Oligarch Peftiev completes construction of $10mn house

A pro-Lukashenka oligarch is ready to move into a new house.

The construction of a premium house for billionaire Vladimir Peftiev is coming to an end in Raubichy near Minsk, Radio Svaboda reports.

Judging by appearance, the the construction works in the house are over. Workers are making a separate concrete road and bringing furniture and equipment.

The oligarch's building in Zemlianichnaya Street has a house number 1. It is really number one in all senses of the word – from the point of view of architecture and the project scale. The house looks like a Swiss chalet with hi-tech elements.

Specialists from Latvia were hired to turn fantasies of the EU banned oligarch into reality. The process is controlled by foremen looking like ministers who organise weekly work meetings. The final assessment will be made by the Peftiev couple who regularly visit the site.

The approximate territory of the object is 2,000 square metres. A swimming pool hides behind the glass wall; there is a place for an indoor garden; the lower floor is used as a utility space. The project includes a detached guest house with a sauna. A special road was laid to avoid crossing with local roads. The territory is fenced with glass, a new thing for the Belarusian residential property market. Lots of cars carrying trees, furniture and equipment for a future comfortable life can be seen near the house every day.

Journalist and political observer Raman Yakauleuski visited Raubichy looking for another famous person – the ousted president of Kyrgyzstan Kurmanbel Bakiyev, who, as rumours say, obtained the Belarusian citizenship and bought a luxury home here. Talks with local residents led to Vladimir Peftiev's estate.

“Local dwellers showed me the most outstanding house in the neighbourhood. I thought it was Bakiyev's house, but it turned out that the building belongs to Peftiev. The glass fencing really impresses. It seems that a separate road to the house is being made. I was surprised to see no security guards. This house is said to be not the only one owned by the famous oligarch. It is likely to be a kind of a guest house for his close friends or VIP guests. Anyway, Raubichy has never seen anything like that before. I don't know about Drazdy, because you cannot get there without invitation, but you still can walk here in Raubichy. I suppose the territory may soon be closed for strangers here,” the political observer said.

According to reliable sources, the project without interior furnishing and landscaping costs about 5 million dollars. Raman Yakauleuski thinks the total cost of the project may be twice as much.

“After the notorious crisis of 2011, the house was said to cost some million dollars. Taking into account, the inflation rate and other processes in the financial market, we can suppose that the cost can be compared with the cost of the presidential palace. Peftiev with his house doesn't yield to Russian and Ukranian oligarchs,” Raman Yakauleuski said.

Vladimir Peftiev is called one of the main Lukashenka's personal “bankers”. He was the first Belarusian businessman subject to European sanctions in June 2011. The oligarch was banned from entering the EU. The accounts of his three leading companies – Beltechexport, BT Telecommunication and Sport-Pari were frozen. According to the EU blacklist, Vladimir Peftiev is a “key financial sponsor for the regime” who “provides

economic advice to Lukashenka”.

According to analysts, the oligarch earned most of his money from arms deals. Beltechexport company, the Belarusian government's investment agent in the military sector, holds a monopoly on external supplies of military and special equipment. The company has offices in India, the United Arab Emirates and other countries. Vladimir Peftiev has assets in other companies: BT Telecommunication (innovation technologies, construction and financial leasing), Delovaya Set (an internet service provider), Sport-Pari (lottery business), Akvadiv distillery. Vladimir Peftiev has shares in Belvnesheconombank and Priorbank, invests in the aircraft repair plant in Orsha. He is a strategic partner of construction of a plant of combined fertilisers in Qatar, an investment agent in the 2014 Ice Hockey World Championship, a member of the Belarusian Olympic Committee and chairman of the Belarusian Tennis Federation.