The company can get involved in social housing

The construction company Hals-Development received a share worth 14 billion rubles. in City Land Group (SLG) Dmitry Yakubovsky, a long-time partner of its main shareholder, VTB Bank. For a developer specializing in luxury homes and historical properties, this could become a new direction of development - SLG has almost 7 thousand hectares in the Moscow region for development of social housing and warehouses.

Photo: Ivan Makeev, Kommersant / buy photo

The construction company Hals-Development (51.2% owned by VTB) yesterday announced the assignment of claims under a loan agreement in exchange for a share in the capital of City Land Group Company LLC. In monetary terms, the deal is valued at RUB 14.04 billion. (14.8% of the value of Hals-Development assets at the end of 2013), the message indicates. The size of the acquired share is not disclosed. Hals-Development and VTB declined to comment on the deal. According to Kartoteka.ru , SLG is already 19.9% owned by VTB, and another 80.1% is owned by Invest City LLC. It, in turn, is controlled by the structures of the Swiss Engelberg Industrial Group of businessman Dmitry Yakubovsky. Among the owners of Invest City is also the former prefect of the Northern Administrative District of Moscow Oleg Mitvol. He confirmed to Kommersant that he owns 5% of this company.

Dmitry Yakubovsky told Kommersant yesterday that Hals-Development bought out the additional issue of SLG. “The rest of the shareholders have not changed, VTB is still among them,” he clarified. City Land Group has land in the Stupino and Mozhaisk districts of the Moscow region - 2.7 thousand and 4 thousand hectares, respectively. “These are actually future square meters of real estate. For Hals-Development this is a possible future site, but for now the company acts as a dormant shareholder,” explained Mr. Yakubovsky. Social housing, two logistics complexes will be built on the available land, and two sites will be created for the withdrawal of a number of Moscow enterprises. The land in the Mozhaisk district is located next to the toll backup of the Minsk highway, the construction of which continues, although part of it was already launched at the beginning of the year.

Dmitry Yakubovsky is a long-time partner of VTB. Since 2007, he has been involved in projects with Vladimir Yevtushenkov’s Sistema-Hals, and when the company was transferred to VTB in 2009, he became a partner of the state bank. Before going into business, he worked for the state, holding various positions in the USSR Ministry of Defense, the Prosecutor General's Office, and FAPSI. His Engelberg Industrial Group was created in March 2011, and since 2012 it has been managed by the famous Swiss politician Bruno Zuppiger, who previously left the country's National Council after accusations of fraud. The Engelberg Industrial Group also has assets in Switzerland, in particular a small hotel in Engelberg, purchased from a local monastery.

At the end of 2013, Hals-Development had a significant debt of $4.5 billion. Its main creditor was VTB. “Given the size of the company’s debt, it might be worth focusing on current projects,” suggests Sberbank-CIB analyst Yulia Gordeeva. Currently, Hals-Development's portfolio of projects includes the reconstruction of the Central Children's World on Lubyanka, the Beijing Hotel, the construction of a multifunctional center in Moscow City, the Literator residential complex in Khamovniki, the Wine House in Zamoskvorechye, and Heritage at the metro station "Preobrazhenskaya Square".

Ekaterina Gerashchenko

"Hals-Development" will become closer to the people