ROSTOV-ON-DON. May 24 (Interfax) - The Crimean State Council adopted a resolution on Wednesday on nationalizing real estate assets in Crimea that belong to Russian citizens, affiliated organizations and foreign citizens who are planning to take unfriendly steps towards Russia or are already doing so, State Council Chairman Vladimir Konstantinov said.
"Fifty seven entries have been added to the list of assets that belong to foreign citizens and states engaged in unfriendly conduct in relation to Russia and are subject to nationalization," Konstantinov said at the council meeting.
The assets that have been nationalized include the building of the Mejlis (banned in Russia), which is located on Shmidt Street in Simferopol, and Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky's apartment, he said.
Among other assets subject to nationalization, he singled out the Alef-Vinal-Krym winery, which has a staff of 500 people. This company is owned by Cypriot citizen Vadim Yermolayev, who is among Ukraine's top 100 richest people and actively supports the Ukrainian Armed Forces, Konstantinov said.
AD Vinal Invest Limited, Amadon Limited and Dreamdestiny Holdings Limited (all registered in Cyprus) and Zapeto Ltd. (registered in the British Virgin Islands) hold 24.29% stakes in Alef-Vinal-Krym LLC, and 2.82% of shares belong to the winery itself. According to financial reports, the company posted revenue of 3.528 billion rubles and a net profit of 478.5 million rubles in 2022. Natalia Pivovarenko was appointed to lead the company's provisional administration on April 5, 2023. Oleg Logvinov had been its general director since the registration of the limited liability company in November 2014.
The list of assets earmarked for nationalization includes the Uksnab enterprise in Krasnoperekopsk, which manufactures industrial refrigeration and ventilation equipment. The company's beneficiary is Ukrainian businessman Igor Gumennoi, Konstantinov said.
Uksnab LLC was liquidated in April 2018. The company has recently been operating under a different name.
The State Council has also nationalized the second section of Sky Plaza (the Saturn IMAX movie theatre; the beneficiary is Ukrainian politician Arseny Yatsenyuk) in Yalta. The asset in question is the retail space, which is being leased out.
Konstantinov also mentioned solar panels owned by a "group of various limited liability companies known as Solar".
"Their revenues were transferred to offshore deposits in Cyprus. When Crimea returned to Russia, Solar [which belonged to the Ukrainian businessmen] the Klyuyev brothers managed four solar farm complexes on the peninsula," he said.
The Alushta-based Kiparis children's summer camp (owned by Ukrainian enterprise Tyazhavtotrans, Dnepropetrovsk) and the Semisotka I Kompaniya agricultural enterprise in the Leninsky district (affiliated with the inner circle of former Ukrainian Interior Minister Arsen Avakov) have been nationalized as well.
In addition, Crimea is nationalizing the warehouses of JSC Yalta Refrigerating Plant, which is currently not operational (the beneficiary is U.S. citizen Leon Zeldovich), as well as the building of the former Furshet supermarket in Simferopol and its building in Yalta, Konstantinov said. The retail chain's beneficiary was identified as Ukrainian businessman and Kiev city council member Igor Balenko.
Konstantinov said in March that the process of privatizing all companies nationalized in Crimea would begin in 2023. The republic plans to retain just one enterprise as public property - the Stroyindustriya plant, the region's biggest cement manufacturer that was nationalized in Bakhchisarai last year, head of Crimea Sergei Aksyonov said.
In October 2022, the Crimean State Council amended its resolution "On Managing Property of the Republic of Crimea" to allow the recognition of foreign states' and citizens' assets as property of the republic. The amendments apply to real estate and movable property owned as of February 24, 2022.
The nationalization process began at the end of last fall. In particular, the list of assets includes the property of the Zaliv shipyards, the company that owns the Novacenter hypermarket chain, the Stroyindustriya plant in Bakhchisarai, a number of resorts, a movie theater, and hundreds of others.
Ukrainian businessmen and politicians, including Rinat Akhmetov, Igor Kolomoisky, Sergei Taruta, Arseny Yatsenyuk and Nestor Shufrich, have therefore lost their property on the peninsula.
The nationalized companies were placed under provisional management.