As Kommersant learned, a building in the center of Moscow came under unusual arrest. The interim measure was chosen by the court in the case of the illegal confiscation by the Latvian authorities in 2024 of the “House of Moscow” in Riga, which was Russian property. A voluntary exchange of buildings in the capitals of the two countries was carried out in the early 2000s, and the Moscow house changed owners during this time. The current owner calls the arrest of his property unfounded, since he had nothing to do with the actions of the Latvian authorities.
Recently, the Zamoskvoretsky District Court of the capital extended the arrest imposed two years ago on a two-story building in the center of Moscow (1st Smolensky Lane, 17, building 1). The interim measure was taken as part of a criminal case, which in April 2024 was initiated by the first department for the investigation of particularly important cases (crimes against state power and in the economic sphere) of the Main Investigative Directorate of the Investigative Committee for Moscow under Part 4 of Art. 160 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation (embezzlement or embezzlement on an especially large scale) in relation to unidentified persons.
The events that formed the basis of the criminal case occurred in Latvia on January 11, 2024. On that day, the Seimas of this country decided to confiscate the building of the cultural and business center “House of Moscow” located in Riga from Russia and turn it into state property.
The reason given was that the object allegedly poses a “threat to the security” of Latvia, since political activities are carried out there under the guise of cultural and educational events.
“We have already qualified these actions as raiding, theft, theft on a state scale. The steps of the Russian side will be tough and extremely painful for Latvia,” said then official representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry Maria Zakharova.
According to the investigation, “unidentified persons from among Latvian officials and Russian citizens” contributed to the adoption by the Seimas of the republic of the law “On actions in relation to real estate that are necessary to prevent threats to state security,” according to which the “House of Moscow” was confiscated. Thus, the criminals, as stated in the case materials, stole the building and, “on a free basis, unlawfully own, use and dispose of real estate owned by the city of Moscow.”
The story with the buildings began in 2000, when the idea of establishing a Russian cultural center in Riga was put forward by Yuri Luzhkov, then the mayor of Moscow. JSC Latvian Railways offered its five-story building of the former Railway Workers’ House of Culture on Marijas Street for it, and in return received a two-story house in 1st Smolensky Lane. The building was in a state close to emergency, the Latvian company promised to equip it and open its representative office there, as well as representative offices of Latvian ports. However, in 2003, the Latvian joint-stock company decided to get rid of the building and sold it at auction for about $500 thousand to a Cypriot company with Russian owners, Rutex Constructions Limited. In 2023, the main shareholder of the company, Tatyana Perelygina, due to the deterioration of relations between the West and Russia, removed the building from the company’s balance sheet and began to own it directly.
Now she is involved in a criminal case for embezzlement by a witness. The case file notes that at the beginning of the 2000s, Ms. Perelygina’s husband worked as deputy head of the department of investment programs for construction of the Moscow government, and was also a member of the government commission on the affairs of compatriots abroad, overseeing the CIS countries, as well as the Baltic states.
Investigators believe that private individuals may have unlawfully taken possession of the building, which originally belonged to the Moscow Property Department.
The current owners of the Moscow building insist on their non-involvement in the actions of the Latvian authorities, calling the confiscation of the “House of Moscow” unfounded, and the Russian seizure of their assets as illegal, based on the manipulation of facts. According to them, “the courts ignore all the arguments presented, simply automatically extending the arrest period.” “The 2000 deal, which seemed beneficial for Moscow, years later turned into an international conflict. Now the fate of the building on Smolensky Lane depends on the outcome of legal battles, which could drag on for years, calling into question the safety of real estate investments,” the owners of the building told Kommersant. They also noted that Ms. Perelygina’s husband was not involved in the transaction for the sale of the building and at the time of its conclusion had not worked at the mayor’s office for several years.
Moscow Arbitration Court, as Kommersant toldon December 2, 2025, fully satisfied the claim of the Prosecutor General’s Office against the Bank of Latvia, Rietumu Banka, RB Investments LLC and other defendants. The supervisory authority found that Latvia and its associated Rietumu Banka carried out subversive activities against the economic sovereignty of Russia. In 2022, the Latvian Seimas suspended intergovernmental agreements, seized the “House of Moscow” in Riga and directed the proceeds from its sale to the needs of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. Rietumu Banka joined the anti-Russian sanctions, blocking over $81 thousand from the Moscow Center for International Cooperation. Through a subsidiary Latvian structure, the bank controlled the Moscow LLC KI Invest, which owns more than 1.24 hectares of land and 13.8 thousand square meters. m of commercial real estate. Using a fictitious credit scheme with an endless growth of debt, the bank withdrew over 105 million rubles from Russia. rental payments. The court declared these transactions void and decided to convert the property into the income of the Russian Federation.
