The expert announced the return of increased fines for developers

The Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation has decided to apply the previous, increased fines for developers for violations if they occurred before the change in legislation. Aigul Yusupova, founder and CEO of the development company UNIKEY, told Izvestia on April 15 about how this will affect developers.

"The decision of the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation is, first of all, the restoration of legal certainty. From the point of view of shareholders, this is a fair confirmation of their legitimate expectations at the time of the dispute. However, for developers, this decision means the partial abolition of the "protective dome" that the state tried to create for the industry during the period of turbulence," she said.

According to the expert, earlier the reduction of fines from 50% to 5% was introduced as a measure to support the industry and a way to reduce the financial burden on developers. Now the courts will be required to apply the old rules to old violations, which makes it impossible for developers to optimize these costs at the current moment.

Yusupova stressed that for companies that comply with the deadlines and quality of construction, the solution does not carry critical risks. At the same time, the main burden will fall on large developers with accumulated claims for past projects.

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The expert added that developers will have to review financial models and increase reserves for payments. In addition, companies will more often seek to resolve disputes with shareholders in a pre-trial manner. According to her, some disagreements may arise on the issue of the date from which the right to collect fines should be considered, which will become one of the key points of further litigation.

"We can also expect a new surge in activity from law firms specializing in lawsuits against developers. The interest of shareholders in filing lawsuits is also likely to increase, which will lead to an increase in judicial activity in the market. As a result, the industry will be forced to control quality even more strictly at the acceptance stage in order to minimize the very ground for claims," Yusupova concluded.

Valery Tumin, Director of Russian and CIS Markets at Pham Properties, said on April 1 that the decline in activity in the new building market in Russia was not due to the crisis, but to a combination of high interest rates and changes in the terms of preferential mortgages. At the same time, a significant share of the demand was realized in advance: in January in St. Petersburg, the number of transactions under equity participation agreements increased by 70% year-on-year.

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