The elder son of Vladimir Yakunin – one of President Vladimir Putin’s closest associates – along with his partners is in talks to sell nine hotels in Moscow and Russian regions, the Vedomosti newspaper cited its sources as saying.
Venture Investment and Yield Management (VIYM), co-owned by Andrei Yakunin, is in talks to sell these assets to companies belonging to billionaire Vladimir Yevtushenko’s conglomerate Sistema, Vedomosti’s real estate consultants and sources close to both companies said.
The talks have been about a total of US$100 million, but after the final valuation of the hotels the price may change, Reuters reported.
These nine hotels have 1,379 rooms in total and are run by international hotel operators including Park Inn by Radisson, Holiday Inn Express and Courtyard by Marriott.
Andrei Yakunin had ambitious plans to develop his hotel network, Vedomosti says: in 2015 he planned to invest up to US$500 million in building hotels near railway stations in Russia’s largest cities.