Photo: Oleg Yakovlev/RBC

RBC learned the reaction of entrepreneurs who lost their business due to the dismantling of retail facilities. Most of them say they have not seen any documents authorizing the demolition.

“Before demolition, the facilities were not even disconnected from electricity”

Entrepreneur: Yulia Lukyanenko, General Director of LUMA LTD LLC

Venue: Leningradsky Prospekt, 58, 60

Area of objects: 69 sq. m

Number of employees: 90 people

Tax payments (2015): n.a.

Revenue (2014): 10.1 million rubles.

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Net profit (2014): 250 thousand rubles.

“We have owned two capital projects on Leningradsky Prospekt (houses 58 and 60) since 2000. In a room of 42.8 sq. m there was a store “Mr. Sumkin" (domestic manufacturer of bags), at 22.2 sq. m - grocery store within walking distance. The owner of a grocery store collected about 1 thousand signatures from local residents dissatisfied with the demolition of the store. Both buildings have a cadastral passport.

Preparations for demolition began at 23:30 on February 8 - the buildings were fenced off by representatives of the city government and police. I did not receive any official notifications, except for the notice of the release of resolution No. 829, which came to me by mail. We knew about the resolution, but it did not imply any clear deadlines. On February 7, the deputy head of the council came and advised us to prepare for demolition, but did not give any clear deadlines. We hoped for a moratorium or at least that each object would be dealt with separately.

Before demolition, the facilities were not even disconnected from electricity. I was on site from 20 o'clock and, as soon as the equipment appeared, I called the tenant. The owner of “Sumkin” spoke for a long time with the deputy prefect, asking for at least one day to remove the goods. But they refused the deferment, offering assistance with transporting the goods. Police and government officials began stuffing bags into garbage bags and compacting them. After that, there was no point in taking them anywhere anymore. The owner of the store lost goods worth 5 million rubles.

The grocery store turned off the lights as a warning, but then power was restored, so on February 8 the store was still full of goods. We are in a hurry to take out everything: bread, kefir, milk. My office is now filled to the brim with products.”

“It was unbearable to resist this government”

Entrepreneur: Alexey Voronin, commercial director of JSC Albatross

Location: 9th Parkovaya Street

Area of objects: more than 3 thousand square meters. m

Number of employees: several hundred people

Tax payments (2015): 15 million rubles.

Revenue (2014): 86.7 million rubles.

Net profit (2014): 6.2 million rubles.

“Our five facilities on 9th Parkovaya Street in Moscow were opened 15 years ago. Attempts to demolish buildings have been made before, starting in 2012, so we have court decisions that say that our buildings are permanent structures.

The first demolition notice came in December 2015. It was a letter from the prefecture, which said that by January 8, 2016, we must demolish our buildings ourselves. But the letter had no signature, no name, no seal. It had no legal force. We were not shown any more documents about the demolition.

Yesterday, February 8, MOEK came in the morning and asked what we get from the city, but we only have gas and water from city communications. Then they turned off our lights in one of the buildings without a warrant or notice. Then the water was turned off. From about 12 noon, Mosgaz services were on duty nearby. By evening they received the command to make an emergency shutdown. But we were not presented with emergency orders. Mosgaz was guarded by police, they had to dig up the pipes. This was the last line before demolition. We stood until the last, but it was unbearable to resist this power. Both owners and employees were left with injuries.

Will we have something new in the future? Don't know. But we will fight for rights and compensation. These are billions of dollars.”

“We were crushed. When we will rise again, I don’t know.”

Entrepreneur: Kristina Babashkina, General Director of MDINA LLC

Location: 1st Aeroportovskaya Street

Area of objects: 250 sq. m

Number of employees: 90 people

Tax payments (2015): n.a.

Revenue (2015): 2.6 million rubles.

Net profit (2015): n.a.

“They started demolishing us on February 8, at 23:00. They called the police, created a cordon and began to break the illegal workers. We tried to find those who manage the process, because technically competent people must demolish objects, but they were not there. No one showed me any documents, no one introduced themselves. Until yesterday there had been no attempts at demolition, but there were notifications: on December 8, 2015, we received a letter from the state inspectorate that we would be demolished. Without official signature.

I don’t understand why the city authorities decided to demolish us. The president says: “Let’s raise small businesses,” but the Moscow government instead destroys small businesses - there’s just devastation everywhere. A normal person cannot understand how this can be.

Where can we move if this was our only business? We had agreements with tenants and established interaction with them. We have nowhere to move, and we don’t have the money for it now. We need to pay off our creditors, our tenants. While we were crushed. When we will rise again, I don’t know.”

“The actions of the Moscow government are provoking people to rallies”

Entrepreneur: Irina Dotsenko, owner of the trade pavilion

Venue: Leningradsky Prospekt, 54

Object area: 40 sq. m

Number of employees: about 10 people

Tax payments (2015): n.a.

Revenue (2014): n.d.

Net profit (2014): n.a.

“Since 2000, I have rented out premises to several small retail outlets - flower shops, grocery stores, and a place selling audio and video cassettes. This pavilion fed four or five families for 15 years.

I started receiving the first warnings about demolition in early December. City council employees came to the tenants and offered to carry out the demolition themselves, at their own expense. Those who demolished the pavilion within 30 days of the warning were promised compensation. But the lawyers with whom I consulted did not find an article in the Moscow budget that provided for the payment of any compensation. Officials issued the decree shortly before the New Year - the timing was right: almost none of the owners of the buildings had time to go to court due to the holidays.

Yesterday, representatives of the city government were the first to arrive and asked us to leave the premises. We refused. Later, people from the police showed up, and to refuse them would mean resisting law enforcement officers and spending the night in the police station. We left the pavilion and it was demolished. Right in front of us, with a tractor, a bucket. They didn’t show me any documents during the demolition: the government representatives had some kind of folder in their hands, but I never found out what exactly was inside.

Now I’m going to file lawsuits against illegal demolition in the Arbitration and Constitutional Courts. The actions of the Moscow government are creating social tension in the city in order to bring people to unauthorized rallies.”

“A very dangerous precedent was set this night.”

Entrepreneur: Vladislav Vasnev, co-owner of the Pyramida shopping complex (this facility has not yet been demolished)

Location: Tverskaya street

Facility area: 1570 sq. m

Number of employees: n.d.

Tax payments (2015): n.a.

Revenue (2014): 134 million rubles.

Net profit (2014): RUB 30.2 million.

“In 1996, a retail facility was built on Tverskaya Street with a total area of about 1.57 thousand square meters. m. We have obtained all the permits necessary for the construction and commissioning of the facility in full compliance with the norms and requirements that were in force in the mid-1990s.

At the end of 2013, Resolution No. 819 of the Moscow government was issued. In part, this document was needed - on its basis, an audit of all questionable objects was carried out. In 2014, we managed to prove in court that our facility was built legally. But from Resolution 819 we moved to Resolution 829, which was issued in December 2015 and provided for unconditional demolition without trial.

That night a very dangerous precedent was created: private property was destroyed on a massive scale in an illegal manner. I don't understand why such drastic actions need to be taken. What is their urgency and feasibility? It was possible to do everything calmly and openly: provide the owners with other opportunities to conduct business, and finally compensate for losses. None of this was done, and under the cover of darkness they came and destroyed the property.

Who is the war against? I think that the authorities’ decision to carry out mass demolition is a mistake. During a crisis, it is impossible to undermine the trust of entrepreneurs in the government and deal with business in this way. The authorities themselves give reasons to scold them.

The problem also lies in the fact that the government itself operates outside the legal framework, which already has every opportunity to push through any decision, but it does not want to act according to the rules that it itself came up with.”

“The authorities give a reason to scold them”