Real estate tycoons in Russia are getting richer and richer after the government stimulates the market, and the demand for housing during the pandemic experienced a real boom.
One of them is Serhiy Gordeyev, who is the general director and chairman of the board of directors of the PIK group of companies. Its equity has doubled since the beginning of the year to $ 8.9 billion, according to Bloomberg International. The company is the largest construction company in Russia.
Its competitor is Samolet Group. The shares of the main shareholders, Pavel Golubov and Mikhail Kenin, are already valued at more than 1 billion US dollars, after the company’s shares have risen more than 5 times since the beginning of 2021.
Since the beginning of the pandemic, the real estate market around the world has experienced a boom, which was facilitated by record low interest rates, lagging demand and fresh investment.
These factors are also present in Russia, along with another very important one – the government of President Vladimir Putin announced a program to provide subsidies for housing construction in April 2020. The purpose of this step was to stimulate demand and counter the recession in the country’s oil industry.
House prices in Russia rose 14.4% over the past 12 months at the end of June compared to the same period a year earlier, according to Knight Frank. Meanwhile, mortgage lending in June increased by 150% compared to the same month in 2019.