Sanctions - and cranes?

[GB]

As we live in E Finchley, we have billionaire roads like Bishops Avenue quite nearby. I noticed that building work on a mega mansion stopped abruptly in Feb 22, and I gather that the Russian owner has been sanctioned. It's a year now, and no work has been done on the site.

What I don't understand is why lots of equipment has been left on the site? There's a mini city of site huts, a concrete pump, and a tower crane. I don't suppose that the sanctioned Russian is keen to pay for the equipment to sit and rust, so what I don't understand is why it hasn't been removed?

[GB]

https://www.google.com/maps/@51.578084,-0.1743313,3a,75y,86.66h,83.09t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1sg5iYz55BmdUF_00ViMZxRQ!2e0!6shttps:%2F%2Fstreetviewpixels-pa.googleapis.com%2Fv1%2Fthumbnail%3Fpanoid%3Dg5iYz55BmdUF_00ViMZxRQ%26cb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile.gps%26w%3D203%26h%3D100%26yaw%3D195.53539%26pitch%3D0%26thumbfov%3D100!7i16384!8i8192

[Brian Gaff]

Cos it costs money to do that as well, and probably somebody else wants to continue, but the legal wrangling involved are holding it up. Personally, I'd have let him finish it then confiscated it and turned it into council houses. Brian

[Theo]

Possibly something about contractual obligations. Mr Oligarch has appointed a prime contractor to do the work. The prime has subcontracted somebody else for the cranes, huts etc for a year (or however long). The prime is still in business and the subcontractor is honouring their contractual obligation to provide a crane. Mr Oligarch is in default with the prime, but that doesn't mean the subcontractor can take their crane away - they're fulfilling the contract with the prime as stipulated and expect to get paid as normal.

Presumably the prime is on the hook for the cost of this, but then it will depend on break clauses in the contracts etc. It may have gone to lawyers and everything is frozen until the lawyers sort it out.

Theo

[fred]

Possibly its just free storage for the items with no urgency to remove them untl they are needed elsewhere

[GB]

I suppose that you are right. Hopefully, the prime contractor got enough up-front to pay for the plant hire.

Even so, after a year, I'd have thought that they would negotiate with the hire companies to remove it and use it elsewhere.