The huge blue inscription "Expobel", soaring at a 25-meter height on the eastern outskirts of Minsk, behind the Zeleny Lug-5 and 6 microdistricts, arouses the interest of everyone passing by. Most Minsk residents and guests of the Belarusian capital know that there is a clothing market located here, which was previously located at Akvabel, located 150 meters away. At the same time, not many are aware that a modern world-class exhibition center with all the necessary infrastructure will appear on the site of the construction taking place here over the next 2-3 years.
The fact that a private company, which does not ask anyone for anything, has taken on the implementation of a grandiose and truly important project for the state is an almost unique case for us. This circumstance prompted NEG to inquire not only about the project, but also about the opinion of those “interested” about it.
"AQUABEL" is building "EXPOBEL"
Chairman of the Aquabel Exhibition Center CJSC, professor of BGATU Petr Nikolaevich Sinkevich agreed to talk about the new project in an exclusive interview with NEG.
Petr Nikolaevich, lately there has been a lot of talk about “Aquabel” and “Expobel”: some regret the relocation of the wholesale market from their “home” place, others doubt the advisability of building new markets when land for the construction of supermarkets is being actively sold, others generally talk about that something other than a market is being built there. Please reveal the secret to the readers of "NEG", what is "Expobel" and what is their relationship with "Aquabel"?
- “Expobel” is a trade and exhibition complex, which is being built by the private enterprise “EC Aquabel” CJSC, so their relationship is related, firstly. Secondly, the shopping arcades in the form of kiosks and containers that are located here at present, it is part, and the smallest one, of the large Expobel trade and exhibition complex under construction. According to the project prepared by the Belarusian-German company Belprombauplan Consult GmbH, the area of the complex's closed premises will be 100 thousand square meters. The territory will house exhibition pavilions, open exhibition areas, parking lots for more than 3 thousand places and 2 administrative buildings, which will house a bank, post office, telegraph office, first aid post, press center, conference hall with 300 seats, and a fast food cafe. is planned as a building of 2 blocks. The first two-story retail block will consist of 2 halls of 9200 sq.m each. It is planned to house a food supermarket on the first floor, and an exhibition of industrial goods on the second floor. household equipment. The second block is an exhibition block. These will be two halls of 9000 sq.m. They are expected to host international exhibitions and fairs, entertainment and sporting events. The sales area will house two more cafes with 200 seats.
But that's not all. We hope that Expobel will become the first shopping town in Belarus with restaurants, cinemas, and children's entertainment areas. Its visitors will be able to spend time in a bowling alley, a casino, and a disco. All this will be built here, on the territory of the complex.
Where, then, is the place of the current market with its kiosks and containers in the structure of the new and, obviously, modern complex?
I believe that for every type of product there is a buyer, and I think that shopping arcades of kiosks and containers like ours will always exist on a par with supermarkets and boutiques. In any case, we will not forcibly remove them until they are in demand by the consumer.
Nevertheless, in the minds of the majority of the population, Aquabel and Expobel are markets. How did the idea of creating a market transform into the idea of creating an exhibition complex?
The process was just the opposite. In 1998, we came up with the idea of creating an exhibition center. built "Aquabel". At that time, as now, Belarus had an insignificant exhibition complex "BelEXPO" of 3 thousand square meters by world standards. It is difficult to hold a prestigious exhibition on the basis of such a complex that would interest serious participants. Maybe they don’t come to us because there is nowhere to invite them?
Then, in 1995, we decided to create an exhibition complex working for agriculture, and called it the Agribusiness Research and Production Center.
In September 1999 The exhibition company JSC "AquabelEXPO" held an exhibition of computer equipment "Infobel" at the center, and in October 1998. - exhibition "Special transport". The financial result did not satisfy the organizers. Total area exhibition halls at that time were not so large - only 4.5 thousand square meters, the hotel complex was not put into operation, which determined the great prestige of exhibitions at BelEXPO at that time. It turned out that for six months we were thinking about what to do with the empty space.
In May 2000 we held an agricultural fair in the Minsk region, which marked the beginning clothing market. Just at this time, the kiosks were removed from the Komarovsky market, and people poured here.
So, unnoticed even by the organizers themselves, a market appeared in the form of shopping arcades made of containers and kiosks - a strange, spontaneous formation.
— Expobel began to be built because the idea of building an exhibition complex haunted you, or were there other reasons?
I really didn’t want to give up the idea. But there were other reasons. The beginning of the reconstruction of the ring road and the tasks assigned to the Ministry of Transport regarding its commissioning by October 2002. forced the management of CJSC "CC "Aquabel" to reconsider the timing and pace of construction of the new complex and plan to put the first stage into operation within the same time frame. Moreover, we were warned in writing that with the opening of the Moscow Ring Road, entry from its side should be closed to ensure traffic safety .
Over the course of a year, we built electrical substations, parking lots, and open exhibition areas with all engineering communications, to which the shopping rows of kiosks and containers were moved.
— Pyotr Nikolaevich, how soon do you plan to “bless” the capital with a modern exhibition complex?
By the end of this year, we intend to commission trade and exhibition halls and administrative building. In 2004 -- the main exhibition pavilion and entertainment and recreation complex for exhibition visitors. Thus, by the end of 2004, if nothing interferes with us, Belarus, like all European capitals, will have its own trading town, where you can buy everything you need, and visit the exhibition, and take part in it, and relax. But, I emphasize, first of all, this is an exhibition complex, trade only accompanies it.
“We have been waiting for this pavilion for a long time”
The turnover of funds in this area of our neighbor and ally Russia, which accounts for about 50% of all exhibition events held in the territory of the former USSR, has reached 250-300 million USD. The number of business entities working in this and related areas has exceeded a thousand.
In countries such as Germany and the USA, revenues associated with exhibition activities exceed 5 and 12 billion USD, respectively.
As well as Russian market inferior to American and European, Belarusian lags behind Russian. In 2000 The turnover of funds in Belarusian exhibition activities amounted to 7 million USD. In the last two years, such statistics have not been kept at all, but the changes (if any) are unlikely to be dramatic. There are 6 exhibition companies operating on the domestic market, plus a couple of dozen “allied companies”.
Therefore, the initiative of a private domestic company to create a modern exhibition complex in the capital with all the necessary infrastructure looks extremely attractive.
True, it is somewhat unusual for Belarus, which is timidly entering the path of the market, that a private company intends to build a large and modern exhibition complex. “It seems to me that only the state can handle such a project. Its payback period is at least 10 years; what commercial organization will do this?” - General Director of the National Exhibition Center "BelEXPO" Alexey Ivanovich LAZUKO shared his doubts in a conversation with a NEG correspondent.
Irina Vladimirovna MAKHORKINA,
Deputy Director of the Department of Foreign Trade, Head of the Department of Exhibitions and Fairs of the Ministry of Trade:
“I’m glad that there are such grandiose plans”
Of course, there is not enough exhibition space in Belarus. We face the problem of accommodating everyone whenever large exhibitions are held, for example, automobile or construction exhibitions.
Therefore, if everything that the organizers have in mind is actually built and at the same time they are able to create all the conditions necessary for exhibitions, it will be good.
As a specialist who has devoted 20 years to organizing exhibitions, I would like to warn that the difficulty is not so much in the construction of such a complex, but in the possibilities of its full operation. The 18 thousand square meters that Expobel intends to offer at the first stage is 2 times more than what the two existing complexes have today. But both sites host one exhibition no more than three times a year (automotive, construction and food). Will there be enough people willing to occupy the created areas? After all, the largest exhibition company, BelEXPO, has its own pavilions, and naturally it wants to operate them effectively.
I would like to wish those who have undertaken this task success. If everything works out, we will be happy to cooperate with them. For now, this complex does not exist. Perhaps, as often happens, they will decide to occupy all the shopping arcades, realizing that organizing an international exhibition is a very difficult and troublesome task.
EC Aquabel, Eria, Pan Market, real estate in Minsk and the Minsk region, the Expobel shopping and entertainment center, the Aquabel business center, the Aquabel sports and fitness center, an agricultural branch in the Minsk region, investments in residential real estate in Minsk and the Minsk region.
Social activities, hobbies
Master of Sports of the USSR in sambo, Master of Sports of the USSR in judo, multiple winner of championships and cups of the BSSR and all-Union tournaments in 1975-1982, honorary consul of Nicaragua in Belarus.
Persons
Sergei and Alexander Sinkevich (partners, brothers), Anatoly Shumchenko (head of the Perspective business association), Boris Batura (ex-head of the Minsk region).
Facts
The reorganization of shopping complexes, which was started by Pyotr Sinkevich, expectedly caused indignation among tenants. In mid-2015, when automotive and construction markets announced the expiration of the lease and the need to move to a new location, the conflict reached its climax. But in the end, the businessman, who had previously successfully dealt with an internal corporate conflict, managed to solve this problem as well.
As part of the business development program, Pyotr Sinkevich planned to move all markets (automobile, construction and clothing) to indoor premises, create additional infrastructure and build a parking lot and cinema. The area of Expobel after completion of the project will increase to 145 thousand square meters.
In March 2015, it was at the Expobel complex of Pyotr Sinkevich that Alexander Lukashenko visited, after a long break, and decided to personally discuss problems with the private sector. The immediate reason for the meeting was the state’s intention to ban, from May 1, 2015, the sale of remnants of light industry products imported from the countries of the Customs Union without the appropriate documents about their origin. As a result, this deadline was extended until January 1, 2016.
In 2015, Pyotr Sinkevich announced the start of a new project located in geographical proximity to his complexes. The company Eria, which belongs to him, planned to build a sports and recreation complex with tennis courts in the Zeleny Lug microdistrict. Its area will be 7 thousand square meters. meters.
A 2-hectare site for the construction of a tennis center in the north-east of Minsk was allocated to the Eria company based on a decree of the President of Belarus. The facility will be built in the Zeleny Lug microdistrict, in the Slepyanskaya recreational area water system, its planned area is 7 thousand square meters. m. One of the largest physical education and health centers in the Belarusian capital will include four indoor tennis courts, squash courts, a health complex with a 25-meter swimming pool, gyms, and a restaurant with 100 seats. The project also includes outdoor tennis courts and grounds for beach tennis and mini-football.
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Currently, the English company Leslie Jones Architecture is developing architectural and construction projects for this project, and Belzarubezhstroy architects and engineers are adapting them to Belarusian standards. Initially, the customer formulated the main idea as follows: “to offer the Belarusian client something different from what is already available in Belarus, that is, fundamentally new: architecture, aesthetics and interior, created by European architects,” the press service of Belzarubezhstroy reported.
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It should be noted that this is not the first collaboration between Leslie Jones Architecture and the company of Peter Sinkevich. Previously, this British architectural bureau developed the concept of expansion and reconstruction of the largest in Minsk shopping center"Expobel", within the walls of which Alexander Lukashenko recently discussed problematic issues of the activities of the secret police.
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In business relations in Belarus, it appears that new stage. Somehow, everyone has become accustomed to the fact that individual entrepreneurs are fighting with the authorities, with bureaucratic arbitrariness, such as a ban on kiosks on city streets, with strange legislation or incomprehensible investment projects that overnight deprive hundreds of people of work in any market.
But the crisis makes its own adjustments - and big business decides to “put the squeeze” on individual entrepreneurs in order to compensate for their losses. With the world on a thread, and the naked (though in our case not so naked) - a shirt. Well, how could it be without Belarusian characteristics - we don’t have a truly large business without proximity to the state.
The conflict at the famous and large shopping center "Expobel" flared up, at first glance, unexpectedly. And everything looked more like a joke - entrepreneurs were offered to rent square meters a corridor or, as it sounds more beautiful, a hall. At the same time, the Expobel management set a simply unrealistic price - about 300 euros per month. Thus - and this was not hidden in conversations with individual entrepreneurs reaching out to the front entrance - the center’s management decided to compensate for the losses of the sad 2011 for the economy. It is impossible to legally raise the rent - so they adopted a stupid one, but effective method"buy a brick." Those who did not want to sign an additional agreement to the standard lease agreement were asked to leave the territory of the shopping center from March 1.
Owner of Expobela Peter Senkevich- a well-known personality in Belarusian business, although little studied. One of the ten largest developers and managers in Belarus in the retail real estate sector. The closest competitors are the owners of the Grad shopping center and the entire Zhdanovichi complex, Yuri Averyanov and his JSC "Trading World Ring", Hussein el-Badawi and IOO “Rubiroz International” and others.
Like many businessmen in the post-Soviet space, in the past there were both sports and semi-commercial and semi-state structures. People in his former circle like to recall the story about the disappearance of more than 40,000 pounds sterling, issued in “cash” (!) for the purchase of a certain agricultural combine: “Like, this is where the start-up capital comes from!”
With fifty thousand pounds you can’t lift such a giant as Expobel, but here, as sources again say, Russian money came to the rescue. But they were not enough either - and in 2004, the entrepreneurs of Aquabela (predecessor or simply Expobela) began to be persistently encouraged to borrow money for the construction of a new miracle center. It was proposed to repay the loans with rental benefits. And after the final settlement, Pyotr Senkevich, who had finally settled with his brothers-co-owners, apparently forgot about the help of the “lousy fleas” and decided to “milk” them to the fullest.
Quite expectedly, individual entrepreneurs began to persist - writing appeals, statements, and the entrepreneurial ROO "Perspective" was also involved in this. But communication with the management of Expobel did not work out - when trying to enter the administration of the shopping center, the entrepreneurs were met by security, a local police officer and other incomprehensible employees. Applications were accepted on a first-come, first-served basis, and when the press left, they began to work with those undesirable personally. The three entrepreneurs who most actively gave interviews to cameras and voice recorders clearly do not want to be seen on Expobel territory anymore. The rest, being afraid, forgot about their demands and already agree to work with additional agreements. Considering that the security service employs former employees of the Ministry of Internal Affairs who are not from the rank and file, one can roughly imagine the methods used to persuade dissenters. No, we are in no way trying to imply any illegal practices! It’s just that, as the IPs say, the above-mentioned Security Service employees have a special gift of communication - convincing and reasoned.
Anatoly Shumchenko, the leader of Perspectives, they already want to bring him to justice for organizing the rally. Thus, according to him, the management of Expobel is trying to indicate an intention to register the appeal, which we wrote about above.
- How does the center administration work with us? They call one at a time into the office and a conversation begins there. For closed door and with a security guard, of course. They insist on concluding an additional agreement, - tells the site correspondent "Comrade.online" Vyacheslav Pilipuk, one of those already deprived of space. - Entrepreneurs are invited there at the end of the month, because by the 25th we all receive invoices for paying rent, etc. until 1st. Without these payments we cannot work from 1st. It is clear that deadlines are running out - and so is the administration. Either sign or don't work. They don't even let us take the contract with us so we can consult with a lawyer. They don’t let you take a photo of it, they don’t give you a copy... If you don’t want to, go outside. If you sign it, please go with it to whoever you want. So most of us sign...
According to the entrepreneur, he has already been threatened for his active work among his colleagues. So far at the level - "you will feel very bad".
- And the head of the security duty shift promised to “organize 15 days” in 5 minutes. After I and two others were deprived of their places, information about this was posted on the door of the administration. Indicative. Of course, this acted like a whip on people. And those who spoke immediately fell silent. Psychology... When the additional agreement was re-concluded, these people were also forced to write statements renouncing the application in which they demanded protection of their rights and refused to pay fees.
According to information and estimates of entrepreneurs, the amount of rental income to the owner of Expobela is 1,600,000 euros per month.
- At the same time, we can say that the center is not developing, there is some kind of desolation... They are simply saving money, not investing in development, and they also want to “cut off” 300 euros from each tenant every month. They say that profits are invested in real estate abroad. And between the center and the old Zaslavsky road, a site was allocated 7 years ago for the second stage of Expobel - the field still stands! Why not give it to decent investors?!
The idea of asking the state to take control of the case of Piotr Sienkiewicz is already becoming popular among entrepreneurs. Apparently because, despite all the “adventures” of entrepreneurs with the state, officials still do not resort to openly gangster methods, threats and blackmail. At least for now. In the case of Expobel, as Anatoly Shumchenko believes, a dangerous precedent is being created for Belarus.
- If successful here, this could become the norm for many Belarusian private centers and complexes. Russian approaches from the 90s are used.
Interestingly, according to information from entrepreneurs, Pyotr Senkevich has been allocated another plot in Lebyazhye. And they are already underway design work. Appetite, as they say, comes with eating.
Well, entrepreneurs will try to defend their rights in court. The process, they believe, will become an indicator of how much Belarusian big business has merged with the authorities.