The Moscow authorities have decided to terminate the lease agreement for the Moldova pavilion at the Exhibition of Achievements of National Economy (ВДНХ/VDNH) with the Moldexpo IEC
The pretext is that the building is used in a non-purposeful way: it houses the cafes “Druzhba” and “That Cheburek”. As RBC reported with reference to the case file of the Moscow Arbitration Court, the Moscow City Property Department (CPD) decided to terminate the lease agreement of the pavilion “Moldova” (№10) at VDNH with Moldexpo. On July 26, the Department filed a corresponding claim with the Moscow Arbitration Court. It also follows from the claim that CPD asks to cancel the agreement on sublease of this object by “Arbiey Group” (Арбиэй Групп) and return the premises “in a vacated form”. Other details are not disclosed in the document. The court has so far left the application without consideration. Pavilion “Moldova” - a building with a total area of 2.7 thousand square meters - is one of the national pavilions of the former Soviet republics on the territory of VDNH. It was built in 1951 and was named “Moldavian SSR”. Its exposition reflected the history and culture of our country, as well as its achievements in agriculture and industry. In 1963, after the transition of the exhibition to the sectoral principle, the pavilion was given a new name - “Standards” and at the same time it began to demonstrate scientific developments and achievements in the field of metrology. In the 1990s, this building, as well as many other objects of VDNH, housed trading rows. In 2011, the pavilion was leased to Moldova for the creation of a national trade and exhibition center. The project was to be supervised by the Ministry of Economy and Infrastructure of the country: it was Moldexpo, authorized by it, that became the tenant of the facility in 2012. In 2014, this structure subleased the space to “Arbiey Group”, which was in charge of the reconstruction of the facility. The reconstruction of the pavilion was completed by 2019. Victor Evstifeev, owner of “Arbiey Group”, said earlier that the building “was in a state of emergency and had many surprises, breaking the original plans and cost calculations.” Now it houses a restaurant of Moldovan cuisine “Leon”, exhibition and trade areas. Pavilion No. 10 “Moldova” is owned by the city and was leased to Moldexpo IEC for holding exhibitions, organizing trade, cultural events and opening restaurants or cafes of national cuisine, explained to RBC a representative of the CPD. In March 2024, an interdepartmental inspection was held in the pavilion, which revealed the improper use of the object and the placement of third-party organizations in it without the approval of the city, said the CPD. Namely in this regard, it was decided to apply to the Arbitration Court with a claim for termination of the lease agreement and the release of the building, explains the representative of the Department. At the moment, according to him, the court proceedings are underway. In May this year, “Arbiey Group” filed a lawsuit with the Moscow Arbitration Court, demanding to recognize the commission's conclusions as unlawful and unreasonable. It follows from the case materials that the reason for the examination was the letter of VDNH of February 16 to the Ministry of Economic Development, which described the complaints of visitors to the pavilion “about the absence of expositions, activities and events related to Moldova”. The inspection revealed that “the facility lacks the identification of the exhibition and trade center ‘Moldova’, namely, it does not contain elements of national culture and products made in our country. Besides, the menu of the restaurant “Leon” contains only 6 dishes of Moldovan cuisine. The documents also state that the pavilion has glass partitions in the under staircase spaces, “forming separate rooms”. They “accommodate the cooking area of the cafe ‘Druzhba’ and ‘That Cheburek’. The court ruling says that on April 16, CPD sent Moldexpo a claim in which it proposed to start using the premises for their intended purpose and to vacate them from third-party users within a month. In July, the Moscow Arbitration Court rejected “Arbiey Group’s” claims; the company appealed the decision. // 09.09.2024 – InfoMarket
