Architect Sergei Skuratov announced his withdrawal from the development project of a residential quarter on the site of the Northern River Port. Skuratov quotes his industry sites as saying that he does not want to spoil what he did with his own hands for three years of hard creative work and one year of waiting.
The main claims of the architect are that Yanchukov's company wants to change the project approved by the city, to reduce the area of all apartments by 30-50%. "In a situation where, instead of dialogue, we are offered a monologue or even a customer's dictate, we cannot continue this work and leave the project", Skuratov said.
Previously, these territories completely belonged to Pavel Te's Capital Group and Viktor Vekselberg's Kortos (part of Renova).
Subsequently, these gentlemen let Vasily Selivanov's St. Petersburg development company Legenda into the project. It was also reported that Mangazea was looking at participation in it.
The Moscow Post follows the story and, in fact, predicted the steps of the "developers" of the site. It seems that our "designs" began to come true - if Skuratov leaves the project, then everything is probably moving towards the implementation of a scheme for the multi-level resale of Moscow territories, which begins with the mayor of Moscow, Sergei Sobyanin, and the implementation of "empty projects".
Sergei Skuratov does not want to spoil the project at the direction of Yanchukov. Photo https://archi.ru/architects/russia/10190
"Perekupy" of the lands of Moscow
Initially, the lands of the port, on which it is now not clear what will be built, were included in the "green zone", but then the stroke of Mr. Sobyanin's pen partially passed into the status of a development. The order, which describes in detail the prospect of felling, is on the website of the capital's Government.
Further, the territories were transferred to Capital Group, then Vekselberg appeared in the project, the concept of elite residential development was developed, which took years, and which was prepared by Mr. Skuratov's bureau.
And subsequently, Te and Vekselberg began to gradually sell off their land to other developers. It looks as if, with the sanction of Sobyanin, Moscow territories are being sold at exorbitant prices through "overpasses", which in this case are such mastodons of the market as Tyo and Vekselberg.
One More Beautiful
Together with shares in the project, developers receive the status of cool partners. Or maybe problems. After all, as The Moscow Post found out a few months ago, Selivanova's Legend is not at all in the financial situation to take on the risks associated with the implementation of such a large agreement. And his company may eventually face bankruptcy, and Te and/or Vekselberg will be enriched with a new asset.
Vasily Selivanov. Photo: http://story.dp.ru/legenda
As for Sergei Yanchukov, residents of the city of Moscow should rather worry here. After all, this is, firstly, the son-in-law of the former mayor of Kyiv Leonid Chernovetsky. And what kind of relationship now between our state and Ukraine is known to everyone. So the earnings of a person associated with an unfriendly state in Russia, and even the likely proximity of this person to the first person of the capital, do not play into our hands.
Moreover, the financial statements of Mangazei raise questions - especially the ratio of profit and cost. As "KP" wrote, the net loss for the three quarters of 2018 amounted to almost $13 million. Moreover, a year earlier, Mangazea showed a confident profit of $3.6 million. By the way, in 2014, the group almost became bankrupt at all, but Yanchukov managed to negotiate with creditors.
Secondly, in the labor biography of Yanchukov, too, everything is by no means cloudless. In addition to the fact that he managed to visit the pre-trial detention center due to wage arrears to employees, his former partners accused Yanchukov, roughly speaking, of raiding.
Sergei Yanchukov has been accused of raider seizures more than once. Photo: Forbes
Maxim Finnish filed a lawsuit against Yanchukov for "business seizure using threats, blackmail and criminal prosecution".
And Viktor Lituev assured that Yanchukov did not pay him for the shares of the Itaka Gold Mining Company. Moreover, if in this case the court sided with a relative of an influential Ukrainian politician, then in the first case the Finnish returned its own. But Yanchuk did not suffer punishment.
Moreover, in 2019, the unfortunate Lituev was detained on suspicion of embezzlement, but in the end the case against him was found to be fabricated. Didn't Yanchukov try to put his former partner in jail?
What are the prospects for a project in which there is such a comrade is a serious question. Taking into account the reputation of the figure, it seems that he was called to the project not to build, but to "squeeze". The same Legend from the same Vasily Selivanov.
On the other hand, it is not clear why such a case was not "contracted" by Vekselberg's partner in Kortos Holding, Veniamin Golubitsky, whose personality is also associated with a lot of semi-reader stories. Golubitsky was also credited with ties with the Uralmash organized crime group, where he was allegedly even given the nickname - "Bucks". Until recently, Golubitsky could withdraw money from the Vekselberg pocket either together with the chief or in secret from him to TONSTON INVESTMENTS LIMITED offshore. Since the same "Kortos Holding" was decorated for it.
Perhaps it's all about money. Yanchukov could pay well for the "entrance".
Moreover, The Moscow Post suggested that Yanchukov's partners have another ambiguous Ukrainian businessman Denis Bass (a former vice-measure of Kyiv), who is organizing an expansion into the Moscow market. Are the lands of the river port acquired with him in partnership and will profits be shared with him in the future?
Denis Bass. Photo: https://kartoteka.io/news/23119-zachem_cbehavshij_vitse-mer_kieva_denis_bass_nuhen_usmanovu_i_skochu
Big Sale named after Te
But let's go back to Mr. Te. The "Big Sale" seems to be conducted with its direct participation - and not for the first time. In 2022, it became known that Capital Group took as its development partners TPU Sorge the developer Avilon. This is an Arkhangelsk developer associated with the interests of the family of a local deputy. The developer is credited with setting fire to old houses to clear areas for construction.
There are other cases. In January of this year, "Vedomosti" drew attention to the fact that the founder of the development company Summa, Georgy Pliev, created the company Specialized Developer 1st Krasnogvardeisky. And one of its leaders was the investment director of Capital Group Anatoly Romantsov. At the same time, Pavel Te's company has a project in the 1st Krasnogvardeisky passage. It seems that we are talking about another partnership "with a view of big money".
Pliev is associated with the scandalous development company MR Group Roman Timokhin, because Pliev was a top manager there. It seems that it is some special pleasure to let ambiguous personalities into projects. And perhaps it's just more financially beneficial. A kind of "second chance" program from Mr. Sobyanin with a high entry threshold.
Recently included in the GC "Osnova" company "Specialized developer" Artstroy" bought 15 hectares of the territory of the former industrial zone" Car Repair "in the northern part of Moscow at a price of about 35 million rubles per ha. At the same time, earlier, Capital Group acquired three hectares of the same Car Repair territory - spending a total of only 9.5 million rubles. "Reseller" took his share?
"Humanity" instead of the park
In total, what we see: the next project, which was originally intended by Capital Group, was in the hands of developers with an ambiguous reputation. The first "swallows", which indicate that the territory can be as cheap as possible (in terms of building quality) for the consumer, but not for themselves (the price of future apartments is unlikely to change), have already flown with Pavel Skuratov.
Quoting the industry website archi.ru, "we are leaving the North River Port project. We do not want to spoil with our own hands what we did for three years of intense creative work and one year of waiting. It is planned to reduce the area of all apartments by 30-50%, significantly simplify and reduce the cost of facades, reduce the height of windows to 1.8 m, abandon windows "to the floor", from all consoles and from an expressive, from an architectural point of view, plastic buildings. We were offered to increase the buildings of low altitude, to reduce the dominants".
In this situation, Sergei Sobyanin, Pavel Te "and the company" most likely remain in profit. Who else a friendly company of officials and businessmen will attract to the implementation of the plan - one can only guess.
Will consumers get the destruction of green zones and the creation of "katon humanity" in their place?