Baku, Azerbaijan, Sept. 18
By Fikret Dolukhanov – Trend:
Amirsoy Mountain Resort - the first ski resort in Uzbekistan - will open on Dec. 15, 2018 in the Bostanlik district of the Tashkent region, Uzbek media reported referring to Uzbekistan's Deputy Prime Minister Aziz Abdukhakimov.
According to the latter, the progress of the project is personally controlled by President of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev.
Abdukhakimov noted that the state took charge of development of Chimgan’s (neighboring village in Tashkent region) infrastructure – construction and repair of highways, railways, power lines.
"This project is of great importance for development of tourism in Uzbekistan. Tourism in our country is quite seasonal, i.e. there are "high" and "low" seasons. In summer, we have no decrease in the number of tourists, but there are some problems in winter. This project will allow diversifying tourist services in Uzbekistan and ensuring the year-round operation of the tourist infrastructure," he said.
"We fulfilled all the necessary requirements from an ecological point of view," Abdukhakimov said.
Answering a question about risks, Director of the PGI Management (Andorran company, controlling the project) Jesus Roca said that people can mistakenly consider a ski resort a privilege of wealthy people.
"We want to get rid of the idea that only wealthy people can afford to travel and rest in Amirsoy. This resort is for everyone. The prices will be affordable," he said.
The representative of the company, referring to the research conducted during 2.5 years, assured that seismological risks in the region are minimal.
Deputy General Director of Amirsoy Valery Kim, responding to a question about how the company was chosen to implement the project, said that "PGI Management found Uzbekistan itself ".
The future ski resort will occupy an area of about 900 hectares in the Bostanlyk district of the Tashkent region. The project provides for creation of a network of snow-covered ski slopes of varying degrees of complexity with a total length of about 21.3 kilometers, seven cable cars, a snowboard park, a sports school, residential buildings and other resort infrastructure. The total cost of the project is over 100 million euros.
The first stage of the project, which is planned to be completed in December 2018, includes construction of two ropeways with a length of over three kilometers, 13 ski slopes of varying complexity with a total length of 12.3 kilometers, two artificial lakes, a helipad, an artificial snow making system, winter tubing, a town of 21 buildings in the style of “chalet”, two restaurants, instructors' school, multifunctional center with rental of ski equipment and other engineering and communication facilities.
Snow-packing equipment (snowcats) has been purchased and is in the process of delivery. About 30 million euros have been allocated for these purposes.
The launch of tests of the two cable cars is planned for October 2018.
The management of the project was entrusted to the Andorran PGI Management.
Director of the PGI Jesus Roca earlier told Trend that the Andorran company is holding talks to provide further support after completion of the Amirsoy Mountain Resort.
“So far we are helping the Amirsoy Mountain Resort with construction, and we are in conversations to provide further support in later stages,” Roca said.
It should be noted that PGI is the world leader in operational management of ski resorts, including Grandvalira, which is in Top-20 of the best resorts in the world, with more than 1.6 million ski passes sold per year. The company operates in more than 18 countries.
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