Alexander Tkachev greased the skis

The Mountain Peaks company, associated with the family of the former governor of the Krasnodar Territory and ex-head of the Ministry of Agriculture Alexander Tkachev, offered to pay 24.2 billion rubles for the Arkhyz ski resort in Karachay-Cherkessia, follows from the protocol for summing up the second and final stage of the rebidding for the right to purchase shares in Arkhyz Management Company, which owns the resort. Its only competitor, JSC Partners Group, was ready to pay only 19 billion rubles. Thus, “Mountain Peaks” became the winner of the competition.

First, both companies offered to pay for Arkhyz the minimum price possible within the framework of the auction – 17.018 billion rubles. Because of this, rebids were required on February 27th and 28th, in which bidders submitted new proposals. At the first stage, both companies also increased their applications by the minimum possible amount – 200 million rubles. (up to 17.2 billion rubles), the winner was determined based on the results of the second stage, follows from the trading protocols.

In the fall of 2022, before the announcement of the competition, Kavkaz.RF (until November 2021 it was called Resorts of the North Caucasus), which manages Arkhyz, called applicants for the resort, in addition to Tkachev’s structures, AFK Sistema and the Sinara Group . Representatives of these companies declined to comment.

RBC sent a request to the Mantera group, which manages the development and tourism projects of the Tkachev family, as well as to the press services of Kavkaz.RF and the Ministry of Economic Development, where the auction was held in person. It was not possible to contact the representative of “Partners Group”.

“Mountain peaks”, according to Yergyul, belong to Andrey Skok, he is called the asset manager of the Tkachev family. Skok himself attended the auction, follows from the protocols. The company was also represented by Aleksey Plakhteev, investment development director of the Krasnaya Polyana resort (formerly known as Gorki Gorod) and Timofey Belashev, who worked for the Agrocomplex company. Both companies are associated with the Tkachev family.

The Tkachev family is actively investing in resort and tourism projects. In addition to Krasnaya Polyana, located in the Sochi mountain cluster, its structures own a theme park and hotels in the Imereti Valley. Krasnaya Polyana also plans to build a mountain eco-resort “Lagonaki” in Adygeya worth 35 billion rubles. and the resort “Yalta-Park” in the Crimea for 16 billion rubles. In 2022, the Mantera Group agreed to invest in the development of the Gorny Vozdukh ski resort on Sakhalin. In addition, the structures of the family of the former governor of the Kuban are going to build a theme park and a resort with hotels for 32 billion rubles. on Russky Island in Vladivostok.

How “Mountain Peaks” will develop “Arkhyz”

The Arkhyz all-season ski resort began to be built in 2010, the first slopes were launched in December 2013. Kavkaz.RF estimated the total state investment in the project at 23 billion rubles. In 2020, the resort achieved operating profitability. At the end of 2022, Arkhyz was visited by more than 740 thousand people, which is 8% more than a year earlier.

The resort has already equipped 27 km of ski slopes, eight cable cars, artificial snow systems. More than 100 hotels, recreation centers and boarding houses operate on the territory, in which a total of 2.1 thousand people can stay.

Under the terms of the competition, the investor will first receive 25% of Arkhyz Management Company. The remaining 75% of the Mountain Peaks asset will be paid for and received by 2030 upon fulfillment of investment obligations. Among them – to build a network of cable cars and 30 km of ski slopes to create a single ski area for the three tourist villages of the resort – Romantik, Lunnaya Polyana and Dukka. The trails will be located on an area of ​​at least 115 hectares, 100 hectares of which need to be equipped with artificial snowmaking systems. Also, the investor will have to create at least 6,000 new places in hotels. The investor will have to coordinate the development master plan with Kavkaz.RF, according to the competition materials.

Investments in the development of Arkhyz, taking into account seismic conditions and the characteristics of resorts, will require about 80 billion rubles, a former official familiar with the details of the project told RBC earlier.

The Federal Antimonopoly Service has already approved the application of the “Mountain Peaks” for the purchase of the resort. However, the investor will have to coordinate with the service an increase in prices for lift services by more than 5% during the year, the press service of the department said on Tuesday, February 28. This prescription is valid for five years from the date of the transaction.

How ski resorts are developing in Russia

The domestic tourist flow in the current winter season can reach up to 18 million people, which is 8% more than last winter season, Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Chernyshenko predicted. Among the popular destinations, he called Krasnaya Polyana in Sochi (the ski resorts Rosa Khutor, Krasnaya Polyana and others are located here), Arkhyz, Dombay and Elbrus, as well as Khibiny, Belaya Mountain, Mountain Air and Sheregesh.

General Director of Ivashkevich Hospitality Stanislav Ivashkevich believes that the advantage of Arkhyz is that the resort was properly designed from the very beginning of construction. According to him, the future capacity of hotel rooms (up to 8,000 rooms) has been thought out, it has been included in the capacity of lifts, etc. The expert also adds that Arkhyz has good transport accessibility. “These, of course, are not Sochi resorts, but the airport is located relatively close,” he explains. The resort is located 210 km from Mineralnye Vody Airport.

The average payback period for resorts of this type is 12-15 years, says Ivashkevich. “But this period may increase the problems with the supply of equipment. This applies not only to lifts, but to everything that is in hotels – elevators, kitchen equipment, utensils. About 80% of what is in the hotels needs to be brought in, and this will make the project more difficult due to international sanctions, the expert warns.