Russian developers are no longer limiting themselves to the markets of Russia, Ukraine and Kazakhstan. Peresvet-Invest is to enter the market of Uzbekistan, Russian Kommersant wrote.

he Group plans to invest up to US$50 million in the construction of offices and trade centres (over 130,000 square meters) in Tashkent.

In the mid-July, at the general meeting, the shareholders of Peresvet Invest voted in support of the decision to open an office in Uzbekistan, the company’s message says. The new structure will direct the modernization of Samarkand Liftostroitelniy Zavod (Samarkand Elevator Production Plant), in which Peresvet Invest acquired a 75% stake in January this year for US$1.3 million. Soon after the acquisition the company announced its plans to invest additional US$7.5 million to increase the plant’s production capacity.

Meanwhile, it appears that Peresvet is not content with the acquisition of the only producer of elevators in Uzbekistan. It is now examining several sites in Tashkent, where it plans to build offices and trade centres. The company intends to invest some US$30-50 million in the development projects, and the Tashkent office will be responsible for overseeing their implementation in Uzbekistan.

Peresvet Invest was set up in 1995. Among its largest projects in Moscow - the construction of Cascade complex, "Dom na Frunzenskoy", participation in the building projects on Hodynsk field and in Kojuhovo district. The company’s largest regional project was the construction of nearly 2.25 million sq.m. housing unit in Voronej (Russia). Peresvet Invest’s turnover in 2006 comprised 4.4 billion rubles.

The average cost of construction of commercial buildings in Tashkent is estimated at US$120 per square meter according to a source at the State Committee of Architecture and Construction, at US$366 per square meter according to the Director of Tashkent based SKS Consulting Murad Abduhakimov. Given these figures, for US$30-50 million, Peresvet will be able to build about 80,000-135,000 squre meters of office buildings in Uzbekistan.

This is much cheaper than construction in Russia. The costs of construction in any city with a population over one million people now exceeds US$1,000 per square meter, according to the Senior Analyst of Prime City Properties Antonina Lairova. One of the construction companies in Tashkent claims that Russian developers will save substantially on the workforce and construction material costs.

SKS Consulting’s Murad Abdukhakimov says that Peresvet is entering a market with a great potential: "The total area of offices in Tashkent slightly exceeds 1 million square meters. At the 20% annual growth rate, office construction projects pay off in 6-7 years." According to SKS Consulting, the total area of trade centres in Tashkent makes up about 60,000 square meters. "But only about 5% of citizens shop at supermarkets, while over 60% shop for groceries and clothing in the open retail markets," Abdukhakimov said.

Peresvet Invest is the second Russian company engaged in the construction business to enter the market of Uzbekistan. In August last year, Eurocement Group acquired Ahangarancement, a plant with the capacity of 1.73 million tonnes of cement yearly (the second largest producer of cement in the country). The Holding’s representatives say that Ahangarancement will export to Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan.