A RUSSIAN gold billionaire is said to be the new lord of Nansidwell Manor in Mawnan Smith after buying it late last year for a reported £3 million.

The new owner Dr Pavel Maslovsky was a professor in plasticity at Moscow University until 1991. He launched his business career in 1994 by co-founding London based Peter Hambro Mining with Peter Hambro in 1994.

The Packet reported back in November of last year that a mystery tycoon had made a £2.5 million offer for Nansidwell Manor, between Falmouth and Mawnan Smith.

It was also reported that he was trying to buy all the neighbouring houses and land in order to guarantee security and secrecy. A helicopter was seen flying in and out of the area and at least one neighbouring house had already been snapped up.

Sarah Taylor, who runs the Hammer and Hoe hardware shop in the village and rents a house next to Nansidwell Manor, said that a multi-millionaire had bought her house.

Villagers were convinced that the new owner was Russian oil oligarch Roman Abramovich, the current owner of Chelsea Football Club, but his spokesman consistently denied the claim.

Pavel Maslovsky, 50, made millions in gold mining through his ownership of the Pokrovskiy gold deposit in the Amur region of Russia on the Chinese border.

He set up PHM, which is producing about 246,000 ounces a year from its mines, with Peter Hambro a descendant of the Hambro Merchant Banking family that formed Hambro's Bank.

Peter Hambro and Pavel Maslovsky were also the founders and remain large shareholders of Aricom PLC - an AIM listed iron-ore and titanium mining company operating in Amur Region. They also formed the Russian Timber Group Ltd a Jersey registered company that harvests and processes timber in Russia and China. A spokesman for Peter Hambro Mining refused to comment on whether Mr Maslovsky, who lives in Russia, was the buyer saying if he was then it was a personal matter.

The six-bedroom Nansidwell Manor, which has three reception rooms and seven bathrooms, is set in more than six acres of grounds and is a grade II listed property overlooking Falmouth Bay.

Included is a billiard room, gymnasium, sauna, cellar, two bedroom apartment, coach house, three-bay carport, gardens and grounds, walled garden and tennis court.

The house has also been a hotel but reverted to being a private house some years ago.

The immediate surrounding area of Nansidwell was immortalised by Daphne Du Maurier in her novel Frenchman's Creek, taken from an actual creek off the Helford, but is probably more renowned today for its beautiful sailing waters.

The property is well secured with two separate sets of electronically controlled entrance gates to two driveways. The principal entrance meanders down through a tree-lined driveway bordered by lantern lights, rhododendrons and hydrangeas and culminates at the south western end of the house, opening into a large parking area for numerous vehicles. The second driveway leads to the large cobbled area in front of the coach house providing parking for several ancillary vehicles and access, via a flight of steps, to the side entrance of the house.

Rich Russians are known to be seeking properties to buy in the UK and for them to spend £10 million or more is not unknown. They have already snapped up many properties in London, and they are now moving into the country.