The Antimonopoly Committee of Ukraine (AMCU) has allowed businessman Vadym Hryhoriev’s Zhytomyr Furniture Plant to buy real estate in Kiev, which was sold by the State Property Fund (SPF).
The corresponding decision of the AMCU approved July 6, reported on the website of the agency.
Earlier, Zhytomyr Furniture Works won the FGI auction on privatization of the historic building of the former Hermitage Hotel in Kiev on May 25. As reported by the FGI in June, the investor paid UAH 373 million to the state budget for the acquired asset.
The winner of the auction is obliged to apply to the relevant cultural heritage authority and conclude a protection agreement within a month after the registration of ownership of the privatization object.
Experts interviewed by Interfax-Ukraine estimated the necessary initial investments in the restoration of the buildings of the Hermitage Hotel at EUR8-10 mln.
The buildings were erected in 1902-1904 according to the project of Kiev architect Andrei Ferdinand Krauss – the author of many buildings constructed in the capital at that time. The house was one of the best hotels in the city “Hermitage”. The owner of the house was a millionaire and brick manufacturer Jacob Bernard. The end wall in the 1960s was decorated with a mosaic panel “Ukrainian Song” by Stepan Kirichenko.
These buildings have a protected status. In 1998 they were included in the list of historical and cultural monuments of local importance by the order of Kyiv City State Administration.
According to Opendatabot data, Zhytomyr Furniture Factory PJSC (ZhMK JSC), registered in 2003, authorized capital is UAH 4.9 mln. The ultimate beneficiary is Vadym Grigoriev.
At the end of 2021, the FGVFL sold the main office of VTB Bank, located at the intersection of Pushkinskaya Street and T. Shevchenko Boulevard in the center of Kiev, to Diprobudmashina PJSC of businessman Vadym Grigoriev for UAH 294.3 million at the auction “Prozorro.Sales”.
Previously, Grigoriev has already acquired part of VTB Bank’s assets: business center “Incom” for UAH 390 million and office center (6, Vatslav Havel Blvd., Kiev) for UAH 351 million, as well as Kiev business center “Renaissance” from Alfa Bank.
Grigoriev is also the owner of Merx Group after buying out Valeriy Khoroshkovskyy’s stake in 2004.
Hotel operator Ribas Hotels Group (Odessa) plans to buy income-generating assets in 10 hotel complexes managed by the company, five investment projects under construction in partnership with developers.
“In 2023 and 2024 we plan to acquire income assets to the amount of 7 million c.u. in more than 10 projects managed by Ribas Hotels Group. The hotel and restaurant complexes that will be part of the portfolio are located in Lviv and the region, as well as in Ivano-Frankivsk and Transcarpathian regions. These are mostly resort areas, which are busy all year round”, – the company told Interfax-Ukraine Agency.
Five investment projects are being built in partnership with developers: WOL.GREEN Polyana in Polyana village (Zakarpattya region), Agate Resort & SPA and Morion in Mikulichin village, AMA Family Resort and Ribas Villas in Polyanitsa village (all in Ivano-Frankivsk region). The facilities are to be opened within 2023-2024, with payback period of 10 years, the company specified.
According to the terms of Ribas Invest’s investment program, the entry threshold is 10 thousand c.u., and the company expects an annual yield of 9-12% with capitalization of 5-10%. The company expects that Ukrainians will be interested in investing in income real estate first of all.
“Investing in real estate in installments and with the entry threshold of 10 thousand USD opens up the possibility for hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians to invest in a reliable company and profitable property. For foreigners it’s rather an investment in charity or high-risk asset, which can become very profitable “- believe in Ribas.
Ribas Hotels Group cooperates (management and reservation) with 26 hotel and restaurant properties (city, beach and ski hotels). Company portfolio includes ski hotel Ribas Karpaty (Bukovel, Ivano-Frankivsk Region), 5-star Ribas Duke Boutique Hotel (Odessa), aparthotel Wol.121 by Ribas (Odessa), business hotels brand Ribas Rooms (Odessa, Lutsk, White Church), city hotel Bortoli by Ribas (Odessa) and others. Hotels in Lviv, Kiev, Ivano-Frankivsk and other cities of Ukraine, as well as in Poland, Italy, Yerevan and Cyprus are at design and construction stage.
The total room inventory of the network is more than 1 thousand rooms in different forms of cooperation in eight cities and resort locations in Ukraine.
Wealthy connoisseurs and collectors of prestigious wines have freed up a few days in early April for a unique sale of thousands of collectible bottles organized by the auction house “Lombray-Tecam” in the chic surroundings of the Ritz Hotel in Paris.
The total value of all lots is tentatively estimated at 6 million euros. All the bottles exhibited at the auction come from the same collection of a major collector and enthusiastic about the history of French winemaking man.
For more than 50 years this enthusiast, now deceased, whose name the auctioneers do not announce, bought up and preserved tens of thousands of bottles. His heirs decided to scatter this collection at auction. In the “Ritz” April 3 7 will go under the hammer about 30 thousand bottles.
Those who have had the opportunity to get acquainted with the collection, they say that this is the very material history of the best millezimy, the milestones of the winemaking of post-war France. The collector bought his wines following recommendations from the most renowned, internationally recognized experts in the wine industry.
“The auction house informed me of a certain significant cellar. But it never occurred to me to be in front of such a treasure. It is a kind of Grail, the best initiation into wine experts,” admires Claude Maratier, a specialist who has been invited to advise a number of famous wine auctions. This time he was asked to authenticate each of the bottles.
According to connoisseurs, the selection is worthy of a museum. Among the tens of thousands of bottles are 2,000 magnums (one-and-a-half-liter jars), hundreds of cases of Bordeaux grands crus classés (collected from the best vineyards). As well as batches of bottles of the legendary Petrus, Le Pin, Haut-Brion, Clinet, Mouton-Rothschild and a whole range of other wines of the southwest of France, coveted by any lover.
The collector, of course, did not forget about Burgundy. Numerous cases of the best Burgundian wines – grands crus and premiers crus – from the estates of Romanée-Conti, Dujac, Georges Roumier, Armand Rousseau and others, whose names alone say a lot to true connoisseurs, were put up for auction.
“To describe it in a few words, very simply: all the best is here. Bidders will see only the famous labels and only the best vintage years, such as many wines of the mythical, especially for the Rhone Valley, 1978. Seeing it all was an exciting sight,” comments Claude Maratier.
“At the same time,” emphasizes the expert, “all these wines are in impeccable state of preservation, as if they were new, fresh off the bottling line. I’ve never seen anything like it. The labels are intact, the capsules on the necks look great – all of which should appeal to discerning buyers. This is a cellar of treasures carefully collected over the years.”
The starting prices of the lots are known. For example, a set of six “magnums” Petrus 1982 will be traded from 40-50 thousand euros. A set of bottles Romanée-Conti 1976 year offered for 50-60 thousand euros.
International hotel operator Accor Live Limitless (France) opened apartment hotel Adagio Kyiv Beresteiska, general director of Accor Northern Europe – Ukraine, Georgia and CIS region Andrey Davidenko told Interfax-Ukraine news agency.
“At Adagio Kyiv Beresteiska, sales are open from December 29, 2022. Now is the soft opening period, not all works are 100% finished, by January 9 we plan to open the restaurant. ibis Kyiv Beresteiska will not open until the war is over,” he said.
Both hotels are located in one building on the Victory Avenue, 55, in Adagio Kyiv Beresteiska 105 rooms, in Adagio Kyiv Beresteiska – 156.
Adagio Kyiv Beresteiska is an apartment hotel, and the rooms are adapted for longer stays: they have fully equipped kitchens, special work spaces, WIFI and other amenities for work and rest. According to Davidenko, there are already clients, who have chosen the hotel for a long stay; there is also a possibility to rent a room for a short term.
As it was reported, the international hotel operator Accor Live Limitless was planning to launch three new hotels in Ukraine in 2022-2023, ibis & Adagio Kyiv, ibis Lviv and Novotel Lviv. A 77-room ibis Styles Lviv Center hotel, located in the business center of Lviv on Shukhevicha Street, 3, began operations in December 2022.
In addition, the Black Sea Trade and Development Bank intends to provide a EUR 8 million loan for the construction of a 4-star hotel Novotel with a room capacity of 128 rooms in Lviv to Real Estate Development Center LLC.
“Now it is very difficult to talk about any timeline for Novotel Lviv, perhaps at the end of 2024 we will open. Everything depends on the end of the war,” Davidenko told Interfax-Ukraine.
Accor Group – one of the leading hotel operators in the world – opened the first hotel under the brand Novotel in Lille (France) in 1967.
Accor, as of December 2022, had more than 5.3 thousand hotels, resorts and residences in 110 countries under more than 40 brands (Raffles, Sofitel, Fairmont, OneFineStay, MGallery, Pullman, Swissotel, Grand Mercure, The Sebel, 25 hours hotel, Novotel, Mercure, Adagio, Mama Shelter, Ibis, Ibis Styles, Adagio success, Ibis Budget, Jo & Joe, hotelFormule1, hotel F1, Thalassa sea & spa, greet and others).
Accor SA shares are listed on Euronext in Paris and traded over-the-counter in the U.S. market.
In Ukraine AccorHotels manages 3-star Ibis hotels in Kyiv, Ibis Styles and Gruner in Lviv, 5-star Fairmont Grand Hotel in Kyiv, as well as Mercure Kyiv Congress Hotel. In addition, one hotel managed by Accor is located in Odessa – MGallery Hôtel de Paris.
Hotel operator Ribas Hotels Group (Odessa) started construction of WOL.GREEN Polyana complex in Zakarpattya, Ribas Hotels Group founder Artur Lupashko said,
“We are implementing our new project WOL.GREEN Polyana together with the Arena Bud development company in Zakarpattya. Construction has already begun,” he said on Facebook.
WOL.GREEN Polyana – is a complex of 78 apartments with own SPA and swimming pool, co-working place, fitness-centre, equipped sportive zones in the open air.
Lupashko reminded that the format WOL home+hotel, realized by the operator, suppose the possibility of short-term and long-term rent. In this case investors are offered to become a co-owner of the complex, to buy an apartment, which will be managed by the company Ribas Hotels Group.
“We are constantly moving and developing our hotel industry and country in all conditions and we see that the Ukrainian investor is ready to invest in the future of our country”, – added Lupashko.
Ribas Hotels Group cooperates (management, franchising and booking) with 26 hotel and restaurant properties (city, beach and ski hotels). The company’s portfolio includes business hotels Wall Street by Ribas and Bossfor by Ribas, hotel Wol.121 by Ribas (Odessa), ski hotel Ribas Karpaty (Bukovel, Ivano-Frankivsk region), beach complex Richard by Ribas (Gribovka, Odessa region). Hotels in Lviv, Kyiv, Odessa and other cities, as well as in Poland are now at the design and construction phase.
The total room stock of the network is more than 1 thousand rooms in different forms of cooperation in eight cities and resort locations in Ukraine.
A new law will come into force in Turkey on January 1, 2023, according to which a tax will be charged on accommodation in hotels, guest houses and other tourist accommodation facilities, TGRT Haber TV channel reports.
“The effect of this law was postponed two years ago, however, on the eve of its entry into force in January 2023, the tax administration prepared a draft communiqué containing the details of the document. So, from January 1, in hotels, motels, guest houses, holiday villages, boarding houses, apart-hotels , thermal resorts, campsites will be charged a fee of 2% of the cost of all services. The President of Turkey will have the right to reduce or increase the tax rate within these limits,” writes the portal.
It is noted that the mechanism for levying the tax has not yet been determined. Organized tourists will probably pay for it when buying a tour, and independent travelers will pay when checking out from a hotel. Also, the tax may be levied on the hoteliers themselves, their family members and partners who use accommodation and recreation services for free. Staff working and living on site will not pay the fee.
“The services offered in the accommodation facility, which are sold together with the overnight stay, are subject to the accommodation tax. This includes food, drinks, activities, entertainment services and the use of swimming pools, sports, thermal and similar areas offered in the hotel, as well as all concepts – BB , HB, FB, all inclusive, ultra all inclusive, writes TGRT Haber.
As the portal clarifies, for services provided outside the accommodation facility, for example, transfers, excursions, escorts, a separate invoice is issued without tax.
If the rate is calculated in a foreign currency, it will be converted into Turkish Lira at the rate of the Central Bank of Turkey in force on the date of the taxable event, i.e. the day the stay at the hotel ends, to determine the amount of the fee.
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