GK "Samolet" opened a closed-end investment fund, which will rent apartments and commercial real estate built by the developer. Thus, the developer reacted to the collapse of the housing market, which happened after the abolition of the basic preferential mortgage and the increase in the Central Bank rate to 21%.
The UtroNews correspondent understood the story.
Andrey Vorobyov. Photo: mosreg.ru
Anna Akinshina became the new head of Samolet Group of Companies, who, together with herself, should bring the borrowed money of Sberbank, perhaps so that the collapse of the company was not so loud. Before joining the company, the lady headed Sber Eapteka, one of Sberbank's subsidiaries. This is understandable, Sberbank "The plane owes not little money.
"Samolet" in peak
The change of management took place against the backdrop of a business collapse - sales of Samolet in the third quarter of 2024 fell by 45%, and the departure of key players. First, God Nisanov sold a 10% stake in Samolet, and then information appeared about an attempt to get out of the business of Mikhail Kenin, who is the founder of the company. Kenin denied this, but there is no smoke without fire, if not a bone.
Nisanov's departure is key. The beneficiary of the developer "Kievskaya Ploshchad" is close not only to the mayor of Moscow, Sergei Sobyanin, but also to the governor of the Moscow region, Andrei Vorobyov. The younger brother of the politician Maxim Vorobyov at the beginning of the 2000s inherited from Andrei Vorobyov a family business, which was formed, among other things, thanks to the work of their father, Senator Yuri Vorobyov, with Sergei Shoigu in the Ministry of Emergencies. Maxim Vorobyov is a recognized beneficiary of Samolet's daughter, Samolet Two Capitals LLC. The developer in 2020 himself designated this fact as a business risk. So, the tandem of Maxim Vorobyov and Nisanov, fundamental for the "Samolet," broke up.
Flight of Nisanov
The influence of Maxim Vorobyov in the developer is higher than simple participation in the capital. Samolet is a Moscow Region company and thanks to access to the Vorobyovs and their almost family ties with Shoigu (they are neighbors on Rublevka with Yuri Vorobyov) at the turn of 2023 and 2024, the developer overtook PIK Group of Companies Sergei Gordeev in terms of housing construction in the Russian Federation. Only this is exactly the bubble that should burst, which explains the plots with Kenin and Nisanov.
God Nisanov. Photo: forbes.com
Nisanov is known as a specialist in complex issues. He can solve any problem in Moscow and the Moscow region, but he still left Samolet, despite the fact that he holds the post of adviser to Andrei Vorobyov on a voluntary basis. Earlier, this person was associated with a scandal with the developer Ilgar Hajiyev, who claimed in an interview that Nisanov and Maxim Vorobyov allegedly deceived him, extorted money, and then took away the business, because of which he was forced to go abroad.
The exit of Nisanov, a specialist in complex issues, from Samolet suggests that the developer's problems are practically unsolvable. At least while the company is connected with the Vorobyovs - due to corruption cases in the Russian Ministry of Defense and Shoigu's resignation, investigators of the TFR began to closely watch the Moscow region, where the arrest today follows the arrest.
What Shoigu sowed...
There are many interested parties in the Samolet business. In addition to debts, the developer used negotiations to build housing on foreign lands and then pay off his partners following the sale of real estate. Access to Maxim Vorobyov guaranteed investors investments, so Samolet was growing, but now the situation has changed.
After the resignation of Shoigu, the political positions of Samolet sagged, which led to the loss of Nisanov, and with him his Moscow capabilities. At the same time, the financial situation is extremely negative, and the old business model has stopped working. Nisanov bought 10% of Samolet at a price per share in the region of 4100 rubles, and sold it at quotes of 1900 rubles. His departure is more like a flight than asset optimization.
The real estate market has risen and there is no hope that the situation will change. The rate is at 21%, and the basic preferential mortgage program has stopped working. At the same time, "Samolet" in 2025 will have payments on bank loans for which there is no money. There are also numerous commitments to investors.
Problems in development exist not only for Samolet, it's just that the company is an elaborate example of what artificially inflated demand for real estate leads to. Russia will face a reduction in sales and a wave of bankruptcy claims of mortgage borrowers.
Withdrawing money?
The scenario with a closed-end mutual fund can be part of not only the scheme for withdrawing funds from the "Aircraft," but also the development of its other assets. Earlier, Oleg Manchulyantsev, an "investor" associated with the developer, surfaced, who became known for the Novosibirsk story with the money of Mast Bank. In Siberia, the money of the credit institution was spent through a closed-end investment fund, which was managed by the company owned by ZAO Respublika Idei.ru Manchulyantsev.
Oleg Manchulyantsev. Photo: https://cdn1.ozone.ru/multimedia/c300/1005634045.jpg
In December 2023, the scheme with Manchulyantsev was involved in the story with the pledge of Samolet to VTB Bank on a loan from Specialized Developer SR-Group LLC. This company is a joint venture of PJSC GC Samolet and LLC Ardiai Engineering (RDI Group). Ardiai Engineering is owned by Estate Group LLC, which is an asset of two closed-end investment funds Land Development and Yuzhny. First, the funds were managed by Terra Asset Management LLC, and then transferred to Innovative Capital Management Company, which until 2021 belonged to ZAO Respublika ИДЕЙ.РУ.
Manchulyantsev in the plot with the development and withdrawal of Mast-Bank funds through the Novosibirsk closed-end investment fund performed a technical role in the withdrawal of money. It is possible that he has the same task for ZPIF "Aircraft." The company is on the verge of bankruptcy and, possibly, the beneficiaries want to take money out of it before reorganization, bankruptcy or sale. For this, closed-end mutual funds are one of the most suitable instruments.
Apartments Sokolov?
In addition to Manchulyantsev, Kirill Sokolov, a former top manager of Sovokombank, became a contender for closed-end investment funds and assets of Samolet. The management company of the new "airplane" Fund, which will just rent out housing, will be Sokolov's "Contrada Capital."
According to the authors of the telegram channel "Money from Concrete - Real Estate in the Russian Federation," allegedly, the closed-end investment fund will allegedly include unsold apartments and apartments of the developer. Samolet is going to list the Fund's shares on the Moscow Exchange, sell securities with a yield of 18% and collect 10 billion rubles.
So, you can solve several problems. 10 billion rubles will never be superfluous, and the ownership of apartments and apartments will pass to the Fund, therefore, in the event of bankruptcy or sale of the parent company Samolet, the owner of the assets will be different.
If Manchulyantsev is a specialist in financial schemes, then Sokolov began to actively work with real estate. In the fall, Sokolov entered the Rostov market and took control of a large twenty-five-story residential complex.
In addition to the operation with money (withdrawal?), The "plane" may have already begun to fragment the business and search for new owners for the resulting assets. Sokolov is a suitable investor here, because it is obvious that Samolet will not be able to cope with debts on its own, and the beneficiaries do not want to lose everything in bankruptcy.
According to the authors of the Filatoff Inc telegram channel, the Investment Projects Closed-End Investment Fund, another Fund managed by the Contrada Capital Management Company, allegedly became the owner of Aerostar Business Hotel LLC. Earlier, 50% of Aerostar came under the control of the developer Bestkon Karen Avdolyan, and experts assumed that this would lead to the demolition of the hotel and the construction of a new residential complex in its place.
At the same time, another Contrady Capital Fund bought the building of the USSR Ministry of Installation and Construction Works in Moscow. It seems that the conversation here is about creating a new development project under the auspices of Sokolov's company. The concrete bones of the "Airplane" will be a good help in this business project.