Translated material
Greenberg will settle on Paveletskaya
The company of the former head of AIG will build an 11-story office center and hotel in the center of Moscow
Maurice Greenberg, the former head of the world's largest insurance company AIG, is buying a stake in a Moscow project to build an office center near the Paveletsky railway station. Interfax reported this yesterday. The American Starr Investments Cayman, part of Mr. Greenberg's Starr International Company, Inc, acquired a “substantial stake” in the development company Discovery Russian Realty Paveletskaya Project Limited. It is worth noting that Mr. Greenberg showed interest in investing in Russian real estate while still the head of AIG. After all, it was under his rule that AIG created a real estate investment division in Russia . Maurice Greenberg left AIG in March 2005 (he worked there for more than 40 years), after accusing the company of accounting misrepresentations and profit manipulation (in 2006, it paid about $1.6 billion to US federal authorities as compensation).As stated in a press release from Starr Investments, as part of a joint project with Discovery Russian Realty Paveletskaya Project Limited, it is planned to build an 11-story class “A” office complex and a hotel with 170 rooms in the center of Moscow. Investments in the project are not disclosed.
Earlier this year, Starr Investments announced that it was going to invest hundreds of millions of dollars in Russian real estate. At the same time, Mr. Greenberg’s structure manages $3.5 billion, and Forbes magazine estimates his fortune at $3 billion. It was assumed that Starr Investments Russia would focus on investments in office centers, housing and hotels, first in Moscow, The Wall Street Journal reported. It was planned to buy not only real estate, but also land.
Investing in Russian real estate by purchasing a stake in a development company active in the Russian market has become popular among foreign investment funds. Thus, the American Morgan Stanley bought a 25% stake in the leading Russian development company RBI Holding. It is worth noting that investments in Russian real estate of several hundred million dollars no longer surprise anyone. Most foreign funds claim amounts in excess of $1 billion.