As free man, Polonsky plans tourism mecca
Sergei Polonsky, a Russian fugitive and former billionaire real estate magnate who was recently released from prison in Cambodia, has grand plans for a string of islands off the coast of Sihanoukville. Less than a month after the Supreme Court refused to extradite him to Russia on charges of embezzlement, Mr. Polonsky says he wants to boost the tourism industry by creating a tourism mecca off Cambodia’s southern coast. … Mr. Polonsky, who is still facing charges of assault in Preah Sihanouk provincial court for allegedly threatening six Cambodian boatmen with a knife, says his investment plan—dubbed Archipelago—will help bring millions of tourists to his islands off Sihanoukville’s coast. … “Cambodia has no extradition agreements except for the four neighbor countries, and now that we have a precedent in a form of the judgment of the Supreme Court, this will attract people for whom the costs of legal services in England are getting too steep,” he said, referring to the Supreme Court’s decision not to heed Russia’s request to extradite him. … With Archipelago, Mr. Polonsky appears to be pursuing a promise he made during his initial extradition hearing in January, when he told the Court of Appeal that he would invest $1 billion in the country if he were allowed to stay. … Ho Vandy, co-chair of the Government-Private Sector Working Group on Tourism, said Mr. Polonsky’s ambitious plans would likely require public sector support. …
Joshua Wilwohl
http://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/as-free-man-polonsky-plans-tourism-mecca-58726/
