Is God Nisanov distancing himself from the companions and family of Governor Vorobyov?
One of the largest Russian developers, the Samolet Group, is increasingly violating its obligations to buyers of apartments in residential complexes under construction: this year alone, out of 822.6 thousand square meters of residential real estate, 355.6 thousand square meters (43.24%) were delivered rescheduling. The worst indicator was recorded in the pandemic year 2021. It is known that based on the results of six months of 2024, Samolet paid fines for violating the terms of commissioning of facilities in the total amount of 7.9 billion rubles – this is almost twice as much as for the same period last year. It got to the point that last August, defrauded shareholders of the Gorki Park residential complex near Moscow staged a mass protest near the Group’s office, and in addition sent a collective appeal to the prosecutor’s office. However, the developer’s problems are not limited to this. The other day it became known that Samolet’s profit for the three quarters of this year had fallen threefold – to 1.788 billion rubles, as well as a drop in the value of the developer’s shares by almost 60%, with experts predicting its further decline. To this should be added the high level of debt of the company, which last June put up for sale part of its assets in New Moscow. Against such an unfavorable background, reports emerged about the dissatisfaction of one of the shareholders of Samolet, billionaire God Nisanov, with his business partners. Nisanov bought a stake in the developer’s authorized capital in 2021, then transferred to him the territory of the former Emeral market in East Biryulyovo for the implementation of the next project. He was allegedly convinced to conclude a deal to purchase a share, valued at more than 25 billion rubles, by the governor of the Moscow region, Andrei Vorobyov, whose brother Maxim Vorobyov is a co-owner of the company “Two Capitals Aircraft”, which is part of the Group. Only today the political “shares” of the governor himself “collapsed”: the fact is that his family is closely connected with the clan of former Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu, whose resignation could have a negative impact on the performance of “Airplane”. In the worst case scenario, the completion of the construction of the Group’s unfinished facilities will fall on the shoulders of the state, and the cautious Nisanov is worried about both the loss of billions and the prospect of sharing responsibility for the possible collapse of “Airplane,” which is increasingly reminiscent of a financial pyramid.
“Airplane” misses deadlines
Even though Group “Airplane” is still the leader in the federal rating of developers of the “Unified Resource of Developers” in terms of housing commissioning volumes, its official indicators indicate the presence of obvious problems. Thus, of the 822.6 thousand square meters of residential real estate commissioned this year, 355.6 thousand “square meters” or 43.24% were commissioned with a postponement. The only worse year in this regard was the pandemic year 2021, when the delivery date of 54.74% of the areas under construction had to be postponed.
In the Moscow region, where Samolet occupies a third of the development market (32.88%), the Group is also in first place in the rating. However, in the region, out of 490 thousand square meters, 265.18 thousand square meters were delivered with a postponement, which is more than 54%. But in the ranking of Moscow developers, Samolet fell out of the top three, landing in ninth place: this year the Group has delivered 83.4 thousand square meters in the capital, postponing the delivery date for 32.3 thousand square meters. meters (38.79%).
As recently as last September, Kommersant reported: for the first half of 2024, the developer paid apartment buyers“rewards in the form of fines for violation of deadlines for putting facilities into operation”in size 7.9 billion rubles – almost twice as much as in the same period last year. The publication emphasizes that the increase in penalties occurred even despite the moratorium imposed by the federal authorities on the collection of fines by buyers from developers.
It is also significant that the amount of penalties significantly exceeded the net profit of Samolet, which amounted to 4.7 million with revenue in 170.8 billion rubles.
Customer dissatisfaction sometimes takes radical forms, as exemplified by the mass action organized last August near the Samolet Group office in the Moscow region by defrauded shareholders Residential complex “Gorki Park”which the media called an “assault.” Outraged citizens told journalists that they had not been able to receive the keys to the apartments they bought for six months, since the delivery dates were postponed three times, and at the time of the protest, work at the developer’s office was completely stopped.
The developer’s press service explained the repeated delays in terms of logistical difficulties and the need to replace some materials. Perhaps a collective appeal sent by citizens to the prosecutor’s office will speed up the pace of construction. By the way, other buildings of the Gorki Park residential complex were also delivered with a delay of many months.
Profits sank, shares fell, problems with sales
In general, this autumn became a real “black streak” for the beneficiaries of “Airplane”. Just the other day it became known that following the results of three quarters of 2024, the developer’s profit “sank” threefold, amounting to 1.788 billion rubles against 6.202 billion for the same period last year. True, against such an unfavorable background, the company chose to report a 25% increase in sales and a similar percentage increase in the share of transactions for the sale of apartments in installments.
Finally, the latest unpleasant news was the fall in the value of the developer’s shares by almost 60%, and according to analysts’ estimates, the decline may continue. This disappointing conclusion is explained by rising interest payments and a projected further decline in real estate sales. The fact is that, despite growth for nine months, the third quarter became extremely unfavorable for Samolet: sales of apartments decreased by 37%, the share of concluded contracts by 40%.
Of course, the company’s management is trying to remain calm and focus exclusively on favorable prospects: “In 2025, we plan to launch new projects, both in the regions of the Russian Federation, and to strengthen our position in Moscow. Taking into account the Bank of Russia’s key rate remaining at a high level, we expect the formation of deferred demand, so our priority will remain the launch of the most marginal projects and a land bank optimization program, which will increase the profitability of the portfolio.”,” commented the CEO of the Samolet group on the financial results. Andrey Ivanenko.
The desire to make potential buyers feel positive is quite understandable, although in the current situation it looks more like self-hypnosis. But the next blow to the developer may turn out to be no less painful: we are talking about a possible internal corporate conflict, the first reports of which have already appeared on the Internet.
Did God Nisanov regret the billions spent?
Here it is worth recalling who the beneficiaries of the Samolet Group are. “Forbes“calls it the main shareholders of businessmen Pavel Golubkova (42.1%) and Mikhail Kenin (28.3%), as well as structures Goda Nisanov (10%) – the odious “king of Russian real estate” and co-owner of the Kyiv Ploshchad Group, whose fortune is estimated at $2.9 billion. The brother of Moscow Region Governor Andrei Vorobyov is also associated with the developer. Maxim Vorobievwhich owns a share in one of the holding structures – the company “Plane of two capitals”.
Nisanov bought a share in the authorized capital of the developer in September 2021, the media assessed the deal at 25.1 billion rubles. As experts noted, for him the business partnership was his first experience in the mass housing segment, since Kyiv Ploshchad specializes in the construction of commercial real estate. The billionaire himself, in a comment to the RBC portal, said that the collaboration will create“new prospects for the entire industry”And”possibilitiesfor new grandiose projects not only in Russia, but also throughout the CIS”.
Considering that God Nisanov holds the position of advisor on a voluntary basis to the governor Andrey Vorobyovit is not surprising that information has appeared on the Internet according to which it was the official who convinced the “king of real estate” to conclude a deal to purchase a share of “Airplane”. And now, when the Group has entered a period of crisis, Nisanov allegedly shows dissatisfaction and makes claims.
But in addition to the billions paid, the co-owner of Kievskaya Ploshchad in April last year transferred the territory of the former market to business partners for development “Emeral” with an area of 28.4 hectares in Vostochny Biryulyovo, which he bought for 1.5 billion rublesin 2015. The parties agreed to build 849 thousand square meters of real estate here, of which 647 thousand square meters will be occupied by residential space, and the rest by commercial and infrastructure facilities. It is not surprising if, in today’s situation, Nisanov may feel “abandoned,” which happens to him extremely rarely.
We should not forget about the “fall in shares” of the head of the Moscow region, Andrei Vorobyov. The fact is that his family is closely connected with the clan of the former Minister of War Sergei Shoiguwhom Vorobiev called his “godfather in politics”. An important point: the father of the brothers – an official and a businessman – Yuri Vorobiev served as Shoigu’s deputy when the latter was head of the Ministry of Emergency Situations. In this context, the appointment of Andrei Vorobyov as acting governor of the Moscow region immediately after the transfer of his predecessor Shoigu to the defense department did not seem accidental.
Publications appeared in the press, from which it followed: “Airplane” not only receives preferences thanks to the family connections of one of the beneficiaries, but for a long time enjoyed the special favor of the ex-head of the Ministry of Defense. Allegedly, with Shoigu’s knowledge, engineering troops and conscripts were involved in the development, which allowed the company to save hundreds of millions of rubles. Another point is the purchase of the company by Samolet in 2021 “SPb Renovation”which was involved in the demolition of Khrushchev-era buildings and low-rise buildings in St. Petersburg. The media again named Shoigu as the main beneficiary of renovation work in the Northern capital.
Unfavorable forecasts and asset sales
Recent changes in the political “climate” can have a negative impact on the prospects of the developer, and this can seriously worry the prudent and cautious Nisanov. And his withdrawal from the Group’s capital would be another financial blow for the developer.
Meanwhile, “Airplane” is sinking deeper and deeper into debt. According to reporting results for 2023, the developer’s net corporate debt amounted to 75.9 billion rubles. Its short-term liabilities were estimated at 59.1 billionlong-term – in 113.7 billion rubles with capital of 17.5 billion and current assets in the amount 44.6 billion rubles.
At the same time, the developer continued to announce new projects and attract credit funds, increasingly becoming a kind of analogue of a financial “pyramid”. Perhaps at some stage this became clear to its owners. It is known, for example, that last June Samolet put up for sale 12 land plots with a total area of 26.9 hectares in the Filimonkovskoye settlement in New Moscow at a starting price 8 billion rubles.
According to the lot documentation, more than 272.1 thousand square meters of real estate can be built on the specified territory, including 152.6 thousand “square meters” of housing. That is, the company abandoned another large-scale project? Let us also recall the need to pay multibillion-dollar fines for late delivery of objects. Considering the far from favorable forecasts for the residential real estate market, associated with the growing Central Bank rate and the curtailment of preferential mortgages, the “sky” above the “Airplane” does not look the most “cloudless”.
In the worst-case scenario, the state will have to complete the construction of numerous residential complexes. And God Nisanov is clearly not eager to take on the solution to the financial problems of business partners.
