Birzhin "departs": what is behind the sale of assets of Glorax Group?

Glorax Group ("Glorax Group") Andrei Birzhin began to sell its land assets in St. Petersburg. The developer sold the site on Kursk Street, and now he is searching for buyers for his assets in Peterhof and Vasilyevsky Island.

This happens against the background of colossal financial problems - the group is drowning in debt. At the same time, the authorities of the Northern capital seem ready to abandon projects with Birzhin - the courts and other scandals of the entrepreneur create a bunch of problems for local officials.

Details - in the material The Sankt-Petersburg Post.

Birzhin "rained down"?

"Glorax Group" is experiencing serious financial problems. At the end of 2022, the holding received a net loss of 420 million rubles, the value of assets - minus 337 million rubles. Open sources note the risks of financial stability and solvency of the asset. This means that in the future, the bankruptcy of the group is possible.

In addition, already in 2025, the maturity of two issues of bonds totaling 2.5 billion rubles comes. It would seem that the amount is not so large, but the developer may simply not have money.

Against this background, rumors have been circulating for a long time, allegedly Mr. Birzhin even wants to leave this business. Several years ago, he tried to sell the holding in favor of developers from Seven Suns Development for 10 billion rubles. The deal fell through, after which the owner of Glorex considered it necessary to go to court to recover 150 million rubles from the failed buyer.

Why the Seven Suns decided to replay the tentative arrangements is not clear. But after the lawsuit, those who wanted to do business with Birzhin should have decreased.

In 2023, the analytical credit rating agency (ACRA) confirmed the credit rating of Glorax and its bonds at BBB- (RU) - frankly, not very "honorary." The structure is characterized by high indicators of debt servicing and liquidity. The sale of land assets in St. Petersburg should replenish the developer's treasury, but will it be enough to stay afloat?

Photo: Rusprofile.ru

At the same time, the outlook for the rating is positive - it is associated with plans to diversify Birzhin's business. In particular, the company enters the Tatarstan market, which means that Glorex has resources. Why does he refuse St. Petersburg projects?

Quarreled with Beglov?

Perhaps it was that a huge number of ships and scandals were associated with the construction of Birzhin, which repeatedly aroused the anger of both Glorax customers and city defenders. Against this background, Birzhin's companies could become toxic for Smolny.

Recall that in 2022, at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF), the authorities of the Northern capital signed an agreement with Birzhin on the restoration of Apraksin Dvor. It was planned to invest at least 50 billion rubles in the project, and it was planned to complete the work by 2029.

The way the work of "Glorax" is evaluated by customers is full of sites with reviews. Photo: https://otzovik.com/reviews/agentstvo_nedvizhimosti_glorax_development_russia_sankt-peterburg/

But in the fall, the authorities decided to lease the city-owned buildings and market premises in parts. "Glorax" did not comment on the future of the project. And now it became known that the developer's decision to abandon land assets in St. Petersburg was caused by the difficulties of their coordination with Smolny.

Surely they did not "agree" on money, who should "bring" to whom and how much? Moreover, Birzhin himself may be close to the city authorities and other major oligarchs. Recall that since January 2023, Dmitry Kashinsky, who previously worked as the head of St. Petersburg Renovation LLC and the head of Airplane North-West, became the general director of Glorax.

Renovation is also part of Samolet, and belongs to the scandalous oligarch Goda Nisanov, who is called the "friend" of St. Petersburg Governor Alexander Beglov. It was assumed that it was Glorax that would become the beneficiary of the KRT program for the resettlement of St. Petersburg Khrushchev. But so far this does not smell - it seems that Beglov decided to rely on other developers.

The game of "silent"

The problem may be different: Birzhin's projects regularly add headaches to the authorities due to the opposition of city defenders.

Recall that in November 2021, in two days, a four-story pre-revolutionary outbuilding on Kursk Street was demolished, where the Glorax residential complex is currently being built.

The wing was part of the architectural ensemble and formed a street "front," in connection with which its demolition without reconstruction could be prohibited. However, the land plot was divided in such a way that the outbuilding became a "courtyard." Interestingly, the Committee on State Control, Use and Protection of Historical and Cultural Monuments (KGIOP) issued permission to dismantle the building without reconstruction.

I.e. Birzhin could simply "agree" with KGIOP. Of course, this caused the displeasure of city defenders.

Similarly, one of the courtyard outbuildings of the house on Telezhnaya Street was also destroyed. Then city defenders claimed that the reason for the collapse was that the developer did not strengthen the building during construction on a neighboring site. Today in that place is another "beautiful" residential complex built by "Glorax."

According to the Web, allegedly "Glorax" consistently destroys the historical heritage of the city, and the demolition of the outbuilding on Kursk could be the result of collusion between developers and officials.

Also on the Web, allegedly Birzhin, contrary to the court's definition, brazenly demolished a complex of pre-revolutionary historical buildings on the street. Shkapin, for which he received selective criticism of the townspeople and "a couple of unprintable conversations" with the city authorities. Apparently, that "bell" Birzhin did not imagine.

Of course, ill-wishers have long spread rumors that a criminal case may be opened against Andrei Birzhin, and even that he has already left the country.

How does Mr. Birzhin react to this? Of course, he is fiercely suing those who were able to doubt his honesty and business qualities. And it does it more than successfully. In 2020, he won a case on the protection of honor and dignity, "hacking" several dozen publications through the court. Now references to them have been withdrawn even from court documents.

Photo: https://sudact.ru/regular/doc/I2LDQY3yE7oR/

But is there smoke without fire, given how much negativity circulates about Birzhin through the Internet? We strongly doubt. As Andrei Birzhin probably doubts himself and his business - otherwise, journalists are usually not sued, they do not get into huge debts and do not sell assets sharply.