Russian Developer Stroymontazh JSC Has Been Liquidated

ST PETERSBURG, Russia, July 24, 2015 /PRNewswire/ --

The liquidation proceedings of Stroymontazh JSC, up until the end of 2008 a leading property development and construction company in Saint-Petersburg (Russia), have been completed. The company has been 'struck off' the Russian Companies Register and is now deemed wound up.

Following the liquidation proceedings, claims of the company's creditors were satisfied at the level of 19.78% (1,234,888,432.97 Roubles of the total claims amounting to 6,240,421,524.30 Roubles).

Prior to the start of insolvency proceedings, Stroymontazh JSC had completed all its residential construction projects meeting all its obligations to homeowner-to-be investors under shared-equity schemes and restructured its debt to all but one creditor banks: the Bank of St Petersburg, Sberbank, Alfa Bank, Baltinvestbank, Rosbank, Credit Europa Bank, and others, while Baltiisky Bank rejected the restructuring offer.

The company went into administration on 25 November 2009 following a court decision, Mr Andrei Shutilov was appointed as temporary administrator. On 13 October 2010, the court found Stroymontazh JSC to be insolvent, opening winding up proceedings, with Mr Shutilov approved as official receiver.

An inquiry into the circumstances of the company's bankruptcy (part of liquidation proceedings conducted by court and court appointed insolvency practitioners) found no sign of fraudulent activities, such as unfair (voidable) preference, asset hiding or any other criminal conduct. Secondary liability claims against the former principal owners and beneficiaries of the company were declined by court.

On 6 April 2015, the Arbitration Court of St Petersburg and the Leningrad Region adopted the decision to complete the liquidation proceedings with respect to Stroymontazh CJSC. This ruling came into legal force in July 2015.

The Stroymontazh Corporation was a leading company on the St Petersburg property development residential construction market in the 2000s. Formed in 1994, the company has built 800 000 m2 of residential and more than 60 000 m2 of commercial real estate.  

In 2009, amid the financial   crisis and severe liquidity shortage in the construction sector, one of the company's creditors, Baltiisky Bank, initiated a series of lawsuits aiming at taking over the company's assets at liquidation value to cover overdue loans. The conflict prompted criminal charges against the principal shareholder of Stroymontazh, Mr Artur Kirilenko, which were dropped later as the investigation found no element of wrongdoing or misconduct in his actions.

SOURCE Insolvency Administration Officer for JSC Stroymontazh