Nov 21, 2011: RBC Daily: Lidings has advised JTI on privatization of a land plot under the Liggett-Ducat

RBC Daily: Lidings has advised JTI on privatization of a land plot under the Liggett-Ducat
factory in Moscow

Lidings, a law firm dedicated to providing legal support to foreign business in Russia, advised JTI, a major
Japanese tobacco products manufacturer, in its privatization project of a large land plot under the “Liggett-
Ducat” tobacco factory in Moscow.
The acquired land plot occupies approximately 3 hectares and is located near Moscow’s Kashira highway.
JTI managed to exercise its right for privatization at 20% of the land plot’s cadastral value – a preferential
buy-out rate that will cease to apply as of the new year.
“The privatization project was spurred when we realized the state would not extend time for redemption at a
preferential rate”, JTI’s Communication Director in Russia Anatoly Vereschagin explained. “The project was
aimed at ensuring additional security and minimizing potential risks for the company, the more so since we
have invested hundreds of millions of dollars into the development of this factory”.
As pointed out by Tatiana Bicheva, Partner and Head of Real Estate and Construction practice at Lidings, the
number of companies wishing to privatize land under their plants has significantly increased following the
statement of Moscow’s mayor Sergey Sobyanin in which he had confirmed that industrial plants will not be
moved outside the capital.