Russia's Sberbank to seize two skyscrapers over unpaid debt-sources

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia's biggest lender Sberbank will seize two partially-built office skyscrapers near Moscow's business district to recuperate unpaid debts, two market sources and a source close to Sberbank told Reuters.

Two of the sources said Sberbank would seize the buildings from businessman Ruslan Baisarov. The third source did not identify the buildings' owner. The sources did not specify how much Baisarov allegedly owed the state-controlled bank.

Sberbank declined to comment.

Baisarov could not be reached for comment.

Vladimir Ivanov, director general of Mtstislavich LLC, which according to ownership records in Russian database SPARK is ultimately owned by Baisarov, said he had passed an emailed request for comment onto a Baisarov associate. There was no response to the request.

The construction of the 41- and 47-storey towers, known as Suvorov Plaza, began in 2006. Since then, the project has changed hands and construction has been frozen for several years due to funding problems.

The 160,000-square metre complex is close to the Sberbank-owned President Plaza office building near the Moscow City business district, a short distance from the centre of the Russian capital.

Sberbank is also considering selling its original headquarters building in the Russian capital and relocating its staff to the Moscow City area, the sources said.

Sberbank declined to comment on any such plans.

(Reporting by Tatiana Voronova and Olga Sichkar; Writing by Maria Kiselyova; Editing by Mark Potter)