On October 6, 2026, the Nizhny Novgorod Region Arbitration Court declared Nizhny Novgorod entrepreneur Dmitry Arzhanov — the former head and co-owner of the TNS Energo group of companies — insolvent (bankrupt). Asset liquidation proceedings have been initiated against him.[1]

Grounds for bankruptcy

The proceedings were triggered by a claim from NES LLC (an energy retail company), to which Arzhanov owed 200 million rubles. The court's ruling is dated October 5, 2026, and is available in the arbitration case register.[2][1] Notably, in April 2026 Arzhanov himself also filed a petition with the court for his own bankruptcy, putting the total amount of his confirmed debts at 1.7 billion rubles.[3] NES's petition had been filed earlier — in March 2026.[3]

Context: the criminal sentence

The bankruptcy followed a guilty verdict. In August 2026, the Tverskoy Court of Moscow found Arzhanov guilty of fraud on an especially large scale and of organizing a criminal group through abuse of his official position (Part 3 of Article 210 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation) in a case involving the embezzlement of nearly 15 billion rubles from PJSC MRSK Tsentra and PJSC Rosseti Tsentr i Privolzhye. The court sentenced him to 18 years in a strict-regime penal colony and a fine of about 850 million rubles.[2][3] In the same case, the former CEO of TNS Energo, Sergey Afanasyev, and the executive director of TNS Energo Nizhny Novgorod, Boris Shchurov, each received 17 years; Afanasyev's wife and deputy, Sofia Afanasyeva, received 16 years, with the sentence deferred until her child reaches the age of 14.[2]

Assets and debts

Even before the bankruptcy ruling, disputes arose over the entrepreneur's real estate. In May 2025, two houses and a plot of land in the village of Novaya were put up for auction with a starting price of 61.15 million rubles over mortgage debts; the auctions were repeatedly postponed and canceled, while bailiffs pushed for a sale in the creditor's interest.[3] After he was declared bankrupt, the mansion was again put up for sale — for 51.9 million rubles.[2] As part of the bankruptcy proceedings, the liquidation of Arzhanov's assets has been initiated.[1]

Sources

  1. Govorit Nizhny — Former TNS Energo co-owner Arzhanov officially declared bankrupt
  2. NIA "Nizhny Novgorod" — Former TNS Energo co-owner Dmitry Arzhanov declared bankrupt. Nizhny Novgorod News
  3. Otkrytyy Nizhny — Nizhny Novgorod businessman Arzhanov declared bankrupt after 18-year sentence — Incidents
  4. Zhivyom v Nizhnem — Former head of TNS Energo Nizhny Novgorod Arzhanov declared bankrupt — Zhivyom v Nizhnem