Russian investors are heading to Crimea in anticipation of a tourism boom

Moscow/Simferopol (Ukraine) - The occupied Crimea is experiencing an explosion of interest from Russian investors in real estate, although the dysfunctional database of the Crimean cadastral office is currently slowing down the process. According to Russian media reports, property transfers will not be possible until at least June. Russian investors and speculators with apartments and recreational properties are already negotiating lucrative contracts. Prices in Crimea are reportedly very low compared to Russia.
    The Crimean authorities expect an influx of Russian tourists since the annexation, with around six million expected this season. Last year, local hotels and guesthouses accommodated approximately the same number of guests, two-thirds of whom came from Ukraine. This expected shortfall is to be compensated by Russians this year.
    In anticipation of a tourism boom, Russian investors are flocking to Crimea, wrote the Interfax agency. There is interest in buying hotels and apartments, especially on the southern coast of the peninsula. The price for two-bedroom apartments ranges between $70,000 and $150,000 (1.5 to 3 million crowns). Most of the interested buyers live in Moscow, where the property price levels are significantly higher.
    However, the legal conditions of the prepared purchase contracts are contentious, according to both Russian and Ukrainian media. Lawyers state that there is chaos in the judicial system of Crimea following the Russian annexation, and any contracts concluded under such conditions could lead to protracted legal disputes.
    Furthermore, some property owners left for Ukraine before the Russian occupation and will want to assert their rights to their property. It remains unclear whether they should follow Ukrainian or Russian laws in this matter.
    Crimean resorts have been popular in Russia since the Tsarist and Soviet eras. During the USSR era, hundreds of thousands of trade union members vacationed in Crimea, and all Soviet leaders had their residences on the peninsula.