Russian businessman to invest up to 150 mln euro in Croatia's Hotel Belvedere - report

The ruinous hotel, which welcomed the political elite of the former Yugoslavia prior to the 90s, will be torn down this winter before a new building, meeting the 7-category standard, will be built, Croatian news portal Poslovni.hr reported last week.

The hotel, which will be suitable for the most important political and economic gatherings, is expected to be completed by end-2019.

"Even though, according to the official categorization, hotels in Croatia can get a maximum of five stars, this hotel will position itself at a much higher level", Davor Stern, a consultant at Vekselberg's local firm Vila Larus, is quoted saying in the media report. "Croatia will get a hotel that, due to its isolated location, level of luxury and content such as a heliodrome, will be able to host the highest state-run gatherings, such as the G8 summits."

Vekselberg purchased Hotel Belvedere for some 12 million euro in 2014.

($=0.850402 euro)