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Cash-strapped, debt-laden Greece may look like the sick man of Europe to its eurozone partners, but for rich Russians it still has many charms.
ReplyDeleteZepko is an idyllic, undeveloped location in the eastern corner of Halkidiki, a peninsula in northern Greece blessed with secluded beaches, azure waters and pine forests.
When Zepko's owners, all retired military officers, started looking for a buyer, two Russian companies came knocking.
At a time when foreign and domestic capital is fleeing Greece, the Moscow- and St Petersburg-based companies submitted rival bids of 200m euros (£163m; $260m) each to acquire the land and turn it into a luxury holiday resort. The officers could pocket 40m euros for the land alone if the deal goes ahead.
Giorgos Giakoumakos heads the landowners' group - the Holiday and Real Estate Association of Retired Military Personnel of Macedonia and Thrace.
He says Russians are interested because of "the gorgeous location", because it is not far from Greece's second city Thessaloniki, with good flight connections to Russia, and because Russians are Orthodox Christians, like the Greeks.
He points out that Zepko, boasting 1,942 hectares (4,800 acres) of land and a kilometre-long pristine beach, is near both Stagira, birthplace of Aristotle, and the Orthodox monastic community of Mount Athos.
A place in the sun