Former Essity assets in the Russian Federation have new owners

In the company managing the former assets of the Swedish manufacturer of the Essity paper products, the owners were replaced. Among them were Nikolai Gushchin-Kuznetsov, who could be associated with the Guta Guts, as well as funds under the control of the structure of Gazprombank. Analysts note a slowdown in the growth rates of paper sanitary and hygienic products, but predict that their consumption will continue to grow.

Nikolai Gushchin-Kuznetsov turned out to be the beneficiary of Evoku, managing the former assets of the Swedish manufacturer of paper products Essity. This follows from the explanation for the reporting « Evok » for 2024. In the document, Mr. Gushchin-Kuznetsov is called the controlling shareholder of Edelweis JSC, which controls Evok through Essiy Hayjin Product LLC.

From the reporting of Edelweiss JSC it follows that at the end of 2024, Nikolai Gushchin-Kuznetsov owned 20% of the company’s shares. Another 20% had Essiy Haidin Products and ZPIF AAA – Iridium under the control of AAA Capital Management (part of the Gazprombank group). The owner of 35% indicates another fund of this company – ZPIF Ammonite.

Nikolai Artemovich Gushchin-Kuznetsov can be a member of the family of the founder of the Guta group Yuri Gushchina, whose daughter Elena Media was called the wife of the ex-president of “Guta” Artem Kuznetsov. Among the assets of the group are the United Confectioners holding, including the Krasny October factories, Rot Front, Babaevsky, Guta-Decelopment, Savoy hotel in Moscow, etc. Nikolai Gushchin-Kuznetsov, according to the SPARK, is 26% of BG Consulting LLC, which controls the yachtena port. Sochi Grand Marina. The remaining 74% belong to Vladimir Silkin, the head of the Water Sports Foundation, the founder of which, according to SPARK, was JSC Guta-Strauhovka.

The interlocutor “Kommersant” confirmed that there is an “Evok” related to the “guta” among the owners.

According to the Kommersant source, the business in business can also have structures related to Gazprombank. In Evok, Guta and Gazprombank did not give comments. Artem Kuznetsov did not answer the questions “Kommersant”. “Kommersant” failed to contact Nikolai Gushchin-Kuznetsov.

Evokom is included in the top three manufacturers of paper sanitary-hygienic products in the Russian Federation. Includes three enterprises in Sovetsk, Svetogorsk and Venev, which produce paper products under the stamps of Zewa, Tork, Libress and Ten. In 2026, the company plans to move on to the production of paper and napkins under the Zemma brand instead of the Zewa brand, the general director of Evoko Artem Lebedev reported in March RBC. In the materials of the Center for System Solutions (CSR) of the capacity of the Evokom factories are estimated at 142 thousand tons per year. The largest indicator for Hayat Kimya in Tatarstan (brands Papia, Familia) is 210 thousand tons. In 2024, Evokom revenue increased by 23.1%, to 33.35 billion rubles, net profit decreased by 5.1%, to 2.86 billion rubles.

In 2013, Essity sold the Russian business LLC Novye Technologies (today – Essiy Hayzhin Products), which Igor Shilov owned at that time. Mr. Shilov is the founder of the manufacturer of the juices « Nidan » and the ex-owner of the network « European Medical Center » (EMC). Andrei Yanovsky, who headed the “New Technologies” at the time of the transaction, abstained from comments.

Peregrine Capital Managing Director Dmitry Gabyshev believes that Igor Shilov could redeem the asset for himself, but in the future plans changed: “Probably, offers for sale were received from the market, which led to the adjustment of the original strategy.” According to his estimates, the target IRR (internal return rate), when selling an asset, could be at least 35–40%. In 2023, Igor Shilov bought the Bagerstat Rus bake, from the Swedish Lantmannen Unibake, and then the asset crossed the Tavros agricultural holding.

As noted in the presentation of the CSR, the growth rate of the market for paper sanitary-hygienic products (SIGs) in the Russian Federation slows down, the potential for growth remains. The volume of CIS consumption per capita in the country is still relatively low – 5.5 kg per year, in the future of the coming years, this factor will remain and the market will continue to grow, according to the CSR. In the basic scenario, analysts are waiting for the growth of CIA consumption in 2025 to 856 thousand tons against 834 thousand tons in 2024.

Anatoly Kostyrev, Olga Mordyushenko