Putin to fund ski resort for Russia's rich

A rudimentary Soviet-era resort called Krasnaya Polyana [meaning Red Meadow] already exists there and has received positive mention from Russia's most notable ski enthusiast: President Vladimir Putin.

That the resort, which at the moment has just four creaking chair lifts and a collection of mud tracks, will form the basis for a "world-class" ski centre is beyond much doubt. Plans have already been drawn up, financing approved and construction work begun.

The Russian media has evoked images of the country's super-rich skiing there in the winter and lounging on their yachts moored at the nearby Black Sea port of Sochi in the summer. In January, the government approved a £6.5bn plan to upgrade Sochi's second-rate infrastructure and turn it into a year-round holiday resort. As the liberal Novaya Gazeta newspaper pointed out with not a little disapproval, this amount is more than 10 times what the Kremlin intends to spend on developing education this year and more than five times what it plans to spend on healthcare.

The ski project is as much about prestige as it is about promoting tourism and sport. The Kremlin is hoping that Sochi, where Mr Putin has an official villa, will be selected as the venue for the 2014 Winter Olympics.

If the town wins, all the downhill skiing events will be held at Krasnaya Polyana.

But, regardless of whether Sochi and Krasnaya Polyana are chosen for the Games, the government is keen that the area becomes a premier ski resort.

Though cross-country skiing is very popular, the world's largest country is short on hills and a major European-style downhill ski resort has never been developed. Promoters of Krasnaya Polyana include some of Russia's richest individuals who claim it will be every bit as good as Chamonix, St Moritz or indeed Russians' favourite foreign ski resort of the moment, Courchevel, in the French Alps.

Only last week, Mr Putin sang the resort's praises at a press conference: "Some places in the mountains have snow all year round. I went skiing there myself two years ago. True, from a technical point of view it was quite difficult, and I had to go by helicopter, [but] it's a great place for skiing," the Russian President said with enthusiasm.

Mr Putin's upbeat assessment is shared by lovers of heli-skiing who are currently dropped off at Krasnaya Polyana by military helicopter and pay nearly £2,000 for a week's skiing there. Elemental Adventure, a UK-based tour operator that sends skiers to the resort, talks of "a never-ending succession of superb, wind-sheltered slopes and bowls, magnificent forests of well-spaced silver birches and snow conditions that have not existed in Europe for a long time".

Gazprom, the state-controlled energy giant, is due to open a resort with six ski lifts, more than a dozen new slopes and scores of new chalets in the region later this year.

A 44-year-old businessman, Vladimir Potanin, estimated to be worth £2.6bn, has also bought into the idea. His company is due to start construction of an £80m resort in May while another upscale resort nearby - which is reported to have cost nearly £250m - is expected to open its first ski lift later this month.

Novaya Gazeta is sceptical about the large sums of public money being lavished on the area. Yesterday, it predicted that much of the money would be spent "on the building of piers for yachts, on VIP cottages and on entertainment complexes".