New luxury development on Skorpios island set to begin

Russian magnate Dmitry Rybolovlev, who owns the private island Skorpios island in the Ionian Sea, had his representative visit local government officials on Thursday to inform them of progress made on the 184 million euro development of the island set to start next month.

Sergei Tsernitsin met with Ionian Island Regional governor Theodoros Galiatsatos and thanked him for the support offered in helping overcome bureaucratical hurdles to help get the 10,000 square meter development going.

Tsernitsin said that the Russian magnate wants to support the region’s environmental study on Lefkada and Meganisi to be prepared as of the NATURA 2000 program

Galiatsatos said the two sides can work together to protect the environment.

“It will be interesting to broaden these conclusions to other seas areas of the Ionian Sea. We are interested in continued research and monitoring to check on how the biodiversity evolves in the Ionian Sea and in particular areas. We are thinking of setting up a permanent center for marine research in Lefkada,” said the regional governor.

Skorpios is just off the western coast of Greece and just to the east of the island of Lefkada.

The forested island, off the western coast of Greece, was bought by Aristotle Onassis in 1962 for just 3.5 million drachmas, the equivalent of about 10,000 euro.

Six years later it hosted his lavish wedding to Jackie O Kennedy, the widow of the late President John F Kennedy.

Upon the death of the Greek shipping tycoon, Skorpios passed to his daughter Christina, who died of a heart attack aged 37 in 1988, and then to his granddaughter Athina, who sold it for a reported 120 million dollars to Rybolovlev’s daughter, Ekaterina, in 2013.

The Ionian Sea island will now be transformed into a luxurious resort with villas, swimming pools, sports facilities, spas, and restaurants.