MOSCOW, November 23 (RIA Novosti) - Moscow city authorities auctioned off the Hotel Ukraina Wednesday to Russian company Biskvit for $273.5 million (7.88 billion rubles), $130 million more than the starting price.
The hotel's 601 registered shares, worth $16.69 million at par (100% of authorized capital), were put on sale at the open auction.
The starting price of the Soviet-era hotel was $139.2 million (4.4 billion rubles).
"The auction was very tense, but its result exceeded my expectations," Yury Roslyak, the first deputy mayor of Moscow, said.
He said the auction winner would have to work hard to make the hotel comfortable for guests. "I hope it turns from a four-star into a five-star hotel after the reconstruction," he said.
"The building will not change its function and, moreover, the city's indispensable condition at the auction was that the winner should preserve the original look and the name of the hotel," Roslyak added.
The auction is part of City Hall's ambitious plan to modernize the Russian capital's hospitality industry, which includes the recent demolition of the Moskva Hotel and the rebuilding of the Intourist Hotel.
