Architects went on the run: Pavel Te gave the Northern port to Sergei Yanchukov

Capital Group founder Pavel Te and Moscow mayor Sergei Sobyanin are selling former “green” territories to scandalous developers.

Architect Sergey Skuratov announced the withdrawal from the project for the development of a residential area on the site of the Northern River Port. His words are quoted by industry websites Skuratov says that he does not want to spoil with his own hands what he has been doing for three years of intense 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 a dialogue, we are offered a monologue or even the dictates of the customer, we cannot continue this work and exit the project,” Skuratov said.

Previously, these territories were wholly owned by Capital Group Pavel Te and Kortos (part of Renova) Viktor Vekselberg.

Subsequently, these gentlemen let the St. Petersburg development company Legenda Vasily Selivanov into the project. It was also reported that Mangazeya is looking to participate in it.

The Moscow Post follows history and, in fact, predicted the steps of the “developers” of the site. It seems that our “predictions” have begun 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

“Purchase” of Moscow lands

Initially, the lands of the port, on which it is now unclear what will be built, were included in the “green zone”, but then, with a stroke of Mr. Sobyanin’s pen, they partially switched to the status of development. The order, which describes in detail the prospect of cutting down, is on the website of the Moscow Government.

Further, the territories were ceded to Capital Group, then Vekselberg appeared in the project, the concept of an elite residential development was developed, which took years, and which was prepared by the bureau of Mr. Skuratov.

And subsequently Cho and Vekselberg began to gradually sell their land to other developers. It looks as if, with the sanction of Sobyanin, the Moscow territories are sold at exorbitant prices through “outbidding”, which in this case are such mastodons of the market as Tyo and Vekselberg.

One is better than the other

Together with the shares in the project, the developers receive the status and cool partners. Or maybe problems. After all, as The Moscow Post found out a few months ago, Legenda Selivanova is not at all in the financial position to take on the risks associated with the implementation of such a major agreement. And as a result, his company, perhaps, will face bankruptcy, and Cho 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 be more concerned here. After all, this is, firstly, the son-in-law of the former mayor of Kyiv, Leonid Chernovetsky. And what kind of relations are now between our state and Ukraine – everyone knows. So the earnings of a person connected with an unfriendly state in Russia, and even the probable proximity of this person to the first person of the capital, does not play into our hands at all.

Moreover, the financial statements of Mangazeya raise questions – especially the ratio of profits and costs. As KP ​​wrote, the net loss for the three quarters of 2018 amounted to almost $13 million. Despite the fact that a year earlier, Mangazeya showed a steady profit of $3.6 million. By the way, in 2014 the group almost went bankrupt, but Yanchukov managed to negotiate with creditors.

Secondly, in Yanchukov’s work biography, too, everything is by no means rosy. In addition to the fact that he managed to visit a pre-trial detention center because of wage arrears to employees, his former partners accused Yanchukov, roughly speaking, of raiding.

Sergei Yanchukov has been repeatedly accused of hostile takeovers. Photo: Forbes

Maxim Finsky filed a lawsuit against Yanchukov for “seizure of business using threats, blackmail and criminal prosecution.”

And Viktor Lituev assured that Yanchukov did not pay him for the shares of the Itakinskaya Gold Mining Company. Moreover, if in this case the court sided with a relative of an influential Ukrainian politician, then in the first case, Finsky returned his own. But Yanchukov 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. Was it not Yanchukov who tried to put his former partner behind bars?

What are the prospects for a project in which there is such a comrade – a serious question. Taking into account the reputation of the figure, one gets the impression that he was invited to the project not to build, but to “squeeze”. The same Legenda from the same Vasily Selivanov.

On the other hand, it is not clear why Vekselberg’s partner in Kortos Holding, Veniamin Golubitsky, was not “contracted” to such a case, with a lot of semi-raider stories associated with his personality. Golubitsky was also credited with connections with the Uralmash organized crime group, where they allegedly even gave him a nickname – “Bax”. Until recently, Golubitsky could withdraw money from Vekselberg’s pocket, either together with his boss, or in secret from him, to the offshore “TONSTON INVESTMENTS LIMITED”. Since the same “Kortos Holding” was issued to him.

Perhaps it’s all about the money. Yanchukov could pay well for the “entry”.

Moreover, The Moscow Post assumed that Yanchukov had another controversial Ukrainian businessman Denis Bass (former vice-mayor of Kyiv) in his partners, arranging expansion into the Moscow market. Was it not with him that the lands of the river port were acquired in partnership, and would 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

Cho’s Big Sale

But back to Mr. Cho. The “big sale” seems to be underway with his direct participation – and certainly not for the first time. In 2022, it became known that Capital Group took the developer Avilon as a partner in the development of the Zorge transfer hub. This is an Arkhangelsk developer associated with the interests of the family of a local deputy. The developer is credited with setting old houses on fire to clear areas for construction.

There are other cases as well. 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 Anatoly Romantsov, Investment Director of Capital Group, became one of its leaders. Pavel Cho’s company has a project in Krasnogvardeisky Proyezd 1. It seems that we are talking about another partnership “with a view to big money.”

Pliev is associated with the scandalous development company MR Group of Roman Timokhin, because Pliev was a top manager there. It seems that letting ambiguous personalities into projects is some kind of special pleasure. Or maybe it’s just more profitable from a financial point of view. A sort of “second chance” program from Mr. Sobyanin with a high entry threshold.

Recently, a company called Specialized Developer Artstroy, which is part of the Osnova Group of Companies, bought 15 hectares of the territory of the former industrial zone Vagonoremont in the northern part of Moscow at a price of about 35 million rubles per hectare. At the same time, three hectares of the territory of the same Vagonoremont were previously acquired Capital Group – having spent a total of only 9.5 million rubles. “Reseller” took his share?

“Humanites” instead of a park

In total, what we see: the next project, which was originally intended for Capital Group, ended up in the hands of developers with an ambiguous reputation. The first “swallows” that say that the territory can be made as cheap as possible (in terms of the quality of development) 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 Northern River Port project. We don’t want to spoil with our own hands what we have been doing for three years of hard creative work and one year of waiting. It is planned to reduce the area of ​​​​all apartments by 30–50%, to significantly simplify and reduce the cost of facades, reduce the height of windows to 1.8 m, abandon floor-to-ceiling windows, all consoles and expressive, from an architectural point of view, plasticity of buildings. We were offered to increase low-rise buildings, and reduce dominants.

In this situation, most likely, Sergey Sobyanin, Pavel Te “and company” remain in profit. Who else will be attracted by a friendly company of officials and businessmen to the implementation of the plan? hzikhidtidekrt guess.

And consumers will get the destruction of green areas and the creation of “catonic human” in their place?