Crocus City Hall Mortgaged at Gazprombank Before Terrorist Attack

During the terrorist attack that occurred on March 22, the burned Crocus City Hall had been mortgaged at Gazprombank, as reported by RBC.

It is noted that the relevant information was published in an excerpt from the unified state register of real estate. The building at 20 Mezhdunarodnaya Street, covering over 38,000 square meters, belongs to Crocus International (one of the structures of Azerbaijani businessman Aras Agalarov's Crocus Group) and has been mortgaged at Sberbank under a mortgage agreement dated November 2023, valid until December 24, 2032. This agreement had previously been revised; the property was mortgaged at Gazprombank as a result of a loan agreement made in December 2022.

The Crocus Group declined to comment. Gazprombank did not respond to RBC’s inquiry.

The Krasnogorsk Crocus complex includes several interconnected buildings. In addition to the concert hall, which opened in 2009, there are the Crocus Expo exhibition center, Crocus City Mall shopping center, and Crocus City entertainment center along the Moscow ring road.

On the evening of March 22, armed individuals opened fire at Crocus City Hall before a concert by the Picnic band. According to the latest data, the terrorist attack resulted in 139 fatalities and over 180 injuries. The building caught fire, with the area of the fire estimated at 12,900 square meters. The concert hall was completely destroyed, and the roof collapsed. Sources speaking to RBC estimated the damage from the fire at 10-12 billion rubles. Crocus City Hall was insured by Ingosstrakh; it is admitted that the insurance coverage may significantly fall short of the damage amount, as revealed by a source in the insurance market.