Renowned Hotel Sovetsky goes under hammer

The Hotel Sovetsky in central Moscow has been sold at auction for $US 63 MLN. The new owner, business tycoon Shalva Chigirinsky, has promised to renovate the building and reopen it as a hotel.

Before the Bolshevik Revolution, the legendary building hosted a famous Yar restaurant, which was loved by Russia' s outstanding writers, musicians and actors – such as Anton Chekhov, Fyodor Shalyapin and Konstantin Stanislavsky.

In the 1950s, Stalin's order turned it into a hotel which accepted mostly official delegations from other countries.