"Russia" was returned to Chigirinsky

The Moscow Arbitration Court recognized the results of the competition for the reconstruction of the hotel as valid

The court case to invalidate the contract for the reconstruction of the Rossiya Hotel , carried out by Shalva Chigirinsky's ST Development company, ended in favor of the developer. As is known, the losing side - the Monab company (a subsidiary of Eurofinance-Mosnarbank) - demanded that the competition held by the Moscow government be recognized as a sham, and it managed to do this throughout the year. Last Friday, the Moscow Arbitration Court confirmed the legality of the agreements concluded by the Moscow government with ST Development, including an investment contract, a lease agreement for the land plot under the Rossiya Hotel for the duration of construction and an agreement with the winner of the competition. Commenting on the court's decision, Mr. Chigirinsky said: “We had no doubt that we were right and that we would be able to prove it in court. We have been working seriously on this project for a long time and are confident that we will implement it in the best possible way.” Lawyer of the Moscow Chamber of Lawyers Olga Glazkova, who represented the interests of ST Development in court, called the court decision legal, but noted that the losing party has the right to appeal it. Monab has not yet been reached for comment.

In the competition held in November 2004 to identify a developer-investor for the implementation of the project for the demolition of the Rossiya Hotel and the construction of a multifunctional complex on its territory, in addition to ST Development, the Austrian concern Bauholding Strabag AG (with Dubai Investments from the UAE as a co-investor) took part. CJSC "Monab" and LLC "Consign". As a result, the structure of Shalva Chigirinsky won, offering the smallest amount of investment - $ 830 million. The Moscow government entered into an agreement with ST Development obliging it to regulate relations with the owners and tenants of the hotel. In January 2006, a lease agreement for a plot of land for construction was signed, and in July of the same year an investment contract was signed, according to which ownership of the new complex is divided between the company, which receives 51%, and the Moscow government - 49%.

The reconstruction project of the Rossiya Hotel assumes that the hotel space will occupy 99 thousand square meters. m, it is planned to allocate 57 thousand sq. m. for trade purposes. m. The area of ​​the social and cultural zone will be 89.5 thousand square meters. m (of which 30 thousand sq. m will be occupied by the museum). 75 thousand square meters are allocated for parking. m. The apartments will occupy 10 thousand square meters. m. The complex provides for the construction of a concert hall with 2.5 thousand seats and a unique - the largest in the country - philharmonic hall with 1.2 thousand seats.

Monab, which planned to invest $2 billion in the project, was dissatisfied with the results of the competition. On February 25, 2005, it filed a claim with the Moscow Arbitration Court against the capital government. Representatives of Monab stated that the competition commission was created in violation: it should have been appointed by the body conducting the competition, and not by the mayor by order. In addition, the plaintiff argued that the decision to select a developer was drawn up in an improper form (without indicating the names and addresses of the competition participants), and the protocol of consent of the person who won the competition was signed by Shalva Chigirinsky on November 20, although the competition was held on November 29. In its lawsuit, Monab demanded to cancel the government order and the decision of the competition commission to select ST Development as the winner.

On October 24, 2006, the Supreme Arbitration Court satisfied the claim of Monab, and on January 23, 2007, the Presidium of the Supreme Arbitration Court invalidated the decisions of the competition commission, as well as the corresponding order of the Moscow government approving its results. In March, the investment contract with ST Development was also declared invalid.

The situation was changed by a meeting of the Moscow Arbitration Court on August 16. It was then that the court case turned out not in favor of Monab. The court refused to request from the capital's government the minutes of the meeting on the reconstruction of the Rossiya Hotel dated June 8, 2004, which, according to Monab's lawyers, proves ST Development's participation in the project even before winning the competition. According to the plaintiff, these documents could serve as evidence that the transaction was a sham. And last Friday the court completely sided with ST Development.

It is worth noting that this is not the only trial in which Shalva Chigirinsky is involved. In July 2007, it became known that the Moscow Arbitration Court had received three lawsuits against the Moscow government, challenging the auction for the sale of the Sovetsky Hotel and the agreement with the buyer, the Sovetsky Limited company, controlled by Mr. Chigirinsky. The lawsuits were filed by a hotel tenant who believes the auctions are illegal due to court injunctions against them. The Sovetsky Hotel was purchased by Chigirinsky's company at an auction on June 19 for $63 million. According to ST Development representative Ilya Levitov, who commented on the deal to the Vremya Novostei newspaper at the time, the company has big plans for this property, although the concept has not yet been developed. However, it is known that Shalva Chigirinsky has a plot of land nearby, which he intends to develop together with the Sovetskaya Hotel.

Daria DENISOVA