The new owner of the restaurant "Prague" on the street. Arbat will be Miroslav Melnik. His application for the auction for the sale of the property of the company Prague-AST was the only one, therefore the contract for the purchase of the object will be concluded with him, it follows from the minutes of the auction. With an initial lot value of 1.78 billion rubles. Melnik agreed to pay 1.4 billion. Partner of Colliers International Stanislav Bibik and director of the retail real estate department at ILM Egor Levchenko call this price close to the market.

AST Shopping Center

The AST shopping center (20,900 sq. M.) On the Izmailovskoye Highway was also mortgaged on loans from BM Bank (the group owed him 17 billion rubles in total). It was also not possible to sell it the first time. Starting with 2 billion rubles, it was eventually sold to Avangard Bank for 1.55 billion rubles. Later, the bank filed a lawsuit in court demanding the return of these funds, but withdrew its application.

"Prague" - one of the most famous restaurants in Moscow. A tavern for cabers with this name was opened in 1872. After the revolution, it was nationalized and used as shops, canteen and even a library. In the mid-1990s. The owner of "Prague" became the group AST of the family of the former co-owner of Cherkizovsky market Telman Ismailov. She bought the restaurant building from the Moscow City Hall for headquarters.

After the Cherkizovsky market was closed in 2009, ACT had problems with creditors, it began to lose assets. The famous Voentorg was sold to Suleiman Kerimov, the 5-star Mardan Palace Hotel in Antalya went to Halk Bankasi. In 2015, Ismailov himself was declared bankrupt, in 2017 he was arrested in absentia on charges of organizing the murder of Vladimir Savkin, the owner of shopping complexes and Yury Brilev, founder of the Lyublino-Motors, as well as in illegal arms trafficking.

The AST creditors, the largest of which is BM Bank (part of the VTB Group), tried to sell Prague several times. In the summer of 2018, they tried to gain 2.2 billion rubles for it, then they lowered the price to 1.98 billion. But there were no people willing to buy the asset. VTB declined to comment.

Business Center "Tropicano"

Another asset Ismailova, pledged in the BM-Bank, the company acquired the SD "Success." In September 2018, she offered for an office and shopping center with an area of ​​15,400 square meters. m in Krasnaya Presnya 1.5 billion rubles, although initially it was sold for 2.1 billion. The company SD "Success" is associated with the Novosibirsk group "Rydeks", said a person close to the organizers of the auction. She is engaged in pile and drilling work and development. Its co-owner is Nikolai Mantsurov, the son of a Novosibirsk businessman Alexander Mantsurov, co-owner of the Siberian Giant retailer, a deputy of the regional legislative assembly.

Melnik is the former first deputy chairman of the All-Russian State Television and Radio Broadcasting Company, secretary of the Union of Journalists and commercial director of Sheremetyevo. He has experience in real estate and in the restaurant business. He was a partner of Gals-Development in the project for building the territory of the Sport Hotel on Leninsky Prospekt. In 2014, the plot was sold to Novatek. Melnik developed the restaurants Izumi and Three Minnows. According to the register, it controls (50.5%) Cheremushkinsky market.

The businessman told Vedomosti that he plans to preserve a restaurant-cultural function and a congress hall in Prague. According to him, he is currently negotiating with Giuseppe Cipriani (manages 11 restaurants in New York, Miami, Las Vegas, Monte Carlo, etc., and two hotels in the United States and Uruguay), which has extensive experience in organizing events about buying a franchise to use its brand. Part of the “Prague” squares is planned to be used as an apartment or hotel, Melnik adds. He clarifies that the building and especially communications need substantial renovation, which may take about two years: the cost of the work has not yet been determined, but may be comparable to the cost of the building.

Levchenko says that the main rental flow in Prague will still bring retail space on the first floor, they are on the first line of the Arbat and will be in demand. Bibik calls "Prague" a trophy asset that, thanks to its unique location, will always be interesting: it can be used as you please - from stores to exhibitions.