Russian billionaire Pavel Durov’s appearance in Kyrgyzstan sparked speculation that he would invest in Central Asia’s largest ski resort, Three Peaks, according to bne IntelliNews.
Societe Des Trois Vallees (S3V), operator of the luxury Courchevel ski resort in France, will design the Kyrgyz ski resort. Durov arrived in the Issyk-Kul region late last week, according to local reports.
Pavel Durov, founder of messenger Telegram and social network VKontakte, whose fortune is estimated by Forbes at $15.5 billion, recently posted on social media that he planned to visit Central Asia. However, he did not mention his involvement in Three Peaks.
I keep working, meeting with our [social network] users from unusual places. This summer I decided to visit Central Asia to see life there and study how people use Telegram and what are their digital needs.
On 10 June, the head of Kyrgyzstan‘s Cabinet of Ministers, Akylbek Japarov, told an investment forum in Vienna how the country would position itself as a leading ecotourism destination, capitalising on the legendary Tian Shan Mountains (“Mountains of Heaven”) and the steppes of the Ancient Silk Road.
We are starting the construction of the ‘Kyrgyz Courchevel’. The French company S3V, one of the first operators of the world-famous resort in France, is implementing Three Peaks ski cluster in Kyrgyzstan. The plan is to lay about 200 kilometres [124 miles] of ski trails. The resort will operate all year round and will be able to receive up to 850,000 tourists annually.
Last week, Japarov signed a decree establishing a Kyrgyz Courchevel state enterprise under the Department of Presidential Affairs. The first phase of investment in the project could cost nearly $165 million. Kyrgyzstan also planned to open a second resort near Bishkek, Japarov revealed.
In winter, this will be a unique opportunity to ski literally a 20-minute drive from the capital Bishkek. All technical structures will be built by Austrian company Doppelmayr.
Kyrgyzstan’s hopes for exciting tourism growth also depend on the development of facilities around Issyk-Kul lake. It is the second largest mountain lake in the world after Lake Titicaca located on the border of Bolivia and Peru.
Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan have also established ski resorts on their territories in the Tian Shan, part of a Himalayan belt.
