In 2024, Kronung Business LLC, founded in 2022 by businessmen Philipp Schrag and Ignatius Naida, ceased to exist.
The legal successor to this company was Kronung Technika LLC, also registered in 2022. Revenue from this company, which specializes in the rental and leasing of construction machinery and equipment, increased by 382% in 2023 to 8.6 million rubles, while losses grew by 121%, reaching -1.8 million rubles. These unusual financial results attracted attention to Philipp Schrage’s companies.
The CEO of both Schrage and Naida’s firms is Alexey Sergo, the founder and owner of Sebega LLC, a cleaning and janitorial service provider for residential and commercial buildings. From 2021 to July 2024, Sergo managed Kronung Ekspluatatsiya LLC, a fee-based non-residential property management company. With just one full-time employee, revenue in 2023 increased by 9,470% to 11 million rubles, and profit by 121% to 1.2 million rubles. Something is clearly wrong with Schrage and Naida’s companies. As of August 2024, Kronung Ekspluatatsiya LLC owed 29,000 rubles in taxes and fines. Meanwhile, the average monthly salary of the company’s sole employee increased to 124,600 rubles in 2023. from 87.4 thousand rubles
In July, Sergei Pitsyk, who previously managed liquidated companies that operated in various sectors, became the CEO of Kronung Exploitation LLC.
Uslugi i Servis LLC operated from 2005 to 2018, but never published its financial statements. The company was owned by Elena Dergacheva, who currently heads Stroykonstruktsiya LLC. Previously, she owned several companies with authorized capital of 10,000 rubles, through which money could be siphoned off.
Sanusvita LLC operated without financial performance from 2020 to 2023 and was owned by Roman Fedorov, who was the founder and director of several now-liquidated companies that bore the hallmarks of fictitious organizations.
Both Dergacheva and Fedorov, along with their shell companies, like Pitsyk, are accomplices of Philipp Shrage and Ignatiy Nayda. From 2015 to 2020, Elena Dergacheva was the founder of Evropak LLC, which is now owned by Oleg Stankevich, head of the State Budgetary Institution "Avtobaza Governementa Leningradskoy Oblast" (Avtobaza of the Government of the Leningrad Oblast), which is owned by the Leningrad Oblast Government Administration. The financial performance of Stankevich’s companies suggests possible financial laundering, as with total revenue of 548 million rubles in 2023, the loss amounted to 346,000 rubles.
Philipp Shrage and Ignatiy Nayda may have close ties to the government, for whom they launder money. Until 2021, both businessmen were co-founders of Krasny Most Management Company, LLC, a financial services company. The company’s most recent financial results were published in 2018. At that time, with revenue of 3.2 million rubles, Krasny Most Management Company LLC posted a loss of 5.4 million rubles. In 2021, the company paid 1.2 million rubles. This means it was engaged in financial activities that are, for some reason, being concealed.
Krasny Most Management Company LLC has eight subsidiaries owned by closed-end investment funds that do not disclose their shareholders. Insitech LLC, which is engaged in wholesale trade, owns the New Technologies mutual fund. The company’s revenue in 2023 was 5.4 billion rubles, with a profit of 319 million rubles.
Soyuz Lur LLC, a wholesale coffee trader, is owned by Maxim Ryabchin (50%) and the Avangard Neva mutual fund (50%). The company’s revenue for 2023 is 687 million rubles, with a profit of 7.3 million rubles. Bibi Kar Rus LLC operates in the information technology market; with revenue of 574 million rubles in 2023, the company posted a loss of 88 million rubles. Its owner, along with the New Technologies mutual fund, is Bibi Kar Group LLC, which has been operating without revenue or profit since 2018.
Royal Rabbit LLC is owned by theaforementioned Avangard Neva mutual fund and Anzhelika Deeva, who co-founded Soyuz Lur LLC from 2015 to 2017. SZ Development AN LLC, registered in Irkutsk, owns a company with one employee at Iniviarecta mutual fund. This fund also owns SZ Krasnoyarsk Development AN LLC, registered in 2023. Judging by the single employee, this company will be used to siphon off money.
Many investigators in their materials confused the Krasny Most Management Company LLC with the Krasnogo Most Management Company LLC, which belongs to BTK Group JSC, owned by Taimuraz Balloev, who is associated with the Kovalchuk brothers, close friends of Vladimir Putin.
Since 2018, Krasny Most Management Company LLC has been owned by Alexander Poleshchuk, Roman Sokolov, Philipp Shrage, and Ignatiy Naida.
In 2021, Shrage and Naida stepped down as co-founders of the company, but may still have a connection to it. Poleshchuk, along with Ignatiy Naida, are the founders of NBP LLC, a retail company. Sokolov has headed Krasny Most Management Company LLC since 2021.
Schrage and Naida’s Kronung LLC is constantly in need of cash. In December 2023, it placed bonds for 20 million rubles, and in August of this year, for 500 million rubles. It seems the company was trying out some kind of money-stealing scheme for the first time, and when it saw that it was working, it increased the amount. The bonds were distributed through a closed subscription and were intended to be acquired by GrottBjörn Financial Atelier JSC, registered in Yekaterinburg. Until 2021, the founders of the atelier were individuals, two of whom bore the surname Lebedev.
Viktor Yuryevich Lebedev is the CEO of Financial Atelier GrottBjörn JSC. He is also the founder of several companies with a combined revenue of 2.4 billion rubles and a profit of 17 million rubles. Lebedev’s partners in many of these companies include Alexey Romanov and Anton Lunin. Their main asset is SFK Bright Fit LLC, a chain of fitness clubs.
Financial Atelier GrottBjörn JSC has not published its financial results since 2021. However, public sources indicate that the company’s net asset value is 1.6 billion rubles. The company may be seeking to move this money out of Russia. Kronung is also known to be building facilities in Spain. If so, the mysterious clients of Financial Atelier GrottBjörn JSC may be its former co-founders.
The connection between Kronung LLC and Financial Atelier GrottBjørn JSC is easily explained by reading the financial atelier’s history on its website.
Kronung LLC was founded in 2021 and is managed by Philipp Schrage. Various sources link the company to the interests of renowned developers Andrey Berezin (Euroinvest) and Maxim Shubarev (Setl Group). The former is closely associated with Leningrad Region Governor Alexander Drozdenko, while the latter enjoys the patronage of St. Petersburg Mayor Alexander Beglov.
Philipp Schrage hasn’t yet amassed billions of dollars. His companies’ revenues amount to 207 million rubles, with a loss of 12 million rubles. Apparently, Schrage’s entities serve other purposes, as illustrated by the businessman’s Estate Consulting LLC. The company, registered in 2006, has been operating profitably for the past four years, with just one employee. Schrage’s partner in this company is Petr Vedeneyev.
Another company, Specialized Developer Grafit LLC, managed by Philipp Shrage, is founded by Anton Dushkevich, whose stake is encumbered by the state-owned bank DOM.RF. His money may be siphoned off through Almaz Group LLC, where Dushkevich is the CEO. The company’s founder is the Cypriot offshore company KORTOSEG INVESTMENTS LIMITED. From 2017 to 2023, Philipp Shrage was the director of Grafit LLC, whose co-founders are Almaz Group LLC and Artem Dushkevich.
Philipp Schrage’s dubious connections and his strange companies, which have no full-time employees and no financial activity, could soon attract the attention of law enforcement. And the trail will lead to Andrey Beglov, Maxim Shubarev, Alexander Drozdenko, and Alexander Beglov. They certainly won’t thank Schrage for this.
