Party's over in 'valley of sin'

French police are holding Mikhail Prokhorov, co-owner of the world's biggest nickel producer with an estimated fortune of 3.9 billion, after he was detained with a group of young women in an upmarket hotel in Courchevel on Tuesday during a prostitution investigation.

His detention - without charge so far - has shocked the Russian lite, who each year turn Courchevel into "Kurshevelevo", holding decadent parties and spending big money.

"It is 100 per cent certain there won't be such an influx of Russians after what happened," said a prominent Russian businessman, speaking anonymously, who has been a frequent visitor to Courchevel.

No-one has been charged, but the case is likely to spell the end of a phenomenon which sees Russia's super-rich and their entourages descend on the town in early January for two weeks of drinking, parties and - if there is time - a spot of skiing.

For the Russian visitors, Courchevel's attractions are the privacy it offers and its fabulously expensive hotels, bars and fashion boutiques.

It is also one of the few Alpine resorts with a private airfield for executive jets and it is a short trip across the border to the Swiss banks where many rich Russians keep their millions.

A female western journalist who was accredited in Russia bumped into Mr Prokhorov - the 89th richest man in the world according to Forbes - and his business partner Vladimir Potanin in 1997 on the ski slopes of Val d'Isre - another luxury French ski resort - and was invited to a dinner at the plush La Savoyarde restaurant.

The 30 guests, including a dozen young and leggy Russian women, mixed vodka and cripplingly expensive Chateau Petrus 1972 - sometimes in the same glass - and dined on oysters, foie gras and lobster, she said.

Mr Prokhorov has been called Russia's most eligible bachelor and his acquaintances say he is often surrounded by attractive women. "Misha [Mikhail] was simply very unlucky. He is a pleasant person but he has got such a lifestyle, he does not hide it, plus he is not married," said the businessman, who has attended Mr Prokhorov's parties in Courchevel.

"However, he is far from being the wildest party animal there."

One businessman in Moscow yesterday said he believed this would shake up the party set.

"Many of these really rich guys, whether they are married or not, take a big group on holidays to France travelling on a private jet, with lots of young female 'students'," he said. "It was just a matter of time before one of them got into trouble."

The newspaper Izvestia quoted a Russian matchmaker to the wealthy, who often flies young girls to Courchevel to join the tycoons' parties. He said they were models, not prostitutes.

"These girls, you see them all the time, they never ski, they walk around Courchevel on high heels," another frequent visitor said.

Courchevel's hoteliers and shopkeepers welcome the cash their Russian guests bring, but some of their brasher behaviour has made more sensitive holidaymakers blanch.

Russian media reported one drunken brawl in a ski lift on the way up to the top of the piste, with skis and poles falling down through broken glass.

"I was often ashamed of my compatriots' behaviour," said the Russian businessman, glad the wild crowd may now leave Courchevel and he could bring his children there again.