![]() Work on the contract and signing was managed by Saiuzstroiimport. ![]() ![]() “This was likely due to the favorable credit and the fact that, in Moscow’s opinion, in the end, Gudauri would be owned by the Union ‘Intourist’,” supposes Mikeladze. Soliko Khabeishvili took on this responsibility and in the autumn, Moscow agreed. Consent was needed from the Foreign Trade Ministry in Moscow, which was no easy task. Bauzbek came to Tsekavshiri and stated that he was ready to lead the construction of a hotel and ropeways in Gudauri and that he had permission to allocate a loan from the Austrian Bank to do so. However, in the summer of the same year, an unexpected thing happened: Mr. As was characteristic for the period of the Soviet Union, this initiative had almost zero perspective. They saw the place where Tsekavshiri was going to build a large hotel and modern ropeways. It was interesting for the delegation to examine the possibility of participating in the construction projects of Tsekavshiri, as well as the prospects of selling Tsekavshiri products in Austria. Alongside other businessmen, the delegation consisted of the owner of the Vienna construction firm ABF, Leopold Bauzbek, and owner of ski lift manufacturing company Doppelmayr, Artur Doppelmayr. In the spring of 1985, at the initiative of Tsekavshiri and Khabeishvili, the delegation of the Chamber of Commerce of the Federal Republic of Austria visited Georgia. It had built a few small hotels, restaurants and two 2-seater ropeways manufactured in Russia. Tsekavshiri was not ruled by the Union structures. In 1982-1985, management of the Gudauri mountain ski center was handed to Georgia’s “Tsekavshiri” (Central Union of Georgian Consumer Co-operatives) on the initiative of the former climber Soliko Khabeishvili, Secretary of the Communist Party at the time. The Italian specialists' conclusion was that Gudauri was the most promising place for the construction of a commercially profitable ski center. Surveys were conducted in Bakuriani, Tsikisjvari, Tabatskuri, Samsari ridge and Gudauri with the participation of Georgian specialists. ![]() In September of the same year, Savoreti sent two professionals to plan the ski centers, Iling and Kanestrin, in Georgia. These were companies with great experience in the construction of hotels and ropeways, snow pressing equipment, skis, holders and skiing equipment. Italian, Austrian, French and German firms participated in it. In March 1980, under the leadership of the initiator of the construction of the factory of Italian automobile company Fiat, Savoreti, a symposium dedicated to the development of winter ski resorts in Georgia was held in Bakuriani. Although only during winter, hotel Marco Polo and the ropeways worked and survived,” says Vakhtang Mikeladze, director of Georgian-Austrian-Hungarian enterprise ‘Gudauri.’Ī contract for the construction of a mountain skiing complex (a hotel with 240 beds, 4 ropeways and equipment for skiing trails) in Gudauri was signed in October 1985 between Austria and the Soviet Union. We used to carry coupons to buy food and other products in our backpacks. Armed guards would accompany the buses of guests from the airport to Gudauri. We had to pick them up at the old Tbilisi airport, illuminated by oil lamps. “Even during the Civil War, visitors interested in heli-skiing used come from Europe. But before we tell you more about the fight to develop Gudauri, we will focus on the 1990s when there was a state of war in the country. The Soviet system, bureaucracy and high-ranking officials interested in misappropriating the business is just a small list of the obstacles that needed to be overcome in this period. In this period, Gudauri found a new direction in mountain tourism: heli-skiing, which was only otherwise available in Canada, and for this and other reasons it became an attractive resort for Europeans. Unusually for the Soviet Union, an Austrian firm was given the opportunity to build a hotel in Gudauri and then run it. We will tell you how Gudauri managed to become a European-standard resort in the Soviet era, how the construction and operation of one mountain skiing complex can reflect the socio-political, cultural and economic situation of the country, the "benefits" of the Soviet regime and, at the same time, the European character. Today, we will tell you a story which began in 1980 and still continues with the new Gudauri ropeway, hotel Marco Polo and qualified local staff. Every year, thousands of holidaymakers visit Gudauri, although only a few of them know about the European past of this resort.
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