Russian buys £25m Scottish estate

A Russian vodka billionaire has bought a Highland sporting estate in a deal that makes it “one of the most expensive properties ever to be sold on the open market in Scotland.”

The Tulchan Estate, which had been owned by the Litchfield family has been sold to a company owned by Yuri Schefler, who according to Forbes is worth £1.34 billion.

According to reports, Mr Schefler plans further investment into the Strathspey estate which had an asking price of more than £25 million.

The property includes eight miles of prized Spey fishing, an “exceptional” pheasant shoot, two driven grouse moors and an Edwardian shooting lodge that sleeps 26.

Prior to the purchase, Mr Shefler has himself followed in the footsteps of the estate’s other famous and wealthy fishing guests including King Edward VII, King George V, King George VI, ex-president Theodore Roosevelt, the railway financier William Vanderbilt and King Leopold of Belgium.

His firm owns S.P.I. Group, which produces and sells alcohol under 380 brands in 160 countries.

According to Forbes the company is registered in Luxembourg but its main factories are in Latvia.

Its best known brand is Stolichnaya vodka, which Mr Shefler controversially bought from state-owned VVO Soyuzplodoimport in 1997, in a contentious deal that became the subject of legal action.

Savills handled the sale of the prestigious Tulchan estate, which comprises over 21,000 acres by Advie near Cromdale in Strathspey.

The average price of an estate is under £5 million, although Kinpurnie estate on Tayside was sold in separate lots last year with a huge total ticket price of £29 million.

A spokeswoman for Savills would not reveal the purchase price, but confirmed: “It is one of the most expensive properties ever to be sold on the open market in Scotland.”

A spokesman for Tulchan Sporting Estates confirmed that 100 per cent of the shares have been transferred.

He said: “The company (which was established over 23 years ago) has been bought by a company for the principal benefit of Mr Yuri Schefler of Russia, who is well known to the estate having been a regular visitor in the past.

“It is understood that the new owner of TSEL will continue to operate the estate as a business along similar lines as the Litchfield family and plans to make additional investment and innovation in the business. This was an important factor to the sellers, as the estate makes a valuable contribution to the local economy employing 20 full time and a further 20 seasonal staff.”