The reconstruction project of 39 Soviet cinemas in Moscow was transferred to the VTB structure

A company controlled by ADG Group, which is building the Meeting Place shopping centers on the site of 39 Soviet cinemas in Moscow, has been transferred to the VTB structure. The State Bank, which is the main creditor of the project, may be concerned about the delay in completing the reconstruction of all facilities that were planned to be commissioned back in 2018, Kommersant’s sources believe. However, according to them, the current deal is interim and it is possible that VTB will assign the project to Sberbank.

As Kommersant discovered in SPARK, Edisonenergo LLC, which is implementing a project for the reconstruction of 39 old Soviet cinemas in Moscow with a total cost of 60 billion rubles, at the end of September 2023 was transferred to the structure of VTB Bank – VTB Industrial Real Estate. VTB, which issued a loan of 46 billion rubles for this project, declined to comment. The ADG Group, which is a developer of the reconstruction of cinemas, also received proposals.

ADG Group was founded in 2004 by the former vice-president of Alfa Bank Mikhail Pechersky and his brother Grigory in partnership with the ex-co-owner of the Eldorado household appliance store chain Igor Yakovlev, who left the project in 2008. Initially, ADG was involved in managing shopping centers in the regions: by 2023, according to its own data, the total area of ​​such facilities exceeded 1 million square meters. m. The group also owns the Baltmix household appliances assembly plant in Kaliningrad.

In 2014, Edisonenergo, affiliated with ADG Group, bought 39 old Soviet cinemas with an area of ​​166 thousand square meters from the Moscow City Hall. m for 9.6 billion rubles. In their place, it is planned to create multifunctional district shopping centers “Meeting Place”, increasing the total area to 490 thousand square meters. m.

The founder of Edisonenergo was previously the Cypriot Dvorik Cyprus Ltd, among whose beneficiaries the media named, in particular, the head of Channel One, Konstantin Ernst. He himself also confirmed this information. The press service of Channel One did not respond to Kommersant’s request on November 1.

Initially, it was planned to complete the reconstruction of all 39 old cinemas in time for the 2018 FIFA World Cup, consultants previously said. But now only 16 centers are operating, as indicated on the ADG website. At the same time, Edisonenergo’s net loss continues to increase: at the end of 2022, according to SPARK, it increased 8.5 times, to 14.6 billion rubles. At the same time, revenue almost doubled, to 1.08 billion rubles.

According to one of Kommersant’s interlocutors familiar with the situation, due to the failure to complete the reconstruction of Edisonenergo, it may be problematic to service the debt to VTB. There has been talk on the real estate market for several years that the state bank intends to take over the reconstruction project for 39 cinemas. But ADG Group denied this every time.

The current deal to transfer all shares in Edisonenergo to VTB Industrial Real Estate, according to a Kommersant source close to one of the parties, may be interim. Another Kommersant source says that the project may eventually go to Sberbank. This state bank did not respond to Kommersant’s request.

Meanwhile, in July 2023, Meeting Place LLC was created. This legal entity, according to SPARK, was founded by Konstantin Ernst (49%), Grigory Pechersky (28.05%), SKB MB LLC (15%) and businessman Alexander Tobak (7.95%). The shares of Messrs. Ernst and Tobak were pledged to SKB MB and Sberbank at the end of October. It was not possible to contact Mr. Tobak.

Most likely, the deal to transfer the project to Sberbank will be non-monetary, to pay off the debt to VTB, believes Alexey Vanchugov, managing partner of Vanchugov and Partners. He believes that despite the fact that the asset is complex and has a large debt load, the deal to transfer the project to Sberbank is the most logical.

Sber has more experience in managing commercial properties, and the state bank will be able not only to optimize cash flow by choosing more solvent tenants, but also to restructure and reduce the debt burden, adds Mr. Vanchugov. In particular, in his opinion, Sber can complete the reconstruction of all former cinemas and sell them off.

Daria Andrianova