Chechen President Ramzan Kadyrov intends...

Kadyrov announced his plans in early January to develop tourism in the republic, where militant violence has surged in recent months. Recently, he said the Argun Gorge, one of Chechnya"s most picturesque areas located on the border with Georgia, could be an ideal place for a ski resort.

"I have just talked to Ramzan Kadyrov. He said there are businessmen who are ready to join the project," the Moskovsky Komsomolets newspaper quoted Kadyrov"s press secretary, Alvi Karimov, as saying.

The president reportedly made the decision to create a Russian Courchevel, a luxury French Alps ski resort, in the volatile republic after he traveled to the gorge in early January accompanied by Russian businessman Ruslan Baysarov and film director Fyodor Bondarchuk.

"First he drove a jeep, then an ATV, and then he went on foot. Finally, he reached the border with Georgia and was amazed by the beauty of the area," Karimov told the paper, adding earlier Kadyrov had visited the gorge

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