Vacation expenses: the construction of the Arkhyz resort has doubled in price
The expenses required for the construction of the Arkhyz ski resort have doubled, from 15.4 billion to 31.2 billion rubles. The Accounting Chamber drew attention to this. At the same time, government investments in the project, which were not initially envisaged, may exceed 27 billion rubles. This will happen if the government supports the proposal of the concessionaire of the project, the Mountain Peaks company, whose leadership includes former Agriculture Minister Alexander Tkachev. Already, the joint venture notes violations in the work of Arkhyz — for example, half of the tourist accommodation facilities at the resort operate without forming a legal entity and do not pay taxes. In Arkhyz, the rise in price of the project was explained by additional costs, and the Ministry of Economic Development noted that the change in the terms of the concession for the development of the resort is taking place within the framework of the law. Details of the situation with investments in Caucasian resorts can be found in the Izvestia article.
The construction of Arkhyz is rapidly becoming more expensive
The construction of the Arkhyz resort has doubled in price, follows from a letter from the head of the Accounts Chamber Boris Kovalchuk to Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin, which was reviewed by Izvestia.
In 2023, Kavkaz.RF JSC (manages the tourist special economic zones of the North Caucasus Federal District) and the Mountain Peaks company (part of the Mantera Group holding, whose chairman of the board of directors is former Minister of Agriculture Alexander Tkachev) signed a purchase and sale agreement for 100% of the shares of Arkhyz Management Company and a shareholder agreement for the right to manage this resort.
The agreement defined a step-by-step mechanism for the transfer of shares. On April 13, 2023, Mountain Peaks paid 6.1 billion rubles for the first package (25%). Payment of the remaining 75% of the shares, as indicated in the letter of the Accounting Chamber, was provided until 2030, subject to the fulfillment by the Mountain Peaks of all investment obligations. They included the construction of 30 km of new ski slopes and five cable cars, hotels and catering facilities, with additional capital investments from non-budgetary sources in the amount of 15.4 billion rubles. The project did not involve federal budget funds. However, the approach was soon revised, according to a letter from the head of the Accounting Chamber.
In December 2024, Alexander Tkachev appealed to Russian President Vladimir Putin with a request to terminate the current contract and conclude a new concession agreement without a tender. According to the updated position of the investor, the volume of necessary investments has more than doubled — from 15.4 billion to 31.2 billion rubles.
Moreover, the proposed new concession model has fundamentally changed the distribution of the financial burden between the investor and the state, follows from the letter of the joint venture. Now it provides for the provision of a grant of 15.3 billion rubles from the federal budget to the investor, as well as subsidies in the amount of 12.3 billion rubles. Additionally, it is proposed to spend 11.7 billion to provide the investor with a loan until 2040 at a preferential rate. As a result, the total amount of direct state support may exceed 27 billion rubles, the joint venture calculated.
— In addition, the investor plans to lease the resort's infrastructure, which has already been created at public expense, in which the state has invested more than 23 billion rubles, for only 300 million rubles per year. The concession project also assumes providing the investor with a VAT deduction in the amount of 5.2 billion rubles, whereas according to expert estimates it should amount to no more than 2.7 billion rubles," a source in government agencies told Izvestia.
And all this in an environment where significant amounts of income from the Arkhyz SEZ remain in the gray zone and the real income from the resort's operations may be much higher than current official estimates, follows from the Joint Venture's letter. Thus, the salary charged to Arkhyz employees is 1.5 times lower than the regional average, and about half of the tourist accommodation facilities at the resort operate without forming a legal entity, i.e. tax payments are not received from them, the document says.
— In fact, we may be talking about the fact that the business structure of the former official will buy out Arkhyz from the state with the money of the state itself. Taking into account the doubling of the resort's price on paper, the conclusion of an agreement with an investor without any competition, and the risks of non-fulfillment of certain obligations, the project may become unprofitable for the state. Therefore, the Accounting Chamber is raising the issue of the expediency of reviewing the parameters of the concession and discussing this issue with interested authorities," Dmitry Tortev, a member of the expert council of the State Duma Committee for the Protection of Competition, explained to Izvestia.
Izvestia sent inquiries to the Accounts Chamber, the government, the Ministry of Economic Development, resorts and business structures related to the project.
At the end of last year, the Accounting Chamber called for tougher penalties for residents of special economic zones (SEZs) in the Caucasus for violations. At that time, the supreme state audit authority noted that in 2022-2025, the total investment in the SEZ infrastructure amounted to 40.2 billion rubles, of which only 28.8 billion rubles were disbursed. The audit did not establish misuse of funds, but performance indicators for budget investments were not achieved in some cases: three out of five planned SEZ facilities were commissioned in 2022, 18 out of 20 in 2023, and seven out of nine in 2024.
At that time, the Accounting Chamber stressed that the organization of work with SEZ residents was not effective enough.
"First of all, this is reflected in the incommensurability of the volume of investments of residents with the scale of budget investments in the creation of infrastructure. Since 2010, 23.3 billion rubles and 25.4 billion rubles, respectively, have been allocated to create the infrastructure of the Arkhyz SEZ and the Elbrus SEZ, while residents of these SEZs invested 9.9 billion rubles and 1.8 billion rubles as of January 1, 2025," the ministry said.
Based on the results of this analysis, the Court of Auditors recommended that the government consolidate in legislation the requirements for the size of a bank guarantee when concluding concession agreements. As a source in government agencies explained to Izvestia, the issue of tightening control over concessions and SEZs may be discussed in the government in the coming months.
The position of the Accounting Chamber is not an attempt to stop development, but a requirement to comply with the rules of the game, the claims relate to the inefficient use of budget investments invested in the Caucasus.The Russian Federation" and the possible unjustified increase in the cost of the project in the absence of a transparent calculation methodology, Dmitry Tortev believes.
Is the rise in price of Arkhyz justified
The change in the cost of work at the Arkhyz resort is directly related to a significant adjustment of the capital-intensive elements of the project, the resort's press service told Izvestia.
So, it was necessary to create additional engineering protection of the territory, the construction of new artificial reservoirs for snowmaking systems and the installation of additional intermediate stations of cable cars to ensure a single ski area, they said.
Changes in market conditions, the departure of foreign manufacturers and fluctuations in exchange rates have led to an objective increase in the cost of specialized machinery and equipment for cable cars, the organization added. And "the ski slopes parameters specified during the design and the volume of necessary special equipment led to an increase in the total volume of work."
— All design solutions have passed a multi-stage audit and the design and estimate documentation has received a positive conclusion from Glavgosexpertiza. The financial model of the project has been coordinated with the relevant departments. This confirms the validity of the current project parameters and the sufficiency of control mechanisms to prevent risks," they said.
The initial project implementation model, which was approved back in 2022, assumed its development using exclusively extra-budgetary sources, the Ministry of Economic Development confirmed to Izvestia.
— In the future, taking into account the deterioration of macroeconomic conditions, the rising cost of attracting debt capital in the market and the parameters of the project, an updated model was formed, providing for the use of a concession mechanism with the participation of the state in the creation of basic infrastructure. The confirmed amount of state participation is 15.3 billion rubles," the ministry said.
The initially envisaged project parameters, including the construction of ski slopes and cable cars, remain in place, the ministry noted. In 2025, the investor began the preparatory stage of the project implementation, which includes a set of measures provided for in the project documentation at the site. These works will be resumed in April 2026, and construction and installation work is scheduled to begin in July 2026, the MAYOR said.
— The comments of the Accounting Chamber have been considered in accordance with the established procedure. Measures provided for by the current legislation are applied to individual indicators. At the same time, the current legislation allows for the extension of the terms of implementation of investment projects while maintaining the obligations of residents, which is not a violation of the terms of the agreements, the Ministry of Economic Development concluded.
How to make large investment projects more efficient
According to Dmitry Tortev, it is necessary to legislate the requirement that any change in the value of a concession project by more than 10% should be accompanied by an independent expert examination with a public opinion.
In the case of Arkhyz, Mountain Peaks is both a concessionaire and a recipient of subsidies — this creates a conflict of interest and constant risks of increasing the cost of projects, the expert believes. The optimal model is different — the state customer (for example, the Ministry of Economic Development or Kavkaz.The Russian Federation") formulates the requirements and controls the execution, and the investor is responsible for the implementation, the expert said.
The essence of the concession is the high—quality and effective fulfillment of the obligation to use state property by a qualified counterparty, who can be determined in the process of competitive selection, that is, "the best of the best," said Vitaly Kikavets, Professor of the Department of Civil Law and Process at the International Law Institute. The conclusion of such agreements without bidding negates all significant and key aspects of the effective use of state property, he believes.
— It is necessary to fine-tune the legislative framework so that already in the process of competitive selection it would be possible to involve employees of the Accounting Chamber for an expert assessment of the proposals submitted in the applications for their objectivity, rationality and effectiveness, — the expert believes.
At the same time, the strategic importance of the facilities transferred to the concession and the need for special attention from the state should be taken into account, Vitaly Kikavets added.
Resorts and recreational areas in the south of Russia are objects of strategic importance for the country's economy, especially given that the president keeps the issue of tourism development under special control, said Alexander Zakondyrin, a member of the Civic Chamber.
Earlier, Vladimir Putin called the development of domestic tourism one of the priorities of Russia's long-term development strategy. By 2030, the number of trips across the country with hotel accommodation should grow to 140 million people, the head of state noted. In 2025, it amounted to about 97 million, according to Ilya Umansky, president of the Russian Union of Travel Industry.
In addition, in January 2026, the president instructed the Cabinet of Ministers, together with the commissions of the State Council of the Russian Federation, to improve the organization of ecological tourism in protected areas.
According to Alexander Zakondyrin, Russian nature tourism clusters have great potential for development and can become a pillar for the country both in economic growth and for scientific research and ecosystem conservation, but for this it is necessary to establish a rational and transparent approach in their management.
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