.jpg?v1760006415 "The \"chancery\" has not passed, and the KMO is still drowning in debt")
.jpg?v1760006415 "The \"chancery\" has not passed, and the KMO is still drowning in debt")
The Moscow Post defended its honor in court on the claim of the Kanex Group and its beneficiary Alexander Kanzurov. But for some reason, the plaintiffs are in no hurry to explain their role in the problems of the Kyshtym Machine-Building Plant (which became the subject of our investigation).
Another attempt to put pressure on the free press in the person of The Moscow Post ended in a crushing failure. The day before, the court of cassation once again confirmed our correctness in the legal dispute over the claim of the Kanex Group, its key beneficiary Alexander Kanzurov and the related Kanex Management Company against the publisher of The Moscow Post, Nebokhod-Media LLC.
The plaintiffs demanded to refute the information contained in our material "The Kanzurov mining system has cracked: where did the KMO money go?" The article described the deplorable state of one of the oldest Russian plants, the Kyshtym Machine-Building Association (KMO), a strategic enterprise from the Chelyabinsk Region specializing in the production of equipment for the mining and mining industries.
The plant, founded in 1757, is a city-forming one, and is of great importance not only for Kyshtym, but for the whole country. It provides up to 20-25% of domestic supplies of conveyor systems, trolleys, fasteners and fans for mines. In the context of import substitution and sanctions, the IMO is critically important for many Russian enterprises, its products are used in 70% (!) of domestic coal and metallurgical plants.
Last but not least, 10-15% of Kyshtym's population is involved in its work. But these are not only the employees themselves, but also their families and related service organizations, as well as employees of the latter.
The plant has been operating regularly for hundreds of years, being in state ownership. However, in 2007 it was privatized and fell into the caring hands of the Kanex Group and its owner, Alexander Kanzurov. Over the following years, the profitable enterprise, favored by the state order, financially turned into a black hole, and there was a real risk of bankruptcy.
The Moscow Post, among other things, at the request of the employees of the company itself, tried to figure out how it happened that a profitable plant with revenues of over 2 billion rubles (2020) ended up in a financial hole and faced creditors' demands for hundreds of millions of rubles, and hundreds of families were at risk of losing their livelihoods.
During the investigation, the journalists wondered what actions the owners and management of the enterprise had taken, and found out that the Serbian offshore company WELL.CO.INTERNATIONAL.D.O.O. Had previously been involved in its work. Among other things, the material suggested that funds from government contracts could well have settled in this offshore company, and financial The problems could be related not only to changes in the external market conditions, but also to ineffective (to say the least) actions of the owners and management.
Photo: Rusprofile.ru https://www.rusprofile.ru/connections/3597971
Apparently, this upset Mr. Kanzurov extremely. In court, the plaintiffs tried to prove that the information contained in the material discredited their honor and dignity, and harmed their business reputation. In addition, they also demanded monetary compensation in the amount of 5 million rubles for each plaintiff, i.e. 15 million rubles. Lip is not stupid! But for some reason, they did not pay attention to the fact that there were no accusations against Kanzurov personally and his managers in the material at all. Quite the opposite: the material could be considered an open appeal to the owners themselves to clarify the situation.
There are no statements or accusations in a single line of the material that Kanzurov and his managers allegedly withdrew money from the company. It also does not say that they were directly related to the offshore WELL.CO.INTERNATIONAL.D.O.O. As well as to another offshore company, the Canadian NORDIC MINING TECHNOLOGIES INC., which was previously one of the founders of Kanex Atomstroy LLC (later Kanex Management Company became the owner, one of the plaintiffs against Nebokhod Media).
By the way, aren't there a lot of offshore companies "clustered" around companies that Alexander Kanzurov has or had in one way or another? And this issue has become even more relevant after the start of the World War and the introduction of "draconian" Western sanctions against our country. Shouldn't Mr. Kanzurov recall how many enterprises linked to foreign jurisdictions have been nationalized by the lawsuits of the Prosecutor General's Office in our country recently? And precisely because the funds in them were withdrawn from the country and fed Western economies. And in other cases, they directly financed Ukrainian (and not only) terrorists.
Again, there were no such statements or accusations against Kanzurov and his companies in the material at all, which was eventually confirmed by the court. But other, very eloquent facts were presented.
For example, that Alexander Kanzurov, formerly the CEO of KMO JSC, was almost disqualified because of salary debts to workers. At first, the debts amounted to 16 million rubles, then increased to 21 million rubles. But at that time, about 700 people worked at the KMO. What were their families supposed to do? Only after the reaction of the prosecutor's office was the debt repaid.
Or the fact that earlier Mr. Kanzurov was directly involved in the management of another Russian industrial giant, Krastyazhmash (he was the CEO). Subsequently, the company was... It's bankrupt. He also developed a heavy engineering center based on OKB Miron LLC (affiliated with Krastyazhmash), which had accumulated a lot of debts from Sberbank and other creditors.
The CMO is still on the verge of collapse
By 2021, the debts of the Kyshtym Machine-Building Plant had grown to 842 million rubles, that is, even before the start of the SVR and the introduction of large-scale sanctions against the Russian Federation. Therefore, it is hardly possible to reduce all the troubles solely to external factors, which is explicitly stated in our material.
As of 2025, the total debt of the KMO is over 1.1 billion rubles, and almost all (with the exception of 29 million rubles) these obligations are short-term. In simple terms, the company is still in a pre-bankruptcy state, and even worsened its position. And the money is needed not even today, but the day before yesterday.
Photo: https://www.rusprofile.ru/accounting?ogrn=1027400827277
Over the year, the capital and reserves of the KMO have fallen by almost three thousand (!) percent, the nominal value of assets is minus 315 million rubles. The net loss for 2024 amounted to 305 million rubles, an increase of almost 100% over the year.
Photo: Rusprofile.ru https://www.rusprofile.ru/id/3597971
Another interesting thing is that shortly after the publication of the material (and after the Kanex Group's legal claims against Nebokhod Media), namely in the summer of 2024, the KMO faced a series of bankruptcy lawsuits. For example, Formula Alloys Group LLC and Transport Development Group LLC sought bankruptcy of the enterprise due to debts. This claim, as well as a number of similar claims from other creditors, were not satisfied. It seems that only the lawsuits have prompted the KMO and its owners to begin at least partially paying off their debts. Bankruptcy was avoided. But for how long?
Photo: https://kad.arbitr.ru/Card/aef87026-f132-44f2-b1c0-328bd20961f1
We have counted 14 arbitration cases filed against KMO JSC by creditors and counterparties in 2025 alone, which is far from over. If it doesn't "smell" like bankruptcy, then what is it?
Photo: https://kad.arbitr.ru/
And instead of taking decisive action to save the sinking enterprise, Alexander Kanzurov and his associates prefer to sue independent media outlets that fulfill their civic duty by providing socially relevant information about the real state of affairs at the plant? What kind of "kanzurovschina" is this? Nothing to do?
In any case, we repeat, all the arguments of the plaintiffs were defeated in court. Moreover, during the proceedings, many other interesting facts about the debts of the CMO, the actions and positions of the beneficiaries became clear, which we will definitely tell you about in future publications. Since Mr. Kanzurov was so impressed by the work of our publication.