Companies owned by Kabardino-Balkaria President Arsen Kanokov are continuing to invest in real estate, including the precrisis purchase of the Milan hotel and office complex on Kashirskoye Shosse, two consultants who worked with Milan said.
The consultants told Vedomosti that the deal was concluded last year and the property was purchased “for prestige.” A source close to Milan’s management confirmed the information.
The seller was Otel Development, owned by former Intourist president Abbas Aliyev. He was not immediately available for comment, and a spokesperson for Otel Development declined comment.
Dzhamilya Khagarova, head of the president’s press service, was not immediately able to comment on the matter.
According to the Moscow City Hall order allotting the land for the center’s construction, Milan was on the balance sheet of RVT Tri, which was owned in 2008 by a company called Fornaks Esteit, according to the SPARK database. That company’s general director is Svetlana Baksanova.
Kanokov signed an order in 2005 making her an adviser to the president of Kabardino-Balkaria. Khagarova, the government spokeswoman, said Baksanova no longer holds the position.
The 30,000-square-meter Milan center is located at the intersection of Kashirskoye Shosse and Shipilovskaya Ulitsa and includes a four-star hotel and offices.
The property could have been worth $150 million to $180 million before the crisis, said Stanislav Ivashkevich, deputy director of the hotels department at CB Richard Ellis. “The new owner doesn’t have any experience managing hotels, and as a result, the effectiveness of its management now is fairly low,” he said.
The owner is trying to offer five-star services at the hotel, which is simply impossible given its location in southern Moscow, Ivashkevich said.
Kanokov’s main assets are grouped in the holding company Sindika, which he said in an interview to Vedomosti in 2007 that he fully owns. He said he handed all of his assets to outside management when he began working for the government. In 2007, he estimated that the company’s annual sales were 30 billion rubles.
Sindika’s assets include the eponymous construction markets in Moscow and the Moscow region, 30 percent of the bank Tsentrokredit, the shopping centers Troitsky in Strogino, Bratislavsky and Tushinsky. Last year, it sold the Moskvichka shopping center on Novy Arbat to Yakov Yakubov.
In his income declaration for last year, Kanokov said he earned 4.8 million rubles ($165,000), owns a 0.6-hectare plot of land, a 725-square-meter home, a garage and a Mercedes-Benz. His wife, Fatima Kanokova, earned 13.3 million rubles, and she owns four plots covering a combined 0.9 hectares, three apartments and four cars.
A Message from The Moscow Times:
Dear readers,
We are facing unprecedented challenges. Russia's Prosecutor General's Office has designated The Moscow Times as an "undesirable" organization, criminalizing our work and putting our staff at risk of prosecution. This follows our earlier unjust labeling as a "foreign agent."
These actions are direct attempts to silence independent journalism in Russia. The authorities claim our work "discredits the decisions of the Russian leadership." We see things differently: we strive to provide accurate, unbiased reporting on Russia.
We, the journalists of The Moscow Times, refuse to be silenced. But to continue our work, we need your help.
Your support, no matter how small, makes a world of difference. If you can, please support us monthly starting from just $2. It's quick to set up, and every contribution makes a significant impact.
By supporting The Moscow Times, you're defending open, independent journalism in the face of repression. Thank you for standing with us.
Remind me later.