Spender: Andrey Goncharenko, a shadowy
oligarch, and his gallery-owner wife Marina have bought and sold
mansions in London's most prosperous areas
At £120 million, it is the most expensive town house sold in Britain.
Now
a Mail on Sunday investigation can reveal that Hanover Lodge, in
exclusive Regent’s Park, has been bought by a shadowy Russian
businessman as part of a £250 million shopping spree over three years
that has left him with four landmark London properties.
Andrey
Goncharenko’s moves in the London property market have been obscured by
a series of offshore companies, but, along with the palatial Grade II*
listed Regency mansion, he also owns 50 St James Street, Mayfair, which
sold for £70million; a mansion in Lyndhurst Road, Hampstead, sold for
£41million; and 102 Eaton Square in Belgravia, sold for £15million.
Goncharenko is regarded as an obscure figure even in the secretive world of oligarchs, and the source of his wealth is unclear.
He has never appeared in the Forbes Rich List and his rise to oligarch status has been as shadowy as it was labyrinthine.
However,
he has grand plans to spend at least £1.2million gutting the 33,000 sq
ft Hanover Lodge, which was renovated at huge expense by its previous
owner, Conservative peer Lord Bagri.
Despite
being described as ‘humourless’ by one associate, Goncharenko has been
spotted on the French Riviera, rubbing shoulders with the Russian elite,
and has a reputation as something of a party animal.
In
2011, he was reported by a top social affairs columnist in Russia to
have arranged a party at the Le Palm Beach casino in Cannes and flew in
performers from The Box nightclub in New York.
In
2012, he was at a charity auction hosted by supermodel Natalia
‘Supernova’ Vodianova, in aid of her Naked Heart Foundation, which aims
to build playgrounds for underprivileged children.
At
the auction, Goncharenko bought a painting of Supernova herself by
US-based artist David Datuna for £460,000. He is yet to settle the bill.
Anastasia
Zalogina, president of the foundation, said: ‘I can tell you that so
far he has paid 50 per cent of this amount, but he did not refuse to pay
the rest. We are in constant touch with him and we are expecting him to
pay in full one day. I do not know his reasons for the delay.’
This
failure to pay in full is all the more remarkable because in that same
year Goncharenko bought Hanover Lodge and 50 St James Street.
The Eaton Square property would appear to have been bought in cash, as Land Registry documents show no mortgage lender.
According
to the Russian state news agency RIA Novosti, Goncharenko married a
woman called Marina. He is named on company records as a Russian
national.
Marina is understood to be active in London’s booming art gallery scene and runs a gallery in Moscow.
A
report in society magazine Tatler said Marina ‘prefers to be friends
with artists rather than to make money’. Although she did not reveal the
identity of her husband, she said: ‘As long as I have a source of money
away from the arts field, I will use this [to] support something
eternal.’
Grandiose plans: Hanover Lodge, the £120 million Grade II* listed mansion in London's Regent's Park
Palatial: The grand interior of Hanover Lodge features gold walls and chandeliers with floor-to-ceiling windows
Goncharenko’s
own interest in art first came to the fore in 2006 when he set up
various arts and cultural foundations with Marina, who also set up an
arts-focused company in the UK.
Goncharenko’s
identity came to light following a dispute between various estate
agents over a ‘finder’s fee’ following his Lyndhurst Road purchase.
The
tax tribunal, which confirmed the purchase had gone through, revealed
that Goncharenko was ‘very annoyed’ after being gazumped on another
prime London property.
When
he was told the Lyndhurst Road property was available, later that night
he drove past and offered to buy it for £43million, according to
tribunal papers.
The tribunal heard this was an astonishing offer, ‘considerably in excess of the value of the property’.
With
two swimming pools, the double-fronted house boasts seven bedrooms and
has been refurbished to the tune of around £10million.
Bought by Goncharenko in 2011 for £41million, it has recently been put back on the market for £46.5million.
In 2012, he bought a £460,000 painting of Russian model Natalia Vodianova but has yet to settle the bill
Equally
extraordinary are his grandiose plans for Hanover Lodge. Lord Bagri
bought a 150-year lease on the property, built in 1827, from the Crown
Estate for £5.9million in 1994 and hired Quinlan Terry, the favourite
architect of the Prince of Wales, to transform it into a palatial home.
Goncharenko
wants to substantially expand the property, increasing the size of its
underground swimming pool, as well as adding a spa, with steam room,
sauna, water jets, massage room, gym and yoga room, and a private
cinema.
Goncharenko
also has expensive plans for 50 St James Street. The building was
originally run by fishmonger’s son William Cockford, whose head for
figures was matched only by his capacity to fleece the aristocracy.
He ran it as the Crockford’s club and gambling den for 40 years – it is even rumoured to have an escape tunnel.
The
grand house then became the louche Devonshire Club for 108 years, until
it closed in 1976. It subsequently operated as a casino, before closing
in 2009.
Until
recently, there were plans for 50 St James Street to revert to its
origins as a gentlemen’s members’ club, replete with a spa, 14-bedroom
hotel, and two restaurants.
Goncharenko’s
origins remain cloaked in mystery but he is understood until recently
to have been a senior executive of Gazprom Invest Yug, an offshoot of
the controversial Russian oil and gas giant Gazprom.
Lawyers for Goncharenko said he stepped down in 2013.
Respected
Moscow business newspaper Kommersant said that Andrey, along with his
father Nikolay, owned 83 per cent of a firm called Plamya. Plamya was
involved in the building of a huge £1.5billion trading and exhibition
centre, Lotus-City, on the outskirts of Moscow, which sold last year for
an undisclosed sum, according to the newspaper.
A source told The Mail on Sunday that the deal is likely to have taken the Goncharenkos into the financial big league.
Lawyers
for Mr Goncharenko said he had made his money through property
development, road haulage and forestry, and had made ‘significant
profit’ in the 1990s. He was at Gazprom-Invest YUG between 2002 and
2013.
A
spokesman for Gazprom Invest Yug said: ‘According to the current
legislation, A N Goncharenko is not obliged to submit a declaration of
his income and property because he is not a state official. We do not
possess any information if A N Goncharenko owns any property in Great
Britain.’
However,
documents obtained by The Mail on Sunday confirm Goncharenko’s
interests. MCA Shipping (Gib) is listed as the owner of 102 Eaton Square
on the Land Registry.
Previous purchases: Built in 1827 and
run as a gambling den for the aristocracy with an escape tunnel, there
are plans for 50 James Street, which sold for £70 million, to once again
become a gentlemen's club
Leafy: Now back on sale at £46.5
million, this double-fronted house in Lyndhurst Road, Hampstead, with
two pools and seven bedrooms, has had a £10 million refurbishment after
Goncharenko snapped it up
Classical: Built around 1825 by the
Grosvenor family and set in London's Belgravia, this Grade II* building
is in a classical square where Roman Abramovich also owns property and
where Baroness Thatcher lived
MCA
Shipping, which is based in Gibraltar, shows Andrey Goncharenko as
shareholder. Directors include Redmount Management Services with the
company secretary listed as Redmount Corporate Services.
Separate documents reveal that Redmount is linked to Hanover Lodge, 50 St James Street and Lyndhurst Road.
Alex Watzdorf, a top broker who worked on the Hanover Lodge deal, also confirmed Goncharenko bought the house from Lord Bagri.
Following
repeated requests from The Mail on Sunday in both the UK and Russia,
lawyers for Goncharenko insisted that his property ownership was a
private matter and said he was not the registered proprietor of Hanover
Lodge, 102 Eaton Square, 50 St James and Lyndhurst Road.
They declined to comment on his failure to pay the balance of the charity painting.
When
asked about Goncharenko’s property plans, London-based businesswoman
Nelli MacKenzie, believed to be involved in the purchase of Eaton
Square, said: ‘I don’t think he is interested in discussing it with the
press.’
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