Russians to build $US472 MLN Cambodian resort

Russian company the Koh Puos Investment Group has begun construction work on a $US472 million island resort off Cambodia's south-west coast. The plans have gone ahead despite the company’s director currently being in prison.

The project will see a 900 metre bridge built on the island of Koh Puos, referred to as Snake island, with a coastal beach in the port city of Sihanoukville.

The bridge, worth $US 31.3 million, is to be finished by 2010, according to Cambodian transport minister Sun Chantol.

In 2006 Cambodia's government signed a deal with the Koh Puos Investment Group allowing the Russian firm to develop and manage resorts on the Island for 99 years.

The director of the Koh Puos Investment Group, Alexandr Trofimov, has been sentenced for alleged sex crimes in Cambodia.