PERCHED high above the Black Sea coast of Sochi and nestled in a coniferous forest stands a large and gloomy green house. It was once occupied by Joseph Stalin who had it built in 1937, at the height of the great terror which he had unleashed onto his country, and who would spend at least four months a year there, apart from the years of the second world war. After Stalin’s death the house served as a retreat for the leaders of the Soviet bloc countries. But now, in a fitting twist of fate, it is being transformed into an exclusive hotel owned by a secretive Moscow business group.
Sochi is also a favourite place for Vladimir Putin, Russia’s president, who staged the 1914 winter Olympics there shortly before the annexation of Crimea and the war in Ukraine. A few months later Sochi hosted the Valdai club, a Russian answer to Davos, which was established in 2004 as a platform for informal meetings between foreign experts and Russian leaders. This year the meeting of the Valdai club began with a visit to Stalin’s dacha. Many participants saw it as a deeply symbolic gesture.
Compared with the lavish palaces of Mr Putin, the dacha is...Continue reading
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