Mikhail Kenin, the largest shareholder of Russian property developer Samolet Group, died on August 10 at the age of 57, the company’s public relations announced.

The cause of the billionaire's death was not shared with the public, but it is the latest in a string of high-profile deaths in Russia's top flight in recent years. 

Samolet is one of Russia's four listed developers and the second-largest in the Moscow Region. In October 2020 Samolet held an IPO on the Moscow Exchange. Since Russia's invasion of Ukraine, Samolet has maintained its bullish sales goals, believing that the market is materially undersupplied and keeping expectations of the average price increase at 10% annually.

“We are sad to confirm that today, on August 10, entrepreneur and investor Mikhail Kenin passed away,” the company's statement said, offering condolences to his family and friends.

The company described Kenin as “one of those people who leave their mark on the earth… a rare person, gifted with natural talents, an excellent organiser and successful entrepreneur… ready to take risks and make difficult decisions.” It credited him with creating the country’s largest development firm.

Kenin held a 31.6% stake in the company, sharing control with co-owner Pavel Golubkov. He was reportedly trying to sell his stake in November, CPD Ukraine reported. 

Amid sharply rising interest rates and cuts in mortgage subsidies, Samolet’s sales dropped 44% in Q3 2024.

As followed by bne IntelliNews, in 2024, Samolet raised concerns over high-profile shareholders fleeing the company and the poor performance of its bonds. Samolet’s net debt rose by 46% y/y to a record RUB291bn. The net debt/EBITDA ratio increased from 2.8x to 3.5x at the end of 2024.

Renaissance Capital analysts wrote at the time that Samolet’s IFRS results for 2024 were negative, stressing that the amount of interest paid (as per the cash flow statement) rose 2.8-fold to RUB41bn.

“Given the deteriorating sales performance in 1Q25, the company's creditworthiness remains low. This figure is likely to rise further this year, driven both by higher average interest rates on obligations and by significant debt load growth,” RenCap analysts warned.

In December 2024, the developer held an Investor Day, which failed to address the debt load and the outlook on the company's bonds.

At the beginning of 2025, Samolet announced a buyback programme of 16% of its bonds, which somewhat calmed the market.