Vienna-based Akron Group announced on Monday that it has formed a joint venture in Russia with Gazprom-Invest (GPBI), the real estate investment arm of Russian bank giant Gazprombank. Akron said the partnership covers large-scale office, retail and logistics projects in Moscow and St Petersburg.
Vienna-based Akron Group announced on Monday that it has formed a joint venture in Russia with Gazprom-Invest (GPBI), the real estate investment arm of Russian bank giant Gazprombank. Akron said the partnership covers large-scale office, retail and logistics projects in Moscow and St Petersburg.
The Austrian company said it was one of the few Western European real estate companies to enter a cooperation with GPBI. The two companies plan to renovate and modernise a 16,000 m2 business centre at the Moscow Garden Ring as part of a project which will also feature restaurants and retail outlets. Construction is scheduled to begin in the second half of 2008. The joint venture partners also intend to develop office projects, providing a total of 48,000 m2, in St Petersburg in the near future.
'Russia is one of our core markets and very important for the group's future,' Akron's CEO Christian Thalhammer said in a statement. 'Together with our local partner GPBI and our Moscow office team, we are well-equipped for large-scale projects in the years to come.'
Akron develops, invests in and manages office, retail and logistics real estate. Its portfolio comprises 57 properties valued at EUR 1.2bn, and the company is undertaking developments valued at an additional EUR 600mln. GPBI focuses on development projects and has 150 branches in Russia. Its investment portfolio exceeds 2 million m2 of space.
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