Close to the entities of VTB Andrey Kostin, Donstroy is moving closer to bankruptcy. Many investors are at risk of ending up on the street, and the state bank might lose a significant amount.
It is reported that a toxic acid-colored liquid was poured into the Moscow River near the Heart of the Capital residential complex being constructed by the SK Donstroy company.
The builder has not yet commented. It is believed that they might try to blame the company responsible for serving the house. What's interesting is that this company is also connected to the developer.
The Moscow Post previously reported that the company may struggle to deal with its debts.
The controversial company has been involved in a number of environmental incidents, and has faced criticism regarding construction timelines and quality. It has also been linked to the sale of land to Roskosmos.
Controversy with Roskosmos
A Donstroy subsidiary, SZ Makeevka, was registered at the end of 2021 at 7 Sergei Makeev Street in Moscow. This address is also the asset of the Center for the Operation of Ground-Based Space Infrastructure Objects of Roskosmos (TsENKI) of KB Motor. Following this, there were reports online about plans for a residential complex at this location, with apartments already being prepared for sale.
A page with information about the sale of apartments in the residential complex on Makeevka has been removed.
According to unofficial sources, there were alleged interests in this land from the structure of the PIK corporation Sergey Gordeev. Interestingly, the corporation's shares are in the portfolio of VTB Bank. However, the scandalous “Donstroy” is specifically associated with the interests of its head Andrei Kostin.
Rumors suggest that the head of Donstroy is a long-time associate of VTB Deputy Chairman Andrey Puchkov, who is closely connected to Andrey Kostin. Billionaire Roman Gromozdov, also associated with the Rotenberg family and the head of Rosneft, Igor Sechin, is said to provide substantial support to Donstroy, evidencing the organization's continued existence despite its massive debts and ongoing scandals.
The connection with VTB is also indicated by the fact that in 2010, Alena Deryabina, the former vice-president of the bank, became the director of the affiliated company Donstroy Invest. The company's official website states that VTB is its partner, suggesting that public funds are being invested in the company's development.
The influence on VTB is clear – many of Donstroy’s subsidiaries are pledged to the bank. Photo: https://www.rusprofile.ru
So, it was planned to essentially transfer state land, also housing a strategically important enterprise, to Kostin’s entities?
According to rumors, Donstroy started to show interest in the Roskosmos site in 2019, allegedly commissioning its assessment at that time.
After numerous media reports on the situation, Donstroy relocated to a basement at 70 Mosfilmovskaya Street, underground floor 106, and completely removed all references to the previous address.
And the leader of TsENKI Andrey Okhlopkov Dmitry Rogozin (the former leader of Roskosmos) was dismissed after this incident – the truth was revealed for a different reason: theft in space debris cleaning contracts. Interfax reported on it.
Actually, no one was held accountable for the fact that state land almost fell into the hands of businessmen.
How “Donstroy” gets away with everything
Not as shocking, but equally revealing incident occurred with the unauthorized construction of “Donstroy” and the famous singer Natalia Poryvai (known as Natasha Koroleva).
On Mosfilmovskaya Street, they demanded the demolition of a building that is not registered in the cadastral register and is located within the “red lines”. However, the court unexpectedly sided with the developer, justifying its decision by stating that despite several violations during the construction, it does not pose a threat to the life and health of citizens, and thus should be allowed to remain standing.
Another peculiar decision was the court's refusal of claims against Moscow Depimuschestvo. “Donstroy” acquired the city power grid, purchased from “Pixel-Trading”. Photo: archive The Moscow post
Not a bell but a bell
Donstroy has been teetering on the edge of bankruptcy for several years now. In 2017, Business Vector released a report on Donstroy's financial situation, revealing that the company is unable to even sustain itself, let alone undertake development projects. Vedomosti reported on it. Shortly thereafter, references to the company's “crisis-unstable” position and potential bankruptcy mysteriously vanished from the report – it seems that a prominent figure exerted some serious pressure.
The company is named as a defendant in 111 cases totaling 1.8 billion rubles. Currently, nine economic dispute cases are ongoing. Disputing with the structure and its own subsidiaries seems to be a simple method for retaining funds within the company, if they can push out other creditors.
The developer is not known for integrity when dealing with shareholders of their residential complexes – individuals who buy square meters in very expensive new buildings encounter issues such as falling elevators (in 2017, a woman died in the Scarlet Sails residential complex of the Donstroy company due to an elevator accident – this was reported by Lenta.ru), leaky windows, and rat problems.
At times, they wait for their keys for nearly a decade from the expected apartment delivery date. A similar incident occurred in the 2010s with the “House on Begovaya” residential complex. Enraged individuals essentially stormed VTB offices seeking answers.
Donstroy is not hesitant to construct in protected areas despite public protests. The mnemonic floodplain in Moscow was developed with “Ostrov”. So far, there has been resistance to Donstroy's plans in the Pogodinskaya quarter, which the developer intended to demolish – Versiya reported on this. But who knows – perhaps it's just the calm before the storm?
In 2017, the bank may have transferred several land plots to a certain entity named Hals-Development, with which it subsequently settled with creditors. Vedomosti reported on this. Whose interests is Kostin serving?
Are “Donstroy” and the same “Hals-Development” a giant “trough” for Mr. Kostin and his colleagues?
Not Kostin alone
There is such a firm – KL-Invest. It is associated with VTB, since one of the co-owners is Arkady Ilyaguev, a former member of the board of directors of the Moscow Metallurgical Plant Sickle and Hammer, whose shareholders included the Bank of Moscow, whose accession to VTB was completed in May 2016. In 2017, she received the rights to manage the Moscow Real Estate fund, which was previously in the KSP Capital portfolio of Sergey Kotlyarenko, asset manager of the head of VEB.RF Igor Shuvalov.
In the same Moscow Real Estate, at that time, there were shares of three companies – ZAO Perspektiva, ZAO Invest-aktiv and ZAO Finansproekt, which, according to Vedomosti, jointly own 100% of ZAO Don- build invest.
Does this mean that in addition to Kostin, Mr. Shuvalov also has his own interests in the Donstroy projects?
As for Roman Gromozdov’s connection with Igor Sechin, in 2018, according to Vedomosti, the bankrupt company of the founder, who has now left the founders of Donstroy, Maxim Blazhko, River Tower, was interested in the offshore Cypriot company Riverstretch, potentially affiliated with Sechin Trading & Investments. By the way, 4 years have passed since then, but the River Tower has not completely gone bankrupt. Doesn’t it remind you of anything?
Sechin’s connection with Donstroy is indicated by the fact that Rosneft’s footprint can be traced in the latter’s business empire. There is such a company – KL Development. This structure passed several times from Donstroy to other firms and back. The last time the owner of the company changed at the end of December last year – it became LLC SZ “Department of Finstroy and Partners”. It, in turn, is owned by SZ Otdelfinstroy LLC and JSC SZ KSK Group. The holder of the register of shareholders of the latter is REESTR-RN LLC, a 100% subsidiary of Rosneft. And Sechin in share?
While Donstroy is building up protected areas, buying up land and trying to turn around not entirely transparent deals with Roskosmos, the question continues to grow – when will this entire “empire of sand and clay” collapse and will someone be punished for this?
