The Asset Recovery and Management Agency (ARMA) has valued the Gulliver shopping center (Tri O LLC, Kyiv) at UAH 7.6 billion and is preparing a tender to select a manager, the ARMA press service reports. The press release specifies that the appraiser, Business Consulting PE, selected in a transparent tender, provided the National Agency with an appraisal report and a review of the report dated October 9, 2024.
According to the appraisal, the value of the Gulliver shopping center is UAH 7.6 billion. After processing all the information and preparing the tender documents, ARMA will announce a tender to select a facility manager. The Gulliver Multifunctional Complex (MFC) was transferred to ARMA by the decision of the Shevchenkivskyi District Court of Kyiv on June 3, 2024 and the Kyiv Court of Appeal on June 25, 2024.
Earlier it was reported that on June 3 this year, the Shevchenkivskyi District Court of Kyiv granted the request of the Prosecutor General’s Office to transfer Gulliver to the management of ARMA. The prosecutor’s motion concerned only the transfer of property to ARMA for management, not for sale. In addition, the court ordered ARMA to carry out periodic (at least once a month) checks on the effectiveness of the asset management.
The asset owner announced its intention to appeal the decision to the Court of Appeal. The Prosecutor General’s Office filed the motion as part of a criminal investigation by the Bureau of Economic Security (BES) into possible tax evasion by IFC’s management of almost UAH 146 million. The BES issued the relevant suspicion to IFC Director Gulliver in May 2023. On April 9, 2024, the Kyiv Court of Appeal granted the prosecutor’s motion and decided to seize the property of Tri O LLC, including the Gulliver shopping and office center in the capital.
Earlier, the investigation of the program “Schemes” reported on the company’s financial obligations to state-owned Oschadbank and Ukreximbank in the amount of UAH 14 billion. It was alleged that the actual owner of IFC is the former owner of Mykhailivskyi Bank, Viktor Polishchuk. However, the state register lists Vyacheslav Ihnatenko as the ultimate beneficiary.
The IFC press service noted that Three O fulfills its obligations to Oschadbank and Ukreximbank to repay loans: in 2023, UAH 300 million was paid, and UAH 700 million is scheduled for repayment in 2024. The company believes that the withdrawal of Gulliver from the ownership and management of Three O’s could pose a threat to the fulfillment of obligations to banks.
Gulliver mixed-use development in the Pechersk district of Kyiv was opened in 2013. Its area is 151.8 thousand square meters. The construction of Gulliver was financed by Oschadbank, which provided a $460 million loan to Tri O LLC. The debt restructuring procedure under the loan agreement with the mortgage of the Gulliver shopping center in the amount of UAH 18 billion 176.9 million was completed in 2020.
Itown Mall will appear in Odessa as part of the ITown Residential Complex (Sofievskaya Street, 1a), scheduled to open in the fourth quarter of 2024, the press service of the Ukrainian Trade Guild (UTG) told the Interfax-Ukraine agency, which is the developer of the concept and exclusive broker of the shopping center.
According to the press release, ITown Mall has three ground floors and two underground floors. GBA The total floor area (GBA) is 20,962 square meters and the leasable area (GLA) is 15 thousand square meters. The minus second floor will house home goods stores and a sports complex, the minus first floor will house a supermarket, the upper floors will house clothing and footwear department stores and technology stores.
The project of ITown business class residential complex is realized by “Prostir” group of companies. The residential complex includes five 9-25 storey residential buildings with a total of 378 apartments. According to the developer’s concept, in addition to housing and shopping center, the complex will also include class A offices, a university, scientific laboratories, an apart-hotel, a co-working space with a swimming pool on the roof, a cinema, a museum, etc. The project will be located in the center of the complex. Residential section E will be commissioned in 2023, and two more sections are scheduled for commissioning in 2024. UTG was established in 2001. It has developed more than 1300 real estate concepts. Over the years, the company has leased out 4.7 million square meters of commercial space in Ukraine.
The State Property Fund has completed the valuation of the Ukraina Hotel and plans to hold an auction for its privatization in late summer 2024, and for the Ocean Plaza shopping mall in the second half of the year, Vitaliy Koval, the head of the SPF, said in an interview with Mind.
“We have already completed the valuation of the hotel, which amounts to UAH 1.039 billion excluding VAT. We are now preparing for the auction, which we plan to hold in late summer, maybe even in the third quarter,” he said.
According to the SPF head, foreign operators are interested in privatizing the Ukraina Hotel, in particular, as they are considering upgrading it to a five-star hotel.
In addition, according to him, more than three bidders are considering participation in the auction for the privatization of the Ocean Plaza shopping center, and the Fund has received inquiries from investment funds and development companies.
As reported, the Ukraina Hotel is a state-owned enterprise managed by the SPF. It has 363 rooms, six conference halls, and meeting rooms. There is a parking lot for 80 cars and a shelter with a separate auditorium for 50 people. At the same time, the hotel’s debt is over UAH 45 million.
Ocean Plaza was opened in Kyiv in December 2012 at 176 Antonovycha Street. Its total area is 165 thousand square meters. Investments in the facility amounted to approximately $300 million. UDP and K.A.N. Development LLC acted as partners in the development of the project.
The mall was sold to Arkady Rotenberg’s Russian TPS Real Estate in 2012. Later, in 2019, Ukrainian businessman Vasyl Khmelnytsky indirectly acquired a 33.5% stake in Ocean Plaza through UPD Holdings Limited. In 2021, he sold his stake to entrepreneur Andriy Ivanov. The deal was finalized in the summer of 2023.
In June 2023, the Cabinet of Ministers transferred a 66.65% stake in the authorized capital of Lybid Investment Union LLC, which owns the mall, to the SPFU for further privatization.
The Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine has included 66.65% of the authorized capital of Lybid Investment Union LLC, which owns the Ocean Plaza shopping mall in Kyiv, in the list of large-scale privatization targets.
According to Taras Melnychuk, a representative of the Cabinet of Ministers in the Verkhovna Rada, the decision was made at a government meeting on Friday.
In October 2023, the State Property Fund of Ukraine appealed to the government with an initiative to include the state-owned stake (66.65%) in the Ocean Plaza shopping mall in the list of large-scale privatization objects. The Fund recommended setting the starting price for the sale of the state-owned stake in the mall at the level of its book value for the last reporting (annual) period.
At the end of 2022, the value of the state share amounted to UAH 1.32 billion (the carrying value of the entire asset was UAH 1.98 billion). At the same time, the Fund expects the sale of the lot to be more expensive than the book value.
As reported, on June 9, 2023, the Cabinet of Ministers approved an order to transfer to the SPF a 66.65% share of the authorized capital of Lybid Investment Union LLC, which owns the mall, in the amount of 66.65%.
Previously, these corporate rights belonged to Russian businessmen Arkady and Igor Rotenberg, who are subject to sanctions, but in March 2023, the High Anti-Corruption Court ruled to recover them in favor of the state.
Ocean Plaza was opened in Kyiv in December 2012 at 176 Antonovycha Street. Its total area is 165 thousand square meters. Investments in the facility amounted to approximately $300 million. UDP and K.A.N. Development LLC were partners in the development of the project.
The mall was sold to Arkady Rotenberg’s TPS Real Estate in 2012. Later, in 2019, Ukrainian businessman Vasyl Khmelnytsky indirectly acquired a 33.5% stake in Ocean Plaza through UPD Holdings Limited. In 2021, he sold his stake to entrepreneur Andriy Ivanov. The deal was finalized in the summer of 2023.
In Kyiv, at various stages of construction readiness, 32 business centers with a total GLA of almost 670,00 square meters (excluding large-scale facilities) are announced for opening in 2021-2022, Managing Partner of UTG Offices Volodymyr Heliuta has told Interfax-Ukraine.
According to him, according to the results of the first half of 2021, the total rental area of professional facilities in Kyiv is slightly more than 2 million square meters. In the structure of supply of space, class A accounts for 25%, B and C – 75%.
“About 52% of office space was commissioned before 2010 and today it is morally and technically outdated. Therefore, despite the permanent lockdowns, we see the interest of investors and developers in the office real estate market – frozen and postponed projects have been actively revived since the middle of 2020. Outdated shopping centers, hotel complexes, enterprises and factories are being reconstructed into office real estate,” Heliuta said.
For June 2021, the rental price per square meter a month in class A it was $20-25 excluding VAT, OPEX, utility bills and BOMA coefficients, in classes B and B + – $16-20.
The expert said that due to the release of a new proposal, vacancy is growing. Thus, in class A business centers it is 10%, in class B, B + business centers it is 10-15% with a tendency to increase.
Since the end of 2020, the tendency towards a decrease in rented space has continued. There is a growing trend towards renting turnkey office space, including fully equipped workspaces. Smaller and medium-sized tenants (especially those who are not ready to invest in renovation, improvement, furnishing of premises) are considering alternative options for changing offices.
“There is a high demand for open space offices without intricate renovations, within walking distance from the metro, in an area with developed infrastructure. In addition, one of the desired options for tenants is parking for bicycles and electric vehicles, as well as the opportunity to take a shower. Flexible office spaces adapted to a hybrid work format that allows employees to combine remote work from home with stay in the office are becoming the new norm,” Heliuta said.
According to him, the main consumer today is the representatives of the IT sector. “Adaptive offices are attractive for them: there are many projects and a team for 200 people – a large office is needed, few projects and the team has been reduced to 50 – a small one,” the expert said.
BUSINESS, BUSINESS CENTER, HOTEL, OFFICE CENTER, SHOPPING CENTER
PJSC Multiplex-Holding, developing the Multiplex cinema chain in Ukraine, is holding negotiations with managers of Kyiv’s TsUM shopping center, seeking to open a cinema in the new premium format in it.
“We are at the final stage of negotiations. It remains to agree on some details… In the next few weeks we will sign it [the lease agreement],” Commercial Director of Multiplex Holding Vitaliy Pysarenko told Interfax-Ukraine, confirming the company’s intentions.
According to him, after signing the contract, it will take up to six months to open the cinema.
“This will be a format that corresponds to the audience of the department store itself — premium. I think it will be very popular in the center of Kyiv,” Pysarenko said.
He added that the nearest cinema to the TsUM (the Oscar cinema network) operates in the Gulliver shopping center, but Multiplex intends to offer a unique format. Pysarenko did not provide more details, but added that in connection with the change of management at TsUM, the cinema operator “has high expectations regarding the new team.”
In general, according to him, by the end of 2019, Multiplex plans to open about 40 more cinema halls (about five facilities).
“We have big plans for the next year. What I can say specifically – we will open [cinema halls] in the Spartak shopping mall (Lviv), as well as at the end of the (current) year in the Gagarin Plaza shopping mall in Odesa, which will be our first cinema in this city,” Pysarenko said.
