Russian real estate developer Alexander Senatorov began buying apartments in Moscow’s Narkomfin building in 2006 as a gift for his fiancée, Alexandrina Markvo, who was fascinated by the revolutionary constructivist style it epitomizes. He pledged to restore its former glory.

Having had almost no maintenance since it was put up in the 1920s, Narkomfin was disintegrating. Water ran down its walls and chunks of masonry would occasionally fall off.

“[The Senatorov era] began with a love story,” says Marina Khrustaleva, an expert on constructivism who has closely tracked the history of the building.

Nestled between a small park and the U.S. Embassy in central Moscow, Narkomfin’s radical use of color, light and space makes it one of the country’s most striking buildings. Envisaged as the prototype for a new way of communal living, it was built at a time when the communist ideals of the 1920s had yet to give way to the pomp of Stalinism. Narkomfin's global influence was immense during a century that saw the mass construction of modernist apartment blocks.

Many hoped Senatorov’s love story would prove a turning point, but it quickly crumbled. His marriage fell apart after three years and his fortunes were badly affected by the 2008 economic crisis. Narkomfin remained in a critical condition and many began to doubt a genuine restoration would ever be possible.

“There is a general absence of understanding that the short period of avant-garde culture in the 1920s and 1930s was Russia’s most significant contribution to modern architecture,” says architect Alexei Ginzburg, the grandson of the celebrated constructivist pioneer, Moisei Ginzburg, who designed Narkomfin.

Mysterious New Owners

After years of decay, however, change now appears imminent for Narkomfin.

Senatorov told Russia’s Kommersant newspaper Aug. 1 that Kopernik, his investment company, no longer controlled the building. Two days later, the Moscow city government announced the winner of an auction of part of Narkomfin was an outfit called Liga Prava.

The director of Liga Prava is Garegin Barsumyan, an Abkhaz-born lawyer with a background in banking and legal dispute resolution. He has little public profile.

During an interview with The Moscow Times in Narkomfin last week Barsumyan says that as well as the being the director of Liga Prava, he is also its “de jure” owner. But he says other investors — both individuals and financial institutions — are also involved. He declined to identify them, or reveal how many there are. “I don’t want to go into the details,” he says.

One person currently working on the plans for Narkomfin described Barsumyan as a “representative” of the owners. Another of his acquaintances says it was unlikely he had only invested his own money: “It seems there is someone behind him” they say.

Senatorov Out?

Senatorov confirmed in written comments to The Moscow Times that he sold his stake in Narkomfin last year. “I took a decision to get rid of all my real estate assets. About two years ago,” Senatorov says. He declines to comment on to whom he sold Narkomfin, on his relationship with Barsumyan, or Barsumyan’s employment history.

But the three years Barsumyan spent working for Kopernik, where he headed the company’s legal department, and the presence of unnamed investors in the project have prompted speculation Senatorov remains involved. Senatorov even retains an office in Narkomfin.

Russian business daily Vedomosti cited Aug. 4 a former partner at Kopernik saying Barsumyan was a frontman for Senatorov.

Senatorov flatly denies he has any financial stake in Narkomfin. And a friend of Senatorov’s told The Moscow Times the developer “will be really glad to be rid of it [Narkomfin].”

Barsumyan also rejects suggestions of Senatorov’s involvement — but he says Senatorov would be welcome to re-join the project. “Senatorov exited in 2015,” Barsumyan says, “[But] maybe he will still return. We are open to investors. To old partners and new.”



