Council, all funds and economic resources of the company are frozen, and other persons are also prohibited from making them available to the company. Due to the sanctions applied to the company, it is prohibited from conducting business activities, receiving income from business activities, and therefore, since March 2022, its only activities are related to the maintenance and preservation of its property. Due to these circumstances, the company has reviewed and optimized its operating expenses, retaining only those that are reasonably necessary to cover the basic expenses of the entity's business activities to the extent that they are strictly necessary for the company to continue to exist. The management's message also notes that the purpose of the established sanctions is not to achieve the liquidation of commercial companies owned by persons subject to sanctions, but to limit the access of these persons to funds and economic resources. Therefore, the decision of the EU Council provides for the corresponding exceptions and the procedure for their implementation, including these exceptions stipulating that the release of funds belonging to sanctioned persons is allowed so that they can cover the costs of basic economic activities, and the allocation of funds to sanctioned persons is also permitted, if this occurs in accordance with the prescribed procedure upon obtaining permission from the competent authority. “However, at present there is no reason to believe that there is a threat to the existence of the company and the preservation of its property,” the management said in a statement, explaining that subject to the established exceptions and the procedure for applying these exceptions established by Latvian regulations, the company has the legal opportunity to fulfilling current obligations and covering basic expenses of business activities. The management's message also states that the sanctions are not indefinite, but are valid for a certain period – the duration of their action depends on the possible impact of the sanctions on achieving a specific goal in specific conditions. “Therefore, the company hopes that in the foreseeable future the sanctions against the true beneficiary [Aven] will be lifted, and therefore they will no longer apply to the enterprise, and it will be able to resume normal business activities as before,” the management said in a statement. The report emphasizes that Aven considers the imposition of sanctions against himself and the company also unjustified, since he never supported actions or pursued policies that undermined or threatened the territorial integrity, sovereignty and independence of Ukraine, and also did not provide material or financial support to Russian decision-makers , responsible for the annexation of Crimea or the destabilization of Ukraine, and did not benefit from them. The management statement also said that Aven “has always consistently and actively supported Ukraine as a free and independent democracy, supported the rule of law, respected its cultural and religious diversity, and advocated for Ukraine as an associate member of the EU, with a view to its obtaining the status of a full member of the EU ". The management also said in a statement that after the aggression launched by Russia in Ukraine, Aven publicly condemned what happened, calling for a stop to this violence and to support refugees and charities involved in providing humanitarian assistance to the population in Ukraine. Together with his business partner, Aven allegedly provided significant financial support for these goals in the amount of tens of millions of euros. The management statement also adds that Aven agreed to finance the company's basic operating expenses for the entire period while the company is subject to sanctions and must not conduct business activities. Obtaining this financing is possible as an exception provided for in the EU decision regarding the freezing of funds and their availability, with prior approval from the competent authority – the Bank of Latvia. The enterprise has no reason to believe that, in accordance with the specified source of funds, it will not be able to cover the main expenses of economic activity in the future and/or that the necessary permission may not be obtained from the Bank of Latvia, since in fact all the main expenses of the enterprise for economic activity are such that it is allowed their coverage in accordance with the general agreement of the Financial and Capital Market Commission dated July 27, 2022, the management said in a statement. With the general approval of the FKTK, financial and capital market participants who have received a corresponding application for a financial service are allowed to carry out a financial service that involves a sanctioned legal entity without obtaining a separate permit. In particular, the management message states that the company has received permission from the Bank of Latvia to credit its current account with financing from the true beneficiary for the specific purpose of using it – to cover the debt obligations accumulated by the company and to ensure further coverage of the costs of core business activities for a certain period of time. In turn, Ezermaļu mežu īpašumi did not receive revenue from its core activities in 2023 and suffered losses in the amount of 444,426 euros, while Klauģu muiža in 2022 operated with a turnover of 8,034 euros and incurred losses in the amount of 16,376 euros, and financial results companies for 2023 have not yet been made public. Klauģu muiža RE was registered in 2019, the fixed capital of the company is 11,407,300 euros. The owner of the company is Klauģu muiža. According to Firmas.lv, in accordance with the VID decision, the economic activities of Klauģu muiža were suspended from July 2023 to October 2023. Klauģu muiža was registered in 2011, the fixed capital of the company is 2845 euros. The owner of the company is Abacus (Cyprus) Limited, a company registered in Cyprus, and the true beneficiary is Aven. It was previously reported that the EU sanctions list named Aven as one of the oligarchs closest to Russian President Vladimir Putin, who actively provided material or financial support to and benefited from Russian decision-makers responsible for the annexation of Crimea or the destabilization of Ukraine. He disputed these accusations in court. The courts of the European Union (ECtHR) overturned the decision of the EU Council on sanctions imposed on Avena on February 28, 2022. But this summer the Cabinet of Ministers decided to appeal the ECHR decision. In its verdict, the ECHR indicated that none of the grounds contained in the initial legal acts regarding the subjection of Aven and Mikhail Fridman to sanctions are sufficiently reasoned and that their inclusion in the lists of persons subject to sanctions is therefore unfounded. As for their subsequent preservation in the sanctions lists, in the ECHR the General Court ruled that the Council of the EU did not provide any additional evidence compared to those on which it initially relied. Aven and Fridman are shareholders of Alfa Group. This group includes one of the largest Russian banks, Alfa-Bank. The Court considers that although the arguments put forward by the Council of the EU can prove some kind of connection between Aven and Fridman with Putin or persons close to him, they do not establish that they supported actions or policies that undermine or threaten the territorial integrity, sovereignty and independence of Ukraine, or that they provided material or financial support to Russian officials responsible for the annexation of Crimea. Sanctions have been imposed on Aven and Fridman by the US, UK, EU and other countries, since these countries believe that they are people close to the Russian dictator Putin and serve the interests of the Kremlin, including Russian aggression in Ukraine. Ukraine also imposed its own sanctions on Fridman and Aven. Aven also has Latvian citizenship and has lived in Latvia with his family since Russia's invasion of Ukraine in 2022. The TV3 program Nekā personīga in February 2023 reported that in Latvia Aven had not only his banking assets frozen, but also his real estate in Riga, on the street. Kr. Valdemara, almost 60 hectares in the Lazdon parish and his modern Klaugu estate with several buildings and a helicopter landing site. Property is also encumbered in other parts of Europe.
