Karlovy Vary hotel owned by sanctioned Russian arms dealer operating again

The five-star Savoy Westend Hotel in Karlovy Vary owned by sanctioned Russian arms dealer Vladimir Yevtushenkov is operating again, Czech Television reports. According to its findings, the Financial Analysis Office granted an exemption to the hotel on the condition that Yevtushenkov would not make any profits from it. The exemption was negotiated by one of the hotel's managers, Ladislav Špišák, who has done business with many Russian investors in the past, including the sanctioned former mayor of Moscow, Vladimir Resin.

Yevtushenkov is on the Czech sanctions list and has had property seized in the Czech Republic. In Karlovy Vary alone, this amounts to 14 plots of land and six buildings, including the Savoy.

The Savoy, like other hotels in the area, does not officially admit Russian tourists, who have been barred from entering Czechia for the purposes of tourism, sport or culture since last year. However, Czech Television says that the hotel receives mainly Russian-speaking clientele, many of whom have German passports and are therefore able to circumvent the entry ban.