Moscow authorities have demanded that part of the building of the IT company Lanit be recognised as illegally occupied and demolished.

The Moscow government and the Moscow City Property Department filed a lawsuit with the Moscow Arbitration Court over unauthorized construction as part of a historic building at Dobroslobodskaya, 5, recognized as a cultural heritage of regional significance. The defendant in the case is the owner of the house, a structure of one of Russia’s largest IT companies, Lanit, JSC Lanit Consulting.

The building of the Builders Union Club is located at 5 Dobroslobodskaya Street. The historic house was built in 1929 as a theatre, but later it was converted into a club where the first KVN games were held. According to the Telegram channel “Moscow. Was – became”, a club with an area of ​​more than 5 thousand square meters. m was designed in the constructivist style and was laid down for the 10th anniversary of the revolution. In 1993, Lanit moved to the building at 5 Dobroslobodskaya Street, and in 1995 it acquired the property, according to the data on the website of the group of companies.

The mayor’s office demanded that the basement, part of the premises, the superstructure and the attic with a total area of ​​more than 1.3 thousand square meters be recognized as unauthorized buildings. m as part of a historic building at Dobroslobodskaya, 5. The Moscow authorities also demand that the illegal building be demolished, that the absence of property rights be recognized, that the company be forced to vacate the land, and that a technical inventory of the construction be carried out. If the court makes a decision in favor of the capital’s authorities, but it is not executed, they plan to collect a fine of 10 thousand rubles per day from Lanit Consulting.

The Moscow government did not respond to RB.RU’s request at the time of publication of the material. The order of the Moscow Department of Cultural Heritage from 2016 on the recognition of the building as a cultural heritage states that the features of the 1929 building, which participated in the formation of the development of Dobroslobodskaya Street, the three-dimensional composition of the house, the design of the facades, textured plaster “with spray”, spatial planning, interior structure, walls and stairs.

The first hearing in the case is scheduled for August 8.

The Lanit Group of Companies reported that it does not comment on legal proceedings on which no decision has been made.

“We consider it inappropriate to comment on this request, as the arbitration case is under consideration,” the press service of the Lanit group of companies told RB.RU.

Experts believe that the Moscow authorities pursue a systematic policy of identifying unauthorized construction; there are many similar claims;

“Claims for the demolition of unauthorized buildings are not a new phenomenon for Moscow; in the 2010s, a special stir arose around disputes with the administration. The details of the current lawsuit between the Moscow government and the DGI are not yet known, but it is worth noting that the government has requested only a part of the building. In some cases, established judicial practice does not allow recognizing an integral part of a real estate complex as an unauthorized construction,” explained RB.RU. Denis Lim, partner at Lex Borealis law firm.

According to the lawyer, it cannot be ruled out that this lawsuit is just an excuse to subsequently assess the impact of additional premises on the security of the entire building.

“We have often seen in our practice examples of this type of escalation from one part of a building to challenging the security of the entire property,” Lim said.

Founder, Managing Partner of Kovalev and Partners Vladimir Kovalev He confirmed to RB.RU that there are currently many cases in court regarding claims by the Moscow government and the capital’s City Property Department related to unauthorized construction.

“Over the past three years, the Moscow government has been actively and systematically working to identify unauthorized constructions, as such objects spoil the architectural appearance of the capital and pose a threat to the life and health of citizens, as they were often built without permission,” the lawyer said.

If the rights holders do not eliminate the violations before the trial, the authorities go to court with a claim for the obligation to restore the object to its original state or to vacate the land and demolish the identified unauthorized construction.

Kovalev explained that buildings with the following characteristics can be considered unauthorized:

• the owner does not have title deeds to the land;
• The structure was built on land not designated for this purpose;
• the necessary permits have not been issued, or if building codes and regulations were violated during the work.

A common violation during unauthorized construction is the reconstruction of buildings, during which additional premises are created: new apartments, attics, all kinds of extensions, as well as the construction of individual buildings without the necessary documents.

The lawyer claims that the legislation and judicial practice regarding the demolition of unauthorized buildings are unstable, for example, the wording of Article 222 of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation (“Unauthorized construction”) has been amended several times.

The positions of the courts are also changing in some aspects. For example, in December 2023, the Supreme Court adopted the Resolution of the Plenum of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation of December 12, 2023 No. 44 “On some issues arising in judicial practice when applying the rules on unauthorized construction.” The Plenum summarized judicial practice for almost 20 years and also gave more detailed explanations on the application of the rules on unauthorized construction.

“The issue of vacating the land on which the object is located is resolved taking into account its characteristics and on the basis of the provisions of the legislation regulating the relevant legal relations,” Kovalev explained.