The decision on the revival of the Resorts of the North Caucasus was taken at the federal level, even before the return of Crimea, economic sanctions and the fall of the ruble. It was based on the fact that tourists would be better spending money in the country, and the Caucasus received another incentive for development. In accordance with the decisions of the government, nine resorts were included in the tourism cluster of the North Caucasus Federal District, Krasnodar Territory and Adygea – Arkhyz, Veduchi, Elbrus-Bezengi, Mamison, Armkhi, Matlas, Lagonaki and the Caspian coastal cluster and spa resorts.
Vestnik Kavkaza describes the resorts which have already been discovered by tourists and those which have just started to be constructed.
The main investment project of the tourist cluster of Chechnya is the all-season resort of Veduchi. Even the Grozny Sea Complex cannot compete with it, even though the complex is broadly discussed in the media due to news about separate beaches for men and women there. Implementation of the Grozny Sea project started three years ago. Two years were needed to clean the bottom of the water reservoir of mud and garbage. Several hotels, a floating restaurant, a sports and health-improving center and a dolphinarium are planned to be built on the reservoir’s coast. The main decoration will be a unique floating light-and-music fountain.
Several major tourist facilities have begun their operation in Chechnya this year, including the health-improving resort of Sernovodsk-Kavkazsky and the tourist recreation cluster of Kezenoi-Am which is situated 2000 m A.S.L. on the coast of the biggest and deepest relict lake of the North Caucasus with spring water, Kazenoi-Am.
Moreover, today high-professional projectors are working on construction of the Ahmat Tower. The skyscraper in the center of Grozny resembles a Chechen medieval watchtower. The height of the tower will be 365m without a spire, and 400m with a spire. The complex will include a hotel with 500 rooms, panoramic restaurants with international cooking culture, offices, helicopter pads, fitness centers, swimming pools, and so on. Emaar Properties, which built Burj Khalifa Skyscraper (829.8 m) in Dubai, provides technical and financial support in the project.
The head of Chechnya, Ramzan Kadyrov promises that the crisis won’t touch on all these plans: “None of the projects have been stopped; financial support is provided to the full extent. Despite the difficult political situation in the world, investors are ready to fulfill their liabilities.”
Kadyrov personally chose the site for the Veduchi resort. According to an investor of the project, Ruslam Baysarov, who is the former husband of Kristina Orbakaite, “Kadyrov took a car, drove along mountain roads, compared – came there in different seasons, watched, and chose.”
At the moment Veduchi is not finished yet. However, Chechnya hopes that when it begins operating the place will be very touristy. The complex is situated on the territory of the Itum-Kalinsky District of Chechnya, in the beautiful valley of the Argun River. Highland Chechnya is especially beautiful there.
One of the problems with construction of Veduchi was the mines which remain since the wartime. De-miners cleaned 200 ha of the territory of the resort-to-be from explosive items during the first half of the year. Another 500 ha are planned to be demined by the end of the year. Due to the peculiarities of the mountainous landscape, it is impossible to use special vehicles there. De-miners have to use horses and donkeys. And now they are going to use yaks. “Yaks are well adapted to high mountains. They have bigger lungs and hearts than oxen from the lowlands. Yak’s blood contains more oxygen,” the de-miners say.
The village of Veduchi is situated not far from Grozny (an hour from the capital’s airport). In the future, they plan to organize regular buses from Grozny and Beslan to Veduchi. The resort is going to present wide opportunities for summer and winter rest to its guests.
At the moment only one line is ready in the resort-to-be. But it has already been tested by well-known athletes from Russia, Europe and the US within the presentation of the project this winter.
Veduchi is being projected according to a broad concept of the region’s recreational potential. The architecture of the complex is based on the historic traditions of Chechen tower architecture. Mountain ski lines are being built on northern slopes of the Daneduk Range, where snow lies a few months longer than in other places.
The project requires construction of 19 lines – 32 km; 8 ropeways (one of them is a baby-lift on the part of the mountain where children will be taught); hotels for 500 beds; buildings for staff; a chalet village; service centers, including a mountain ski school, rental centers; restaurants and cafés.
The full capacity of the resort will be 4800 people daily.
One of the features of Veduchi will be the longest line – 12.5 km. It will enable the resort to get into the Top-10 European mountain skiing resorts with the longest lines. 12.5 km of snow line means 20 minutes of fast non-stop downhill skiing.
According to Baysarov, the resort will provide 2000 jobs, which will be issued only to local residents. However, there will be foreign managers in the top management of the resort. The head of the administration of the Itum-Kalinsky Municipal District, Khamzat Temirbulatov, also has a positive view: “Tourists will eat local natural products. I hope it will encourage the agricultural industry.”
