“Dosflota, 10” under offshore cover
In whose interests is Galaxy Group building up the coastline in South Tushino?
A scandal with the construction of the Dosflota 10 apartment complex in Yuzhny Tushino is gaining momentum in the capital. The project is being implemented by the development company Galaxy Group, whose actions are subjected to harsh criticism from local residents and civil activists who oppose the development of the coastline of the Khimki reservoir. Members of the public remind the Moscow authorities of the legislative ban on development work within a 100-meter coastal strip, as well as the previously announced plans of the municipality to create a natural-historical and sports park on the built-up area. Deputy Prime Minister Marat Khusnullin is called a high-ranking construction lobbyist, through whose efforts VTB joined the project as an investor, whose head Andrey Kostin repeatedly invested budget funds in development projects. Meanwhile, more and more questions are being raised by the developer company Galaxy Group itself, which has no legal status and is an association, including dubious unprofitable companies affiliated with offshore companies. In particular, there were reports that the developer was the Kapital-Invest company, one of the beneficiaries of which Alexander Mineev is closely connected with the co-owner of Loko-Bank Mikhail Rabinovich, who at one time turned out to be a participant in a high-profile scandal with obtaining “railroad” contracts. In addition, the Galaxy Group, together with the PIK group of Sergey Gordeev, participated in the construction of the English Quarter residential complex and the Butovo Park residential complex. The last project was attended by the Stripe + company, which was suspected of withdrawing money from equity holders to offshore companies. The head of this liquidated company today was Sergei Chepurok, who was directly related to Capital-Invest. It is also known that the former CEO of Galaxy Group, Yevgeny Shtraukh, was previously a top manager of Pavel Te, Capital Group, who, like Sergey Gordeev, is considered a businessman close to the Moscow mayor’s office. Given VTB’s investments, the construction in Novy Tushino attracts the attention of not only officials and developers, but also dubious businessmen, whose structures can be used to transfer the state bank’s funds to offshore.
Luxury apartments in a restricted area?
In South Tushino, in the North-West of Moscow, the Galaxy Group developer is actively building the Dosflota 10 apartment complex. As stated on the website of the project, the object is surrounded on three sides by the picturesque coastal zone of the Moscow Canal, from which it is “100 meters …, literally on the embankment.” The order on the preparation of the territory planning project was signed by Alexander Ilyin, deputy chairman of the Moscow Committee for Architecture and Urban Planning, last March. It follows from the text of the document that VTB Bank is participating in the project, which was instructed to ensure the execution of a draft technical assignment for the preparation of a draft territory plan indicating technical and economic indicators within two weeks.
It should be noted that over the past few years, residents of South Tushino and civil activists have been fighting against the development of the coastline of the Khimki reservoir. They sent numerous complaints and appeals to the government of the capital, the State Duma, the Prosecutor General’s Office, addressed to the head of state, etc.
Among other things, it is emphasized that the water area of the reservoir and the territory of the first slope are assigned to the 2nd zone of the sanitary protection zone (ZSO), where capital development is strictly prohibited within the 100-meter coastal strip. In addition, back in 2018, citizens unanimously supported the initiative of the Moscow City Hall to create a natural-historical and sports park on the territory of the coastal zone. The appeal addressed to Sergei Sobyanin mentions 50 million rubles allocated for the preparation of the park project and design and survey work.
Just today, another business plan has prevailed over the idea of creating a park area, and according to public figures, “the shock construction of two buildings of residential super-apartments for wealthy clients” is carried out 60 meters from the water – “in a 100-meter coastal lane.” In April last year, trailers were removed from the construction site, which the residents regarded as a step towards a meeting from officials, but soon the hope dissipated like smoke.
“Galaxy Group” “chick of the nest” “PIK” and … Marat Khusnullin?
The main lobbyist for the construction of the Dosflot 10 complex is called Marat Khusnullin, the current deputy prime minister, who previously held the post of deputy mayor of Moscow for urban planning issues. Such high patronage can be explained by the participation in the project of the state bank VTB, whose head Andrey Kostin was “in the know” is clearly no coincidence.
In this context, Galaxy Group, listed as the developer, is of great interest, carrying out “a full cycle of development from investment and design to construction and operation.” Yulia Zamorova is listed as its CEO on the company’s website. But in an extensive publication published last March in Kommersant devoted to the scandalous object, Galaxy Group is listed as one of the “creators of the project”, and Kapital-Invest JSC is named as the developer. This structure is officially registered in Moscow, at the address: st. Svobody, 50 p.3, block B, pom. 10. It is clearly no coincidence that the sales office of Dosflot, 10 is located here.
In general, with a more detailed study of the issue, bewilderment may arise. On the website of the Galaxy Group itself, the date of its creation is 2008. The company is presented as a participant in the renovation program, but only for such a long time it was able to implement only two full-fledged projects – the Butovo Park residential complex and the Alfa Centauri residential complex in Khimki. In turn, on the Alpha Centauri website, it is said that back in 2007 (that is, a year before its founding) Galaxy Group became a co-investor in the English Quarter Residential Complex project, implemented jointly with Sergey Gordeev’s PIK group .
This circumstance clears things up. Recall that PIK is considered a long-term business partner of the Moscow mayor’s office: in 2018, the group turned out to be the largest contractor of the capital’s Renovation Fund with a contract volume of 40 billion rubles. As we know, Khusnullin, who soon went on promotion, was responsible for the construction in the “white stone” at that time. It turns out that “Galaxy Group” up to a certain point could function “under the wing” of “PIK”?
From Capital-Invest to Rabinovich and Loko-Bank
But let’s get back to JSC Specialized Developer Kapital-Invest. This company with an authorized capital of 100 thousand rubles and the only employee in the state is very reminiscent of a banal gasket company. So, according to the results of last year, in the absence of revenue, its losses amounted to 351 thousand rubles; in 2020, the revenue was also zero, losses – 74 thousand. With these indicators, the company clearly does not pull on a solid developer.
Elena Suslina is the CEO of Capital-Invest; the founder is Vekta LLC, co-owned by Alexander Mineev, Tatyana Elskene and Sergey Chepurok. Note that on the Galaxy Group website, Ms. Suslina is listed as the head of the sales department, and Ms. Elskene as the development director. In parallel, Suslina runs the Loko-Realty real estate agency, owned by Yulia Zamorova, already mentioned above. This structure also does not shine with financial indicators: last year, with a revenue of 480 thousand rubles, the profit amounted to 272 thousand; in 2020, there was no revenue, losses were declared in the amount of 3.5 million.
Experts have repeatedly noted that Galaxy Group is not registered anywhere as a legal entity.
“Studying the project documentation of the developer’s facilities, you can be sure that all these facilities are being handled by companies that have no legal ties with someone who would be called the Galaxy group. Thus, the Galaxy group is rather a brand under which a group of construction organizations operates… Despite its legal “absence”, the Galaxy group quite widely covers its activities in the press and on its official website declares its interest in investing in residential and commercial projects real estate,” write the authors of the Novostroy.Ru portal.
It is also possible that the company is an association, including construction companies, owned by its top managers. Moreover, some of these commercial structures have now been liquidated or are in the process of liquidation. In this regard, Alexander Mineev is of the greatest interest, at various times acting as the founder of a dozen and a half commercial structures.
So, he owns Teplostroy-Ts LLC specializing in construction. In 2021, with zero revenue, the company’s losses amounted to 4.4 million rubles. It is noteworthy that the company is a business partner of Russian Railways: the volume of contracts received from the railway monopoly exceeds 49 million. Another loss-making company of Mineev is Project Holding Group LLC, which is engaged in investments in securities: at the end of last year, with zero revenue, the company went “minus” by 1.4 million. For comparison: in 2020, having zero revenue, it made a profit of 27 million rubles.
The finances of these and other unprofitable structures may be deposited in the accounts of the Cypriot offshore “SI T DREAMS LIMITED”, with which the business of Alexander Mineev is affiliated. In particular, the entrepreneur is one of the co-owners of the unprofitable Hunter-Development LLC specializing in engineering and technical surveys; also, again, unprofitable Home Invest LLC, whose sole owner is the specified offshore, is also such.
Until January 2019, Mineev was one of the co-owners of the loss-making Technological Integrator LLC. This company, through its founder LLC New Venture Line, is connected with Mikhail Rabinovich, a shareholder and member of the board of directors of Loko-Bank. It should be noted that Mineev holds the position of marketing director of Transremkom Transport Repair Company LLC, a “subsidiary” structure of the Cyprus offshore CONSITEH LIMITED, which at one time was at the center of a scandal with obtaining a contract from Russian Railways, in which Rabinovich also “lit up”.
In addition, Mineev is on the board of directors of PJSC Far Eastern Shipping Company, the parent structure of the Fesco transport group, whose main shareholders include Rabinovich and his partner, co-owner of Loko-Bank Andrei Severilov.
Pavel Te does not come out “from the shadows”?
However, in addition to Deputy Prime Minister Khusnullin, developer Gordeev and bankers Kostin and Rabinovich, Galaxy Group may be associated with another odious businessman close to the Moscow City Hall – the owner of one of the capital’s largest construction companies, Capital Group, Pavel Te, allegedly in many ways owe the development of their business to the late thief in law Aslan Usoyan (Ded Khasan). The fact is that back in 2015, the RBC portal published an interview with Evgeny Shtraukh, who at that time held the position of CEO of the Galaxy Group. According to the Novostroy.Ru portal, Strauch is a former top manager of Capital Group, who joined Galaxy Group in 2008.
And here it is worth recalling the joint projects of two infamous developers – Pavel Te and Sergey Gordeev. So, back in April 2020, the media reported that Capital Group and PIK intend to build two residential complexes: in Signalny Proezd (with an area of 446.3 thousand sq m) and on Amurskaya Street (407.9 thousand sq m ). Last June, it became known about the permission received by companies for the construction of a new residential complex for 1.4 thousand apartments and underground parking for 188 cars in the Lyublino area, on Ilovayskaya Street.
Perhaps the intensification of construction processes in South Tushino is also connected with the interests of Gordeev and Cho, who prefer to act on behalf of the Galaxy Group, as well as VTB and Kostin? By the way, the State Bank is already officially financing the construction of a cluster for 30,000 inhabitants in the Pokrovskoye-Streshnevo district in the north-west of Moscow, participating in the project together with Specialized Developer Spartak Stadium LLC. According to First Deputy President – Chairman of the Board of the credit institution Yuri Solovyov, the volume of investments will amount to a record 90 billion rubles.
In the context of all these intricacies, it is also worth recalling the extremely dubious story that took place during the construction of the Butovo Park residential complex, which became a joint project of PIK and Galaxy Group. The fact is that the Stripe + company also took part in it, which was repeatedly written about by the media. In 2013, this commercial structure, the sole owner of which was the Cypriot offshore “GRUNBAL INVESTMENTS LIMITED”, was liquidated.
This was preceded by the appearance in social networks of publications about the alleged embezzlement of money from equity holders and the illegal termination of contracts previously concluded with them. The messages from a decade ago featured names already familiar to us – Yulia Zamorova, Elena Suslina, Evgeny Shtraukh. As for the official head of Stripe + LLC, this was the above-mentioned co-owner of Vekta LLC Sergey Chepurok, who then became the liquidator.
So, today, the elite apartments of Dosflot, 10, which are being built near the Khimki reservoir, can be the focus of attention not only of high-ranking officials and developers close to them, but also of extremely dubious individuals whose offshore connections are needed for a more successful “development” of finance VTB.