In the comments under the video, which was the first published In Gorno-Altai News, local residents write that the owner of the mansion "also grabbed the street from the other side for himself": "We local residents don't need it, but he needs it more."

As the Siberian Express writes, the building is connected with Igor Babaev, the beneficiary of the Cherkizovo Group (engaged in the production of meat products). He also owns another huge mansion, resembling a medieval fortress, in the village of Chibit. 

Forbes magazine писал, that almost the entire village was employed at the construction site of that castle. The publication also reported on a "second villa" that Babayev built "on the banks of the Biya River near Lake Teletskoye": "This three-story building made of Altai cedar with two watchtowers is hidden behind a high fence but completely open to the river. Igor Babayev himself enjoys racing a jet boat, launching it into the riverbed right from the residence."

«"I'm sailing this boat for at least 50 km—through absolutely wild places! I encounter a baby elk, a bear, wild ducks taking flight—it's something else. When you stop, it's incredibly quiet, there's no one around." говорил Babaev. 

The description in Forbes matches what tourists captured on video. Or rather, it partially matches—now, in addition to the wooden building, another enormous palace-like structure is being completed nearby. The video clearly shows the stone wall right next to the water. 

The legislation permits civil construction within the water protection zone if the object is being erected no closer ten meters from the edge of the reservoir.

Video: News from the Altai Mountains