ARKHYZ /Karachay-Cherkessia/, August 31 (Itar-Tass) — Russia’s Resorts of the North Caucasus Company plans to form before the yearend a joint venture with France’s Caisse des Depots et Consignations for practical beginning of formation of the North Caucasus’ tourist cluster, Director General of the Russian company Alexei Nevsky said on Wednesday.
“We have already an agreement with the CDC Holding, which incorporates various companies, including engineering ones,” he said. “It was signed in June at the St. Petersburg economic forum.”
The French side stated it would co-finance the project to construct a mountain ski cluster. At the first stage, France will invest 1.2 billion euros in the project.
“Next stage of our cooperation is to discuss of all issued at the upcoming Sochi economic forum, due on September 15-18,” he continued. “Before the yearend we plan to organise a Russia-France joint venture, where the Russian side will keep the control stock.
“The joint venture will be the focus place for work with French investors, and it should offer certain standards.”
“Presently, the Resorts of the North Caucasus hold negotiations wih a major Korean company, where we discuss the option of investments in infrastructure projects,” Nevsky told Itar-Tass. “We also have minor investors, with who we hope to reach agreements at the Sochi forum.”
“Five mountain ski facilities, which are being constructed now, would require over 450 billion roubles in investments, where 60 billion roubles come from Russia’s budget.” The company plans to attract the remaining funds in investments from private companies.
“The project’s investors should include not only major foreign, but local investors, too,” he said. “The project was specially designed to have local companies build hotels, bakeries.”
“We shall attract investors actively over next year: we shall have meetings, sign documents,” Nevsky promised. “The products, the Resorts of the North Caucasus will offer to investors, should be clear and attractive; they should comply with international standards.”
In the framework of the ski mountain cluster project, by 2020 six world class ski resorts will be built in the North Caucasus: Lago-Naki /Adygeya/, Arkhyz /Karachay-Cherkessia/, Elbrus and Bezengi /Kabardino-Balkaria/, Mamison /North Ossetia/ and Matlas /Dagestan/. The total length of the ski routes will make 898 kilometres, and the number of poma lifts will make 179. Local hotels will accommodate 89,000 guests at a time, and the resorts’ daily capacity will exceed 150,000 skiers. The project will offer gradually over 330,000 jobs.
Besides, the Russian government plans to expand the tourist zone of the North Caucasus by the Caspian shore territory in Dagestan and in Mineralny Vody /the Stavropol Territory/. The project may also include the Dzheirakh Region of Ingushetia.
Experts say that the investment potential of the tourist cluster in the North Caucasus may make one trillion roubles.