The Russian construction company Inteco, owned by Yelena Baturina, the billionaire wife of Moscow ex-mayor Yury Luzhkov, will sell its 50 percent stake in a wedding registry office in the capital's sky-high City Palace complex by the end of November, company spokesman Gennady Terebkov said.
Inteco will sell its share to Viktor Rashnikov, owner of Russia's Magnitogorsk Iron and Steel Works, the Vedomosti daily reported earlier on Thursday. Inteco's partner, Alexander Chigirinsky's company Snegiri, is mediating talks with Rashnikov over the sale.
Rashnikov will buy Inteco's stake for $35-40 million which is comparable to Baturina's investment in the project.
Inteco has taken the decision to ditch the wedding registry office in order to "consolidate its resources in current projects," Terebkov said.
Another reason for the move was that the dates of the completion of the wedding office project shifted which may affect its returns, Terebkov continued.
"Inteco swiftly spread information about substantive bargains... that's why speculations concerning other deals related to the company are improper," he emphasized.
On Wednesday, Terebkov came out with a statement that Inteco is functioning as usual despite rumors that it could be sold.
Before Luzhkov was fired by Russian President Dmitry Medvedev over "loss of trust" in late September, the ex-mayor was subject to widespread public criticism for using his position to help his wife amass her $2.9 billion wealth through construction contracts in the Russian capital.
MOSCOW, November 18 (RIA Novosti)
