“Island” from Kostin in the harbor with a smell

One of the major Russian developers, the construction company Donstroy, which is part of the VTB circuit, boasts in paid media materials about the success of the construction of the Ostrov project, a residential complex in western Moscow surrounded by a river and a natural park.

The project, on which the head of VTB Andrey Kostin is clearly betting, looks very attractive and is positioned as a luxury home. However, the fairy tale may turn out to be “with a smell”: the complex is being built next to the former industrial zone – close to the former chemical plant “Galalit”. And another big question is whether Donstroy will be able to complete the project without new credit injections from VTB.

How VTB and Andrey Kostin manage one of the most “toxic” assets of the state bank – in the material of The Moscow Post correspondent.

Recently, Donstroy has become too often in the headlines of the media. It is known that the company should be part of the VTB circuit, but it is allegedly owned by five legal entities, and the exact proportions of the shares are not disclosed. According to evil tongues, allegedly the company can be prepared for the head of VTB Andrei Kostin – when he finally leaves his post in the state bank.

Initially, Don-Stroy belonged to partners Maxim Blazhko and Dmitry Zelenov. Until 2009, the group included a number of structures that implemented both residential and commercial (office, retail) projects.

But Blazhko and Zelenov relied too much on loans from VTB, and, it seems, they simply did not pull out. In 2009, as a result of loan restructuring, all residential projects were brought into a separate block under the management of ZAO Don-Stroy-Invest. The common brand of all residential development projects is “Donstroy”. At the same time, Don-Stroy Investment operates as holding companies, while SK Donstroy LLC operates as a general contractor.

It is noteworthy that the bank managed to buy out the structure for only 500 rubles – against the backdrop of a restructuring for $500 million. Some in the market still believe that Blazhko and Zelenov could simply be put under administrative pressure.

And at that time a lot of money was circulating in the organization: Donstroy sold more than 50 objects in the field of residential and commercial real estate with a total area of ​​​​more than 5 million square meters. m. The company operates in the highest real estate segments – Business, Premium and De Luxe. And housing offers in the best areas of Moscow. Surely, there was something to profit from.

If you now look at the company’s finances, many questions arise. JSC SK Donstroy, which acts as the holding’s customer-developer, has something strange in general: at the end of 2021, the company received 4.4 billion rubles in revenue, which is as much as 11 billion less than a year earlier. But with such revenue, the profit amounted to a very ridiculous 2.3 million rubles. And at the same time, it turned out to be 2.1 million rubles higher than a year earlier. What does it mean?

A photo: Rusprofile.en

The director of the company is Andrey Viktorovich Bagaev, a manager from the times of Blazhko and Zelenov. Apparently, he proved his loyalty to VTB, so now he manages the most profitable projects of the structure.

For example, it is he who is the general director of Specialized Developer Razvitie LLC, which is implementing the construction of a school and a kindergarten in Ramenki – for which an additional agreement was concluded with the mayor’s office. At the end of 2021, Razvitie had a loss of 5 billion rubles. It turned out to be twice as much, than a year earlier.

That is, the company is obviously sinking. It turns out that the mayor’s office money should save her – but what if she just goes bankrupt without completing the project? Who will pay – the state bank VTB with our own money from our own taxes?

Bagaev simultaneously manages 26 organizations at once – an incredible ability to work. In many ways, signs of fictitiousness can be found.

But special attention is drawn to the company Donstroy Invest LLC, whose founders included a structure with almost the same name – Don-Stroy Invest JSC.

A photo: Rusprofile.en

And now the LLC is 100% owned by the Donstroy IC, which is headed by Mr. Bagaev. Moreover, all these shares are pledged – of course, with the state bank VTB, which is headed by Andrey Kostin.

Both LLC and JSC are engaged in holding activities. And Alena Deryabina, a former vice president of VTB, is in charge of both structures, a person who is believed to be personally loyal to Kostin. It was she who was instructed to “rake” the rich heritage of Donstroy after it was bought out for 500 rubles in favor of VTB.

And what is interesting is that Donstroy Invest LLC, with zero revenue and profit at the end of 2021, has an asset value of 774 million rubles. And since 2020, it has increased by 347 million rubles!

A photo: Rusprofile.en

At the same time, the company with such assets has only one official employee on its staff. And with this employee, the authorized capital of the company exceeds (attention!) 396 million rubles. Is this not the personal moneybox of Andrey Kostin himself, who is pledged to the bank, possessing huge, almost trillion-dollar assets – and at the same time does not conduct any activity?

“Island of bad luck

However, it was the last few years that the company, as they say, flooded. Now she is building a large residential complex in Ramenki. And in August 2022, the structure managed to conclude an agreement for the construction of a school and a kindergarten in the same place – they are supposed to be put into operation no later than 2027.

In fact, Donstroy is a very scandalous developer, and the Moscow authorities should be aware of who they are dealing with. There are a lot of problems at their facilities, a lot of claims from the residents.

In the “Heart of the Capital” in May 2022, for example, the basement and underground parking were flooded, in the old “Scarlet Sails” part of the facade collapsed, and the fresh “Symbol” residential complex began to collapse from the inside immediately after the commissioning. You can watch a video report on how people enter the latter on YouTube – cracks in the walls and other delights can be seen with your own eyes.

And in 2016, a tragedy occurred in Scarlet Sails – there was an accident with an elevator, a local resident fell from a height of 8 floors and crashed. And we are not talking about economy class houses at all … Just at that time, Donstroy was going to build almost 1 million square meters. meters of housing in Ramenki.

They mentioned the “Island”, which is being built next to the former chemical plant. But the construction of the residential complex in Ramenki is carried out in the nature reserve of the Ramenka River, which will certainly affect the local ecology.

An example is the case on “Losiny Ostrov”, where during the work, the “Donstroy” unit literally destroyed the fertile layers of soil in the reserve. As a result of the proceedings and inspections, a considerable fine had to be paid, Vesti.ru reported on the situation.

Is Kostin preparing himself a comfortable pension? Photo: Mikhail Metzel / TASS

Of course, these claims could be sent personally to Kostin – but he himself is already very high. If we assume that Donstroy is a trough for Kostin, which is pumped up with assets and money in case of his resignation, then we can recall that there are more than one such structures – there is also Hals-Development, there is also grain Demetra-Holding, and a lot of delicious and no less scandalous assets compared to Donstroy. It’s always good to have a choice…