220 luxury apartments, a five-star hotel complex with 550 rooms, up to 40 chalets, restaurants, night-clubs, spas, a swimming-pool, a shopping mall, sport facilities… For his first project mixing real estate and tourism in the Valais Alps, Serguei Polonski, the boss of Russian group Mirax, sees things big. Christened “Village Royal”, this project in Aminona, a part of the commune of Mollens, should represent an investment worth 350 to 400 million swiss francs. “It’s a real opportunity for us," says an enthusiastic Stéphane Pont, Mollens’ president.
"We’ve been waiting for a project like this for 35 years." Prior to 1975, another project was under way in Aminona: 24 towers should have risen from the ground. But bankruptcy forced a sudden halt to construction in 1975, leaving behind 3 finished buildings as a souvenir, and 90'000 square meters of available construction space.
Since then, the town has been trying to find a new entrepreneur to use this land.
“Over the five last years, companies from England, Belgium, France and Ireland all contacted us," reveals Stéphane Pont.
"But it never got past the stage of talks.” Then, Mirax heard about it. “Last August, representatives contacted us. They presented us with different options. On our side, we explained what was possible to undertake, notably in relation to Swiss procedures, which differ greatly from those in Russia,” Stéphane Pont explains.
For the project to be compatible with Swiss legislation, Mirax’s staff made the trip to Mollens six times between August and December 2007. The Russian group then insisted that the Swiss representatives make the trip to Moscow. Accompanied by architects Philippe Gaillard (the son of the builder of the three tower blocks in Aminona), Darioli and Rossini, and by a representative of the state of Valais as well as notaries, Stéphane Pont thus went to the Russian capital: “It was a business trip. In three days, I didn’t get to see any of Moscow. We met Serguei Polonski and pursued the talks.” These led to the signing, in March 2008, of a promise to purchase land in Mollens.
“Since then, Mirax has paid 10% of the price of the site as an advance into a blocked Swiss bank account.” On March 4th, the directors of the Russian group were once again in Mollens in order to present the public with their project. On that occasion, Vladimir Marakutsa, the managing partner of the future complex, tried to reassure the crowd: “We respect the laws in place everywhere we build. We will therefore take the Lex Koller into account." This controversial law highly reduces the possibility to sell apartments to foreigners, which is evidently one of the main intentions of the Mirax group.
At the time of its presentation, the Russian project received a lukewarm welcome.
On the one hand, those in favour of the project, like the town’s shopkeepers, consider the arrival of a crowd of new tourists that could save the resort as a positive development. “The cable-car concession, the only way to reach the ski slopes from Aminona, comes to an end in 2012," explains Stéphane Pont. "If the Mirax project succeeds, the company that runs the cable car will be almost obliged to renew the concession. If not, it might be the end of the resort.” On the other hand, critics view the project unfavourably, as it brings back to memory the controversial urbanisation of the 70’s. In particular, the eight, 12-story tower buildings presented in the model are under fire. “We will have to be very careful not to spoil the landscape," warns Urs Zenhäusern, the director of Valais Tourisme. Otherwise, it will really harm tourism.” The promoters’ nationality also raises concerns. “Many people are asking questions about the Mirax group, which is little known here, and about the origin of their funds,” notes Stéphane Pont. That said, the president of Mollens wants to be reassuring: “Personally, I was particularly surprised by the respect shown by the Russian investors. They took all our remarks into consideration. And, as for their funds, I believe the Mirax company has a solid financial base.” With a 1.3 billion dollar turnover and 350 million in receipts in 2007, the Russian group presents itself as one of the principle actors of the real-estate market in Russia and in the countries of the ex- USSR. Founded in 1994 in Saint-Petersburg, Mirax can already pride itself on several real-estate “wonders”, like Kiev’s highest tower (172 meters) and Moscow’s highest building complex (420 meters), which is still under construction. For the future, the group’s goals are ambitious.
As Sergej Polonski, the president of the group’s board of directors, claimed last February: “Over the next five years, we want to become the number one in Russia and till 2010, the leader in Europe.” In order to achieve this goal, the company’s strategy is crystal clear: “Minimum investment for maximum return.” In Mollens, Mirax plans to file for a building permit next June. If the residents, the associations and the canton don’t block the project, the building-site should be completed in 4 years’ time. In order tomake the most out of it, the Russian company plans to create “a world-renowned hotel chain“which will manage several of the group’s hotels. The clientele targeted? Rich Muscovites on holiday, and an evergrowing population in the mountains of Valais. During the 2006-2007 season, Russian tourists spent 70,600 nights in Valais, an increase of more than 30% in comparison to the previous season, reveals Urs Zenhäusern, the head of Valais Tourisme. From now on, rich Muscovites consider Valais as their ski resort in Europe”.
