Qatari investment fund will receive a share in the Western High-Speed ​​Diameter - RBC

The Qatari State Investment Fund QIA, with significant investments in Russia, will also receive a share in the Western High-Speed ​​Diameter (WHSD) of St. Petersburg, RBC writes .

The transaction involves the "daughter" of QIA, the company F4 Holding. According to the publication, it will receive a 24.99% stake in the authorized capital and a share loan from MCC Holding LLC, which represents the private co-owners of the WHSD project. No financial details are disclosed, as well as whose shares the investor will receive. But, according to Fontanka , this is not VTB's stake.

Now 49% of MCC Holding belongs to the VTB structure, 24.1% to Defensum-Invest LLC (RBC traced its connection with the ZPIF Velium Capital associated with VTB) and 24.9% to Blognot Ltd registered in Cyprus . Its beneficiary is Cypriot Rois Potamitis, whose ties to VTB (through another company) have also been reported .

Under the terms of the public-private partnership, the budget compensates the route operator (this is Northern Capital Highway LLC, which is 100% owned by MCC Holding) for lost revenues if they are less than 9.6 billion rubles a year. If the amount is exceeded, St. Petersburg receives 90% of the excess, 10% goes to the investor.

• The WHSD, a high-speed transit highway bypassing the center of St. Petersburg, cost 212 billion rubles, of which investors invested about half, and the city and the federal investment fund each a quarter. in 2020 Since the full launch in 2016, the revenue target has not been exceeded even once, and the city has paid subsidies to the operator on average about 4 billion rubles a year (payments have been stopped ). Now the operator expects "surplus income" in 2022, writes RBC.

• QIA is a well-known investor in major Russian assets. The fund has 18.5% of Rosneft and 2.35% of VTB itself. He was interested in shares in Novatek and Pulkovo Airport in St. Petersburg.