07 June 2011, 15:43 Business

Moscow is selling National

Moscow plans to sell the National Hotel

Igor Bakharev Moscow plans to sell the National Hotel; the city government proposes to make appropriate amendments to the privatization plan. The sale could bring 2 to 5 billion rubles to the Moscow budget. The fact that the hotel will be put up for auction indicates the abandonment of plans to expand Luzhkov's Hotel Company, the market is convinced.

The Moscow authorities intend to sell Hotel National OJSC. The corresponding changes are expected to be made to the decree “On the medium-term program for the privatization of state property of the city of Moscow for 2011–2013,” says the draft decree of the capital government, published on the website of the city property department (DIGM). Prior to this, the hotel was on the list of organizations whose shares the mayor's office intended to retain in the capital's ownership.

National Hotel National is located in the center of Moscow, at the intersection of Mokhovaya and Tverskaya streets. It was built in 1903 and has the status of a historical and architectural monument of federal significance. In September 2010, the hotel was transformed from a state unitary enterprise (SUE) into an open joint-stock company. 100% of the company's shares are on the balance sheet of the Moscow Property Department.

The amount that the city is going to receive for National is still unknown, the Moscow Property Department told Gazeta.Ru. “The assessment of the asset has not been completed,” Anna Amosova, a representative of National, confirmed to Gazeta.Ru. Titan Appraisal LLC, to which the city entrusted the appraisal work, could not answer the question of when it would be completed.

Hotel National is the only representative of the elite group of hotels The Luxury Collection in Russia; for more than a hundred years it has remained a symbol of luxury. 37 of the hotel's 201 rooms are classified as "unique suites" decorated with antique furniture and paintings. The cost of the “presidential suite” at the hotel is off the charts at 80,000 rubles per night, while the price of the cheapest room is 15,000 rubles. The hotel’s net profit, according to Amosova, is more than 100 million rubles a year. “Pre-crisis indicators were up to 400 million rubles. per year,” she adds.

“The cost of the project could be 2 billion rubles,” says Alexey Mogila , director of the retail real estate department at Penny Lane Realty . “We should calculate the price of National based on pre-crisis estimates,” argues Blackwood managing partner Konstantin Kovalev . “Therefore, the price of the hotel could reach up to 5 billion rubles, especially considering that the National is being sold entirely, with all the decoration and antiques.”

Moscow will sell The Moscow government also wants to include a number of other objects on the privatization list. In particular, Moscow's shares in the Scientific Research Institute of the Rubber Industry, the City Light Rail Transport System, and the Central Suburban Passenger Company will be sold. The “Moscow Cultural and Business Center-House of Moscow” in Riga, the “Moscow City Pawn Shop Plant”, Luzhkov’s favorite “Moscow-Medynsk Agro-Industrial Enterprise”, as well as the “City Information and Referral Service” (GISS), “Technopark-Zelenograd” will be sold. , Aviation Enterprise “Golden Ring” and a number of other companies.

, head of the public relations and media relations department of the Moscow Property Department If the draft resolution is approved, the hotel will be put up for auction, says Tatyana Zubanova . “The demand for National will be very high, it is a very liquid asset,” Kovalev is sure. According to him, a number of international investors are interested in purchasing the hotel.

Deputy head of the Institute of Urban Economics Lyudmila Padella-Sorosa considers the sale of National to be logical both from the point of view of the latest decisions of the Moscow government and from the point of view of the law “On Local Self-Government”: “The city is getting rid of non-core assets, does not want to manage and maintain them , even if they are profitable. The treasury and budgets are fed mainly by taxes. They shouldn’t receive money from profits; there are businessmen for that, who will manage the hotel.”

“Apparently, Sobyanin decided to abandon the Hotel Company and wants to show once again that he does not need Luzhkov’s inheritance,” one of the market experts assesses the decision to put the hotel up for auction. Back in 2010, the administration of Yuri Luzhkov planned to transfer National to the balance sheet of OJSC Hotel Company, which the city created in December 2009. The Moscow City Hall owns 80% of the OJSC, the remaining share belongs to Estee Lauder co-owner Ronald Lauder . The Hotel Company controls a network of 11 hotels in Moscow of the two-three star category with a total room capacity of 4.5 thousand rooms, maintains its own management company “VashHotel” and a number of other projects. The company's authorized capital exceeds 62 billion rubles.