SU-155
Encyclopedia
SU-155 is the common name for the Investment and Construction Group of Companies SU-155 , a Russian company (actually a group of companies) which is a leader in the Russian construction industry. The legal name of the company is "Closed Joint Stock Company SU-155" . The group headquarters is in Moscow
.
The primary owner and chairman of the board (as of 2010) is Mikhail Balakin, who in 2010 was listed as number 616 on the Forbes
list of the world's billionaires (he had ranked as high as 260 in 2008, with a reported net worth of US$4 billion).
; that is, it controls assets used in all stages of the construction process. In addition, SU-155 is one of the major shareholders of the KB Independent Construction Bank (JSC), as well as one of its biggest customers.
SU-155 operates in Moscow, Moscow Oblast, St. Petersburg, Nizhny Novgorod, Samara, Tambov, Kaliningrad, Ivanovo, Gatchina, Ulyanovsk, Kohma, Vologda, Zhigulevsk, Tula, Tula Oblast, and other Russian cities and locations.
In 2004, the group's consolidated revenues amounted to about 25 billion rubles, and about 24.6 billion rubles in 2005. The group controls more than 20% of the Moscow housing market. SU-155 annually builds 1.3 million square meters of affordable housing in the Moscow area and other regions.
Two recent projects were a new office for the FSB (successor to the KGB
), and suburban Moscow's first indoor ski resort.
SU-155 is a sponsor of the television program KVN
.
In the autumn of 2009, the Krasnogorsky City Prosecutor's Office conducted a test of houses built by SU-155 in the Pavshinsky neighborhood. The audit revealed "serious violations of laws governing accepted practice in the maintenance of apartment houses".
In 2008, SU-155 filed suit for the rights to the internet domain name su155.net, which had formerly housed a site created by disgruntled customers entitled "SU-155: Myths and Reality - The Site for Defrauded Co-Investors of SU-155". The domain name was registered with the Australian company Melbourne IT in the name of a resident of the United Kingdom, so the suit was referred to arbitration by the World Intellectual Property Organization
(WIPO), which ruled in favor of SU-155.
Moscow
Moscow is the capital, the most populous city, and the most populous federal subject of Russia. The city is a major political, economic, cultural, scientific, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the continent...
.
History and ownership
The group traces its history to 1954, when the entity "Stroymontazhtrest Number 3", later renamed to "Construction Management Number 155", was created. In 1993 the entity was transformed into a closed joint stock company.The primary owner and chairman of the board (as of 2010) is Mikhail Balakin, who in 2010 was listed as number 616 on the Forbes
Forbes
Forbes is an American publishing and media company. Its flagship publication, the Forbes magazine, is published biweekly. Its primary competitors in the national business magazine category are Fortune, which is also published biweekly, and Business Week...
list of the world's billionaires (he had ranked as high as 260 in 2008, with a reported net worth of US$4 billion).
Operations
The group is vertically integratedVertical integration
In microeconomics and management, the term vertical integration describes a style of management control. Vertically integrated companies in a supply chain are united through a common owner. Usually each member of the supply chain produces a different product or service, and the products combine to...
; that is, it controls assets used in all stages of the construction process. In addition, SU-155 is one of the major shareholders of the KB Independent Construction Bank (JSC), as well as one of its biggest customers.
SU-155 operates in Moscow, Moscow Oblast, St. Petersburg, Nizhny Novgorod, Samara, Tambov, Kaliningrad, Ivanovo, Gatchina, Ulyanovsk, Kohma, Vologda, Zhigulevsk, Tula, Tula Oblast, and other Russian cities and locations.
In 2004, the group's consolidated revenues amounted to about 25 billion rubles, and about 24.6 billion rubles in 2005. The group controls more than 20% of the Moscow housing market. SU-155 annually builds 1.3 million square meters of affordable housing in the Moscow area and other regions.
Two recent projects were a new office for the FSB (successor to the KGB
KGB
The KGB was the commonly used acronym for the . It was the national security agency of the Soviet Union from 1954 until 1991, and was the premier internal security, intelligence, and secret police organization during that time.The State Security Agency of the Republic of Belarus currently uses the...
), and suburban Moscow's first indoor ski resort.
SU-155 is a sponsor of the television program KVN
KVN
KVN is a Russian humour TV show and competition where teams compete by giving funny answers to questions and showing prepared sketches. The programme was first aired by the First Soviet Channel on November 8, 1961...
.
Criticism and problems
SU-155 has been repeatedly criticized for serious delays in the completion of houses (in particular, for a number of houses in Novy Trekhgorka) and of delaying, under various pretexts, title transfers and settlements with residents and co-investors.In the autumn of 2009, the Krasnogorsky City Prosecutor's Office conducted a test of houses built by SU-155 in the Pavshinsky neighborhood. The audit revealed "serious violations of laws governing accepted practice in the maintenance of apartment houses".
In 2008, SU-155 filed suit for the rights to the internet domain name su155.net, which had formerly housed a site created by disgruntled customers entitled "SU-155: Myths and Reality - The Site for Defrauded Co-Investors of SU-155". The domain name was registered with the Australian company Melbourne IT in the name of a resident of the United Kingdom, so the suit was referred to arbitration by the World Intellectual Property Organization
World Intellectual Property Organization
The World Intellectual Property Organization is one of the 17 specialized agencies of the United Nations. WIPO was created in 1967 "to encourage creative activity, to promote the protection of intellectual property throughout the world"....
(WIPO), which ruled in favor of SU-155.