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| Perhaps the City’s taxi drivers should start brushing up on their Russian language skills? |
Russian businessmen have long been exerting an influence on London house prices, ensuring that the top end of the market remains buoyant even in the face of falling prices elsewhere in the country. Now, though, they appear to be turning their attention to other types of real estate. Russian businessman Vladimir Chernukhin has just paid £72 million ($135 million) for the old Midland Bank’s former headquarters on Poultry in the City of London.
Chernukhin, chairman of Vnesheconombank between 2002 and 2004, was a key player in the early 2000s in restructuring Russia’s debt with the London Club.
Chernukhin’s plans for the Edwin Lutyens-designed building, which sits across from the Bank of England, are as yet unclear. But with state-owned Moscow Narodny Bank just around the corner, perhaps the City’s taxi drivers should start brushing up on their Russian language skills?