The Conservative donor Lubov Chernukhin is facing calls to hand back £150,000 of taxpayer cash given to her company to help fund a “fun factory” and amusement arcade in Hastings that closed after less than a year.
Helena Dollimore, the Labour MP for Hastings and Rye, said the town now “wants its money back” after the venture known as Owens failed, leaving a depressing boarded-up shopfront dominating the high street.
She said Chernukhin, who recently donated £70,000 to the shadow foreign secretary, Priti Patel, should refund the money now that the project was in administration. Dollimore called on Kemi Badenoch, the Conservative leader, not to accept any more donations from Chernukhin unless the grant were returned.
Chernukhin, a businesswoman who has given more than £2m to the Conservatives since 2014 and is married to a former Russian finance minister, co-founded the Owens entertainment centre in the East Sussex seaside town in October 2022.
The centre received £150,000 from Boris Johnson’s town deal funds after a tender process. At its launch, Chernukhin claimed the venture would help rejuvenate the town by bringing more than 45 jobs and lots of visitors to Hastings. It included several restaurants, a bowling alley, immersive experiences, virtual reality rides, an oddity museum and amusement arcade.
Despite this and her £4m investment, the centre abruptly shut its doors in September 2023.
Dollimore told the Commons on Monday that Hastings council was trying to recover the £150,000 grant given to Chernukhin’s venture but that it had not so far been successful, and the company behind it was now in administration.
“The reason I am here speaking about this is that Owens has come to symbolise for our community much more than a mere eyesore,” she said.
“Did Ms Chernukhin, a millionaire owner, really need a top-up from the taxpayer to fund such a venture? Was that truly the best use of the money given to Hastings to improve our town? None of that makes any sense to my constituents.
“Owens closed shortly after opening, and the deserted, boarded-up building now dominates our town centre in Hastings. The staff were laid off with no notice, and many people who supplied the business and helped with the building work have said that they have not been paid for their work. The closure of Owens, which is now covered in wooden boarding, leaves a stain on our community.”
Dollimore said that in the time the project had been closed, Chernukhin had donated more than £150,000 to the Conservatives.
She added: “Ms Chernukhin should donate the money she received from the taxpayer back to the people of Hastings. Used well, it could go a very long way to fixing our broken paving stones and bus shelters. Lubov Chernukhin, we want our money back. Until that money is repaid in full to our community, the Conservative party should not take a penny in donations from her.”
A spokesperson for Chernukhin said: “Mrs Chernukhin was not involved in the application process for the towns fund grant. Lubov was not a director at the time – she was appointed in February 2023 – and she was only informed of the grant just before the opening of the centre in October 2022.
“As a British citizen, Mrs Chernukhin is entitled to make donations to political parties as she sees fit. All her donations have been declared in accordance with the rules of the Electoral Commission, and derive from her own private wealth.”
A Conservative party spokesperson said government policy was “in no way dictated by party donations”.
They added: “Ms Lubov Chernukhin has lived in Britain for many years and is a British citizen, which gives her the democratic and legal right to donate to a political party.
“All donations to the Conservative party are received in good faith, after appropriate due diligence, from permissible sources.
“Donations are properly and transparently declared to the Electoral Commission, published by them, and comply fully with the law.”
