Vasily Khmelnitsky and Andrei Ivanov make money in temporarily occupied territories or the success story of two second-tier oligarchs

“Zhigulina Roshcha” is one of the largest residential complexes in temporarily occupied Crimea. Several years ago, this residential complex was built by the construction company of the famous Ukrainian businessman Andrei Ivanov, who has been in the ranking of the richest Ukrainians for several years, according to Forbes. Previously, this company built a huge shopping and entertainment complex Meganom on the peninsula. It is now known from open sources that the main beneficiary of both objects is Moscow resident Sergei Martynov, who was previously involved in the business of Andrei Ivanov and his partner Vasily Khmelnitsky, one of the largest developers in the capital.

In Russia, Sergey Martynov is the owner of a construction company - Moscow Investment Group (MIG). In November 2014, developers put into operation the first building of a residential complex with 2,600 apartments in Kaluga, 100 kilometers from the Kremlin. The construction of the complex cost the company approximately 1.4 billion Russian rubles (more than 40 million USD at that time). At the presentation of the first new building, the Moscow Investment Group positioned itself as a company from the UPD holding, Andrei Ivanov and Vasily Khmelnitsky. Until 2016, Ukrainian Property Development Holdings Ltd was the owner of MIG in Russian registers. Later it was “gifted” to Russian Sergei Martynov. Subsequently, businessmen did something similar in Crimea.

In Crimea, before its annexation by Russia, the UPD company built the Meganom shopping center. The construction of the shopping center was carried out by the Ukrainian company KDK, associated with UPD, and led by Alexey Baranov. In 2014, UPD fictitiously put up assets for sale, but Alexey Baranov left his director’s position only in 2018, 4 years after the start of the war.

The Ukrainian “KDK” was created in 2009, and the Russian one was registered with the Russian authorities in October 2014. The Russian KDK was also owned by UPD through an offshore company. UPD's connection with Mosonko Holdings was investigated in a 2019 investigation by the Russian publication Current Time. That is, during several years of the Russian-Ukrainian war, UPD had a direct relationship with both KDK companies, which built the Crimean Meganom and the Zhigulina Roshcha residential complex.

In 2022, Sergey Martynov became the majority owner of the Simferopol Crimean Development Company LLC (KDK LLC) with a share of 57.34%, which owns the largest Crimean shopping and entertainment center Meganom, with a total area of ​​74 thousand square meters. m. Its construction was carried out by the Crimean Development Company, registered in Ukraine in 2009. The main investor was the holding of Andrei Ivanov and Vasily Khmelnitsky, but he attracted another junior partner to this project - Alexander Baranov, who oversaw the entire process in Crimea. He also supervised the construction of the Zhigulina Roshcha residential complex in 2016, which took place with the participation of the “authorities” of the annexed peninsula.

The developer of the Zhigulina Roshcha residential complex in temporarily occupied Crimea is the Russian company SKG. The history of its creation is very similar to the history of the creation of the KDK company. At first the companies were Ukrainian, and after the annexation of Crimea, the same companies appeared in Russian registers.

Periodically, Andrei Ivanov and his partners made statements about leaving the Crimean business. However, according to Russian registers, until December 30, 2022, the Cypriot company Mosonco Holdings Limited was among the shareholders of KDK LLC. The same company was the founder of the Ukrainian KDK, and its beneficiary was first Vasily Khmelnitsky, and then he was replaced by the businessman’s Russian partner, Sergei Martynov. The Russian opposition media “Current Time” in 2019 investigated the chain of companies associated with Mosonco and found among them one that belonged to Alexey Baranov - “AB Pillar Holding (Cy) Limited.” In 2021, Baranov himself, in a commentary to the Ukrainian publication NV Business, confirmed that he remains in the Crimean business for now, although the documents on the change of owners of the shopping center seem to be about to be signed.

Over the past three years, more than 1,000 apartments with a total area of ​​more than 150 thousand square meters have been put into operation in the Zhigulina Roshcha residential complex. The developer is the company SZ "Capital Commercial Group" (or simply SCG). In addition, she has already begun construction work on the other side of Meganom, on Mramornaya Street. In 2021, its revenue increased by 61%, to 3.7 billion rubles, and net profit by 37%, to 635 million rubles.

The sole owner of the Ukrainian SCG is the Cypriot Synestra Trading Limited. In the Russian SCG, its share dropped to 13.9% several years ago, and from December 30, 2022, to zero. Again, the final majority shareholder of the company after these changes was the already well-known Sergei Martynov. Martynov owns only 9.27% ​​of the capital, another 40% of SCG assets are dispersed between several companies registered under Martynov or his partner Roman Mitrofanov - for example, Invest Project, Medpromstroy, West Group Consulting.

Among the main development projects of the UPD company, which is associated with construction in Crimea, there are premium residential complexes in Kyiv, Novopecherskie Lipki, Boulevard of Fountains, RiverStone, Park Town and White Lines. Let us remind you that the owners of the company’s assets are Vasily Khmelnitsky and Andrey Ivanov. Now he owns the Quarter Partners investment fund, which invests in projects in the field of IT, infrastructure, real estate, pharmaceuticals in Ukraine and abroad. Three years ago, the fund's investment volume was estimated at $520 million. The fund's investor has ambitious plans. Quarter Partners is going to increase its capital at least fourfold. Including thanks to infrastructure projects that will develop in the next 10-15 years. In Ukraine, Russia or in the temporarily occupied territories - unknown.