Sminex

The History of Sminex: From Diversification to Concentration

Behind these figures lies a story that began in 2007. Its architect is Alexey Tulupov, a man whose career in real estate development began long before Sminex was founded. Together with Sergey Gordeev, who is now the majority shareholder of the PIK Group, he founded the company “Rosbuilding.” In the early 2000s, it was one of the largest players in the mergers and acquisitions market. “Rosbuilding” bought up companies and resold them, but in 2007 the partners shut down the company and began building their businesses separately. At the end of that same year, Tulupov founded Sminex.

Initially, the company had a broad scope of operations—investing in real estate development, retail, the food industry, and oil. In retail, Tulupov launched the “Leonardo” chain of hobby hypermarkets and sold it a few years later. He acquired the “Kolomensky” bakery and confectionery plant, which eventually became the largest player in Russia’s bread market. In 2022, his holding company, “Kolomensky,” acquired the Russian operations of the Finnish company Fazer—three factories in St. Petersburg. Thus, Tulupov found himself the owner of both the most expensive items—penthouses worth billions of rubles—and the cheapest and most common goods—bread for 50 rubles.

But the key decision that shaped Sminex as it is today was made during the 2008 crisis. At that time, according to Tulupov himself, significantly more investments were made in real estate, and they could yield results faster than retail. “I was convinced once again: concentration is always better than spreading oneself too thin.” In 2008, there was indeed a shortage of real estate, and all investments were directed toward office buildings. Sminex focused on building high-end residential space in Moscow. As Tulupov later admitted, it was a cold, economic calculation.

Portfolio and Key Metrics Today: Figures and Geography

Today, Sminex’s portfolio is impressive. Since 2001, the company has completed over 100 projects with a total area of 12 million square meters. Currently, approximately 800,000 square meters are under construction, and the portfolio of prospective projects totals 3.5 million. In total, the developer has 4.9 million square meters in the construction and design phases. In central Moscow, Sminex is building and designing more than 490,000 square meters of luxury space. The developer’s current portfolio in central Moscow has exceeded 580,000 square meters of luxury space. More than half of this is located in Khamovniki.

In 2026, the company is holding construction tenders worth 32 billion rubles—nearly 10 percent more than in 2025. 23 billion will go toward construction and installation work, with another 9 billion allocated for facade and finishing materials, landscaping, and comfort systems.

Sminex Projects: In the Heart of Moscow

Frunzenskaya Embankment

The company’s flagship project, for which Sberbank issued a record loan of 55 billion rubles. This is the first real estate development project in the area in the last 12 years. The club-style neighborhood comprises 11 buildings with facades in three architectural styles. The complex features the most spacious private park on the luxury real estate market—covering 3.1 hectares—and private amenities exclusively for residents. Architectural features include rare curved terraces with decorative tempered glass railings, and windows ranging from 2.4 to 6.8 meters in height with frames made of solid Canadian and Caucasian oak. 

Khamovniki—Sminex’s stronghold

In April 2026, the company purchased its sixth site in this district—a 0.5-hectare plot on Timur Frunze Street. The transaction included four buildings with a total area of 5,000 square meters—part of the silk-weaving factory complex owned by the Moscow merchant K. Giro. The project’s above-ground area will total 13,000 square meters, of which 8,200 will be residential. The historic facades facing Timur Frunze Street will be preserved. The new site is located just 200 meters from Sminex’s previous acquisition in Khamovniki—on Lev Tolstoy Street.

Restoration on Pyatnitskaya Street: Sytin’s Printing House

A new project on Pyatnitskaya Street involves the restoration of the legendary Sytin’s Printing House. The developer purchased a 1.8-hectare plot in Zamoskvorechye, which houses eight buildings totaling 38,500 square meters, including three buildings of I. Sytin’s Printing, I. Sytin’s Publishing and Book Trade Company—a cultural heritage site. The printing house was built in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The main building was designed by master of industrial architecture Adolf Erichson in collaboration with engineer Vladimir Shukhov. The second production building was designed by architects Flegont Voskresensky and Fyodor Rybinsky. At the beginning of the last century, Yesenin worked within the walls of the printing house, and works by Gorky and other great writers were printed there. Sminex will restore the historic buildings and construct new residential buildings nearby with a private courtyard and park.

Commercial real estate

Sminex’s portfolio also includes business centers. Twist is a business center nearing completion. Life Time on Presnya is a luxury neighborhood that the company plans to launch in 2026. Sminex is also designing a high-end neighborhood on Savvinskaya Embankment and a premium neighborhood on Luzhnetskaya.

Uncompromising comfort for residents

Sminex has created its own Comfort Service—a team that has become an integral part of Fine Development’s approach and is responsible for ensuring that the project remains flawless a year from now and five years from now.

Everything residents use every day must be in good working order, clean, and maintained on time—from the entrance area to the utility rooms, from landscaping to club spaces. There’s no room for improvisation here. Regulations, preventive maintenance, monitoring, and scheduled work—all the things that often go unnoticed but are very much felt when they’re missing. The team’s main task is not to heroically clean up the aftermath, but to prevent problems from arising in the first place.

The Sminex Comfort Service never takes a day off, especially when it comes to the safety and comfort of residents. The quality of service is consistent across all of the company’s residential buildings and business centers. This ensures a uniform level of comfort across all Sminex projects.