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passengers," Chief Executive Officer Vitaly Savelyev was quoted as saying. In 2017, the group carried 50.1mn passegners, which brings the growth in 2018 to over 10%.
Russia’s national carrier Aeroflot has been named Best China–Europe Transit Airline in China at the 2019 Stars Awards, which took place at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel Shanghai, Pudong on January 15. The Star Awards recognise the leading international companies in the Chinese travel industry, including global airlines. Organised by Travelling Scope magazine, they are known as China’s most prestigious travel awards, the company said in a press release. Winners of the Star Awards are decided based on a multi-reference scoring system including a public vote, expert review, and social media voting.
9.2.4 Construction & Real estate corporate news
Russia's largest real estate development company PIK will get control over the landmark Bolshevik property in Moscow through court, Vedomosti daily reported on December 12 citing sources close to the proceedings. Bolshevik was the first privatised factory in the capital in the 90's and was planned to be rebuilt into an office and apartment complex by the troubled O1 Properties of billionaire Boris Mints. Its plant is in a prime location at the top of Tverskaya, Moscow’s Oxford street, in a beautiful pre- revolutionary building. In the summer of 2018 O1 announced it was going to sell a 50.1% stake in Bolshevik, with the asset migrating to a Cyprus-based Cesium Limited with unnamed beneficiaries. Reportedly, Bolshevik de-factor remained affiliated with Mints. Now reportedly the Cyprus court has arrested the asset against the debt of O1 to PIK. Since spring O1 Group defaulted on three out of five bond issues worth a total of RUB87bn ($1.37bn). In the run-up to the RT&I takeover, O1 Group consolidated its stake from minorities and O1 Properties informed the holders of its $350mn Eurobonds that it will change ownership. In August RT&I acquired 70% of Class A and 58.4% of Class B shares in О1 Properties, one of the largest owners of office spaces in Moscow and part of O1 Group that got caught up in the debacle surrounding the so- called Garden Ring banks that went bust in the autumn of 2017 and had to be rescued by the CBR. RT&I was also hired to restructure bad debts of Rossium consortium of Roman Avdeev, whose Credit Bank of Moscow took over RUB25bn debt of O1 Group, which was collateralised with a controlling 62.5% stake in O1 Properties.
The Czech investment group PPF bought up the last asset owned by the Swedish company Stockmann, an iconic brand in Russia that brought the first western style supermarkets to the country in the early 90s. PPF Real Estate, that is controlled by Czechia’s richest man Petr Kelner, closed a deal to buy the Nevsky Center shopping centre in Moscow from Stockmann, the company said in a statement, reported Vedomosi on January 25. The value of the deal was a reported €171mn. The Nevsky Center that opened in 2010 is a high end shopping mall in the heart of Moscow and has a floor space of 91,000sqm. The complex consists of a shopping centre, an anchor tenant (currently the Stockmann department store) as well as office and underground parking. Stockmann has been looking for a buyer for its last asset in Russia since the end of 2016. Consulting firm Colliers International was chosen to search. The object was considered by various investors - O1 Group, American Hines, Russian Avica, Malltech, and Empire Holding, Morgan Stanley all expressed an interest. Stockmann was an early entrant into the Russian market catering to the newly rich and charging exorbitant prices. However, with
116 RUSSIA Country Report February 2019 www.intellinews.com