Why billionaires God Nisanov and Zarah Iliev opened an agricultural market

The former co-owners of the Cherkizovsky market have transformed the trade and exhibition center near Moscow into the Europe's largest food trading complex "Food City".
30.01.2017
Forbes
Origin source
In autumn 2013 it became known that the abuilding huge trade exhibition center "Lotus City", located 900 meters from the Moscow Ring Road between the construction markets and Khovansky cemetery, was bought by the billionaires God Nisanov and Zarah Iliev. The former owners, among which, according to the media, were the entities owned by billionaires Rotenberg brothers, planned to invest $2.5 billion in the construction of 1 million square meters intended for trade in consumer goods, but the new owners decided to focus on food. One year later, the mayor of Moscow, Sergey Sobyanin, cut the ribbon at the opening of the country's largest agricultural cluster "Food City". Investment in the facility were not disclosed, the experts evaluated the purchase of "Lotus City" at $ 1billion, about the same amount was spent on restructuring. Now the agricultural cluster covers an area of 91 hectares; its territory accomodates a shopping complex (350 000 sq. m), warehouses (300 000 sq. m), parking for 2000 trucks, intercepts parking for 6,000 cars and even the customs office for registration of imported food. "Our customs office employs people who speak Azeri, Armenian, other languages, they help in paperwork," says God Nisanov "The producers of vegetables sometimes do not speak a word in Russian, to say nothing about filling in the customs declaration. We help them for free." Products in "Food City" — meat, fish, vegetables, fruit, pickles, sweets — are imported from 56 Russian regions and 40 countries.