VEDOMOSTI. Sberbank Capital is eager to sell off one of its biggest assets in the retail real estate sector, Vedomosti business daily reported Tuesday. 24 facilities of Siberia-based retailer Alpi have been put up for sale as a single lot.

An auction will take place on February 1 and will be held by Saint Petersburg-based Russian Auction House (RAH), as the auction house said on its web site. 24 real estate facilities of the Siberian retail chain with a total space of 324,000 sqm have been put up for sale as a single lot. These stores are located in the Krasnoyarsk, Kemerovo and Novosibirsk regions, and also the Republic of Khakassia. The starting bid is Rub 6.5 bln. The auction will be conducted based on the Dutch scheme, with a reduction of the bid price.

Sberbank was the biggest creditor of distressed retailer Alpi. The retailer’s debt to the lender equals Rub 6.5 bln. Alpi ceased to pay back liabilities back in 2008 and in January 2009 Sberbank seized real estate assets which were collateralized (bankruptcy proceedings were initiated at Alpi on December 10, 2009).

Some of the facilities Sberbank already put up for sale separately: since last spring relevant announcements had been posted on the web sites of the Siberian and East Siberian Banks of Sberbank with an indication of “price subject to negotiation”. In late December 2009 chairman of the Siberian Bank of Sberbank Vladimir Vorozheikin said not a single facility found new owner.

Bid collection started on December 31, but none has been submitted so far, RAH general director Andrei Stepanenko says. He thinks “there is a chance to sell the facilities”, as business offers were forwarded to all major retailers. Earlier Х5 Retail Group and Auchan mulled picking up Alpi.

Sberbank’s press service declined to comment.