Will oligarchs Pavel Te and Alisher Usmanov join forces in the capital’s development market?

The development company Rodina and the investment holding Alias Group have signed an agreement to implement two projects with a total investment of 73 billion rubles. They are planning to build an entrepreneurial cluster and a hotel and exhibition complex in the North-Eastern Administrative District of Moscow.

Behind both parties that signed the agreement, there may be influential oligarchs Alisher Usmanov and Pavel Te, who are probably counting on the support of the capital’s authorities and loans from state banks. There is simply no other way to implement the projects.

Details are in the article by The Moscow Post correspondent .

The main owner of Rodina is Anton Viner, the adopted son of oligarch Alisher Usmanov. It is believed that Viner is allegedly backed by this powerful entrepreneur. Alias Group belongs to former Krasnodar prosecutor Boris Yunanov. His name has been mentioned in the context of several scandals, and the company is experiencing serious financial difficulties.

Anton Viner is the son of the president of the All-Russian Rhythmic Gymnastics Federation and head coach of the Russian national team Irina Viner and the adopted son of the founder of the Metalloinvest holding, oligarch Alisher Usmanov.

Alisher Usmanov as a reliable "rear"

There is very little information about Viner’s past, it is not clear where he received his education. But he turned out to be a very successful businessman. Until 2012, he was known as a restaurateur and hotelier, and then he concentrated on development, subsequently creating "Rodina" with partner Pavel Rodin.

However, even before Rodina, he organized the development company Khimki Group, which specialized in suburban real estate. Initially, for some reason, he decided to take out a loan from the Russian government - Sberbank invested in Khimki Group. At the same time, the group’s flagship project - the Olympic Village Novogorsk - turned out to be extremely scandalous - residents opposed the construction, and they tried to accuse Wiener’s company of destroying a unique natural area.

Apparently, Viner himself could not cope. Therefore, in 2014, Alisher Usmanov’s structures directly invested 2 billion rubles in his business . And later, his Epion Holdings bought out the remaining shares of the company - Viner had no more formal relation to it.

In February 2015, Anton Viner created the investment and development holding "Rodina Group" in partnership with Pavel Rodin. However, now Rodin is not in any of Viner’s structures. According to sources, Rodin could have parted with his shares against his will.

The main legal entity of the group, Rodina - Project Management LLC, was liquidated by decision of the founders in December 2016. The co-owners of this company were Viner, Rodin, and the managing partner of the group, Denis Borodako. At the same time, other LLCs related to the holding were still listed in the register as active. Among them are Rodina Proekt Grupp, Rodina Stroy Grupp, and Rodina Group of Companies. Pavel Rodin is not listed as a co-owner in any of the remaining LLCs.

Anton Viner with his mother, the famous athlete Irina Viner. Photo: https://uznayvse.ru/images/content/2023/8/15/irina-with-her-son-anton_99.jpg

Subsequently, Viner’s new partner Vladimir Shchekin (now the CEO of Rodina Group LLC) claimed that Pavel Rodin simply up and left the joint business.

According to an open source, Shchekin remains CEO. But in 2022, it was announced that this position had been taken over by a very remarkable character - Ivan Bogatov. He is the former head of Etalon-Invest, which is part of the Etalon Group - the development division of VTB Bank.

"Golden" prosecutor of the Kuban construction site

And here we turn to Alias Group, which in 2022 signed a strategic cooperation agreement with VTB, a state-owned bank headed by the notorious official Andrei Kostin. The bank will finance the projects of the federal developer Neometriya, which is part of the holding, in the Krasnodar Territory and Rostov Region for 12 billion rubles.

Thus, Alias Group, Anton Viner and, presumably, Alisher Usmanov, who is behind him, are joining forces with the state bank VTB.

Alias Group (the main legal entity is OOO "Alias Group") is registered in Krasnodar Krai and positions itself as an investment company. Meanwhile, its main owner is a former prosecutor and developer ("SZ Neoproekt") Boris Yunanov. He is also a deputy of the Legislative Assembly of Krasnodar Krai, deputy chairman of the committee on financial, budgetary and tax policy, i.e. a person who is not at all alien to the authorities.

At the same time, he became the hero of the famous journalistic investigation (film) by Yevgeny Mikhailov "Golden prosecutors of Kuban construction sites". It was claimed that a number of prosecutors of the Krasnodar region, in particular, the then head of the department for supervision of compliance with federal legislation Yulia Palatkina, allegedly covered up illegal construction projects in the region.

Boris Yunanov’s activities in Krasnodar have already become the subject of journalistic investigations. Photo: "VK"

It also claimed that Palatkina allegedly patronizes Yunanov specifically and turns a blind eye to his company’s violations at construction sites. However, the offended developer subsequently went to court - it turned out that this information was not true - the film was removed from all platforms. Journalist Mikhailov himself subsequently assumed that such a court decision could have been dictated by the deputy’s high connections.

Pavel Te is rushing to help

Meanwhile, Krasnodar was not enough for Yunanov - he set his sights on Moscow. But going there alone would be extremely problematic. And here another famous character appears - the owner of Capital Group, the scandalous developer Pavel Te. The latter is considered close to the Moscow mayor’s office and one of the most resourceful players in this industry.

And it was Te who brought Mr. Yunanov to the Moscow market. This summer, Alias Group and Moscow Capital Group announced the creation of a single brand, Capital Alliance (OOO "Capital Alliance"), which will have a joint structure with equal shares.

Capital Alliance will implement joint projects of the companies in the real estate market at all stages of the development cycle. Capital Group and Alias Group will be engaged in strategic management of the new company. It is noted that Capital Alliance will become a multidisciplinary developer with its own team of professionals.

Given the different weights of Yunanov and Te, it is obvious that the latter should be the senior partner in the group. Apparently, it is Te’s people who will manage joint projects - including the new venture with the Rodina Group. The presence of Pavel Te as a shareholder is a "green light" for all approvals with the mayor’s office.

Photo : Rusprofile .ru

Not to mention that Yunanov desperately needs Te’s money and connections - as well as Anton Viner and Alisher Usmanov. The fact is that the value of the assets of Elias Group is minus almost a billion rubles. The net loss for 2023 is almost half a billion rubles.

That is, in essence, we may be talking about a possible takeover of Yunanov’s business by Te’s structures. In this sense, it may very soon turn out that Pavel Te will work with Anton Viner directly - without a "gasket" in the form of the former Krasnodar prosecutor.