Russian billionaire Potanin to invest $1 bln in new resort with partners

Russian billionaire Vladimir Potanin's Interros Holding and its partner Vasta Discovery will invest 80 billion roubles ($1.0 billion) in construction of a new resort in mountains near the Black Sea city of Sochi, they said in a statement on Thursday. Potanin's nearby ski resort - Rosa Khutor - currently hosts 2 million people a year.

Russian billionaire Vladimir Potanin's Interros Holding and its partner Vasta Discovery will invest 80 billion roubles ($1.0 billion) in construction of a new resort in mountains near the Black Sea city of Sochi, they said in a statement on Thursday. Demand for domestic tourism is up in Russia, home to 146 million people, due to coronavirus-related restrictions on foreign travel.

The new all-year Vasta Valley resort will add to the existing infrastructure of ski resorts in the area, which hosted the 2014 Winter Olympics, by 2025. The partners will invest their own and borrowed funds in the project, they said. The Russian state development bank VEB is also a partner and is considering organizing the project financing.

The project will install 80 km (50 miles) of new alpine skiing pistes, and the resort will be able to accept 1.5 million people a year. Potanin's nearby ski resort - Rosa Khutor - currently hosts 2 million people a year. Potanin's wealth mainly comes from his stake in the metals mining firm Nornickel. ($1 = 77.2300 roubles)

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