How drone attacks affect the mood of Moscow City residents

A series of drone attacks on Moscow City, where almost 20% of office space is occupied by government agencies, and apartments are bought by businessmen, top managers and famous personalities, may immediately reduce the popularity of the business cluster. A number of tenant companies have already sent employees to work remotely, and some are considering moving to other areas of the city. However, real estate market participants emphasize that such decisions are made “on emotions” and rely on increased security measures in the City.

A series of drone attacks carried out on Moscow City on the night of July 30 and August 1, which damaged several floors, including the IQ-Kvartal skyscraper, where the Ministry of Digital Development, the Ministry of Economy, and the Ministry of Industry and Trade are located, forced a number of office tenants in the business center to think about moving to other parts of the city.

Several owners of business centers in different parts of the capital have already received rental requests from Moscow City residents, confirm Natalya Nikitina, head of the office real estate department at CMWP, and Dmitry Klapsha, managing partner of Remain. Temporary transfer of employees by companies to other places can become an alternative to remote work, says Irina Khoroshilova, head of the CORE.XP office real estate department.

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Digital Development and Ozon, which rents space in the Naberezhnaya Tower, have already transferred employees to remote work. The advertising group Okkam, whose office is located in the Empire skyscraper, recommended to its employees to switch to this format. Yandex, which rents space in OKO (the first floor of the building was damaged in the first attack), asked employees not to be in the office at night, Reuters reports. The interlocutor of Kommersant in one of the banks noted that “these days, access to the office in Moscow City is at the discretion of the heads of departments.”

However, not all companies intend to leave City. Chairman of the Russian-Asian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs, whose office is located in the “City of Capitals”, Vitaly Mankevich says that its structure will remain in place, counting on increased security measures. Aleksey Chumalov, general director of Kalinka Russia, also hopes for a serious defense of Moscow City after the past attacks. According to him, this is also important for residents of apartments in the business cluster, including businessmen, top managers, athletes, artists.

One of the largest shopping centers in the capital, Afimall, is located in Moscow City. AFI Development (the owner of the facility) did not answer Kommersant’s questions. But a Kommersant source in the market says that the transfer by some companies of their employees to remote work will somehow affect the traffic of the facility, since office workers are its main visitors. Mikhail Vasiliev, head of research and consulting at Focus Technologies, notes that stressful events have ceased to have a serious impact on attendance at shopping centers. He cites an example when on June 24, after attempts at a rebellion by PMC Wagner, shopping center traffic fell by 3% year-on-year, but recovered the next day.

Decisions to sell or refuse to rent real estate in the City are likely to be made on emotions, market participants interviewed by Kommersant say. Drone attacks cannot cause serious damage to skyscrapers, Kommersant sources from among the builders say. “Due to the technological features of the construction of skyscrapers, it is difficult to destroy the structure of the building; facades and their glazing may suffer,” one of them explains. However, the increased attacks on Moscow have already led some foreign companies to try to transfer business to other cities. Thus, the airline “Turkmenistan” reported that since August 1, it has suspended flights from Ashgabat to Moscow “due to the air situation” in the region and will fly to Kazan.

Tenants in Moscow City, worrying about security, can enter the appropriate clauses into their lease agreements, does not exclude the partner of NF Group Maria Zimina. The owners of skyscrapers in the “City” insured against standard risks, including natural disasters, man-made and natural explosions, explains the interlocutor of Kommersant in the insurance market. According to another market participant, in case of serious damage, the volume of payments to owners can be $1-2 billion and more. According to Igor Ivanov, Deputy General Director of RESO-Garantia, the company has contracts with clients whose property is located in Moscow City. The company, according to him, has already received an appeal from the insured, whose office is located in IQ-Kvartal, but the amount of damage is still unknown.

Consumer market, telecommunications and finance departments