The hotel where the King of Saudi Arabia lived. The delegation of the King of Saudi Arabia gave cash to Moscow hotels. Leisure and business

On Thursday, October 5, the King of Saudi Arabia was received in the Kremlin. The arrival of Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud is significant not only because it is the first visit of the monarch, but also because the negotiations with the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques (al-Haram Mosque in Mecca and the Prophet’s Mosque in Medina) were supposed to dot the i’s in issues related to the oil market and military-technical cooperation. Among the Kremlin gilding, the Saudis, accustomed to luxury, were deciding the fate of a package of arms contracts worth over three billion dollars. And the head of Chechnya, Ramzan Kadyrov, who was celebrating his birthday, photographed with interest the place for the throne in St. Andrew's Hall.

Kings can do anything

Muscovites could learn about the king's upcoming visit not only from the news. At the beginning of October, the Russian-Suad Investment Fund placed posters on the highway from Vnukovo Airport with greetings to “The Custodian of the Two Islamic Shrines, His Majesty the King of Saudi Arabia.” The delegation, numbering almost a thousand people, rented all the luxury rooms in the most expensive hotels in the Russian capital. In an effort to please guests accustomed to oriental luxury, the furniture in the rooms was changed, carpets were laid and low trestle beds were placed. The king himself stopped at Four Seasons. The hotel chain is partly owned by his nephew, Prince Alwaleed.

There are legends about how the king and his retinue travel. The amount of luggage carried is especially impressive - hundreds of tons are counted. Airplanes transport equipment, cars, elevators and even an escalator, the length of which when folded is 15 meters. That's where the trouble started with him. The technical specialists who arrived as part of the delegation independently collected this royal know-how. But something went wrong on Russian soil. The 81-year-old monarch stepped onto the escalator, traveled a third of the way, and the ramp jammed. The elderly king, leaning on a stick, barely climbed several steps on his own.

There were no glitches in the Kremlin. Since the state visit is highest level of all possible - implies a magnificent welcoming ceremony, taking into account the age of the monarch, it was nevertheless shortened. According to tradition, the delegations of the two countries lined up along St. Andrew's Hall. In this ceremonial room of the Grand Kremlin Palace, restored in the 90s, a place for the throne is also designated. More precisely, a throne with replicas of the royal chairs. It was in this direction that Vladimir Putin led his guest, circling the arches of the hall with his hands and telling something with the help of translators.

When the king and president left the hall, the head of Chechnya, Ramzan Kadyrov, approached the throne. He stood out against the general background with his paramilitary attire - a dark green service jacket. Left alone for a few moments, Kadyrov took out his phone and photographed the place for the throne. And then he posed for his Instagram with the leaders of Ingushetia and Tatarstan. All three represented the Muslim part of the Russian Federation.

Arab journalists, meanwhile, warned their Russian colleagues against a mistake: the name of their king should have been pronounced in full and only in full. “In short, no way! Only Salman bin Abdulaziz!” - One of the guests spoke in excellent Russian, raising his voice with respect.

We waited ten years

Relations between Moscow and Riyadh have not always been smooth sailing. The first official visit of Saudi Arabian representatives to Moscow after the collapse of the USSR took place in 2003. For the current king, who took the throne in 2015, this is the first visit in a new capacity, but he has already been to Moscow in 2006, as the ruler of Riyadh.

But Vladimir Putin visited this Arab country only once - ten years ago, but remembers that trip with warmth. He was greeted royally, with a cannon salute and a cavalry escort. The monarch put the entire palace at the guest's disposal and generously invited him to change the schedule of the visit at his discretion. The road in front of Putin was strewn with rose petals, and the dancers spectacularly presented a dagger (one can imagine what the president’s personal security went through at that moment). The outfits of Russian journalists added color - they had to wear hijabs.

Just a few years before that visit, Russia accused Saudi Arabia of financially supporting Chechen terrorists. Riyadh expressed dissatisfaction with Moscow's attitude towards its country's Muslims. But in the name of the joint fight against terrorism, the parties entered into a dialogue. Then Putin left the kingdom with the kingdom's highest award - the Order of Abdul Aziz. Finally, he invited the then King Abdullah, the half-brother of the current ruler, to make a return visit to Moscow. The visit had to wait ten years - Riyadh preferred to look towards Washington.

Kalashnikov and wheat

Before Salman Bin Abdulaziz's visit, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov noted that the leaders' meeting would be "a turning point in relations and will take cooperation to a new level, ensuring a fruitful contribution to stability in the Middle East and North Africa" Sources working in this area told the Kommersant newspaper that Moscow really has high expectations, especially in terms of military-technical cooperation.

According to the publication’s interlocutors, the Russian side has prepared a package of arms contracts worth over three billion dollars, including for the supply of several divisions of S-400 Triumph anti-aircraft missile systems. For ten years, Moscow has been trying to enter the Riyadh arms market, but it has never reached contracts.

As a result, only an agreement was signed through Rosoboronexport to organize licensed production of AK-103 assault rifles and cartridges for various purposes in the kingdom. Of the 14 documents certified by the delegations, one can highlight an agreement on research and cooperation in outer space and a program in the field of atomic energy use. Moreover, the Ministry of Agriculture agreed on the supply of Russian wheat to Saudi Arabia, although the export of Russian barley already accounts for almost half of the bilateral trade turnover worth more than $200 million.

Salman bin Abdul Al Saud positively assessed Russia's efforts to resolve the situation in Syria. And he did not fail to prick Iran. “We emphasize that the security and stability of the Gulf region and the Middle East will require Iran to renounce interference in the internal affairs of states and renounce activities to destabilize the situation in this region,” the king said slowly, checking the papers covered in large print. Adjusting his gold-rimmed glasses, he noted that relations between Moscow and Riyadh, in his assessment, are “characterized by a coincidence of views on many regional and international problems.”

“It was a friendly, detailed conversation, based on the mutual desire of Moscow and Riyadh to consistently increase mutually beneficial cooperation in all areas,” Lavrov said following the negotiations. His colleague Adel ibn Ahmed al-Jubeir used stronger language. In his opinion, “relations between the two countries are reaching new horizons that we could not even imagine before.”

Finally, King Salman bin Abdulaziz invited Vladimir Putin to visit. The Russian president accepted the invitation and promised to visit Saudi Arabia again. But he didn’t specify a time frame.

The Ritz-Carlton in Riyadh returned to normal operating hours on Sunday. For 99 days, from the beginning of November, it served as a detention center for 381 high-ranking officials; Princes, businessmen and officials were detained during Saudi Arabia's largest anti-corruption investigation.

The campaign, led by Crown Prince Muhammad bin Salman, began unexpectedly. On November 4, an influential citizen was summoned to appear before King Salman at the Ritz-Carlton. But instead of the king, armed men met him there, took his mobile phone and escorted him to one of the hotel rooms. “They told me I would be staying there for a while,” he recalls.

The investigators who questioned him had extensive information, presenting large stacks of documents about his financial assets. During the “long, tedious” interrogations, they methodically reviewed them, but did not make any significant claims against the suspect. He was told that he was being detained as part of an anti-corruption investigation, but could be released if he entered into an agreement and paid for his violations, which he eventually did. According to him, some of the detainees tried to dispute the charges, but made concessions when their business partners were brought to the hotel and began to testify against them. “They didn’t expect this,” he says.

The anti-corruption campaign was greeted with enthusiasm in Saudi society. According to the government, agreements with detainees have been concluded for $106 billion, and several dozen people may face trial.

Interviews with detainees and their loved ones shed light on the actual conditions of detention. Some had their meals prepared by royal chefs, but were only allowed one telephone conversation per day. Others had to endure hours of interrogation, but for a certain price, all corruption charges were offered to be dropped.

Saudi Arabia's Treasury Ministry has hired consulting firms in Europe and the Middle East to track the assets of wealthy Saudis such as billionaire Mohammad al-Amoudi and Prince Bandar bin Sultan, a former ambassador to the United States, people familiar with the matter said. Al-Amoudi was held at the Ritz-Carlton in November and his current status is unknown, his spokesman said, adding that the businessman has not admitted wrongdoing. A spokesman for bin Sultan, who was not detained, did not respond to a request for comment.

Among the prisoners were Saudi Arabia's richest businessman, Prince Al-Waleed bin Talal; Bakr bin Laden, head of the Saudi Binladin construction company; owner of the largest media company in the country, Waleed bin Ibrahim; several ministers.

$13 billion

- That's how much Saudi Arabia hopes to replenish its coffers by the end of the year thanks to payments to those detained as part of an anti-corruption campaign, the Financial Times reported, citing a senior Saudi official. This will be money, real estate and corporate assets. These funds will help the government limit the growth of the budget deficit, which is expected to reach $52 billion this year.

The Ritz-Carlton was built in 2011 and has more than 500 rooms, including 48 presidential suites, and a 24-hour service. medical care and olive trees that are about 600 years old. The hotel is located near the seat of the Saudi government.

Some prisoners say they were treated well. Thus, Al-Waleed bin Talal, in a video interview with Reuters, which was shown on television, said that in the kitchen in his room there are several special coffee pots for traditional Arabic coffee and the authorities allow him to adhere to his usual vegan diet. Near the entrance to the room there is a vase with tulips, and on the wall there is a large-screen TV. “I play sports, swim, walk. I eat as always. I feel at home,” said bin Talal (pictured below is the living room in his room).

/Reuters Staff

High-ranking prisoners were kept in so-called royal rooms, a hotel employee explained. Each of them has two bedrooms, a dining room, two living rooms, an office and a kitchen.

The Saudi Arabian Prosecutor General said at the end of January that most of the prisoners had already been released: evidence could not be found against some, and most agreed to a deal with the authorities. They demanded $6 billion from bin Talal, The Wall Street Journal reported. But even the billionaire prince found it difficult to pay such a sum. He was released in January after reaching a financial agreement with authorities, according to people familiar with the situation; its size is not reported.

65 people refused to pay; they are in custody, the location of which has not been disclosed.

The first guests to stay at the hotel on Sunday after it reopened say little has changed. However, “The Ritz will now always be associated with luxury prison in Saudi Arabia,” says Simon Henderson, a fellow at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy. Some Western analysts see what happened as a campaign by Crown Prince Salman to consolidate his power. "If you're a potential investor, this doesn't bode well for you," says Bruce Riedel of the Brookings Institution.

Translated by Varvara Podrugina

Five-star hotels in the center of Moscow have almost run out of rooms: the best hotel rooms have been occupied by the retinue of the King of Saudi Arabia, the RIA Novosti agency reported. He is due to arrive in the capital on an official visit on Thursday. A delegation of one thousand people will arrive in Russia together with Salman Al Saud, the agency’s source said. Yana Lubnina looked into how hoteliers will greet distinguished guests.

Some hotels had to cancel planned weddings and banquets; The main task now is to strengthen security: you can enter the building only after presenting your guest card. Sergei Kolesnikov, vice-president of the Federation of Restaurateurs and Hoteliers, told Kommersant FM that this is normal practice:

“These events do not take place spontaneously, regardless of who comes: Saudi Arabia, the United States, the President of the Russian Federation or high-ranking officials. A representative of the special services selects not just a hotel, but specific rooms, this happens within a week or two. After the advance group, the day before arrival, special security measures are carried out: the room is checked again so that there are no misunderstandings.”

The organizers of the visit paid special attention to the convenience of the guests. The king of Saudi Arabia is known for his whimsical behavior: on his March trip to Indonesia, he took about 500 tons of luggage, two Mercedes-Benz S600 cars and even two electric elevators; Apparently, the Saudis did not come to Moscow lightly. Especially for the delegation, hotels change the furnishings of the rooms: the usual European furniture is sent to the warehouse, and in return they lay out carpets brought from Riyadh; In addition, pork dishes will be excluded from hotel menus. This is not all that hotels can do for the sake of clients, noted Kirill Ryabkov, marketing director of the Quintessentially Russia concierge club:

“I worked at the Hyatt hotel where Madonna lived, and we did a separate room where she did yoga. The room had to be connected to her presidential suite, this was a requirement. One Australian pop star demanded that there be a certain scent of lilies where she walked."

“The delegation, apparently from the Emirates, was only satisfied with the presidential number: it was sold to one of the Russian oligarchs, and representatives of the Arab sheikh contacted the Russian with a request to give up this number. He categorically refused, bidding began, and in the end, when it had already reached astronomical figures, the oligarch’s wife could not stand it, saying: “You don’t want it, but I want it, I’ll buy it in France for the difference.”

Prices for the best 500 square meter Four Seasons rooms. m. start from 1 million rubles. per day., but for the delegation this is not a problem: especially, according to some sources, Saudi Prince Al-Walid, the king’s nephew, owns a share of this hotel chain.

Kommersant FM’s interlocutors say that the special conditions in which the king of Saudi Arabia will live cannot be called a whim: this, according to experts hotel business, guaranteeing their complete safety.

For the King of Saudi Arabia.

During the visit, the delegation of the King of Saudi Arabia will live next to Red Square. Today, rent a room at the National, Four Seasons or St. Regis will not work: in one of the hotels, journalists were told about full occupancy, which, according to employees, happens extremely rarely. Reservations will open again after October 8th.
Some hotels had to cancel planned weddings and banquets; The main task now is to strengthen security: you can enter the building only after presenting your guest card.

Sergei Kolesnikov, vice-president of the Federation of Restaurateurs and Hoteliers, told Kommersant FM that this is normal practice:
“These events do not take place spontaneously, regardless of who comes: Saudi Arabia, the United States, the President of the Russian Federation or high-ranking officials. A representative of the special services selects not just a hotel, but specific rooms, this happens within a week or two. After the advance group, the day before arrival, special security measures are carried out: the room is checked again so that there are no misunderstandings.”

This is not all that hotels can do for the sake of clients, noted Kirill Ryabkov, marketing director of the Quintessentially Russia concierge club:
“I worked at the Hyatt hotel where Madonna lived, and we did a separate room where she did yoga. The room had to be connected to her presidential suite, this was a requirement. One Australian pop star demanded that there be a certain scent of lilies where she walked."

There are a thousand people in Salman Al Saud’s delegation, and they were apparently lucky with their accommodation. Although it happened that wealthy guests bought the best rooms from the guests - the owner of the Helvetia Hotel in St. Petersburg, Yunis Teymurkhanly, told Kommersant FM about this case:
“The delegation, apparently from the Emirates, was only satisfied with the presidential number: it was sold to one of the Russian oligarchs, and representatives of the Arab sheikh contacted the Russian with a request to give up this number. He categorically refused, bidding began, and in the end, when it had already reached astronomical figures, the oligarch’s wife could not stand it, saying: “You don’t want it, but I want it, I’ll buy it in France for the difference.”

Kommersant FM’s interlocutors say that the special conditions in which the king of Saudi Arabia will live cannot be called a whim: this, according to hotel business experts, is a guarantee of their complete safety.

Trouble started upon arrival. The King of Saudi Arabia, Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, who arrived in Moscow on a state visit, discovered a breakdown of his escalator when getting off the plane at the capital's Vnukovo airport.

The golden escalator recently accompanies the Saudi monarch during his official visits. Thus, on March 1, 2017, Indonesian observers paid special attention to this detail. They noted 1,000 accompanying persons in the king's retinue, and estimated the weight of his luggage at 500 tons. Two weeks later, reporting on the Saudi king’s luxurious trip to Japan, the RT television channel noted that the monarch’s visit was served by two golden escalators, 10 airplanes, and 500 limousines. At that time, 1,200 luxury hotel rooms were prepared to accommodate the royal retinue in Japan.

MOSCOW, October 3 – RIA Novosti. During the visit of the King of Saudi Arabia to Moscow, his entourage will occupy all the available rooms of five-star hotels around the Kremlin and Red Square, including one of the hotels completely, hotel representatives told RIA Novosti.

According to a source close to the organizers of the visit, in many rooms the furnishings will be changed to something more familiar to guests, in an oriental style. Moreover, for several high-ranking members of the delegation, their favorite carpets will be brought specially from Saudi Arabia.

Already now in the area of Manezhnaya Square, Lubyanka and Kuznetsky Bridge there are no vacancies in five-star hotels. The RIA correspondent visited several hotels, including Four Seasons, St. Regis, "National" - those where the delegation from Saudi Arabia will stay. "The most early booking available from October 6,” RIA Novosti was told at the reception of one of the hotels.

In total, the Saudi delegation will number about a thousand people, a source told RIA Novosti. Most of the delegation will be accommodated in hotels in close proximity to the Kremlin.

One of these hotels, with about 200 rooms, will be fully occupied.

It is already impossible to rent a hotel room for any money on the dates of the king’s visit. The reservation department of RIA Novosti explained that the situation of a complete lack of rooms rarely occurs, and it is associated with the “check-in large groups". Now all rooms are sold out until October 8, the reservation department offered to check in for later dates.

The cost of a double room in the hotel starts from 41 thousand rubles per night. A room with a view of Manezhnaya Square costs 59 thousand, with a view of the Kremlin and Alexander Garden - 137 thousand. The most expensive and spacious rooms (about 500 square meters in area) cost about a million rubles per day (the price depends on the season and occupancy of the hotel). They are considered the most expensive hotel rooms in Russia.

“The hotel has been completely rented by the king’s entourage,” one of the hotel representatives told RIA Novosti. The hotel management had to cancel several events for these days - private banquets and weddings were planned at the hotel. In addition, pork dishes have been removed from the hotel menu.

Now there is increased security at the entrance to the hotel and around it; people are allowed into the hotel only upon presentation of a guest card.

In addition, a source close to the organizers of the visit said that in some rooms the stop will be changed from European to Oriental, and the Saudi delegation is also bringing its own carpets and furniture.

Michal Szmetz, general manager of one of the hotels in the Asian region, told RIA Novosti that replacing furniture in rooms or even plumbing fixtures is a common practice for wealthy guests, especially from the Middle East. “Carpets and low trestle beds are more comfortable for them. If necessary, we change the furniture at our own expense. The old furniture is sent to the warehouse, and in its place we install new furniture in the oriental style. After the departure of distinguished guests, of course, no one throws out the “oriental” furniture - it is also sent to the warehouse until new guests arrive,” said Shmets.

Also in Moscow, posters appeared with greetings from the “Russian-Saudi Investment Fund” addressed to “the custodian of the two Islamic shrines, His Majesty King of Saudi Arabia Salman bin Abdulaziz al-Saud.” The poster is made in Russian and Arabic and is decorated with a portrait of the king.

Earlier, Russian Presidential Aide Yuri Ushakov said that the visit of the King of Saudi Arabia, Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, to Moscow will take place on October 5. A RIA Novosti source reported that the king will visit Moscow on October 4-7. According to him, a meeting between Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud and Russian President Vladimir Putin is planned, and a package of documents is being prepared for signing.

Before the meeting between the President of the Russian Federation and the King of Saudi Arabia, a Russian-Saudi investment forum will be held on October 5, the head of the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF), Kirill Dmitriev, told reporters. In addition, the week of Saudi culture is taking place in Moscow all week.

According to press reports, on the eve of the king's visit to Indonesia in March this year, 459 tons of various equipment were delivered to Jakarta from Saudi Arabia, including two Mercedes S600s and two electric elevators. Saudi delegation numbered 800 people, including 10 ministers and 25 princes. 27 flights were made to deliver people and goods to Jakarta.

The hotel where the King of Saudi Arabia lived. The delegation of the King of Saudi Arabia gave cash to Moscow hotels. Leisure and business

$13 billion

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