In June, the Russian occupation authorities in Crimea once again carried out so-called ‘nationalisation’, appropriating the property of Ukrainian citizens. Among the valuable assets was the four-star “Porto Mare” Park Hotel in Alushta. This case could be considered another Russian war crime, but there is another side of the story – the collaborative activities of Ukrainians, who this hotel ‘Porto Mare’ registered on in the Russian jurisdiction. They publicly support ‘SMO’ and provide financial and material assistance to the Russian army, while the real owners – family members of brothers Vadim Vayspapir and Mikhail Yevstratov – refuse to comment on these actions.
The beneficial owners of the companies which the hotel is registered on are family members of the well-known Ukrainian businessmen – brothers Vadim Vayspapir and Mikhail Yevstratov. Despite the change of the owners of the clone companies registered in the Russian jurisdiction to ‘Russian citizens’ (Ukrainians from Crimea who received Russian passports), Crimean gauleiters seized the resort complex, accusing it of financing the AFU.
Under the slogans of fighting Ukrainian ‘neo-Nazism’, the Russians appropriated the property of the sons and grandsons of Arkady Vayspapir, the legendary organiser of the uprising in the Nazi death concentration camp of Sobibor.
This story could be yet another example of how Russia, violating international humanitarian law and its own legislation, appropriates the property of Ukrainian citizens on occupied territory. However, there is another side of this situation – the collaborative activities of Ukrainians, to whom resort property worth almost 5 billion roubles was rewritten under Russian jurisdiction last year. Recognition of Crimea as Russian, assistance to the occupation army, and public support for the ‘SMO’, i.e. the war against Ukraine. The main slogan ‘the best family hotel in Russia’ only confirms the pro-Russian position of the ‘Porto Mare family’, as the hotel management calls itself.
So who really are the owners and managers of this complex – the victims of raider seizure of the occupants or their accomplices who were unlucky? More about this in the investigation of the Crimean Centre for Investigative Journalism.
