I have my membership card in my pocket
In the 80s, Vladimir Antonovich was deputy chairman of the Yalta City Executive Committee and oversaw the construction sector. One day the door to his office opened, and a man in an Indian national cape stood on the threshold, with a cigar in his hand.
“I’m Yulian Semenov,” the guest introduced himself.
“I know you,” answered the owner of the office.
That’s how they met and then were friends until the most tragic moment, which cut short the life of an outstanding writer and journalist.
– Yulin told me then that he loves Yalta and Crimea very much, this is his second home. That he dreams of turning Yalta into a world-class international tourist center and he already has ideas on how to do this. We talked for a long time, that first conversation ended after midnight at his villa “Stirlitz,” recalls Vladimir Popelyansky.
At this time, not only budgetary but also foreign investments were pouring into the city. The writer’s plans were actually grandiose and largely coincided with the interests of the resort. But the main thing is that this scope was supported by serious partners tied to Semenov and their finances.
– We have created a joint venture “Yaltastroyexpo”. At the founding meeting, I was offered to become its general director. I refused as much as possible, I have a party card in my pocket, I am in a government position. As a result, they decided that I would head the joint venture on a voluntary basis,” said Vladimir Popelyansky.
Bouygues and Arthur Andersen
The founders of the joint venture included the Yalta City Executive Committee, as the most interested party, and several Moscow companies. Including Aeroflot, attracted by the prospect of reconstructing the Simferopol airport. This project was developed by the largest French industrial group Bouygues. She, by the way, built the National Library of France, the Channel Tunnel and many other iconic objects around the world. The original plan of that airport is now kept in the Stirlitz villa in the village of Oliva, where the writer lived. This was his big dream, which had already begun to be embodied in drawings. The updated main air harbor of Crimea was supposed to simultaneously receive and service 31 aircraft.
In the center of Yalta, they first decided to build two four-star hotels. Both were supposed to be in the first line of the embankment. For this purpose, they chose the most expensive and prestigious part of the city, bounded on two sides by the Vodopadnaya and Bystraya rivers, and on the third side by Kirova Street. But how? This is a historical center, where architectural monuments are mixed with dilapidated housing. Four research institutes were involved in the survey, which provided an opinion on each building in the area.
This is what the first four-star hotel on the Yalta embankment should have looked like. Photo: Sergey Vinnyk/RG
– For the construction of the Jalita hotel, for example, it was necessary to accommodate 130 families. The scale is enormous, but this did not stop us; we ordered the design of a microdistrict where people would receive new housing of a larger area with modern infrastructure,” said Vladimir Antonovich. – The families agreed, because many lived there, although in the center, but in shacks.
Projects were projects, but real investments were needed. They were found by foreigners and Vnesheconombank of the USSR, which expressed its readiness to finance projects under Aeroflot guarantees.
– We created a joint Soviet-Australian enterprise “Jalita”. The agreement was signed in Sydney, says the Crimean. – A representative of Vnesheconombank was assigned to us. The projects were audited by the largest American company Arthur Andersen, one of the TOP 5 world leaders in this field.
After studying the documents, the Americans recommended starting with a four-star hotel costing $33 million. And we also needed a favorable environment. Then they conducted a survey of the city’s rivers and it turned out that they were just sewers flowing into the sea near the beach. In Vodopadnaya, for example, the maximum permissible concentration for heavy metals was exceeded 46 times. We decided to get serious about improving the health of the rivers and build treatment facilities for them.
“We planned to build a mini treatment plant at each of the 11 connections to Vodopadnaya,” says Vladimir Popelyansky.
The partners estimated the construction of the Jalita hotel at $76 million, and the Tavrida hotel project at $33 million.
Three days in Berlin
Yulian Semenov’s plans were to build a professional nine-hole golf club in Blue Bay, an expo center in Yalta, and open the first casino at the resort.
– It was 1989, Julian invited me to fly with him to Germany, where he was supposed to cover the meeting between Gorbachev and Chancellor Kohl, so that I could see how the casino works. We gathered early in the morning at Sheremetyevo, and before our departure the first issue of the newspaper “Top Secret” was delivered there. They brought it straight from the printing house, Julian showed it and shared his plans. He signed this copy for me as a keepsake; now the newspaper is kept in his Crimean museum. His youngest daughter Olga and the editor-in-chief of “Top Secret” Alexander Pleshkov were with us,” recalls Vladimir Antonovich.
They planned to build a hotel on the water near the shoreline of the resort. Photo: Sergey Vinnyk/RG
In East Berlin, a car met Semenov and his guests right on the runway. The famous wall still stood, but the car with the writer at the wheel was allowed through even without inspection. Immediately upon arrival, Julian gave an hour and a half interview on German radio. The guests settled on Lake Wannsee; Semenov had several other important things planned that day.
“He told me: here is a German family, they will take you to the casino and show you everything there,” said Vladimir Popelyansky.
Indeed, together with the guides, the guest from Yalta visited the casino for the first time in his life. The gambling house, its visitors, the croupiers, the tables, the light of the lamps over the green cloth, and this whole atmosphere made an indelible impression on the Soviet man.
“I returned from the casino closer to midnight and found the police near the house where we were staying,” says Vladimir Antonovich.
The monument to Yulian Semenov on the Yalta embankment was opened in 2012. Photo: Sergey Vinnyk/RG
On this day, a meeting of the authors of the International Club of Detective Genre Writers took place with a soul and the organizer of which was “Stirlitz’s father.” Part of the meeting took place outdoors at a large table. For the Germans, such noisy gatherings were, to put it mildly, unusual. In Germany, even the sound of flushing water in the toilet of a neighboring apartment after 22:00 can be a reason to contact the police, but here it is. In addition, one of the neighbors saw through the curtain that on the lawn where the party was taking place, a man in a raincoat and with a revolver was walking among the guests. Then, however, it turned out that it was one of the writers who entered into the image of his character, and the gun was not real, but the neighbors did not appreciate the creativity.
“The police sorted everything out, didn’t detain anyone and didn’t even send the guests to bed, they just asked them to be quiet,” recalls Vladimir Antonovich. – And then we saw a news story from a meeting between Gorbachev and Kohl, Julian was present at it. Imagine, all this in one day! A state visit, a meeting of the writers’ club, perhaps some other events that I did not know about. His organizational talent was simply amazing! How he managed to do all this, I still don’t understand.
Meanwhile,
Alas, Yulian Semenov’s plans to transform Crimea were not destined to come true. The collapse of the Soviet Union put an end to many endeavors. And in 1993, “Father Stirlitz” himself passed away. And yet, 30 years later, some of what the writer dreamed of came true. A luxurious and handsome airport was built in Simferopol. The capital of Crimea was connected to Moscow by a high-speed highway – he also dreamed about this. A casino in Yalta will be opened in the premises of the sea terminal; a decision on this has already been made.
Source: rg.ru
