The building of the restaurant "Prague" on the Arbat in the near future will be put up for auction: the initial cost of the complex area of ​​9900 square meters. m - 2.2 billion rubles. This follows from the message of the owner of the object - the company "Prague-AST", which was declared bankrupt in October 2017. The trading date has not yet been determined.

"Prague" is one of the most famous and oldest restaurants in Moscow. The first buildings in its place appeared in the 17th century. The tavern for Moscow cabmen under the present name was opened by the owner and patron of arts Vera Firsanova in 1872. Prague repeatedly changed owners and the concept: after the October Revolution the building was nationalized and used for shops, a canteen and even a library. In the mid-1990s. the mayor's office of Moscow sold the "Prague" to the AST group of the family of ex-co-owner of the Cherkizovsky market Telman Ismailov. Here the group housed the headquarters.

After the closure of Cherkizovsky market in 2009, AST began to have problems with creditors - it began to lose assets. Ismayilov himself was declared bankrupt in 2015. At the end of 2017, the businessman was arrested in absentia by the Basmanny District Court on charges of organizing the murder of Vladimir Savkin, the owner of the shopping malls, and Yury Brylev, the founder of the Lublino-motors company, as well as in the illegal circulation of arms.

The main creditor of "Prague" is VTB BM Bank, which is part of the VTB Group. The total debt of the group to VTB is over 17 billion rubles., Said a man close to the creditors of AST. VTB will continue to seek full repayment of the loans of the AST group, only the representative of the state bank said. Contact with Ismailov or his representatives failed.

From the message "Prague-AST" it follows that together with the building of the restaurant, the lot also includes the rights to a land plot on the Arbat River in 0.3 hectares, as well as pieces of furniture and appliances. Separately for 500 000 rubles. will be sold other property of the company - aquariums, dough mixer, electric stoves and so on.

$ 250 million

offered the auction house Sotheby's AST group for the restaurant "Prague", Ismailov said in an interview with "Vedomosti" in 2007. A representative of Sotheby's then did not confirm this. "Prague" I will never sell, although this is the only project of the group that does not bring profit, but simply for the soul, "said the businessman. In the alteration of the object, he said, the group invested $ 30 million

2.2 billion rubles. for such an object as the restaurant "Prague" - a very attractive price, although the building needs renovation, said Alexei Sidorov, director of development of the City Estate Department of Point Estate. The complex, in his opinion, can be of interest to both profile investors and end customers. Colliers International partner Stanislav Bibik agrees: "Prague" is a trophy asset with a unique location and a wide range of opportunities for further use, from retail space to cultural and exhibition premises, the expert says. Investors may be interested to place there the objects of street retail, hotel or apartment, Sidorov said.

In addition to the restaurant, VTB also had other assets in its pledge - the shopping center in Izmailovo for 20 900 sq. M. m and the business center "Tropicano" for 15 400 square meters. m on the street. Red Presnja. In May 2018, creditors with a third attempt managed to sell the complex in Izmailovo. The buyer was the bank "Avangard", agreed to pay for the shopping center 1.55 billion rubles. - almost a quarter of the initial price. Sell ​​"Tropicano" has not yet been able to: for it was planned to gain 2.1 billion rubles.