Czech Authorities Plan to Confiscate Russian Hotels in Karlovy Vary
The Czech Financial Analytical Office has taken an interest in two hotels in the popular tourist town of Karlovy Vary that are linked to Russian business. They may be confiscated as part of the country's anti-Russian sanctions. This was reported by Czech Television.
In particular, the department is interested in the luxury hotel Ulrika in Karlovy Vary, which is controlled by Svyazinvestneftekhim, a company subordinate to the government of the Russian republic of Tatarstan. The company also has a stake in the Tatneft oil company.
In addition, the FAA representatives are analysing the Russian state-owned company Medical Centre, which owns another hotel in Karlovy Vary, Moskevsky Dvur. After Russia's annexation of Ukrainian Crimea, the company started operating on the peninsula. This is confirmed by one of the documents available to the department.
"It operates on the territory of Crimea, thus violating the territorial integrity of Ukraine," the document says.
In addition to the Russian company, Dagmar Shpishakova, a Czech businesswoman and doctor, is a minority co-owner of Moskevsky Dvur. According to her husband, she no longer works for the company. "We have repeatedly asked to pay her minority stake, but this issue has not been resolved yet," said Vladislav Shpishakov.
Previously, Shpishakova worked in the same company as the family of the former first deputy mayor of Moscow, now under sanctions, Vladimir Resin. "In the past, I worked for some companies because we were looking for ways to continue our business," explains Shpishakova.
According to Czech Television, two weeks ago, the government imposed sanctions on a company that controls dozens of Russian Federation properties in the Czech Republic.
The Czech Financial Intelligence Agency does not comment on the ongoing investigation. An expanded team of analysts is working on the issue of sanctions, including sanctions circumvention.
The Czech Republic also proposes to add all individuals and companies to the EU sanctions list.
On November 15, the Czech authorities added the Federal State Unitary Enterprise Goszagransobstvennost, which manages Russian real estate abroad, to the national sanctions list. The company lost the ability to carry out any property management activities in the Czech Republic.
The Kremlin promised to respond to the freezing of Russian state assets.
On November 27, it was reported that the European Commission was preparing a directive to use the frozen assets of the Russian Federation for the benefit of Ukraine.