Russian chemical giant, TogliattiAzot (TOAZ), is one of the world’s largest fertilizer and ammonia producers. TOAZ’s main activity is in the production of mineral fertilizers and chemical products. Today, the plant includes seven ammonia production units and two for urea, on a site covering over 200 hectares.

Since its founding, TOAZ has played a key role in growing the Russian chemical industry and contributing to the general welfare in the city of Togliatti as well as Samara Region as a whole. It is one of the region’s largest taxpayers, and provides jobs to over 5,000 residents.

The chemical producer is based in the Samara region, about one thousand kilometres south-east of Moscow. With billions of dollars in equity and approximately 5,000 employees, it is one of the world’s largest ammonia producers – most of which is used as fertilizer in agriculture to grow food in dozens of countries on five continents. TOAZ has been designated as being of “strategic economic importance” by the Russian government.

TogliattiAzot’s story began in 1974 with the construction of its first nitrogen plant, as part of a joint venture between Occidental Petroleum and the Soviet Government. In 1985 Vladimir Makhlai was appointed its Director General. Vladimir Makhlai was succeeded by Evgeny Korolev (as CEO) in 2011, while Sergei Makhlai was appointed Chairman of the Board in the same year. Both were removed from their positions in 2015 as part of the illegal corporate raid on TOAZ, now known as “the TogliattiAzot affair.”

During the post-Soviet reforms TOAZ was privatized. Until very recently, the current top management of the company was composed of Chairman of the Board Petr Ordzhonikidze and General Director of CJSC Corporation Togliattiazot Dmitry Mezheedov. Being one of the largest employers in the Samara region, TogliattiAzot has been providing most of the services and social programs to Tolyatti, a city of 720,000 inhabitants.

Thus, TOAZ is the backbone of the economy of Tolyatti and the surrounding region. However, the recent developments of the ammonia producer has been a major reflection of the weaknesses of Russia’s legal system.

The TogliattiAzot affair is a series of events connected to criminal proceedings against the owners and executives of the Russian firm Togliattiazot (TOAZ) and their foreign partners. The company currently finds itself in the midst of a legal dispute over its rightful ownership. For more than a decade, TogliattiAzot’s current and former management, Board of Directors, shareholders, employees and their families have been the target of corporate raiding, Russia style. This hostile takeover and raid of the company has included an unrelenting campaign of intimidation, false accusations and baseless investigations instigated by business rivals with the aid of corrupt Russian officials.

The goal? Stealing the company for a fraction of its true value.  The TogliattiAzot affair and takeover of ToAZ is one of the most prominent examples of corporate raiding, or Reiderstvo, which has become an endemic issue in Russia.

This corporate raid is headed by Dmitry Mazepin, a close associate of Vladimir Putin. Mazepin has been sanctioned by the EU, UK and Canada in response to Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine. He has been recognized as an economic enabler of the Putin regime.

Therefore, to date, TOAZ has been a victim of corporate raiding for nearly 20 years. Mazepin is the mastermind behind the raid, relentlessly trying to take control of the company and its assets.

The first raider attack was orchestrated by oligarch Viktor Vekselberg, who purchased a minority stake in 2005 and tried to gain control over its Board of Directors. After his attempts failed, Vekselberg sold his shares in 2008 to Dmitry Mazepin, the principal shareholder and Chairman of rival company Uralchem.

Since then, Mazepin and his co-conspirators have used all the illegal tricks in the reiderstvo playbook to seize control of TOAZ, from fabricating civil and criminal court cases with the help of corrupt law enforcement and judicial officials to intimidating witnesses, falsifying evidence, and running an aggressive campaign to smear the reputations of anyone standing against them.

Despite a difficult battle against seemingly impossible odds, The BKIT Companies, who are the majority shareholders in TogliattiaAzot, refuse to surrender. The BKITs consist of Bairiki Incorporated, of the British Virgin Islands; Kamara Ltd, of St Lucia; Instantania Holdings Ltd, of the British Virgin Islands; and Trafalgar Trafhold Ltd, of St Lucia.

Furthermore, in 2016, the BKITs initiated legal action in Ireland to fight back. The proceedings were filed against eleven defendants, including Mazepin, Dmitry Konyaev, Eurotoaz Limited, Uralchem and others. The BKITs are seeking damages relating to shares in ToAZ, which are valued at over $2 billion.

Also, in 2019, two of Mazepin’s companies based in Cyprus also provided a promise to the court in Cyprus to not reduce their assets below $1.75 billion and to provide specified financial accounts and statements to the BKITs. These Mazepin controlled companies were subsequently re-domiciled from Cyprus to Russia. However, this re-domiciliation was in breach of Cyprus law, as none of the mandated steps required to legally exit Cyprus were taken by these two companies. This led the BKITs to file a contempt claim against these two Mazepin controlled companies in the Cyprus District Court of Limassol.

Moreover, in 2021, Mazepin and his associates held an Extraordinary General Meeting (EGM). In this meeting, the existing ToAZ Board of Directors were replaced with Mazepin’s own representatives.

This, along with the invasion of Ukraine undermining the rule of law in the Russian courts, led to the successful raid on the BKITs and TOAZ.

While the misuse of the Russian judicial system and lack of respect for the rule of law have been underlying characteristics of the Putin regime, “Save TOAZ” is a public awareness campaign that was created to expose the truth of this reiderstvo case and to shed light on the corruption that has taken place behind the takeover of the largest ammonia producer in Russia.