North Caucasus to form special economic zones

The Resorts of the North Caucasus State Corporation plans to form
special economic zones in the North Caucasus to improve tourism,
ITAR-TASS reports.

Deputy head of the state corporation Vladimir Berezhnoy discussed the
subject. He is at the site where the Mi-8 crashed in Arkhyz on August
29.

The tourism cluster includes Adygeya, Krasnodar Territory, Dagestan,
Karachay-Cherkessia, Kabardino-Balkaria and North Ossetia. 3 deals are
planned to be signed. The corporation may also built airports for the
tourism zone, such as airports at Arkhyz, Maikop and Derbent. The
Children's Olympics may be held in the region in 2018.

Commenting on the Mi-8 crash, Berezhnoy said that one of the causes
may have been strong winds. He noted that the Kavkazskiye Mineralniye
Vody region was experiencing strong winds but there was not much in
Arkhyz. The helicopter was carrying 13 people. They planned to visit
the Elbrus area, but it went out of control at an altitude of 30
meters. 5 people were injured, including Deputy Plenipotentiary
Presidential Envoy to the North Caucasian Federal District, Maksim
Bystrov.

The North Caucasus plans to build 5 ski resorts in Lagonaki (Adygeya,
Krasnodar Territory), Arkhyz (Karachay-Cherkessia), Elbrus-Bezengi
(Kabardino-Balkaria), Mamison (North Ossetia) and Matlas (Dagestan).

The ski routes will be 898 km long with 179 cable ways. Hotels will
have 89,000 rooms. The resorts will have a capacity of 150,000 people
daily. The project will create 330,000 workplaces.