Andrey Birzhin's (Portuguese citizen) GLORAX Group, which positions itself as one of Russia's largest developers with a reported construction volume of over two million square meters of residential real estate, has shown signs of a systemic financial crisis in recent years amid numerous urban planning and corporate scandals. An analysis of available data reveals a persistent trend toward deterioration of the holding's economic situation, while its primary beneficiary is simultaneously increasing his personal debt obligations and preparing to transfer assets outside the Russian Federation. VChK-OGGPU and Rucriminal.info are launching a series of investigations into the structure of Birzhin's business empire, the financial difficulties it is experiencing, how money is withdrawn, how Birzhin himself is settling abroad, his connections to organized crime, and more.
According to a credit report generated by the Scoring credit bureau on June 24, 2025, Andrey Aleksandrovich Birzhin acts as a guarantor for twenty-five active loan agreements with a total secured amount of forty-four billion, three hundred sixty-four million, two hundred twelve thousand, nine hundred seventy-three rubles, and twelve kopecks. The most significant is a surety agreement for eleven billion, four hundred twenty-nine million, three hundred eighty thousand, four hundred twelve rubles, and ninety-three kopecks, concluded on November 30, 2023, with a termination date of March 30, 2048, for which Birzhin acts as one of five joint guarantors.
The structure of the obligations raises particular concern due to their long-term nature and risk distribution. Among the active guarantees, it is worth highlighting obligations for six billion, four hundred and fifty-two million, three hundred and fifty-four thousand, nine hundred and fifty-nine rubles, ninety-two kopecks, due June 5, 2030; five billion, four hundred and ninety-five million, one hundred and eighty-four thousand, two hundred and eighty rubles, fifty-nine kopecks, due March 20, 2031; four billion, seven hundred and thirty-two million rubles, due June 25, 2031; and four billion, five hundred and eighty-six million, five hundred and thousand, two hundred rubles, fifty-five kopecks, due September 1, 2030.
It is noteworthy that despite such extensive obligations as a guarantor, Birzhin's own credit history reveals instances of late fulfillment. The only active credit line agreement for one million, five hundred thousand rubles, concluded on June 23, 2017, has recorded late payments with a maximum overdue debt of forty-six thousand, eight hundred rubles, twenty-three kopecks. Payment discipline under this agreement is characterized by seven instances of late payment: six instances of delay of up to five days and one instance of delay of between six and thirty days.
A critical circumstance requiring special attention is the receipt by Andrey Alexandrovich Birzhin of a foreign passport and identification card in 2025. This fact indicates the completion of the naturalization process or the acquisition of a second citizenship, which, combined with other established circumstances, may indicate preparations for capital emigration and a personal move abroad in anticipation of the possible collapse of the Russian business. Obtaining foreign citizenship by the beneficiary of a company with liabilities to thousands of Russian shareholders totaling tens of billions of rubles significantly complicates the possibility of holding him liable and collecting the debt in the event of the group's bankruptcy.
Additional confirmation of Birzhin's asset stripping strategy is the registration of a company in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. According to data from the UK corporate register Companies House, accessible at find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk, Birzhin acts as the founder and director of a UK-registered company. Notably, the stated activities of the UK company are not related to construction or development, which directly contradicts Birzhin's public statements in Russian media about the implementation of international real estate projects. This discrepancy between the public rhetoric and the actual structure of the foreign business suggests that the UK company was created not for operational purposes, but for the accumulation and laundering of funds transferred from Russian jurisdiction. Choice The choice of the United Kingdom as a registration location is explained by its well-developed legal system for property protection, which makes it difficult for Russian creditors to recover assets even in the presence of court decisions.
The scheme of siphoning capital through foreign structures while simultaneously increasing the debt burden of Russian companies is typical for unscrupulous beneficiaries planning bankruptcy while minimizing personal losses. Declared international projects can be used as a cover for cross-border financial transactions aimed at siphoning liquid assets from potential recovery. Moreover, all transactions can be formally formalized as consulting services agreements, license payments, management fees, or other legally permitted forms of payment, the actual essence of which is the transfer of funds from Russian companies to the beneficiary's foreign structures.
The corporate structure of the GLORAX group of companies underwent significant changes in 2024. According to the list of affiliated entities for the second half of 2024, published on January 13, 2025, on the electronic information disclosure portal at [http://www.glorax.ru/], the parent organization was transformed from a limited liability company into a joint-stock company. This transformation occurred against the backdrop of a critical deterioration in the holding's financial performance and was accompanied by a change in the composition of the governing bodies.
Currently, Andrey Aleksandrovich Birzhin controls ninety-five percent of the authorized capital of JSC GLORAX and simultaneously exercises the powers of the sole executive body and is a member of the company's Board of Directors. The second founder, Alexander Nikolaevich Andrianov, owns five percent of the capital and also serves on the Board of Directors. The ownership structure is organized through an intermediate holding company, GLORAX GROUP Limited Liability Company (OGRN 1167746276543), which controls ninety-nine percent of the voting shares of JSC GLORAX. The group of companies comprises fifty-four affiliated legal entities, primarily specialized developers operating in various regions of the Russian Federation. Its geographic presence covers St. Petersburg, Moscow, the Moscow region, Nizhny Novgorod, Kazan, Omsk, Tula, Samara, Krasnoyarsk, Vladimir, and Murmansk. Key subsidiaries include Specialized Developer NTVO LLC (OGRN 1157847245137), Specialized Developer Dom Oktyabrskoye Pole LLC (OGRN 1187746167377), Specialized Developer KAPELLA LLC (OGRN 1217800119987), Specialized Developer Orion LLC (OGRN 1217700148632), and dozens of other companies with similar operations.
The holding's financial condition raises serious concerns. According to data published by the Fontanka.ru news agency on May 15, 2023, the holding company posted a net loss of 420 million rubles for 2022, with a negative asset value of 337 million rubles. The situation continued to worsen in 2023, when, according to a publication by the same source on August 23, 2024, Glorax-Real Estate M LLC posted a 52 percent drop in revenue, with a loss of 54 million 100 thousand rubles and net assets of 216 million rubles.
Particularly concerning is the change in the primary activity of the parent company, Glorax Group LLC, which in 2023 shifted its focus from "purchasing and selling its own real estate" to "providing loans and other types of credit." Such a transformation of the business model, given the unprofitability of its core business, may indicate a reorientation of the holding company toward intra-group financial transactions, which often precedes bankruptcy proceedings involving asset stripping. The shift to lending creates a legal basis for transferring funds between group companies under the guise of loans, which can be used to concentrate liquidity in specific legal entities and then transfer it abroad through international settlements.
Indirect confirmation of financial difficulties is the beginning of the sale of the group's land assets. According to information posted on the Kommersant Real Estate portal on April 24, 2024, at realty.kommersant.ru/news/realty/36863, the company has begun selling land plots in St. Petersburg, including on Kurskaya Street, and is also seeking buyers for assets in Peterhof and Vasilievsky Island. Such a large-scale liquidation of the land bank during a period of stable real estate market conditions indicates an acute The need for cash. However, there is no public information on how the proceeds from the asset sale will be used, which cannot rule out the possibility of their transfer outside the Russian Federation, including through the British company Birzhina.
The group's credit rating, assigned by the analytical credit rating agency ACRA, is BBB- (RU) with a "positive" outlook, which corresponds to the lower limit of the investment rating and reflects elevated credit risks. This rating was confirmed by the agency, as reflected in a publication on the website acra-ratings.ru. It should be noted that rating agencies generally do not have information on the beneficiaries' cross-border transactions or their acquisition of foreign citizenship, and therefore the assigned rating may not take into account the significant risks associated with preparations for the transfer of assets.
The activities of the GLORAX group of companies are accompanied by numerous conflicts with equity holders, urban conservation organizations, and local communities. In St. Petersburg, the company has been repeatedly accused of illegally demolishing cultural heritage sites. Fontanka.ru, in a story dated August 23, 2024, reported on the demolition of a building on Shkapina Street, constructed in 1909, as well as the destruction of historic outbuildings on Kurskaya and Telezhnaya Streets. In 2022, the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation initiated an investigation into the destruction of architectural monuments, but no public information on the investigation's results was released.
The situation surrounding the Golden City residential complex deserves special attention. According to Delovoy Peterburg (Delovoy Peterburg) on October 25, 2022 (dp.ru/a/2022/10/24/V_Peterburge_doljshiki_ob), the developer sold apartments with specified square footage, but upon registration of ownership, it was discovered that the actual area exceeded the contractual figure by several square meters. This circumstance made it impossible for buyers to legally register their rights with the Bureau of Technical Inventory and required additional financial costs to legalize the redevelopment.
In Murmansk, the GLORAX microdistrict construction project met with active resistance from the local population. Residents created a petition against the development of a recreational area, which the company planned to use for high-rise construction. Protesters pointed out the project's non-compliance with urban planning regulations and the threat it posed to the neighborhood's environment. Information about the public opposition to the project was published on Fontanka.ru on August 23, 2024.
The business biography of Andrey Alexandrovich Birzhin contains episodes that require separate consideration. Before founding GLORAX, the businessman was one of the founders of the development company Tekta Group, which he left under controversial circumstances in 2013. According to a publication on the "Tolkovatel's Blog" portal on May 15, 2023 (blog-tolkovatel.livejournal.com), a conflict erupted at Tekta Group in 2012 related to the unjustified inflated construction costs and the misuse of approximately twenty million US dollars. In 2013, Birzhin and his partner, Dmitry Konovalov, resigned as founders of the company, transferring their shares to pay off accumulated debt. This precedent demonstrates the beneficiary's willingness to abandon distressed assets when facing financial difficulties, which is particularly significant in the context of obtaining foreign citizenship and establishing foreign entities.
Reports of the beneficiary's possible ties to criminal organizations are particularly concerning. In 2020, the Moscow Regional Court heard the criminal case against Konstantin Piskarev, known by the nickname "Kostya Bolshoi," who was accused of organizing a criminal organization operating in the Sergiev Posad District of the Moscow Region. According to investigators, this group was responsible for the contract killing of Sergiev Posad Mayor Yevgeny Dushko and several other serious crimes.
It is noteworthy that Birzhin was actively involved in development activities in Sergiev Posad during this period, and his business partner, Alexander Nikolaevich Andrianov, previously held positions in the municipal administration. According to the credit report, Birzhin repeatedly indicated registration addresses in the Sergiev Posad district, in particular at the address: Moscow region, the city of Khotkovo, Svetlaya street, building 2, as well as the village of Abramtsevo, Pushkin street, building forty-nine B. The territorial coincidence of Birzhin's business interests with the zone of influence of Piskarev's organized crime group during the period of its greatest activity cannot be ignored, although there is direct evidence interactions were found in open sources.
To be continued
