Hotels for the 2014 Olympics to be built by Ismailov’s company

Telman Ismailov, the owner of the AST Group and co-owner of the closed Cherkizovsky market in Moscow, will build hotels for the Sochi
Olympics, reports RIA Novosti, referring to a source in the hotel sector, who said "a contract was signed on Thursday, concerning the
construction of four thousand hotel rooms", information that has been confirmed by the state construction corporation "Olimpstroy".

According to "Olimpstroy", the building of all new hotels in Sochi are being funded by private investment. Initially, it was planned to
create 57 thousand rooms, but this figure was reduced to 42 thousand. 8 thousand rooms are needed to accommodate journalists. A number of
hotels are being built in a part-hotel form, so that they can be used as dwellings after the Games. At the moment there are about five
thousand hotel rooms in Sochi.

Last year Ismailov faced great difficulties with the legal system, due to his main asset – the Cherkizovsky Market, the biggest
cash-and-carry market in the capital. The market was shut down in September 2009 due to numerous violations of health regulations
discovered by the sanitation agencies. Ismailov spent several months abroad.