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He who has not been to Moscow has not seen beauty

A PROPOS

“To Moscow, to Moscow, to Moscow!” Like a mantra, However, the majority of people who live abroad know this phrase is repeated by the sisters in Anton nothing about this. Old habits, as they say, die hard. Chekhov’s famous play “Three Sisters.” The play is Many foreigners still think that the sun never rises about three young women dreaming of escaping their in Moscow, that the city is always cold and that it boring small town and coming to the capital. Although snows year round. Not to mention the rumors of bears the play was written in 1900, people from all over roaming the streets at night. Disappointing as it may , as well as people from CIS countries, still want be, these myths are still around. to move to Moscow. Of course, we are partially responsible for this – we Moscow has always been a magnet. At least this is the tell the world very little about ourselves. We need to way things have played out historically – all the best spend more resources on attracting tourists to Moscow things could be found in the capital: shops, libraries, by letting them know how convenient and comfortable clinics, schools, universities, theatres. At one point, the city has become. According to official statistics, coming to Moscow from Siberia was like taking a trip to over 5 million foreigners visited Moscow last year. This a foreign country. is obviously a small number – about 15 million tourists visit places like and every year. In these Of course, people from Western countries have always countries, both the public and private sectors engage had a different perspective on Moscow: for a long time, in promoting cities as tourist attractions. Aside from many thought of the Russian capital as an evil empire tourist attractions everybody is already aware of – the of sorts. For foreign tourists who traveled to Moscow , the Kremlin and the – during the Soviet era, this really did seem to be the Moscow has about 400 museums, over 200 theatres, case – the grim faces of pedestrians, empty shelves in 64 parks, and plenty of architectural monuments from supermarkets, uncomfortable hotel rooms, bland food different time periods in history. and , unsmiling waiters who would often bring the guests soup and desert at the same time. But in order to see all of this, potential tourists need to overcome the misconceptions many people have about Luckily, a lot has changed since then. After , the Russia capital. People need to give up the Cold Moscow changed for the better – the Russian capital War mentality and stop viewing Moscow in a negative is almost unrecognizable. The city now has luxury light. Today, Moscow is completely different: open, hotels, plenty of restaurants that serve delicious food, kind and hospitable. malls and supermarkets, entertainment centers for people of all age groups, and even free Wi-Fi in the beautiful . Sergo Kukhianidze

Editor in Chief CAPITAL IDEAS Founder: Department for External Economic and International Relations of the Government of Moscow Moscow Official Address: , 13, Moscow, 125032. Ph: +7 (495) 633-68-66 NEWS Fax: +7 (495) 633-68-65 E-mail: [email protected] New stage of cooperation www.dvms.mos.ru The Moscow Government delegation headed by Mayor Editorial staff: Sobyanin made a working visit to Turkey on April. The talks Editor-in-chief – Sergo Kukhianidze focused on developing cooperation between the Russian Production crew of the edition: Elena Egorova (deputy editor-in-chief), capital and Turkey’s largest cities, increasing food deliveries Gennady Charodeev, Evgeny Khokhlov, Dmitry Sokolov, Marina Ogorodnikova, from Turkey to Moscow and attracting investment Anna Tomkins, Anastassia Paloni, Sergei Levin, Vladimiir Dolmatov 6–11 CAPITAL IDEAS STRATEGIES FOR BUSINESS IN MOSCOW

Publisher: Moscow Center for International Cooperation 12–19 CEO: Igor Tkach Moscow Official Address: 105005, 68/8, build.1, Baumanskaya str., Moscow, Russia Phone: +7 (499) 267-46-56 E-mail: [email protected] NEWS General Partner: National Review Ltd CEO – Sergei Oposhnyanskiy Delegation from Dusseldorf Phone.: +7 (495) 784-69-71 E-mail: [email protected] visited Moscow Consulting – Sergei Anikanov, Evgeny Khokhlov Design – Robert Saifulin Talks with the Mayor Photo editor – Victoriya Oposhnyanskaya of Florence Page layout – Alexander Saifulin Assistant – Nadezhda Ratanova Agreement between Moscow Distribution – "Trans-Media" Ltd Acknowledgements to: and Belgrade PHOTO www.mos.ru, ITAR TASS Agency, RIA-Novosti, Getty Images Russia, companies and organizations, represented in the issue. Slovenian delegation visit If you wish to get new issues of Capital Ideas, please, apply to: [email protected] Developing cooperation with The magazine is registered with at the Federal Authority of Legislative Control in Mass Media and Cultural Heritage Protection. Media registration certificate ФС77-53716, issued April 26, 2013. in the sphere All reproduction permitted only with the Editor’s permission and reference to ‘Capital Ideas’. of Distributed free of charge Published with support from the Department for External Economic and International Relations of the Government of Moscow

Circulation : 7000 Signed into print 03. 07. 2015 2 CAPITAL IDEAS July-September 2015 Face to Face

Moscow Global Interest in Moscow City’s graph grows every year Luxury hotels in Moscow We can’t do without Vladimir Chernikov, the Head of the Department for Multicultural Policy, 33 each other Interregional Cooperation and Tourism Ümit Yardim, Ambassador Extraordinary and of Moscow answered our questions in an Plenipotentiary of Turkey to Russia sat down exclusive interview. Moscow in words for an exclusive interview with Capital Ideas 20-25 34-35 36-41

26–27 City’s graph The quality of the Moscow tourist product 28-32 Face to Face Our goal is simple – to achieve as much as possible Alexey Vorobiev, the Head of Moscow Department of Physical Culture and Sports answered our questions in an exclusive interview

July-September 2015 CAPITAL IDEAS 3 We simulate situation Nothing Ventured Our interview Moscow-Munich: The business tourism Technical question Foreign suppliers often do not know that any goods Nothing Catastrophic industry has a bright sold in Russia must have a certificate confirming their compliance with national standards and norms. has Happened future Kseniya Maksyukova, development manager of the In spite of political tensions, the business Vladimir Salamatov, the Director General certification agency WorldWideGost, writes about the circles in Bavaria are still interested in of the World Trade Center answered nuances in drawing up technical documentation for working with Moscow questions from Capital Ideas importing foreign products 42-45 50-54 62-63

46-48 56-57 64-69 Nothing Ventured City’s graph Travel The recession is International : behind us. What's arrivals in Moscow forward, into the next? past Out of all the foreign companies that 58-61 Three years ago, the major European came to Moscow in the beginning of the Our interview tourist website HolidayCheck ranked 1990s, the Dutch company Danfoss stands Moscow as the most hospitable city out in terms of its stability. While some in Russia. According to feedback develop anti-crisis strategies and others We ’t have a from tourists all over the world, wait for the recession to end, Danfoss shortage of guests Kolomenskoye Museum-Estate was manages to maintain high profitability and one of the most popular places to visit Alexander Bobylov, the General believes in a bright future Director of the Baltschug Kempinski 70-71 Moscow Hotel, talked about how the economic crisis affected the hotel’s Moscow Vocabulary operations

4 CAPITAL IDEAS July-September 2015 Life&Culture

Our interview Light summer breeze “What is there to do in Moscow in the Russia must take Between past and future summer? Leave this stuffy city at the first opportunity and go to the countryside!” care of its image pessimists might say. “Well, why would Vladimir Kantorovich, the First Hit in the temple you suggest such a thing?” optimists Vice-President of Association of Tour Everyone who visits the State Tretyakov reply. “It is precisely during the summer in Operators of Russia and President of Gallery is likely to rush to see Ilya Moscow that one can go to many cultural KMP Group, talked to Capital Ideas Repin’s famous “Ivan The events and opening nights, to which about how to increase foreign tourist Terrible Killing His Son”. However, the tickets cannot be found at another time of volumes in Russia facts suggest that he didn’t kill his son the year.” 72-74 78-81 88–93

76-77 82-85 94–96 Bookself Life&Culture Food& Making perfect Up! And the tigers Moscow on the Teri Lindeberg, founder and CEO of sat at my feet…” menu Staffwell, is a remarkable woman. She knows all ins and outs of doing business A hundred and thirty-five years ago, Our capital is a giant megapolis that in Russia. At least she wrote a great book a circus opened at in never ceases to amaze its visitors titled Making Perfect, that is about what Moscow that remains one of the most with the diversity of its restaurant employees want from their employers. popular places of entertainment today scene. But there are some cafes and Here’s the extract from Teri’s book restaurants that our foreign guests are particularly fond of. We have put 86–87 together a list of top restaurants This and That that are frequently visited by foreign tourists and expats who live and work Friendship in in the city Russian Every language has a word that means “friend,” but the Russian equivalent indicates something slightly different

July-September 2015 CAPITAL IDEAS 5 MOSCOW OFFICIAL Moscow & Ankara: elivate their dialogue

The Moscow Government delegation During his meeting with Ankara Mayor Melih Gökçek, headed by Mayor Sobyanin made a Mr. Sobyanin pointed out that this year Ankara and Moscow will celebrate the 50th anniversary of their working visit to Turkey on April 15- relations as sealed in the relevant agreements be- 17. The talks focused on developing tween the two capitals. cooperation between the Russian “We have the potential to promote and deepen our capital and Turkey’s largest cities, ties. This is why we signed a program of cooperation between our two capitals last year. Our multi-faceted increasing food deliveries from cooperation is determined by the status of our two cit- Turkey to Moscow and attracting ies, which are both megalopolises. We are cooperat- ing in urban development, transport, communications, investment. landscaping and the social sphere,” Mr Sobyanin said.

He added that a vast number of Turkish investors and builders work in Moscow. “We have calculated

Mayor of Ankara M. Gökçek and sign the agreement on mutual cooperation between major trading companies of Moscow and Ankara that Turkish construction workers built about 24 million square meters of real estate in Moscow. This is a whole city for half a million people,” Mr. Sobya- nin said.

The Moscow Mayor emphasized cooperation in the food sphere. “Turkish supplies of vegetables, fruit and other food products have increased by 50 to 100 percent over the past year. In turn, Russia has also almost doubled its food supplies to Turkey. Tomorrow we will sign cooperation agreements between major retail stores from Moscow and An- kara,” he said. Mr. Sobyanin and Mr. Gökçek also visited a photo ex- The Moscow Mayor also noted the upsurge in tour- hibition devoted to the 95th anniversary of diplomatic ism. “The majority of Turkish citizens come to Mos- relations between Russia and Turkey, and toured An- cow for business or tourism,” he said. “Their number kara’s urban infrastructure facilities. cannot compare with the tourist flow from Russia but it has doubled in the past few years.” They visited Ankara’s biggest thematic leisure park — the Ankapark in the Ulus district, which is the city’s In turn, Mr Gökçek said that the meeting will help reconstructed historic center, and the Moscow Alley strengthen relations between the two capitals. “We in Dikmen Valley, an example of reorganized densely can take many important political steps because of populated urban space. our cooperation. We consider the planned meeting on the signing of agreements between our retail stores A meeting between the representatives of large Rus- to be an important one. Our countries are interested sian and Turkish retail chain companies. “We see a in the growth of mutual investment,” he said. major trend that illustrates the development of eco- nomic ties in the sphere of food product supply to Mayor Sobyanin added that this year Moscow will Russia and Moscow from Turkish enterprises. This is hold Ankara Days. “I think we will see many interest- especially true for segments in which Russian equiva- ing and successful events and I hope Ankara will re- lents are produced in insufficient volumes or are not ciprocate with Moscow Days in 2016,” he said. produced at all,” Sergey Sobyanin said. ■

Sergey Sobyanin and Melih Gökçek visited the photo exhibition dedicated to the 95th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Russia and Turkey July-September 2015 CAPITAL IDEAS 7 MOSCOW OFFICIAL

Program of cooperation signed for 2015-2017 Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin and Ties between Moscow and Istanbul were established in the 1970s, but according to Mr. Sobyanin they were Istanbul Mayor Kadir Topbas have episodic in nature and there were no agreements to signed a program of cooperation support them.

between the Moscow Government “We are laying good, solid foundations for close coop- and Municipality of Istanbul eration both between our municipalities and between our economies and businesses in the fields of trade for 2015-2017. and mutual investment. I am certain that both cities will benefit from it,” Mr. Sobyanin said while drawing attention to the similarities between the two capitals.

“The two cities are similar in terms of population fig- ures and development trends. They have similar victo- ries and difficulties,” the Moscow Mayor said. He added that the development of megacities comes with cer- computer modeling and water transportation tain difficulties but also creates opportunities for in- development vestment and developing social structures. 2. Urban planning, including urban development Mr. Sobyanin invited his counterpart to Moscow. “It is a planning, creating most favorable conditions pleasure for me to invite you to Moscow to see the city for improvement and planting, renovating go through a new stage of development, and discuss public spaces and building sports infrastruc- the issues and challenges that we face. I am sure that ture. the bilateral cooperation between our cities will ben- efit our residents and our countries,” Mr. Sobyanin said. 3. Cooperation in culture, cultural heritage, tourism and sports: Mr. Topbas also thanked Mr. Sobyanin, noting: “I, too, plan to go to Moscow on a return visit. I hope our busi- — preservation, promotion and state protection nesses will work together”. of cultural heritage sites;

He expressed confidence that the cities’ municipali- — raising the quality of tourist and hotel ser- ties will succeed in implementing the program. "If our vices; two cities grow together, it will give an impetus to the development of our countries. The signed document — participation in exhibitions, conferences and opens new horizons for cooperation between our mu- seminars on tourism held by Moscow and Is- nicipalities. We are prepared and look forward to ex- tanbul; changing delegations and adopting each other’s best practices, Mr. Topbas said. — participation of athletes and sports teams from Moscow and Istanbul in joint sporting Under the cooperation program, Moscow and Istanbul events; will adopt best practices and implement a joint project in key economic sectors. The program will contribute — exchanging cultural delegations. to the development of: Afterwards, Mr. Sobyanin visited the Demonstra- 1. Public transport and road infrastructure, in- tion Centre of the Municipality of Istanbul where the cluding parking lots, transport hubs and park- Mayor learned about projects in transport and urban and-ride facilities, the use of transport flow development. ■

Sergey Sobyanin and the delegation of the Moscow Government while visiting the Demonstration Center of the Municipality of Istanbul July-September 2015 CAPITAL IDEAS 9 MOSCOW OFFICIAL

Member of the Board of Directors of the Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges of Turkey D.Gyunay and Mayor of Moscow Sergey Sobyanin Economic relations will become dyniamic

During its visit to Turkey on 15-17 April 2015, a delega- our Turkish colleagues, who, despite the sanctions tion of Moscow Government officials led by Mayor imposed on Russia, not only have not reduced sup- Sergei Sobyanin met with representatives of Turkish plies of their goods to Moscow and to Russia but have business circles. significantly increased them.”

The talks highlighted prospects for cooperation Commenting on the results of the talks, Mr. Sobya- between Moscow and major Turkish cities, more nin welcomed the documents signed in Istanbul as Turkish food imports to the Russian capital, and fu- paving the way for broader cooperation which, aside ture investments. from benefiting the people of Turkey and Muscovites equally, will also contribute to the development of A total of five memorandums were signed in Istan- Russian-Turkish ties in general. “During the past few bul between Turkish food exporters and the follow- days, we signed a number of important documents, ing Moscow retail giants: X5 Retail Group, Sedmoi consisting of agreements on food supplies, signed be- Kontinent, Polmira, Plamya (the managing compa- tween trading companies from Moscow and Ankara, ny of the Food City agro-food cluster) and Obyedin- agreements between the chambers of commerce, yonnye Konditery from Russia, and wholesale food and a program of cooperation between the mayors of suppliers from Turkey. Moscow and Istanbul,” he said.

Mr. Sobyanin thanked the Turkish side for its willing- Cengiz Gunay, a board member of the Union of ness to develop relations with Russia: “I want to thank Chambers of Commerce and Commodity Exchang- es of Turkey (TOBB), emphasized the significance of the chambers’ presidents Mikhail Kuzovlyov of Mos- the talks held by the Moscow Mayor in Ankara and cow and Gungor Sanal of Ankara. The document will Istanbul. “These agreements will be a major contri- hopefully give a boost to mutually profitable econom- bution to promoting relations between cities and ic, trade and investment cooperation between Mos- private companies. Our political and economic rela- cow and Ankara. Below are cooperation priorities: tions are getting stronger with every passing day. And we are glad that our organization is actively — promoting the expansion of the existing di- advancing them,” he noted. rect business ties and establishing new ones between entrepreneurs of Moscow and Ankara, Sergei Cheremin, Moscow Government Minister and geared towards reaching mutually profitable Head of the Department for Foreign Economic Activ- deals with special emphasis on cooperation be- ity and International Relations, said that Moscow re- tween small and medium-sized businesses as mains an attractive market for Turkish companies. “A well as individual entrepreneurs number of Turkish companies expressed willingness to build large social facilities, including hospitals,” Mr. — promoting the development of tourism-re- Cheremin told reporters. lated services upon requests from organizations and entrepreneurs of Moscow and Ankara He added that Turkish companies are also keen to invest in transport projects. “Even the fluctuations — exchanging information geared towards of the did not frighten Turkish investors. We creating economically effective logistical “road agreed with many companies that during their fu- maps” for all spheres of activity ture business visits to Moscow we will start to discuss concrete projects,” Mr. Cheremin explained. — assisting in preparing delegations’ visits, bi- lateral meetings and talks between business Alexei Nemeryuk, Head of the Moscow Depart- circles of Moscow and Ankara ment of Trade and Services, said that the above- mentioned agreements will give Turkish producers — assisting in carrying out and ensuring the ac- direct access to the Moscow market. “Often, prod- tive participation of entrepreneurs from both ucts that are grown by Turkish agricultural produc- sides in national and specialized exhibitions, ers have a long way to go. Sometimes, they travel goods presentations, fairs, conferences, sympo- to Novorossiisk first and then to Moscow through siums, seminars and other advertising events in intermediaries. Consequently, the price share added Moscow and Ankara. by the middlemen ranges between 20 and 50 per cent of the cost.” A similar agreement between the Moscow CCI and the Istanbul Chamber of Commerce was signed in The visit produced an agreement between the Mos- Istanbul by Moscow CCI President Mikhail Kuzovlyov cow Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CCI) and and Vice President of the Istanbul Chamber of Com- the Ankara Chamber of Commerce. It was signed by merce Gokhan Murat Kalsin. ■

Mayor of Istanbul K.Topbaş, Mayor of Moscow S. Sobyanin and the delegation of the Moscow Government July-September 2015 CAPITAL IDEAS 11 MOSCOW OFFICIAL Moscow and Düsseldorf sign cooperation program

Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin met with A communique on a partner-like cooperation be- tween Moscow and Düsseldorf for 2016-2019 was Lord Mayor of Düsseldorf Thomas Geisel. The signed at the meeting. The document sets forth basic Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary aspects of cooperation for the next few years, includ- ing education, healthcare and the social policy, sport, of to Russia, Rudiger von Fritsch, also the economy, urban infrastructure development, and attended the meeting. culture.

A new cultural cooperation program for 2016-2019 was also signed between the Moscow Department of The sides discussed the subsequent development of Culture and the Düsseldorf Culture Directorate. bilateral cooperation, including promising aspects for cooperation in the areas of education, healthcare, the “We are signing a new three-year agreement be- modernization of transportation infrastructure, and tween our cities and a program of cultural coopera- the organization of cultural and youth exchanges. tion. I’m confident that the new agreement will make it possible to strengthen our close social, economic, “Our cities are linked by close, 20-year-old relations and cultural relations,” Mr Sobyanin noted. that long ago turned into good and real friendship. Various events have taken place in the past 20 years, In turn, Mr Geisel said the German delegation had but the friendship between our cities continued to reached an agreement on holding the Days of Düssel- grow ever stronger. I’m confident this trend will also dorf in Moscow, and he called on the Russian capital continue today,” Mr Sobyanin said. to hold the Days of Moscow in Düsseldorf.

Mayor of Moscow Sergey Sobyanin and Lord Mayor of Düsseldorf Thomas Geisel signing communique on a partner- like cooperation between Moscow and Düsseldorf for 2016-2019. Moscow and Düsseldorf sign cooperation program

“I’m very happy to note that our cities have main- ways been the case in sport, let the strongest win,” tained close relations over the past 20 years, that Mr. Geisel noted. these relations have evolved into a profound and close friendship, and that they encompass the most diverse Sergei Cheremin, a Moscow Government Minister aspects of our cities’ life, including the economy, cul- and the Head of the City Department for Foreign Eco- ture, sport, education, urban development, traffic flow nomic Activity and International Relations, said that planning, and, in general, everything that improves in line with the intercity agreement there were plans the life of our wonderful residents,” he stressed. for performance groups from both cities to exchange concert programmes. “It should be noted that we will Contacts between the residents of the two cities are conduct sufficiently intensive youth exchanges and also important, Mr Geisel said. “This is particularly exchanges between schools as this year our countries true of cultural relations. In 2015, we were able to re- are holding the Year of in Germa- ceive the ballet tour of the Stanislavsky Theatre, and ny and the Year of German Language in Russia,” he this year we will reciprocate. I cordially invite you to added. watch the performance of our theatre in Moscow,” Mr. Geisel added. The Minister said that the Düsseldorf delegation visit- ed leading Moscow clinics and got an introduction to He also said that both cities continued to expand rehabilitation centers and homes for senior citizens. cooperation in sport in the run-up to the 2018 FIFA Heads of the Departments of Culture, Healthcare and World Cup, due to be hosted by Russia. “I’m already Social Support as well as a massive business delega- looking forward to the final match between the Rus- tion accompanied the Lord Mayor of Düsseldorf on his sian and German teams in Moscow. And, as has al- visit to Moscow. ■

Minister of the Moscow Government and head of the Moscow Department of Culture A.Kibovsky, Moscow Minister and Head of the Department for External Economic and International Relations Sergei Cheremin, Head of Cultural Affairs of the Düsseldorf City Council Hans-Georg Lohe, Lord Mayor of Düsseldorf T.Geisel

July-September 2015 CAPITAL IDEAS 13 MOSCOW OFFICIAL Head of the Department for external economic and International relations meets with mayor of Florence

During talks with the Mayor of Florence Dario Economic and International Relations holds regular meetings under the auspices of the Ambassador of Nardella, which took place on May 15, Moscow in Russia Cesare Ragaglini with Italian firms in Minister and Head of the Department for Moscow for the presentation of urban projects for en- trepreneurs. External Economic and International Relations Sergei Cheremin announced that Moscow Sergei Cheremin expressed hope for the start of co- operation with Florence in the sphere of cultural plans to take part in EXPO-2015 events in heritage preservation and restoration of historical this October. monuments.

The meeting was also attended by a Mikhailov & Part- The two sides noted the fruitful development of bi- ners consultant Giacomo Agulero and representatives lateral ties between our countries and the quick pace from the Italian embassy. 2014 was an active year in of development of our relations in spite of political terms of developing Moscow-Italian contacts. In May tensions. of last year, Days of Moscow were held in Rome and Milan with participation of the Mayor of Moscow Ser- Sergei Cheremin stressed that Moscow is interested gey Sobyanin. In November, the Mayor of Milan Gi- in cooperating with Italian investment companies uliano Pisapia, who opened the Days of Milan in Mos- and companies operating in the sphere of road and cow, came to the Russian capital. Currently, the two transport infrastructure development. As the Minis- sides are actively working to implement the agree- ter pointed out, the Moscow Department for External ments reached. ■

Talks between Moscow Minister and Head of the Department for External Economic and International Relations Sergei Cheremin and Mayor of Florence Dario Nardella, May 15th. useful info

Department for external economic and international relations of the Government of Moscow Address: 13 , Moscow, 125032 Ph: +7 (495) 633 68 66 Fax: +7 (495) 633 68 65 E-mail: [email protected] www.dvms.mos.ru Department of Science, Industrial Policy and Entrepreneurship of the Goverment of Moscow Address: 22 Voznesensky Pereylok, Moscow, 125009 Ph: +7 (495) 957 05 10 Fax: +7 (495) 957 05 20 E-mail: [email protected] www.dnpp.mos.ru Department of Economic Policy and Development of the Government of Moscow Address: 21 Voznesensky Pereylok, Moscow, 125032 Ph: +7 (495) 957 72 21 Fax: +7 (495) 629 33 42 E-mail: [email protected] www.depir.ru Department of City Property of the Government of Moscow Address: 20 Bakhrushina Street, Moscow, 115054 Ph:+7(495) 587 70 87 Fax: +7 (495) 959 19 82 E-mail: [email protected] www.dgi.mos.ru Moscow Exchange Address: Office 1: 125009 Moscow, Bolshoy Kislovsky per, 13 Office 2: 125009 Moscow, Vozdvizhenka Str, 4/7, Bld 1 Phone: +7 (495) 363 32 32, +7 (495) 232 05 55 Fax: +7 (495) 705 9622 www.moex.com

July-September 2015 CAPITAL IDEAS 15 MOSCOW OFFICIAL

Agreement between Moscow and Belgrade

On June 2, Mayor of Moscow Sergey Sobyanin and Mayor of Belgrade Siniša Mali signed an agreement of cooperation between the Government of Moscow and Belgrade for 2015-2017.

The meeting was attended by the “I am happy to welcome your delegation in Mos- cow. I assign a lot of significance to cooperation Serbian Ambassador to Moscow between our cities. I hope that the agreement that Slavenko Terzić and the President we are signing today will help strengthen our re- lations. We will gladly work together across social of the City Assembly of Belgrade is and economic spheres and strengthen the friend- Nikola Nikodijević. ship between our cities,” Sergey Sobyanin said.

In turn, Siniša Mali thanked the Government of Mos- cow for their hospitality. “The agreement that we are going to sign today is an agreement regarding close relationship between Russia and Serbia. We • participation of Serbian creative teams will see stronger ties between our two countries. in the Moscow festival "The best city in the Over the past two days we have learned a lot about world" your work. We hope that we will be able to apply • invitation of the Serbian director Emir Kus- what we have learned in Belgrade. Of course, our turica to take part in the Moscow Summer Fes- goal is to improve the quality of life for our citizens,” tival "Cinema in the Park" Siniša Mali said. He gave Sergey Sobyanin a letter • holding friendly matches between teams of from Prime Minister of Serbia Aleksandar Vucic, Moscow and Belgrade in various sports. which contained an invitation to visit Belgrade. Bilateral relations between Moscow and Belgrade According to the program, the main areas of coop- are based on the Memorandum of Friendship and eration between Russia and Serbia will be the ex- Cooperation (1994) and the Protocol on trade-eco- change of experience and implementation of joint nomic, scientific-technical, cultural and sports co- projects in spheres such as road transport infra- operation (2000). structure development, housing, science and ad- vances technology, trade and services, health and Trade volumes between Moscow and Serbia social protection, education, environmental protec- amounted to $563.9 million in 2014. tion, culture and tourism, and sports. From 2011 to 2014, the number of two-way trav- Among other things, the program entails the fol- el trips between Russia and Serbia has doubled. lowing measures: According to the Russian Border Service, 57,600 • exchange of information between research Serbian citizens came to Russia through Moscow and design organizations airports in 2014 (in 2011, this number amounted to • professional development of teachers and 39,200). 84,000 people went to Serbia through the organization of specialized conferences Moscow airports (in 2011, this number amounted and seminars to 35,600). ■

Mayor of Belgrade Siniša Mali and the Head of the Department for External Economic and International Relations Sergei Cheremin after singing the agreement of cooperation between Moscow and Belgrade for 2015-2017

July-September 2015 CAPITAL IDEAS 17 MOSCOW OFFICIAL

Slovenian delegation visit

On June 9, the Mayor of Moscow Sergey Sobyanin and the Mayor of Ljubljana Zoran Jankovic signed the 2015-2017 cooperation program between Moscow and Ljubljana.

The meeting was attended by the Moscow Deputy areas connected to trade turnover and the economy Mayor for Social Development Leonid Pechatnikov, will also develop, in spite of the challenges,” the May- the head of the Department for Foreign Economic or of Moscow said. Activity and International Relations of Moscow and Minister of the Moscow Government Sergei Cher- The Mayor of Ljubljana also stressed that the imple- emin, and Chairman of the Committee on Architec- mentation of the cooperation program will encourage ture and Urban Planning Juliana Knyazhevskaya. The the development of cooperation between the two document entrails the development of cooperation countries. According to Z.Yankovich, the visit from between the two cities in the field of urban planning the Slovanian delegation is aimed at the exchange of and infrastructure development, building and im- experience between the two countries in the sphere proving transport systems, protecting the environ- of economics, culture, sports and social development. ment and improving the quality of social services. One of the joint projects implemented within the Sergei Sobyanin noted that the Moscow Government scope of cooperation will be the construction of an appreciates the respectful friendly relations estab- athletic center with a water park in the Tsarytsino lished between Moscow and Ljubljana, and confirmed district in Moscow. The protocol of intent to build the the readiness to actively increase the cultural and center was signed by representatives of the Moscow business ties between the cities. company "Yuzhnoye Sozvezdiye" and the Slovenian company "Rico" in the presence of the mayor of Lju- “Our cooperation is actively developing, and I am very bljana and S. Cheremin, Head of the Department for happy about this. We have good contacts in the social Foreign Economic Activity and International Rela- sphere and are developing tourism. I hope that the tions of Moscow. ■

18 CAPITAL IDEAS July-September 2015 Moscow and China promoting tourist ties and trade

The Moscow Government and the Federal Tourism Agency have signed an agreement within the scope of implementing the visa-free tour group trips agreement between the Russian Federation and the PRC.

The document was signed by the head of the Tour- the Head of the Department for Foreign Economic ism Agency Oleg Safonov and the head of the Moscow Activity and International Relations of Moscow Ser- Department of National Policy, Interregional Relations gei Cheremin, “China remains one of the top trade and and Tourism Vladimir Chernikov. The ceremony was economic partners for Moscow.” also attended by Sergei Cheremin, Head of the Depart- ment for Foreign Economic Activity and International The minister said that this year marks the 20th an- Relations of Moscow and Minister of the Moscow Gov- niversary since the signing of the memorandum on ernment. cooperation between and the Government of Moscow. “We expect a visit from the mayor of Bei- Vladimir Chernikov noted that Moscow authorities jing this year and hope that these will be high quality plan to continue actively working on strengthening events,” Cheremin noted. ties between the Russian capital and China. “In the first quarter of 2015, we have seen a significant increase in He also recalled the Moscow Government’s initiative China’s interest in Moscow. We carefully follow the on establishing a 72-hour visa-free regime for Chinese tastes and preferences of our Chinese guests and try citizens arriving in airports in major Russian cities, and to do everything in our power to make them comfort- expressed his hope that the measure will be imple- able in the capital,” the head of the department said. 17 mented soon. “I am sure that the scope of our coop- tour guides from the “Moscow Tourist Routes” series eration with Beijing and China will continue to increase have been translated into Chinese, along with Moscow in both the tourism and economic spheres,” Cheremin city and metro maps. The city has also implemented added. the ChinaFriendly program, which is intended to make hotel stays more comfortable for Chinese tourists. In 2014, the Mayor of Moscow Sergey Sobyanin visited Beijing, Shanghai and Hong Kong. During the visit, the According to Oleg Safonov, signing the agreement is agreement on cooperation for 2014-2016 was signed very important in light of the development of coopera- between Moscow and Beijing. In 2013 and 2014, China tion with China. “Over the past few years, Moscow has ranked first in terms of the number of tourists arriv- ranked first in terms of the number of Chinese tourist ing in Moscow. According to CityMetricIntelligence groups – we are now ahead of Primorsky Krai. Accord- ratings, the Russian capital was ranked ‘The Moscow ing to numbers from the first four months of 2015, there Popular European City for Chinese Tourists” in 2014. has been a 195% growth of in visa-free tourist volumes from China in Moscow,” said the head of the Federal The growth in tourist volumes is the result of the Tourism Agency. According to the organization’s data, agreement on visa-free group tourist trips, which was 57,000 tourists came to Moscow in 2011. By 2014, this signed between Russia and the People’s Republic of number had gone up to 140,000, and the agency ex- China. The agreement entails a simplified visa-free pects this figure to swell to 200,000 tourists in 2015. entry process for tourist groups comprised of 5-50 people. Russian tourists who are entering China for a “For us, signing this agreement today is another brick period of less than 14 days can also take advantage of the wall of solid economic relations with the PRC,” said this agreement. ■

July-September 2015 CAPITAL IDEAS 19 FACE TO FACE Vladimir Chernikov: Interest in Moscow grows every year

The Head of the Department for Multicultural Policy, Interregional Cooperation and Tourism of Moscow answered our questions in an exclusive interview with Capital Ideas

Is Moscow an interesting place for foreigners? Can the Russian capital be considered on the largest tourist capitals in the world?

I think that Moscow can be considered one of the biggest world capitals for business tourism, and a major business center in both and Asia. If we look at statistics, business tourists make up over 50 percent of tourist volumes, and this ratio has not changed much over the past 10 years.

Overall, interest in Moscow grows every year, which isn’t surprising – Moscow is changing rapidly and becoming a more convenient city for tourists. Of course Moscow is one of the most beautiful cities in the world. We have new types of services and are expanding our tourism infrastructure. There are pedestrian zones that stretch for over 20 kilometers in some of the most popular tourist spots, and these areas will be expanded in the future. The street navigation system, which is available in multiple languages, is constantly improving. There are two- level City Sightseeing buses for tourists and visitors can also take boat tours along the Moscow River any time of year, since we have Radisson Royal ice- breaker boats. This year, there are also more bike

20 CAPITAL IDEAS July-September 2015

FACE TO FACE

lanes available for cyclists in Moscow parks, and we Like I said before, a big share of foreign tourists expect Moscow to become one of the top cities in come to Moscow for international conferences, the world in this regard as well. exhibitions and forums. But, as one study has shown, foreign guests often find the time to see the city’s There are also more and more large-scale event main tourist attractions in spite of hectic program tourism projects in Moscow. On the first Saturday schedules. This is why the majority of business- of the spring, the capital hosted FIA Formula E class hotels are located in the center of Moscow. Championships – a true battle between electrically- The younger generations of business tourists have powered racing cars. The global audience for this also noted that, unlike most business capitals in the exciting event amounted to 200 million people. A world, has a lot to offer in terms of an active nightlife. lot of tourists are increasingly more interested in visiting the “Circle of Light” festival, which takes What are some places in Moscow that attract the place in Moscow in the fall. This year, the Moscow most tourists? River and its embankments will be one of the platforms for the festival. In June, Kolomenskoye The list of these key tourist attractions hasn’t Museum-Reserve hosted “Times and Epochs,” a really changed much over the years. According to historical festival that usually draws people from Trip Advisor, the most frequently visited places in all over Russia and other countries as well. It would the Russian capital are St. Basil's Cathedral, the be difficult to list all of the new tourist services and Museum-Reserve Kolomenskoye, Red Square, events we have in Moscow in a single interview, Lomonosov , the Kremlin, but I can assure you that there are plenty of both. Novodevichy monastery, , the Bolshoi Theatre, and the Moscow Metro. What are foreign tourists most interested in when they come to Moscow – culture, architecture, res- According to official data, how many foreigners taurants, night life? come to Moscow every year?

22 CAPITAL IDEAS July-September 2015 According to the FSB Border Service, about 5.8 We don’t have to play guessing games with trends million people came to Moscow through the right now, since the data speaks for itself: there has Moscow airports last year. Not all of them, of been an increase in tourist volumes from countries course, are tourists. A tourist is someone who we do not impose visa restrictions on. comes to a place (not necessarily from another is a good example – the visa-free regime for South country) in order to spend money instead of making Korean tourists went into effect in January 2014. it. That is, someone who makes money in one place There has been an increase in tourist volumes from and then spends it in another place. This is the case Israel (14 percent) and Turkey (6 percent) for the for the majority of arrivals in Moscow – about 5.4 same reason. Since we have an intergovernmental million people. This number includes everyone who agreement on visa-free entry to tourist groups indicates “tourism” as the reason for the visit. with China, the number of Chinese tourists is also steadily increasing, though not as rapidly. What countries do tourists typically come from? What are some things that are making foreigners The top ten countries are China, Germany, Turkey, think twice about coming to Moscow? Many peo- , Italy, USA, Israel, Vietnam and South Korea. ple say, for example, that it is difficult for them to After the sanctions, tourist volumes from certain navigate the city because there aren’t a lot of signs European countries decreased, along with tourist in English. What else? flows from – prior to this, Japan was in the top 10. It has now been replaced by South Korea – The number of signs in multiple languages in the tourist volumes from this country have increased by city amounts to over 1,200. By 2018, this figure 47 percent compared to 2013. will increase to 9,500 street signs. Moreover, it’s important to remember that here in Moscow, unlike What is the general trend in the tourism sector in many European and Asian countries, there is right now and what is causing it? really no problem with free Internet access – there

July-September 2015 CAPITAL IDEAS 23 FACE TO FACE

are multiple Wi-Fi hotspots, which allows tourists Moreover, let’s not forget the fact that foreigners to use any navigation service they wish. There are who wish to visit Russia encounter a lot of English versions available for most cultural tourist difficulties in obtaining visas. Getting a visa is also attractions in Moscow. Of course, there are also expensive. I have already brought up how much of special services – mobile applications and the positive effect a visa-free regime can have on tourist multilingual website www.travel2moscow.com, volumes, and the examples I gave demonstrate how which has been translated into major European useful signing these types of agreements is. languages and Chinese. There is also a free 24-hour call center for tourists. In your opinion, what should the city do in order to increase tourist volumes and make Moscow a real tourist magnet?

Moscow has a lot to offer its guests, including our foreign guests: about 400 museums, over 200 theatres, multiple architectural monuments of different styles from different eras, 64 parks, a great city infrastructure and a wide selection of events to attend. The city also has a rich history that is reflected in every street in the center of Moscow. Our tourist infrastructure is fairly new, which means that it is quite modern and advanced. The city is developing at an astronomical rate. In the next few years, for example, there are plans to upgrade the embankments of the Moscow River, which stretch for over 200 kilometers. But there is another, more difficult task to accomplish – creating and maintain a positive image of Russia abroad, and promoting Moscow as a tourist center. ■

24 CAPITAL IDEAS July-September 2015 July-September 2015 CAPITAL IDEAS 25 CITY'S GRAPH

Assessment At the order of the Moscow Committee on Tourism and Hotel Industry, an assessment of the quality of the Moscow tourist product was conducted. The source of information was the opinions of tour- procedure ists, who are the target audience.

2093 Russian and foreign tourists from 10 countries were polled (Germany, China, Italy, Spain, France, and others) who visited Moscow as part of cultural and educational group tours. Expert interviews were also conducted with tour guides, interpreters and representatives of tour operators.

The assessment was both comprehensive – for the tourist product as a whole – and differentiated, for each service of the tourist product.

Tourist product Components of the tourism product and the degree of Transport Food Accommodation Tours satisfaction with each one 88% 83% 86% 93% 9% 3% 12% 5% 8% 6% 5%2%

Satisfied Unsatisfied Difficulty Answering

Barriers: price-quality The price corresponds to quality relationship for tours 63% 37% The price is too high

Would you come Would you recommend the trip Comprehensive to Moscow again? to your friends? Assessment of the Moscow Definitely 27% 92% Tourist Product 52% Most likely 5% Unlikely 16% Definitely not 8%

Would recommend Would not recommend

26 CAPITAL IDEAS July-September 2015 Assessment of the Moscow Tourist Product and Main The price corresponds to quality Factors The price is too high Influencing Competitiveness

Moscow Committee on Tourism and Hotel Industry

July-September 2015 CAPITAL IDEAS 27

FACE TO FACE Alexey Vorobiev: Our goal is simple – to get as much as possible

The Head of Moscow Department The capital of Russia has always been an athletic city. Is it still one today? How would you describe of Physical Culture and Sports answered the city’s policies when it comes to sports?

our questions in an exclusive interview with Moscow has always been the most athletic city in Capital Ideas our country. The number of sports facilities, the number of people who are physically active and the number of sports events we host all serve as testa- ment to this fact. The figures speak for themselves. There were 11,590 athletic facilities in Moscow in 2010. In 2014, this number went up to 14,602. We expect to increase the figure by 14,684 by the end of this year, and to 14,828 by 2018. Today, these facili- ties include 7,896 planar sports facilities, 3,589 gyms, 301 swimming pools, 1,599 skating rinks as well as

28 CAPITAL IDEAS July-September 2015

ski slopes, bike trails and running lanes, climbing to do so. The “Sport of Moscow” state program for walls and racing tracks, along with a multitude of 2012-2018 includes two subprograms that focus on other athletic facilities. the development of physical education and sports, as well as on preparing a sports reserve and devel- The mayor of Moscow Sergey Sobyanin pays spe- oping high performance sports. Both of these tasks cial attention to the development of physical cul- are important to us. Moscow has always been and ture and sports in the capital. Thanks to the state continues to be proud of the accomplishments of program “Sport of Moscow” (2012-2018), over 3 mil- the capital’s athletes. Take, for example, the re- lion people in the capital take part in athletic ac- sults of the Winter in . Out tivities today. In 2010, this figure amounted to just of the 225 Russian athletes who participated in the 2.13 million people. By 2018, we plan on increasing Olympics, 60 were from Moscow. The capital was the number of people who play sports to 4 million. represented across 14 different types of sports. The Our policy in the field of sports is quite simple and largest number of Muscovites could be found in ice easy to understand: to move forward and achieve skating (14), curling (9), bobsledding (6) and free- as much as possible. We have every opportunity style (5).

July-September 2015 CAPITAL IDEAS 29 FACE TO FACE

30 CAPITAL IDEAS July-September 2015 and Adelina Sotnikovaya and

Athletes from Moscow ended up with a total of 13 example, we hosted 60 especially significant compe- medals: 7 , 3 , and 3 . This was the titions such as world championship for pneumatic best result over the past 20 years of our participation gun shooting, the Grand Prix of , and in the Winter Olympic Games. In percentage terms, the World Championships in rowing and canoeing. these numbers account for 39% of all medals and The International Canoe Federation has commend- 54% of gold medals. ed the high quality of the championship, recognizing it as the best. This year there will be just as many Muscovites are rightfully proud of their winners and events. We have already held the international short champions: Tatiana Volosozhar and Maxim Trankov, track championship and several stages of the Grand and Dmitry Soloviev, Ksenia Stol- Prix in freestyle, acrobatic and snowboard parallel bova and , Elena Ilinykh and Aleksey slalom. We also have a fencing championship com- Katsalapov. and Adelina Sotniko- ing up, along with competitions in many other kinds vaya (for figure skating), Viktor Anom (short-trek) of sports. and many other athletes who take part in interna- tional competitions. We are proud of our coaches We host a number of events that are extremely pop- and athletic schools who train these phenomenal ular among Muscovites, including a number of youth athletes. Because we have created the right condi- tournaments such as “Kozhany Myach” (“Leather tions for training our athletes, they have been able to Ball”) “Zolotaya Shaiba” (“Golden Puck”) and “Led attain these significant achievements. We have put Nashey Nadezhdy” (“Ice of Our Hope”). There is also together an experimental Moscow team for the next the Moscow Marathon and the Moscow ski race, Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro and the next Win- traditional athletic events at Luzhniki and festivals ter Games in PyeongChang. The goal of this project at the GTO Center. We see serious, uncompromising is undergo training with minimal losses and ensure competition, participants trying to win and support great results for our country and, accordingly, for the from fans – this is a very important component of city the athletes represent. athletic events.

The development of popular sport is an integral part So overall we have a very busy athletic calendar. of life in Moscow. It is very important for us to cre- ate all the conditions necessary for people to get in- In the USSR, we used to have a popular slogan: volved in physical culture and sports, to promote a “Mass participation is the key to success.” This is healthier nation and active lifestyles. Our task is to still the case in practice. How is physical culture help citizens bring this fairly simple, but important, developing in the city now? What is your opinion dream to life. The dream of a healthy lifestyle. on the return to GTO standards?

How many athletic events are held in Moscow every Mass participation is most definitely still the key to year? How many of them are international events, success today – it paves the way for elite sport. Mass and how many have become well-established? participation is a trampoline of sorts, which helps us identify the best and most talented athletes. In or- As I have already noted, Moscow is also the leading der to facilitate this process, we have implemented city in Russia in terms of athletic events. Last year, for a program that will be in effect until 2018. The pro-

July-September 2015 CAPITAL IDEAS 31 FACE TO FACE

gram helps us to not only introduce more people to We have a long way to go before the World Cup. physical culture and sports, but also to resolve more Could you tell us about how preparations for this complicated problems such as preparing a sports re- major event are coming along? How many tourists serve, developing youth sports, and improving the are you expecting? elite sports system. I have already summarized the athletic calendar for Take, for example, the integrated GTO programs that the current year. In the future, this calendar will un- you already asked me to talk about. Why did we de- doubtedly be expanded and will include even more cide to implement them again? Because they have significant international events. Next year, Moscow proven to be a good universal standard so far, and will be hosting the hockey championship. We will we have yet to find a good alternative. Is it really try to make it the best championship of the decade. so bad to have millions of people in our country in It will take place at the newly constructed Legends good shape because they had to regularly keep to Park in Moscow. So far, preparations are going as GTO standards? You know perfectly well what hap- planned. In May, the Moscow delegation headed by pened when we abandoned these standards – some the Deputy Moscow Mayor for Regional Security and of our school students could not handle even mini- Information Policy Alexander Gorbenko travelled to mal amounts of physical activity in gym class. Is this the , where the delegates gave a suc- normal? Of course not. So the fact that we are going cessful presentation of Moscow as the hockey capi- back to programs that helped us establish a healthy tal of 2016. nation is a great thing. And in 2018, we will be hosting the World Cup for By the way, we never folded the GTO program in the first time. The preparations for this important Moscow, even when it was absent across the coun- athletic event are going as planned, and the process try as a whole. We had our own equivalent called is monitored regularly by the capital’s mayor Sergey “Moscow Athlete,” which allowed us to return to Sobyanin. the previous system quickly. The President decided to personally supervise the program, which means it am confident that Moscow will be able to execute all must be developed, extended and improved in order set tasks in time and that the championship will be or- to have it pay off like it had in the past. ganized and held in the most professional manner. ■

32 CAPITAL IDEAS July-September 2015 LUXURY HOTELS IN MOSCOW Operating performance indicators for luxury hotels in Moscow RUB 20 000 70%

16 000 65%

60% 12 000 55% 8 000 50% 4 000 45%

0 40% 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013

ADR RevPAR Occupancy

Operating performance indicators of the luxury hotel segment have been tracked since 2007. Currently, the three most expensive hotels in Moscow are Ritz-Carlton, Park Hyatt and Lotte. The rates for other hotels in the segment are lower. There is also another trend in the city: the best accessible rates are much higher than aver- age rates – the difference can amount to as much as 60%.

The segment dynamics are relatively stable. There have not been any significant changes after the segment recovered from the crisis in 2010. Occupancy rates at some hotels amount to 65% annually, and occupancy rates for the best hotels in Moscow slightly exceeds 70%, which is the highest attainable value for the segment.

Ulitsya Krasnaya Presny Ararat Park Hyatt a Меtropolis

Ritz-Carlton Ring Road Ring Four Seasons Road Ring

Ring Road Ulitsya Novy Arbat Lotte kvoretskay a Na Mos ber ezh Kutuzovsky Prospect na Baltschug Kempinski ya Nikoloyamskaya Ulitsya

July-September 2015 CAPITAL IDEAS 33 MOSCOW IN WORDS

“If there is no God, everything is permitted.” Fyodor Dostoevsky, Russian novelist, short story writer, essayist, journalist and philosopher

“God gives talent. Work transforms talent into genius.” Anna Pavlova, Russian prima ballerina of the late 19th and the early 20th centuries

“Own only what you can always carry with you: know languages, know countries, know people. Let your memory be your travel bag.” , Russian novelist, historian

34 CAPITAL IDEAS July-September 2015 “When work is a pleasure, life is a joy! When work is a duty, life is slavery.” , Russian and Soviet writer

”Say what you know, do what you must, come what may.” Sofia Kovalevskaya, the first major Russian female mathematician

“The spirit, like the body, can be strengthened and developed by frequent exercise. Just as the body, if neglected, grows weaker and finally impotent, so the spirit perishes if untended.” Wassily Kandinsky, Russian painter and art theorist

July-September 2015 CAPITAL IDEAS 35 MOSCOW GLOBAL Ümit Yardim: We can’t do without each other Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Turkey to Russia answers questions of Capital Ideas in an exclusive interview

Moscow developed strong business, cultural So what kind of surprises can Muscovites expect this fall? And how are relations developing between and social ties with Ankara over 50 years the two capitals in general? Are there already some specific plans for the cultural program during the ago. The mayors of the two cities have not Ankara Days in Moscow? forgotten about this date. After a meeting During his meeting with Sergey Sobyanin, the mayor in the Turkish capital, Sergey Sobyanin and of our capital Melih Gökçek said that he hopes all of the events that Ankara plans to hold in Moscow this Melih Gökçek have agreed to hold Ankara fall will be “beautiful, fun and memorable”. I have no doubt that this will be the case, as Turkish people sim- Days in Moscow in the fall of this year. ply don’t know how to do things any other way.

I can’t tell you anything concrete about the Ankara Days in Moscow yet – we’re on planning stage, of

July-September 2015 CAPITAL IDEAS 37 June 13, 2015. course. Otherwise it wouldn’t be a surprise. I think, have a goal – to steadily develop jointly with Russia Russian President there will be performances by Turkish pop stars and in the long-term. It is also worth noting that, in spite a show featuring from the times of the Ot- of the sanctions, trade relations between Russia and and Turkish President Recep toman Empire. Representatives from the Turkish aca- Europe continue to develop. Tayyip Erdoğan demic and cultural communities will also be coming during a meeting to Moscow – scientists, artists, musicians. We plan to If we compare figures, there has not been a big in- in Baku set up an exhibition featuring works by famous Turk- crease in trade turnover between Russia and Turkey ish photographers in the center of Moscow. But a lot compared to last year. Turkey continues to buy Rus- will also depend on the weather, since autumn in the sian gas, and so far this is the foundation of our bilat- Russian capital can be quite unpredictable. eral relations.

Ankara promises to send its best chefs as well – all of The volume of Turkish exports to Russia amounted to them are masters of traditional . Mus- about $5 billion last year. I think that we will post a covites will be treated to the best pide bread, , similar figure this year as well. The most recent data pilav (Turkish plov), famous Turkish soups and salads. on trade turnover has not been made public yet, but Traditional Turkish treats will be delivered to Moscow, if we compare the first 3 months of 2015 to the same including , , lokum and . period last year, experts have recorded a slight decline. I hope that by the end of December we will at least be But of course Ankara Days will have a business part able to match last year’s figures. Our countries have a as well? lot of potential here.

We are currently trying to work out the issue of in- For my part, I want to emphasize that Turkish people viting small and medium-size business representative really want to work and maintain friendly relations to Moscow. By the way, this is the segment largely with Russia. It is important not to let third parties cre- absent from the overall picture of business coopera- ate problems in this regard in Moscow or in Ankara. tion between the two capitals, and between Turkey and Russia as well. Without municipal support, it is You didn’t mention Turkish construction compa- difficult for these companies to enter foreign markets. nies. Are they still flourishing in Russia? At the same time, small and medium-size businesses from any country have interesting ideas and offers. Over the past 25 years, Turkish builders have erected I think they would have a lot to bring to Moscow. over $50 billion worth of facilities in Russia. More- over, our construction companies have invested over Overall, how would you assess trade and invest- $10 billion into the Russian economy. For example the ment cooperation between our countries? Has Tur- biggest Turkish general contractor in Russia – Renais- key been able to fill a niche that was created with sance Construction – offers a complete range of ser- the introduction of sanctions from the West? vices in the field of construction and design of business centers, mixed-use development, hotels, heavy equip- Russia is a big country, and filling an entire niche on ment and processing enterprises, residential buildings, the Russian market is no easy task. But Turkey does as well as energy and infrastructure facilities.

38 CAPITAL IDEAS July-September 2015 Some construction companies have been working in ready to start construction as soon as tomorrow. Russia since before the collapse of the USSR. In 1988, In the meantime, Ankara has not given permission these Turkish companies participated in several con- to start construction. So the question is: “Is Turkish struction projects, including the restoration and re- Stream still a priority for you?” construction of Petrovsky Passage and the construc- tion of a hospital for WWII veterans. There is a lot of speculation from international media regarding this pipeline, and a lot of claims The Turkish side also has proposals regarding the con- from those who oppose this project. We were pre- struction of the Moscow metro. These proposals were pared for this. By the way, this is the case for all put forward during Sergey Sobyanin’s visit to Ankara. major projects. For us, this means one thing: Turk- It has been decided to put together a working group ish Stream is a promising project that is of strate- that would focus on preparing this project. Still, it’s gic importance. Ankara and Moscow are capable of too early to talk about anything specific. implementing it.

Nonetheless, the Western press has noticed that We understand the importance of Turkish Stream there has been a shift in Russia-Turkey relations perfectly. If this project is implemented, the gas that over the past few months. Do you think this will is currently channeled to us through Western route have any influence on the economic cooperation will be sent through a different pipeline. This alone is between Moscow and Ankara, as well as on our co- enough to make this project a priority for us. I’ll give operation in the energy sector? you an example. Last year, supplies of natural gas that were channeled through the Western route – Turkey and Russia are both strong, advanced coun- through – were 12 days late. This dealt a big tries that have a lot of potential when it comes to blow to the Turkish economy. If the Turkish Stream developing cooperation. Of course we have reached project is implemented, Turkey will receive about 25 mutual understanding in some areas, but there are billion cubic meters of gas without delay, which is very some aspects we may have different ideas. This is important to us. happening now, and will continue to happen in the future. But we discuss the issues we disagree on, in a At the same time, Russia and Turkey have yet to sign a calm, rational, constructive manner. binding agreement regarding the Turkish Stream. But the desire and intent to implement the project is defi- Our leaders regularly hold telephone conferences, nitely there, both for Russia and Turkey. send each other letters on various matters, and keep in contact with each other. Our countries discuss is- There is a lot of demand for natural gas in Turkey. Our sues with honesty and sincerity, so the dialogue be- country consumed 15 billion cubic meters of natural tween Ankara and Moscow will continue. gas in 2000, and this figure has jumped to 45-50 bil- lion cubic meters since then. We obtain the major- Russia and Turkey have agreed to launch the first ity of the natural gas we use from Russia – 55% of stage of the Turkish Stream pipeline along the Black supplies come from Russia, while and Sea by the end of 2016. Moscow claims that we are rank second and third, respectively.

July-September 2015 CAPITAL IDEAS 39 MOSCOW GLOBAL The Turkish Stream project is an alternative to always been interested in and impressed by Russian South Stream. We have been already working culture and – all great Russian on the point of entry in Russia. The pipeline will classics were translated into Turkish a long time then stretch across the bottom of the Black Sea, ago. Of course this has an influence on tourist vol- stretching all the way to Turkey. We haven’t de- umes in Moscow, St. Petersburg, and other cided where it will end up yet. Turkish Stream will cities. Of course, I personally think that the media have a total of four threads. As is the case for most should give Russia more coverage, to promote Rus- large-scale projects like this, simply wanting to sian cultural monuments on television more. implement it is not enough: we have to carry out a feasibility study. How would you assess the service sector in Russia?

Moreover, there are a lot of issues that have not I remember Moscow from the Soviet times. A lot has been resolved: it is unclear who the end consumer changed here since then, and it’s a great pleasure to would be, and who would purchase the gas. We need talk about it. The service quality for foreign tourists to assess the project’s impact on the environment – is now on par with European countries. Cafes and this is a key issue. Finally, we have to enter into an restaurants offer the perfect environment for relax- intergovernmental agreement that would take into ing and dining. There is only one small interesting account all legal aspects of the project. point– there is no real in the restau- rants here. In Turkey, we like to say that a good cup As you can see, a series of major steps have to be of coffee will wake you up in the morning, improve taken in order to launch the project. There is no your day and give you more energy in the evening. agreement yet, so of course it is too early to talk In Turkey, you can get this kind of coffee anywhere. about the construction of the pipeline. I have an idea about this that I want to share with my colleagues in Moscow, but it’s too early to talk Is it true that the number of Turkish tourists in about this now. Moscow and St. Petersburg has doubled over the past couple of years? Is it true that will soon be able to travel to Turkey with just an internal passport? The numbers have certainly increased. Over the past year, a total of 280,000-300,000 Turkish citi- In 2014, a record number of Russian citizens visited zens have come to Russia. This is a record of sorts, Turkey – 4.3 million. This year, we expect to host no but there is definitely room for growth. Turkish less than 4 million. As you may already guess, this people are becoming wealthier, and of course they decline is mostly due to the economic crisis. Today, want to travel and see the world. Thanks to the fact Ankara is making an effort to maintain high volumes that the Ankara Days will take place in Moscow in of Russian tourists. We have cancelled the visa re- 2016 will, of course, attract more Turkish tourists gime and are offering financial support to airlines to Russia. that transport Russian tourists to Turkey. We are also actively discussing letting Russian tourists come Turkish people love Russia, Russian nature, archi- to Turkey with just their internal passports, but we tecture, and your kind, hospitable people. We have have yet to come to a decision. ■

November 19, 2014. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, Turkey's ambassador to Russia Umit Yardim and Russian President Vladimir Putin during the letters of credence ceremony

40 CAPITAL IDEAS July-September 2015 July-September 2015 CAPITAL IDEAS 41 NOTHING VENTURED Fedor Khorokhordin: Moscow-Munich: Nothing catastrophic has happened

In spite of political tensions, Mr. Khorokhordin, today, during this crisis period, there are more than 6,000 German companies represented on the the business circles in Russian market. A third of them are from Bavaria. What are Bavaria are still interested in some of the challenges these companies encounter?

working with Moscow. Fedor Because of disagreements over Ukraine, there are a lot of dif- ficulties between Russian and German political circles. At the Khorokhordin, the official same time, there are no restrictions when it comes to business. representative of Bavaria This also applies to relations between representatives of Bavar- ian economic union representatives and Russian entrepreneurs. in the Russian Federation, And rightly so: business representatives should continue work- ing together no matter what. There are, of course, challenges discussed the situation in an that have to do with both the difficult economic climate in Rus- interview with Capital Ideas. sia and the sanctions.

Many Bavarian companies who work with Russian partners have found themselves in challenging situations. Just a cou- ple of years ago, trade turnover between Bavaria and Russia amounted to a record figure of 13.5 billion euros. In the first 9 months of 2014, however, Bavarian exports to Russia dropped by 10.5% compared with the same period in 2013, and imports from Russia decreased by 11.4%. I think that we will see similar decreases in the composite indicator for the year. 2015 will also be a difficult year in this sense.

It’s difficult not to see that the businessmen who already work with Russia and those who were planning to enter the Rus- sian market are plagued by doubts. Many projects have been delayed, and many entrepreneurs want to wait and see how things will develop in the future.

There were some serious problems with BaFa (The Berlin Fed- eral Office for Economic Affairs and Export Control). At first, of-

July-September 2015 CAPITAL IDEAS 43 NOTHING VENTURED ficials were very critical of export contracts of German export market, especially competition from China. They are ready contracts with Russia. Because of the sanctions, every document to fill in the niches that will open up if some German com- that had to be approved had to be checked for banned items as panies exit Russia. But, so far as I know, only a few Bavarian well as “objectionable" Russian individuals and legal entities. companies operating in Russia are planning to leave. Overall, German partners are opting to wait it out, since they realize But overall, nothing catastrophic has happened. The majority of that Russia is a big market with a lot of potential. Crises come Bavarian companies that work with Russia (and German com- and go, but the Russian economy will start to recover and the panies in general) have not been affected by the sanctions. They sanctions will eventually be lifted. By the way, the majority of are encountering problems because of the weakening ruble. The Bavarian businessmen who work with Russia have a negative products that were supplied by German partners to Russian re- attitude toward the sanctions. gions have become more expensive – many of these regions are no longer willing to pay the same European prices for the goods. Can you think of any recent examples of positive develop- ment for Bavarian companies on the Russian market? In light of the challenging political climate, what is it like for German companies to operate in Moscow? Yes, of course. A new Нorsch Maschinen Gmbh production fa- cility has been launched in Lipetsk region. This company’s in- I think that, at this point, the sanctions adjustment period is vestments into Russia have reached 15 million euros. A Schaef- over. Overall, the entrepreneurs have adapted: they have fler auto component plant has opened in , and a learned to carefully read the relevant and sometimes confusing Schattdecor plant that produces decorative paper is now op- European Union regulations, create special departments and erating in Tyumen. The Russian corporation KRET, jointly with hire employees to analyze deliveries to Russia, taking into con- Rohde & Schwarz, has launched a plant for the manufacture sideration sanctions policies and lists. of radio equipment. Siemens has signed an agreement on the establishment of a joint plant for the production of railway sig- This is no easy task. A lot of time, businessmen don’t know naling systems with the Bryansk company Termotron JSC. Wolf whether or not the products they ship to Russia are included System Gmbh is planning to launch a prefabricated home pro- in the sanctions. For example, technology that can be used for duction line in Omsk Region. And these are just some of the both military and civilian purposes is under a lot of scrutiny. highlights. Some of them have had to stop exporting to Russia. German businessmen sometimes joke that it’s easier to sell a whole What about Russian companies in Bavaria? What industries tractor than separate parts, since they can be used for tanks. are Russian entrepreneurs investing in?

Is Russia still an attractive market for German business, or I frequently hear that the current geopolitical climate and the are German companies leaving Russia? sanctions close off access to the German market (including the Bavarian market) for Russian investors. I want to put an Europeans, including Germans, have taken note of the fact end to these rumors: there are no restrictions here, in terms that there is a lot of competition from Asia on the Russian of investment or otherwise. There are currently over 350 companies with Russian capital operating in Bavaria, and this number is increasing. Of course, this figure is no match for the 1,700 Bavarian companies in Russia. We welcome Russian business. The most important thing for us is that intentions are serious and that money is made legally. There are many companies in the IT sphere in Bavaria. Ingolstadt, for example, houses the headquarters for Kaspersky Lab: over 150 Bavarian employees work in the sales and marketing department for the Western European market. ABBYY, which is a software company, also operates in Bavaria. Other examples of Rus- sian companies in Bavaria include АirBridge Cargo (a trans- portation company) and Ilim (a St. Petersburg wood process- ing company). A lot of consulting companies work in Bavaria. There are also companies that specialize in hotel, restaurant and health industries.

So the media is correct to point out that relations between Russia and Bavaria have become a shining example of Rus- sian-German regional cooperation?

There are a lot of components when it comes to inter-regional cooperation – culture, sports, tourism and youth exchange pro- grams. So far as economic ties between Moscow and Bavaria

44 CAPITAL IDEAS July-September 2015 are concerned, this relationship has been developing success- We operate under the auspices of the Bavarian State Ministry fully over the past 8-10 years and has in many ways set an ex- for Economic Affairs and provide assistance to Bavarian and ample for other European regions. Russian business associations in matters of cooperation. We are the first stop for Bavarian companies who are interested in What kind of bureaucratic challenges do Russian entrepre- entering the Russian market and are looking for partners. We neurs encounter in Germany? Is it easy for them to obtain provide Russian companies with detailed information regarding visas and open their own companies? the Bavarian economy, state and public organizations, as well as manufacturers and suppliers. They forward their cooperation The visa process has become a lot more simple ever since the proposals to us. consular offices in Germany started working with Russian citi- zens through special service centers: the document processing We have an extensive database on commercial entities operat- time has been shortened, and there have been fewer interviews ing in the Russian federation. Our employees send out propos- scheduled. Organizations such as the Russian-German Cham- als from Bavarian companies and place them on our website. ber of Commerce has special arrangements with the consular We also help visiting delegations obtain visas. offices, which makes it easier for them to obtain Schengen visas for many Russian businessmen. We work with Russian companies in Bavaria. Our office works in close cooperation with the Bavarian regional marketing Have the regulations for issuing long-term stay permits for agency Invest in Bavaria in order to help Russian investors open people who plan on doing business in Germany changed? companies and successfully establish themselves in Munich, Nuremberg or Augsburg. This agency has very experienced em- Not that long ago, Russian entrepreneurs had to create no less ployees, including staff members who speak Russian. ■ than five jobs and invest no less than 250,000 euros into the German economy. On August 2012, this restriction was lifted. The new criterion is whether or not the business benefits that A Note from Capital Ideas particular region in Germany. Fedor Khorokhordin was born in Moscow in 1953. Bavaria has a very efficient system for providing assistance After graduating from the MGIMO Faculty of for foreign entrepreneurs interested in investment or estab- lishing companies, which includes Russian entrepreneurs. International Law, Mr. Khorokhordin worked in Our representative office in Moscow is part of this system. the Foreign Ministry (of the USSR, then Russia) So far as I know, there are some difficulties when Russian companies try to obtain loans from certain major German for 34 years. He has held the post of Consul banks. General of Russia in Bonn. He headed up the Mr. Khorokhordin, you have been the official representative Bavarian Representative Office in the Russian in of Bavaria in Moscow for over 10 years. What do you think are the main objectives for your office and what are your September 2010. plans for the future?

July-September 2015 CAPITAL IDEAS 45 NOTHING VENTURED The recession is behind us. What's next?

How important is the Russian branch for your com- energy conservation. Over half of all produced heat pany today? is lost on the way from the thermal power plants to the consumer, escaped through poorly insulated walls For Danfoss, Russia is the fourth largest market after and poorly-fitted windows and doors. The market Germany, the US and China. This is a very important economy changes the way people behave and Den- market. Since it has a lot of potential and there is a mark, as a country that has a lot of experience in the great need here for progressive energy conservation development of heating systems, could offer a lot of solutions. District heating is the preferred method of efficient solutions. We understood that this type of heating buildings in Russia, just like it is in Denmark. technology would be in demand sooner or later, but Since Russia has a lot of energy resources, the author- we had to illustrate the advantages through pilot ities here have only recently started thinking about projects that could show the efficiency of our tech- nology in practice.

How much production capacity and how many subdivisions does the Russian branch of Danfoss have? How many employees do you have, and how many of them are foreigners?

There are over 20 Danfoss regional representative offices operating in Russia. The head office and our main production capacities are located in the Mos- cow region. Moreover, we have production facilities in Nizhny Novgorod and Tula regions and we are con- sidering constructing a plant in Tatarstan. We provide pre-sale and after-sale services all over Russia, includ- ing with the help of distributors and service partners. The company employs over 1,000 people. All of them are Russians – our last expat (who worked on the ERP system) went back home several years ago.

The company report for 2014 contained a pleasant surprise – last year was the best in the company’s history. The CEO, Niels B. Christiansen, expressed satisfaction with the Russian branch, which man- aged to maintain stable sales levels in spite of the economic crisis. How do you manage problems?

46 CAPITAL IDEAS July-September 2015 Out of all the foreign companies that came to Moscow in the beginning of the 1990s, the Danish company Danfoss stands out in terms of its stability. While some develop anti-crisis strategies and others wait for the recession to end, Danfoss manages to maintain high profitability and believes in a bright future.

Why? Mikhail Shapiro, General Director of Danfoss in Russia, believes that the source of this stability is adherence to the traditions established by the company’s founder. Here is what he told us:

Danfoss was founded over 80 years ago. Founder Mads Clausen, who was an engineer, inventor and businessman, used the roots Dan (which means Danish) and foss (stream of water) to make up a name for his first product. The thermostat for temperature control in household and commercial refrigeration units was manufactured in 1932. Soon afterward, the new word was being used as the company name. Mads Clausen continued to invent, and created a similar control valve for heating systems of buildings. These devices started to be mass-produced and gradually became one of the most popular products of the company. Today, Danfoss, which is headquartered in Nordborg (South Denmark), is the largest producer of components for refrigeration and heating systems in the world. As of 2012, the company manages 93 factories in 25 countries, including in Russia – in 1993, the manufacturing company Danfoss Ltd. was established here. NOTHING VENTURED

I hope that the recession has bottomed out and the market will gradually begin to recover.

How important is Moscow to your business?

Over half of our employees work in the central of- fice and most of our activities are tied to Moscow and the Moscow region. Our first plant was located here, and pilot projects were implemented in Mos- cow. Here, both the authorities and many companies take a responsible approach to energy and resource conservation. Modern systems aren’t limited to new buildings. When the major capital repair project was implemented here in 2008-2009, over 1,000 auto- matic control units were installed.

You obviously have build relationships with organi- zations that represent the interests of the Moscow government. Do you feel like you have an under- standing with the authorities? How comfortable is it for you to work in the Russian capital?

Overall, the conditions for doing business in Moscow are satisfactory. And there is a lot of competition, which is the best incentive for efficiency. Of course we sometimes encounter clients who want to choose the least expensive product without paying attention to quality indicators. Negotiating with these types of customers is difficult for us, since quality is a factor we are not willing to neglect. People don’t always understand how much of an effect good heat distri- bution systems can have on the city’s economy. We try to communicate the importance of energy effi- ciency to managers of companies and ensure that progressive technological solutions are available to end-users. We think that there is one solution to fix the problem – implementing a payment system for each separate apartment, the way that we already do with water and electricity. We have all the technical capabilities for this.

Without going into detail, how much heat would Moscow be able to save with Danfoss technology (adjusted for climate fluctuations, of course)?

The potential for increasing energy efficiency in Mos- Undoubtedly, this is a difficult time for us. However, cow is truly great. Our experience has shown that difficulties manifest differently in different sectors. just installing a control unit or a substation with a For example, the development of the agro-industry as weather-sensitive regulation system reduces heat well as increases in food production and the expan- consumption by 15-20 percent – more in some cases. sion of food distribution networks have affected us in If we apply an integrated approach – including indi- a positive way: we see a lot of potential for growth in vidual regulation and metering for each owner – we this segment. The situation in the sphere of construc- can reduce heat consumption by 35-40 percent. In tion and the hosing and utilities sector is more chal- Denmark, where such solutions are implemented lenging. High borrowing rates and budget restrictions regularly, the district heating efficiency is significantly also have negative effects. But even in these sectors higher than in Russia. In spite of population growth there are niche markets that allow us to plan on ex- and industrial development, energy consumption de- panding production and localization in the future. creases every year. ■

48 CAPITAL IDEAS July-September 2015 around the world Since the beginning of 2013 Capital Ideas has been successfully presented at Destination Moscow roadshows held in London, Frankfurt, , Boston, New York and many other cities around the world

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July-September 2015 CAPITAL IDEAS 49 OUR INTERVIEW Vladimir Salamatov: The business tourism industry has a bright future The Director General of the World Trade Center answered our questions

It is no secret that the “Eastern vector” is From a professional’s point of view, what exactly is business tourism? How important is this sector for beginning to play a bigger role in Russian the economy?

foreign trade policy. This goes for both In accordance with international standards, the sector business tourism and conventions. Today, of business tourism is split up into several components. The first are various corporate events – trips, for ex- about 65% of events with participation ample, aimed at establishing business contacts, hold- ing meetings, training, etc. Corporate events make up from entrepreneurs take place in Europe. about 75-78% of the sector. The second component, 22% are hosted by Asia. Experts expect which makes up about 12% of the sector is trips related to congresses, conferences, forums, exhibitions, fairs that the share of events that take place in and other events. The third component is award trips for company personnel – so-called “incentive tourism.” Europe will grow exponentially in the near These trips account for about 10-15% of the total num- future, which means that the business ber of business trips. The two last components are re- ferred to as MICE, which is short for Meetings – Incen- tourism sector will also expand. This tives – Congresses - Exhibitions & Events.

means event companies that organize and Business tourism plays a big role in economic de- hold business and corporate events will velopment. According to official data, the resources spent on business trips across the globe amount to have new opportunities for expanding their over $1 trillion annually. There are about 40 million congress events every year, and the total number of business. Vladimir Salamatov, Director people who attend these events amounts to 2 billion General of the World Trade Center, spoke people annually. So, according to international as- sessments, business tourism has stimulated a 30% in with Capital Ideas about this new trend. the global economy.

50 CAPITAL IDEAS July-September 2015

OUR INTERVIEW

It is quite obvious that business tourism has a positive Note from Capital Ideas effect on the economy. On average, if we look at dif- Vladimir Salamatov was born in Moscow in 1958. He graduated ferent countries, the business tourism industry accounts for 1.5% of the GDP. In Russia, this figure is no more than with honors from the Moscow Automobile and Road Institute 0.3%, the figure for congress and exhibition activities is with a degree in Mechanical Engineering and from the Financial no more than 0.05%. So far, these are very low numbers. University Under the Government of the Russian Federation According to data provided by the Association of with a degree in Finance and Credit. He also holds a Masters Tour Operators of Russia, a record number of tour- Degree from the Moscow Automobile and Road Institute and ists came to Moscow in 2014 in spite of the crisis a PhD from the Zhukovsky Air Force Engineering Academy. and Western sanctions – 5 million people. Do you think a lot of these people came here for business? Mr. Salamatov is a Doctor of Technical Sciences, a Doctor of Economic Sciences, Professor and member-correspondent at the (World Travel and Tourism Council) Approximately Russian Academy of Missile and Artillery Sciences. From 1983 to half of the tourists who come to Moscow come here on business. So far as the Russian business tourism 1995, he was engaged in research and teaching. He has worked market is concerned, some of our experts estimate it as a department director, deputy chairman of the board and vice to amount to over 10 billion dollars. Prior to the crisis, president of commercial banks, including EuroFinance and VTB. we had every good forecasts for the future. Accord- ing to the World Travel and Tourism Council and the He has been the Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade of the International Congress and Convention Association, Russian Federation since 2008, and the Director General of the the Russian business tourism industry can reach 18.4 WTC since April 2012. billion dollars by 2020. Russia would be in the top 10 countries in terms of business tourism.

Do you agree with the claim that 75-80% of the busi- Business tourism not only promotes the development of ness tourism market in Russia today is concentrated companies and creates new jobs, but also results in ad- in Moscow and St. Petersburg? If so, is this fair? ditional budget revenues. Large cities that host a lot of events make tens of millions of dollars. The majority of Actually, 165 Russian cities are capable of hosting this revenue is received in the form of indirect revenues large-scale events, congresses and conferences. The that go to the municipal budget. Hotels, restaurants, MICE sector is more diversified: 50% of all events take museums, theatres – all of these things result in addi- place in Moscow, 14% are hosted by St. Petersburg, tional income when a large-scale international event and another 36% are held in other Russian cities. Ka- takes place. These revenues usually end up exceeding zan, Yekaterinburg, Krasnoyarsk and Novosibirsk are expenditures by 5-7 times. actively developing up-to-date congress facilities.

52 CAPITAL IDEAS July-September 2015 There are a total of 7,000 international professional In 2014, multiple parts of the congress center were associations in the world today, and they hold about remodeled and renovated, including the VIP hall, sev- 20,000 events in different countries and regions. Only eral conference halls and corridors. We follow global 600 of them have held events in Russia. There is a lot of trends: public spaces should be light and conducive to potential here. communication. Our clients have pointed out that the congress center has become even more attractive for It is no secret that the most rapidly-developing event participants. type of tourism in the West is congress tourism. How is this sector developing in Moscow? By the way, according to expert assessments, there are no equivalents to the WTC’s capabilities in Russia. Foreign companies started choosing Moscow as the The total area of the congress center is 5960 sq.m. It location to host events more frequently. After all, can host up to 4,000 people, and includes 30 halls and the capital has about 30 modern congress venues meeting rooms. The largest hall is the multifunctional with high quality service. I would also note that this transformable congress hall with capacity of 1,500 promotes competition. As we all know, competition people. Our competitive advantage is that we offer drives development and forces people to always be an integrated product. Participants from congresses, on guard, to care about service quality and upgrading conferences, symposiums, exhibitions, presentations technical capabilities. and shows can stay here, at the five-star Crowne Pla- za Moscow WTC and set-up coffee-breaks and ban- The World Trade Center is no exception, in spite of quets without leaving the WTC, at our restaurants. its 35-year history, popularity and membership in several professional international associations – the We host up to 400 business events per year, including World Trade Centers Association (WTCA), the In- about 70 conferences and congresses. For several years ternational Congress and Convention Association in a row, the Presidential Administration has chosen (ICCA) and the International Association of Conven- the WTC for Vladimir Putin’s annual press-conference. tion Centers (AIPC). I want to point out that the trend of using original Although we are one of the most popular venues in venues to host events is growing rapidly, and that we Moscow, we also have to make sure to stay ahead of take this into account as well. The WTC has the ca- the competition and provide top-quality service to pacity to organize any unusual, original event – we our clients. We are constantly developing our con- can set up a castle, a dungeon, a beach, and even gress (as well as our restaurant, hotel and office) snow-covered fields. We can bring just about any cre- business, which includes upgrades to conference halls, ative fantasy to life. We have even established a spe- renovations to keep us in line with the demands of the cial department that is in charge of developing new market and modern trends, and expanding our range event formats, setting up turnkey events both in our of services and technological capabilities. venue and outside of it.

July-September 2015 CAPITAL IDEAS 53 OUR INTERVIEW If we consider the development of the congress and working in the business tourism sphere. I want to exhibition market in Russia as a whole, this market is note that the Moscow Convention Bureau is actively worth about $1.3 – 1.5 billion. In developed countries working across all of these areas. This type of work it amounts to double this amount. Unfortunately, also needs to be done in other Russian cities. Russia’s share on the global market of international congress events adds up to less than 1%. This is a very What does the WTC do to promote a positive im- small figure, especially considering that our share in age of Russia as a whole and as a tourist product global trade is about 3%. The US and many Europe- for business consumers? an countries host a lot more events. In 2013, Russia ranked 40th on the international ICCA ratings after It’s safe to say that all of the efforts we put into the hosting 83 international events. The US ranks first, development of all our business spheres – congres- with a total of 829 events, while Germany ranks sec- sional, hotel, restaurant, office and consulting – work ond (722 events). to promote the country as a whole, Moscow and our tourist product for business consumers from any Let’s look at some figures from various studies that country in the world. illustrate how much congress activity influences the economies of countries and cities. Congresses and The mission of the Moscow WTC is to create the best conferences that are held in the Leipzig Congress conditions for the business community and its inte- Center, add over 30 million EUR to the city budget gration into the international trade system. In line every year. In , the congress and conference with this general goal, the WTC is conducting ana- industry adds another 32 million CAD to the coun- lytical and educational activities in order to help our try’s economy and provides employment to 235,000 companies enter the global market and develop their people. This is the case in every place where a lot of export potential. Our cooperation with World Trade attention is paid to congress activities. Centers from all over the world (which amounts to 750,000 companies across 332 WTCs located in 92 Mr. Salamatov, what are some problems that stand countries), which are part of the WTCA, gives us ad- in the way of business tourism development in ditional opportunities to do so. Russia today? This entails a lot more than simply creating hab- Let’s look at the assessments of international orga- itable conditions for companies or searching for nizations such as the ICCA, since they have a lot of trade partners. The WTC also takes part in state and influence over where large international events will business operations that have to do with creating be held. Experts from this reputable organizations the right conditions to help our companies enter say that the factors holding back the development foreign markets. of business include an underdevel- oped tourism infrastructure, unfavorable visa condi- Last year we launched the internet project “Russia’s tions, and the mismatch between service cost and Export Potential” jointly with the Chamber of Com- quality. The ICCA ratings list Moscow and St. Peters- merce of the Russian federation. In 2012, we estab- burg as the only two cities suitable for hosting inter- lished the special project called “Russia in the WTO,” national congresses. In 2013, they were ranked 68th within the scope of which we offer educational re- and 79th, respectively. sources on WTO regulations and trade dispute reso- lution practices for business representatives and gov- This only confirms what we already know – that we ernment officials. need to develop venues in other Russian cities. These and other problems, including minor details like the For several years in a row, we have been conducting need to simplify customs procedures for exhibition our own conferences, forums and roundtables focused items, are outlines in our development plans for the in international trade, economic integration and the congress and exhibition industry. State authorities are competitiveness of Russian enterprises. Participation committed to removing barriers for the development from experts as well as representatives from the busi- of the business tourism market in Russia. ness sector and the government turns these events into a productive dialogue between business and the I want to highlight another important task that is also authorities – conversations that are frequently fol- outlined in these documents: it is necessary to sys- lowed up on in leading media outlets. As an example, tematically improve the image of Russia and all Rus- I’d like to bring up two annual conferences: one with sian cities. Firstly, event organizers often simply lack the newspaper Kommersant – on the competitive- information on the capabilities of Russian cities in the ness of domestic enterprises, and one with the news- sphere of business tourism. paper Vedomosti – on the analysis of Russia’s acces- sion to the WTO. Within the scope of this format, we Overcoming stereotypes is also crucial. All of this develop proposals and tools, including in the sphere takes a lot of work and cooperation between state of state industrial policy, that help Russian enterprises and regional authorities, event organizers and NGOs enter the global market. ■

54 CAPITAL IDEAS July-September 2015 useful info

Chamber of commerce and industry of the Russian Federation Address: 109012 Moscow, St. Ilyinka, 6/1, bldg. 1 PH: +7 (495) 620 00 09 Fax: +7 (495) 620 03 60 E-mail: [email protected] http://www.tpprf.ru/en/

Department for Work with Foreign Legal Entities and their Representative Offices Ph: +7 (495) 620 02 62, 620 02 22 Fax: +7 (495) 620 01 70 E-mail: [email protected]

Moscow Chamber of commerce and industry Address: 38 Sharikopodshipnikovskaya Street, bldg. 1, Moscow, 115088 Ph: +7 (499) 940 33 12 Fax: +7 (495) 675 03 16 E-mail: [email protected]

Main Administration for Service to the Diplomatic Corps (GlavUpDK) Address: 20 Prechistinka Street, Moscow, 119034 Ph: +7 (495) 637 23 26 Fax: +7 (495) 637 31 71 E-mail: [email protected] http://www.updk.ru

July-September 2015 CAPITAL IDEAS 55 56 CAPITAL IDEAS /mln. people/ International arrivalsinMoscow 5,6 mln. people mln. people 5,2 July-September 2015 5 mln. people 4,5 mln. people

mln. people 4,1

4 4 4 mln. people mln. people mln. people 3,7 3,7 3,5 mln. people mln. people mln. people 3 mln. people 2,9 млн. чел 2,5 in 2003-2013 (mln.Arrivals)airports through Moscow international arrivals Number of mln. people 2 mln. people

1 mln. people 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 Moscow Committee on Tourism and Hotel Industry

Foreign citizen arrivals in Moscow through the airports in the 1st half of 2014

International arrivals by country /thou. people, % growth/ China 167 + 12,07% Germany 142,6 - 6,26% France 74,7 - 1,27% Turkey 73,8 + 8,64% Italy 67,8 + 2,44% USA 61,6 - 12,65% Great Britain 59,5 - 1,03% Israel 44,1 + 9,38% Vietnam 36,6 - 4,89% Korea 30,2 + 41,52% Japan 28,9 + 4,72% Serbia 27,5 + 9,9% Czech Republic 25,2 + 7,04% India 25 - 9,31% Netherlands

24,6 + 0,22% thou. people thou. people thou. people thou. people thou. people thou. people

*Data from the Russian FSB 60 80 120 160 140 Border Service 100 thou. people thou. people July-September 2015 CAPITAL IDEAS 57 20 40 OUR INTERVIEW Alexander Bobylov: We don’t have a shortage of guests

Alexander Bobylev, the General Director Kempinski is the preferred brand for German tourists. If it’s not a secret, do Germans still own this popular and expen- of the Baltschug Kempinski Moscow sive group of hotels? Hotel, talked about how the economic This is an old story. The Kempinski brand is almost 120 years old. crisis affected the hotel’s operations. The company inherited its name from Berthold Kempinski, the founder of the company.

The company that is in place today has nothing to do with the family of the founder. 80% of it is owned by Thailand Crown Property Bureau.

he number of tourists who How long has Kempinski been in Russia and how many ho- T tels does it have here? prefer upscale hotels is increasing all over the world, and demand Kempinski came here during perestroika. At the end of the 1980s, the city of Moscow set the goal to have at least one ho- in the luxury segment is growing. tel that is in line with international standards. The Moscow city association of hotels was put in charge of the task, and started The Kempinski hotel group falls in to implements a series of projects that included Balchug. This is line with the trend: over just the what the name of this are of Zamoskvorechye used to be. past few years, tens of hotels have The building was first constructed in 1898, and was reconstruct- ed poorly in the 1930s. It was dilapidated and never seriously re- opened or are under construction paired. The city made the decision to reconstruct the building. Austrian construction companies took up the project and, thanks across different continents. to financing from the Austrian Control Bank, construction work was completed. The city then found a management company – Kempinski. This is how the Balchug Kempinski Hotel appeared.

July-September 2015 CAPITAL IDEAS 59 Experts claim that, as the crisis in Russia intensified, the profitability of five-star hotels fell by at least 10 percent. Is this true?

Many luxury hotels in Moscow are managed by foreign chain companies. Naturally, it makes sense for these companies to keep track of profits in dollars or euros. Given how much the ruble has dropped in value, of course these companies are see- ing a decline in net profit. Moreover, in order to maintain a high quality of service, western management companies are forced to make a large number of purchases abroad and use western products, which of course greatly increases expenses in .

But there are hotels who have dropped prices in order to stay afloat.

It’s easy to cut rates, but it’s difficult to raise them. There could be another scenario in which Moscow hotels encounter the same situation they did in 1998. The rate crisis happened be- cause there was one hotel that drastically cut rates. There was no reason to do this, nobody won in the end and everybody lost – very quickly and in a major way. But the most unpleas- ant and dangerous consequences – the competition switched from service quality to rates for a very long time. It took a long There are currently three Kempinski hotels in Russia: Balchug time for the market to recover from a situation generated by Kempinski in Moscow, Kempinski Moika 22 in St. Petersburg exaggerated fears and lack of experience. This can happen to- and Kempinski Grand Hotel in Gelendzhik. day as well.

Is it true that you have clients that prefer to only stay at So in terms of business people, have you seen a decline in Kempski hotels? visitor volumes from particular countries?

Yes, there are customers who are really loyal to the brand. Al- There are less people from great Britain and less Scandina- though Kempinski is not the biggest management company in vians. There are a lot fewer guests from Ukraine. But all of the world – it’s not as big as Marriott or Accor. Kempinski cur- these changes are happening as part of a more general trend rently manages 75 hotels. in the tourist sector. Entrepreneurs from Great Britain still stay in our hotel. Germans, Austrians, and Swiss people still Mr. Bobylov, what is the profile of your typical regular client? stay with us, along with Chinese people and Indians. The pal- ette is diverse, and Balchug is like a second home for German About 70 percent of our regular clients are business people. citizens.

There is an economic crisis in Russia and there are sanctions You didn’t say anything about Americans… in place. How has this affected foreign tourist volumes and occupancy rates of Moscow hotels? They stay here, of course. Disputes happen, but we still have to hold negotiations and the business sector has to continue to We are aware of the general state of affairs when it comes to develop. But they have their preferences in terms of brands, and upscale hotels in the capital. The average rate for rooms in this in this sense they are patriots, much like everyone else. Some- sector in 2014 stayed the same as the rates in 2013. The occu- times it takes a lot to convince them to choose us. We try, of pancy rates haven’t changed that much either. course, but there are obviously more Germans than Americans at Balchug. If we look at the situation as a whole, we expected changes in tourist flows as far back as last fall. The volumes of foreign There is a good story that ties into this, which took place dur- tourists from European countries decreased – and these types ing a less stable time in the country’s history. In September of tourists made up the majority of guests in the capital’s hotels. 1993, when there was a political stand-off between the Rus- The business flows have decreased, but there are also changes sian President and the Russian parliament and tanks were within tourist flows – segments change, and the number of driving up to the White House, our American guests immedi- Russian tourists and guests went up. ately got together in the lobby and booked tickets out of the country. The German guests, on the other hand, asked us to So far as Balchug is concerned, in spite of the crisis and sanc- move them to rooms with a better view of the Kremlin at no tions, we don’t have a shortage of clients. The hotel is about additional charge so they could have a chance to watch the 60% full, which isn’t bad at all. historic event unfold.

60 CAPITAL IDEAS July-September 2015 Does the lack of a national cuisine influence the mood of ing. The main tourist centers in Europe are developed not for guests in hotels? foreign tourists (or not just for foreign tourists), but for local residents. A Moscow hotel always has to have national cuisine, since for- eigners who come here are interested in learning more about What does the modern human need to lead a comfortable life? Russia and the people who live here. But now, just about ev- Clean air, a comfortable living environment, well-functioning ery five-star hotel in Moscow will serve you hamburgers, since social services. Good sidewalks and transportation hubs, cafes Americans have become used to this being a sign of a country’s and restaurants, theatres, museums, a booming cultural life, hospitality. We have an Asian corner at breakfast every day, al- and security. We need all of this in Moscow and then foreign though tourists from Asia mostly come own to try local food. tourists will come here – they will be interested in seeing how But the main thing, of course, is that everything has to taste Russians have managed to build this wonderful city and what good. it’s like to live there.

Psychological comfort, which a hotel absolutely must provide, has a lot more to do with the mood of the guests. This is why Note from Capital Ideas we were a bit more exclusive with the kinds of clientele we wanted to attract to our hotel in the 1990s. We had to take into Alexander Bobylov was born in Moscow in 1964. account the fact that the things we have grown accustomed He graduated from the Faculty of International to may come off as strange to foreign guests. But there was something else that was quite interesting. We see that people Journalism at MGIMO. He worked at TASS, in the who are exposed to other cultures in moderation change their perception of the world, and of course this is wonderful to wit- department of information for foreign tourists. ness. Public relations became the bridge that linked We often hear about promises to significantly increase tour- his life with hotel management in Moscow. He ist volumes. Do you think this will happen? came to work at Balchug Kempinski Moscow in We are all becoming more experienced, professional and hope- 1991. He became the Deputy General Director in fully wiser. We have to set ambitious goals for ourselves. Of course foreign tourist volumes are important, but they bring 1994 and the General Director in 2010. In 2010, additional challenges along with additional funds. Of course we have to develop tourist facilities, build hotels, outline routes, he received the “Hrustalnaya Ladya” award in the show, delight and surprise. But we shouldn’t be improving our “Director – leader of the capital’s hotel industry” city in order to impress foreign tourists. The people who live in this country are the main tourist attraction. We – much like nomination category. citizens of the countries we visit – are remarkable and interest-

July-September 2015 CAPITAL IDEAS 61 WE SIMULATE SITUATIONS Technical question Foreign suppliers often do not know that any goods sold in Russia must have a certificate confirming their compliance with national standards and norms. And Russian standards and norms are much stricter than those in other countries. Kseniya Maksyukova, development manager of the certification agency WorldWideGost, writes about the nuances in drawing up technical documentation for importing foreign products. Situation1 A company from the Netherlands pro- Exporters must clear up all the details connected ducing measuring instruments for the with obtaining certificates during the process of oil and gas industry concluded a con- preparing to enter the Russian market. Lack of in- formation in this matter can lead to unforeseen ex- tract for the delivery of its products to penses, delays, and even failure to deliver. Russia. It became apparent in the course of implementing the contract that the instruments must have special Russian certificates. Situation2 The Dutch applied for consultation to a private Rus- A Turkish company distributing finish- sian certification agency. With the aid of experts, a ing materials from an American pro- programme of technical tests was drawn up tak- ducer studied the prospects of enter- ing into account the Russian requirements for the production capacity of the supplier company. As a ing the Russian market. The company result of these tests, the company was able to ob- received a proposal to conclude a con- tain the necessary certificates. tract for the delivery of products to Remember: to obtain a Russian certificate for any Russia. In the course of the negotia- technical device, special technical tests must be tions, the question arose of who would conducted. The results of the tests must also be undertake to draw up the technical drawn up to an established standard and in accor- dance with the requirements of the Russian regula- certificates. The Turks applied to Rus- tory authorities. sian specialists for consultations.

62 CAPITAL IDEAS July-September 2015 They found out in the certification agency that either The question then arose of the need to open an of- the supplier or the purchaser of the goods could un- ficial office in Russia to make it possible to draw dertake to draw up the certificate. Since this process up declarations for the company’s products. In the takes time and money, the expenses are usually un- course of consultation with Russian specialists, two dertaken by the party with the greatest interest in the variants were discussed. It would be possible for the deal. However, it must be remembered that the one company to register and maintain its own company who draws up the certificate will be the owner of it. on the territory of Russia. It would also be possible to entrust the job of drawing up declarations to a Of course it is more profitable for the supplier to Russian organization. pass the expenses and concerns of certification onto the purchaser. But then these certificates The British company calculated that it would not cannot be used in concluding deals with other cli- be profitable to maintain their own office in Russia ents, who may refuse to draw up the certificates just for the sake of drawing up technical declara- at their own expense. tions. Therefore a contract was concluded with the Russian certification agency for it to undertake the The Russian company’s experts commented that if it responsibility for the quality of the supplied prod- is a matter of test batches, one-off deals or conclud- ucts. By this means the agency undertook to supply ing a contract with an exclusive distributor, there is applications for technical declarations for the Brit- no sense in spending money on drawing up Russian ish manufacturer’s products, and then to hand over certificates. But if the company is going to develop the completed documents to it. its business in Russia on a large scale, the absence of certificates will limit its development. In this case Russian customs check that the company named in it is more profitable to obtain one’s own certificate the declaration as the applicant really does have an for one’s own product, so that then it can be sent to appropriate contract with the supplier company. If various purchasers without delay. Furthermore, the discrepancies are discovered, the goods will not be presence of a certificate is beneficial from a market- permitted to enter Russia. ing point of view, since it demonstrates to the pur- chaser the serious intentions of the supplier. It should be remembered that the certification ap- plicant has the right to keep the technical declara- When concluding a contract to deliver products to tions unless otherwise stipulated by the contract. Russia, it must be clearly defined which party under- So to avoid misunderstandings, the foreign suppli- takes to draw up the technical certificates. er must establish in the contract that the drawn- up documents will be passed by the applicant to the other party. ■ Situation3 For Capital Ideas courtesy of BIGMOSCOW A company from the UK delivers techni- cal equipment for painting and lacquer- ing to Russia. Difficulties have arisen Exporters must clear up all the details connected in connection with the introduction of with obtaining certificates during the process of a technical regulation of the Customs preparing to enter the Russian market. Union (the Eurasian Economic Union) which consists of Russia, , Ka- The one who draws up the certificate will be the zakhstan, and . This owner of it. regulation established that applications The certification applicant has the right to keep for Russian technical declarations can now only be submitted by legal entities the technical declarations unless otherwise registered on the territory of Russia. A stipulated by the contract. declaration is required to declare that the imported products comply with Rus- sian technical standards and norms. The British brought in a Russian certification agency to solve the problem.

July-September 2015 CAPITAL IDEAS 63 TRAVEL Kolomenskoye: go forward Into the past Three years ago, the major European tourist website HolidayCheck ranked Moscow as t’s a Saturday morning, in the summer. There are large crowds of people by metro sta- the most hospitable city in Russia. According tion: young and old, men and women, parents to feedback from tourists all over the world, with strollers and teenagers on scooters and roll- er blades. “Excuse me,” a Chinese tourist asks a Kolomenskoye Museum-Estate was one of the passerbyI in broken Russian, “are we going the right way to see the mansions of Alexis?” most popular places to visit. Kolomenskoye is a Moscow “city of ” of sorts. It was founded by Vasily III, and also fa- So how well is Moscow doing in terms of vored it as a place of relaxation. Legend has it that the tsar built a sanctuary palace here to enjoy the beauti- Russian hospitality today? In order to answer ful view of Moscow from the gallery of the Church of this question, Capital Ideas correspondents the Ascension. He was here, in Kolomenskoye, when he was informed that had been taken. He went on a tour of the famous museum-estate. loved to hunt here.

64 CAPITAL IDEAS July-September 2015 Kolomenskoye: go forward Into the past

For a long time, there were rumors of treasures that Now, people from all over Moscow come here on the the tsar supposedly brought from the conquered weekends to have picnics, ride horses at the royal Novgorod and hid in the caves under the Church of stables, visit the water mill, or go on boat rides. By the Ascension. But more importantly, his legendary the way, during the times of , the library was possibly located at Kolomenskoye. There guests used to arrive at the palace by boat. The view was a legend that Ivan the Terrible put a curse on of Kolomenskoye from the river is incredible. Visitors anybody who dared touch his library – they would can take walks around the beautifully restored wa- go blind. terfront, enjoy centuries-old trees and apple orchards, listen to the church bells, or rent a bike. Kolomen- Still, the flowering of Kolomenskoye was associated skoye is whole town, spread out on a high bank of the with the reign of Alexis of Russia – this area was his Moscow River. favorite residence. His son, , spend his childhood at Kolomenskoye. After conquering Azov Muscovites take an active interest in the history of in 1696 and the Battle of in 1709, the tsar Russia. Crowds of tourists, for example, descend upon stopped at Kolomenskoye before his triumphant re- the palace of Alexis of Russia, which has recently been turn to Moscow. recreated in accordance with the miraculously pre-

July-September 2015 CAPITAL IDEAS 65 served "technical documentation" from the royal ar- chives. The 17th century palace impresses with its size, intricate old Moscow style, countless turrets, porches, and fantastic carvings. This is exactly the sort of pal- ace one would imagine when reading Pushkin's "The Tale of Tsar Saltan."

Kolomenskoye has recently put together a new in- teractive program called “The Ambassador’s Feast.” After all, the palace of Alexis of Russia was con- structed specifically to host guests, including foreign guests. Italian and Turkish tourists immediately want to experience the atmosphere of the grand feast, to replicate a real reception of foreign ambassadors of the Russian Tsar. They make their way up the steep wooden steps to the Reception Hall of the Palace. Meanwhile, a small group of Chinese tourists turn around and make their way over to the observational deck by the Moscow River.

Sergey Khudyakov, director of the Museum-Estate, told Capital ideas that over 6 million people per year visit Moscow’s four museum-estates – Kolo- menskoye, Lefortovo, Lyublino and Ismailovo. Over 600,000 people visit exhibitions, and 30 percent of all visitors are foreigners. There are a lot of guests from Western Europe: from Spain, Italy and Germa- ny. There are also a lot of people from India and CIS countries.

Chinese people, however, make up the majority of foreign visitors at Kolomenskoye. The majority of them bypass exhibitions altogether and prefer to en- joy nature and old . But why?

Our new friend Wei Yuan, a student at the Philologi- cal Faculty of Moscow State University from Beijing and a big fan of the museum-estate, offered to help us find the answer. According to him, fresh air isn’t

66 CAPITAL IDEAS July-September 2015 Sergei Khudyakov, head of the Moscow Kolomenskoe Museum the only reason Chinese tourists come here. Most of One can only imagine how many stories like this one them immediately rush to the voices ravine that splits the employees of the museum have heard – they fig- Kolomenskoye into two parts to hear the "echo of an- ured out why Chinese tourists rarely visit the exhibi- cient Rus.” tions at Kolomenskoye a long time ago. According to them, the tour operators are the ones to blame for There are many legends and stories about this place this – for whatever reason, they have cut down on that are popular in China. Some journalists have excursion programs for Chinese tourists. claimed that when tourists descend into the ravine, they can hear the sound of church bells. Many wit- After exiting from the arch of the Tsar’s court, visi- nesses claim that these sounds don’t come from the tors suddenly come across the broad floodplain of nearby church. Chinese healers believe that these di- the Moscow River, fields and orchards that stretch vine sounds are beneficial to health and help people all the way to the horizon. Above all this – unprec- magically fall in love. edented in its beauty and unique in its kind – is the Church of the Ascension. There is a distinct possi- Wei Yuan tells us that every Chinese person dreams bility that the temple was built by the same Italian of hearing the mysterious echo and finding their architect that built the fortress wall of Kitay Gorod true love. in the center of Moscow in the mid-sixteenth cen-

July-September 2015 CAPITAL IDEAS 67 TRAVEL

tury. The décor, which is unusual for Russian archi- be a total of ten exhibition that will feature works by tecture of that time period, supports this theory, famous artists and designers such as Vasily Beste- as do the Arabic numerals on the columns that use renko, Victor Makeev and Vyacheslav Zaitsev. Of the Gregorian calendar, which Russia did not use course, a lot of the exhibitions will be dedicated to at the time. the main themes of the year – the anniversary of the victory in WWII, the Year of Literature, and anni- A key feature of Kolomenskoye is the ability to versary events dedicated to the memory of Vladimir keep up with the times. Thanks to the enthusiasm Sviatoslavich the Great, who Christianized the Ki- of its employees, the museum-estate always has evan Rus. There is another date that Kolomenskoye a packed schedule. A ton of interesting ideas have cannot pass by – the 370-year anniversary of the been implemented here, and just as many initiatives reign of Alexis of Russia. are planned for the future. This summer, there will Guided tours of the museum-estate have been at the top of the list for the most popular tours in Moscow, and in Russia in general. Today, there are a total of 50 tours available. This summer, the popular, “Forward, to the past!” route has been supplemented by boat tours, bike tours and a guided tour called "History is alive and continues ... preserved objects and recre- ations of wood constructions in Russia." A lot of these tours are visited by foreigners who are interested in the history of Russia.

While we took a boat ride along the Moscow River, Sergey Khudyakov, director of the Museum-Estate, took the time to tell us more about Kolomenskoye:

– There is no shortage of foreign tourists, although of course there could be more. Foreigners sometimes complain. A few years ago they were unhappy about the fact that there weren’t a lot of comfortable places to eat. It was true – we did have this problem. Now we have a chain of street cafes and restaurants where

68 CAPITAL IDEAS July-September 2015 people can get a good meal. In this respect, we have become more European.

According to Sergey Khudyakov, Kolomenskoye host- ed the second annual Folklore festival this year, which was dedicated to the Day of Slavic Culture and Lit- erature. The festival featured monuments of Russian wooden architecture of 17th-18th centuries. In June, there was another interesting festival dedicated to Orthodox music at the Church of the Ascension. The festival was dedicated to the Day of the Family, Love and Commitment. The fact that a festival dedicated to spiritual music is held at the Church of the Ascension is no coincidence. According to legends, on the day of the abdication of Nicholas II, the holy icon Our Lady Derzhavnaya changed color from black to red.

This year, the Kolomenskoye Museum-Estate also hosted the fifth annual festival “Times and Epochs.” This time, the theme of the festival was the Roman Empire and its neighbors. Visitors could marvel at war re-enactments that were put together by re-enac- tors from Italy, Greece, Germany, , , France, , Belarus, and Russia.

The key performers of the Afisha festival, which will take place at Kolomenskoye at the end of the sum- mer, have also been announces. The festival will fea- ture appearances by the Russian stars Zemfira and Ivan Dorn, as well as the British bands HotChip and The Horrors and the Canadian singer Amna. “It will be loud and fun,” the posters claim – definitely not something Alexis of Russia would have expected. ■

July-September 2015 CAPITAL IDEAS 69 MOSCOW VOCABULARY

This section of the magazine – “Moscow Vocabulary” – was created in honor of Ronald Rea- gan, who appeared to be a fan – and collector – of Russian proverbs and sayings. We would like to guide you through the world of Russian idioms, which are just as bright and colorful.

СМОТРЕТЬ СКВОЗЬ РОЗОВЫЕ ОЧКИ – smotret’ skvoz rozovyye ochki (To look through rose-coloured glasses) Explanation: Not to see a person’s shortcomings

МАХНУТЬ РУКОЙ – makhnut rukoy. (To wave one’s hand at something or someone) Explanation: Not to care what happens, to stop doing something or dealing with someone

ПУСКАТЬ КОЗЛА В ОГОРОД – puskat’ kozla v ogorod. ( To let the goat into the kitchen garden) Explanation: To give somebody access to a place where he may be dangerous, or to something from which he wishes to profit

РУКИ НЕ ДОХОДЯТ – ruki ne dokhodat. (One’s hands don’t reach) Explanation: One has no time or possibility to undertake something

ПОПАДАТЬСЯ НА ЯЗЫК – popadattsa na yazyk.

Pictures by Anastasia Saifulina Pictures (To land on someone’s tongue) Explanation: To become the subject of criticism or gossip

ХВАТАТЬСЯ ЗА ГОЛОВУ – khavatattsa za golovy. (To clutch one’s head) Explanation: To be struck with horror ХВАТАТЬ ЗВЕЗДЫ С НЕБА – khvatat’ zvezdy s neba. (To catch the stars from the sky) Explanation: To be very good at something

СИДЕТЬ НА ЧЕМОДАНАХ – sidet’ na chemodanakh. (To sit on one’s suitcases) Explanation: Packed and waiting to go

НАПУСТИТЬ ТУМАНУ – napustit’ tumanu. (To let the fog in) Explanation: To try to mislead someone

УХО РЕЖЕТ – ukho rezhet. (Something cuts one’s ear) Explanation: It’s painful to listen to

СЛОМАТЬ ЛЁД – slomat’ l’od. (To break the ice) Explanation: To start the ball rolling

ПОЛНАЯ ЧАША – polnaya chasha. (A full cup) Explanation: One lives in luxury OUR INTERVIEW

Vladimir Kantorovich, the First Vice- President of Association of Tour Operators of Russia and President of KMP Group, talked to Capital Ideas about how to increase foreign tourist volumes in Russia. Vladimir Kantorovich: Russia must take care of its image

In order to encourage the development of tourism, Note from Capita Ideas Russian authorities have promised to take mea- sures aimed at increasing tourist volumes by 2020 Vladimir Kantorovich was born in October 1961 by at least six times. The Kremlin states that a con- in Moscow. In 1985, he graduated from the crete program would have to be put together, but so far such a program has not been developed. Is Mendeleev University of Chemical technology. the delay caused by the crisis and sanctions, or is Mr. Kantorovich holds a PhD in Chemistry. there something else holding us back?

From 1985 until 1989, he was a researcher at the If we imagine an ideal scenario, of course the tourism Research Institute. He has been working in the sector in any country cannot develop without state support. Take France, for example, which is Europe’s tourism sector since 1988. In 1989, he founded leading country in terms of foreign tourist volumes the International Travel Club, and became the and makes a lot of money in this sector. The state invests a lot of money in tourism, but it more than president of the organization. He is currently pays off. The whole process is managed by a struc- the First Vice-President of Association of Tour ture that is based on a public-private partnership. Of course, this structure has a special development pro- Operators of Russia. gram, and one of the priorities of this program is “…to continue increasing the allure of the Republic.”

72 CAPITAL IDEAS July-September 2015 Some day, Russia will finally set a strategic course for the development of the tourism sector and will begin working on its public image. But in order to increase a country’s appeal abroad, it will have to invest a great deal into advertising. Right now, there are not enough resources for this in the tourism industry. From my own experience, I know that the state always pro- vides the funding necessary to create a positive image of a country abroad.

Tensions in international relations in general don’t bode well for the development of the tourism sector.

You’re right. In Jun 2014, tourist volumes in Russia dropped by 30 percent due to the events in Ukraine and the sanctions. By September, the figure had dropped by 70 percent. There is no way to get around it – people don’t want to vacation in places where there may be shooting. Try to explain to Americans with no knowledge of basic geography that Ukraine is not a part of Russia. But in Israel, it’s also dangerous to go to the beach, where you can get shot at by ex- tremists from Gaza. After all, who wants to travel to a some things independently. For example, we orga- country that occasionally needs to carry our counter- nized a road show in India with the help of the Rus- terrorism operations. But after each crisis, the Israeli sian Foreign Ministry. We reaped rewards from this Minister of Tourism goes on a tour of all key countries immediately, as interest in Russia among Indian tour- in order to convince people that everything is settled ists increased. in Israel and that it is completely safe to travel there. We have implemented similar projects in China and This is not the only example. The Minister of Tourism Iran. However, our tourism sector does not have in Kenya took similar actions after the terrorist attacks enough resources to promote and entire country. This in Nairobi: he organized a big advertising campaign in shouldn’t be our responsibility. We can take part in it, America and Europe. In Argentina, the tourism sector show specific tours in Russia, put together packages, helped the country to get over the consequences of but promoting the country is a state function. In Rus- a default – government officials worked closely with sia, we run into the inefficiency of our bureaucracy and the tourism industry in order to ensure this happened. the fact that their interests do not coincide with ours. A year later, every hotel in Buenos Aries was com- pletely booked. Experts have estimated that foreign tourist vol- umes in 2015 will not increase. Moreover, Europe Look at the active measures the government of Egypt will continue to supply the most foreign tourists, in is taking in order to attract Russian tourists – Egypt spite of the fact that tourist volumes from Asia are is constantly working on this. The results are obvious increasing. Do you agree with the opinion of Trip- and immediate. Last year, over 3 million Russians vis- sta experts? ited the country, which is 700,000 more than in 2013. Profits from Russian tourists amounted to $2.5 billion. We have figures. In the first half of 2015, the number In five years, Egypt plans to host over 50 million Rus- of tickets to Russia booked by foreigners grew by 60 sian tourists. percent compared to the same period in 2014. March appears to be the most popular month. So exactly what actions are the Russian authorities taking in relation to tourism? However, these numbers to not indicate rapid growth in foreign tourism in the country. Tour operators are In terms of targeted and systematic work, almost also not expecting it, in spite of the ruble devaluation. nothing. The government is not making an effort to Moreover, the increase in the number of booked tick- communicate to foreign tourists that Russia is a hos- ets indicates that here has been a shift in the period pitable country that has a lot to offer to people going of demand and a decrease in booking depth. Before, on vacation. bookings for the summer took place in Mart and April, while this year people only started booking tickets for We are sometimes successful in implementing the ini- the summer in May. tiatives of tour operators in promoting Russia abroad, but we do this in spite of relevant departments rather We will be lucky if we manage to maintain the same than because of their support. Of course we try to do number of foreign tourist bookings this year as the

July-September 2015 CAPITAL IDEAS 73 OUR INTERVIEW

For those who wish to come to Russia, the ordeal doesn’t end there. The Russian Federal Migration Ser- vice has recently tightened regulations for entry into Russia. From now on, foreign tourists have to outline their route ahead of time – that is, specify every city the tourist plans to visit. This also requires informa- tion from the receiving side, as well as registering the address with the migration service.

During conversations with Capital Ideas, the heads of a number of tourist agencies indicated that the quality of service in Russia is on part with the aver- age service quality in Europe. Do you also think this is the case?

I’m not sure what “average European service qual- ity” is. There is a big difference in service quality if you compare Spain to England, for example. But we don’t have a lot of problems with service quality in Moscow and St. Petersburg.

There are other problems. For example, the majority of tourist routes were developed back when we were year before. It is unlikely that we will be able to match still living in the USSR. Back then, 80% of USSR was the numbers posted in 2013, which was a very suc- completely closed off for tourists. Many people who cessful year for the industry. live abroad aren’t aware that we have very few zoned off areas now. The guides that are published for tour- Where do foreign tourists usually go and what coun- ists in the West don’t contain much information on tries do they primarily come from? the wonderful hotels we have in Kazan, for example. I can name at least ten places off the top of my head Since the beginning of 2015, the top three cities have that foreigners have never heard of. been St. Petersburg, Moscow, and, surprisingly, Vladi- vostok. Most of our tourists come from the Czech Re- For example… public, Turkey and Great Britain. Tourists from Asian countries – Korea, Taiwan, India and China – are also Tobolsk, for example. This is an old Russian city fa- taking a greater interest in Russia. There are, how- mous for impressive architectural moments, the most ever, barriers to significant growth when it comes to prominent of which is the Tobolsk Kremlin. Three tourist volume from Asia. For example, we were de- years after its founding (in 1590), Tobolsk essentially veloping a project with India, but we have run into became the center for the Russian colonization of Si- a visa issue. While we were trying to resolve it, the beria. It was frequently referred to the capital of Si- season was pretty much over. beria The first Russian portraitist, Nikitin, was exiled there. From August 1917 until April 1918, Nicholas II Foreign nationals planning to come to Russia for a was exiled in Tobolsk with his family. vacation will now need to both obtain a visa and determine their routes in advance. What effect will The great writer Dostoyevsky spent four years in jail this have on tourist flows? there, and many people think that Tobolsk was the city that awakened his inner genius. Considering the In terms of how strict the visa requirements are, the fact that Dostoyevsky is famous all over the world, only countries that outdo Russia are Vietnam and Tobolsk can become a tourist attraction for hundreds Suriname. Tour operators think that this is one of of foreign tourists. This is especially true when you the factors that is preventing an increase of foreign consider that the city has all the prerequisites for it. tourist volumes in Russia. Right now, they aren’t But I’m sure that nobody in the US or France, with the always successful in negotiating even the smallest exception of experts, has ever heard of this city. concessions for travelers. Recently, for example, the Russian Foreign Ministry dropped the requirement Mr. Kantorovich, in spite of all of this, are you op- to provide letters of invitation for Indian tourists. timistic about the future of our tourism industry? Russian consulates, however, continue to demand this paperwork. I am hoping for the best.

74 CAPITAL IDEAS July-September 2015 useful info

City Government Address: 13 Tverskaya Street, Moscow 125032 Ph: +7 (495) 633-51-90 http://www.mos.ru/en/index/php

Moscow Investment Portal http://www.mosinvest.mos.ru

Moscow Innovation Development Center Address: Voznesensky Per., 22, Moscow, Business Center Usadba, Ph: +7 (495) 225-92-52 http://en.inno.msk.ru/

Business Protection Headquarters Address: Voznesensky Per., 22 (5th floor), Moscow, Business Center Usadba Ph: +7 (495) 957-05-10 http://dnpp.mos.ru/service/the-headquarters-for-the- protection-of-entrepreneurship/general-information/

Department for Competition Policy Address: 12 Pechatnikov Pereylok, Moscow, 107045 Ph: +7 (495)-957-99-31, +7 (495) 957-99-77 Fax: +7 (495) 957 99 95 E-mail: [email protected] http:// www.tender.mos.ru

July-September 2015 CAPITAL IDEAS 75 BOOKSHELF Chapter 27 What improvements could be made to the way you were inducted/prepared for your role(s)? This question was designed to tell us everything we would ever want or need to know on this topic.

Staffwell, maybe extend the induction period”…”Great induction with FROM MANAGEMENT Ozzie but could have used more practical experience training in the “None”… induction by experienced Consultants”…”Longer training and induction This is interesting as we typically promote management from is better”…”It was only one week of theoretical, we need more practical within, and we do not, in fact, have an induction program for training and follow-up trainings”… management roles in the company – although we should. This is something for me to explore further. These comments confirm what was mentioned in the previous chapter: that we need training that is more practical, and less Employees want: theoretical. The team also feels we should have longer induc- • Sometimes nothing - although they may actually need tion and training programs. This is something we will also take something or find something useful but just do not realize it. under review, including follow-up trainings consisting of master classes for all front office staff.

MARKET RESEARCH Employees want: “Bring back the news reports as she does not have time to do them • Training and induction programs to consist of more herself”… practical, and less theoretical, trainings; • Longer induction and training periods for new staff; While this has nothing to do with inductions it is something we and need to keep current. Our news reports are compilations of dai- • Follow-up trainings for all staff that is mostly practical, ly or weekly news highlights, pertaining specifically to business such as master classes. news from which we glean leads. They are sent to the Director’s team in e-mail form for them to follow up on. We stopped doing them because we had to let our marketing INFO SHARING manager go, as part of our down-sizing to reduce overall salary “With Adam had quarterly meetings and tries but it is not enough expenses, and she was the last person doing these for us. They for Albert, cannot go as deep as he can with Teri and Adam, Albert also are easy enough to do, so either I can help with them, or our likes to share info with James and appreciates James’s experience”… reception, or a group of us. Albert is a strong Director for us and he loves the business and Employees want: loves to discuss the business. Not everyone does to the extent • Summaries of the latest business news, for use in chas- he does. But he does, and we need to appreciate that in him, ing potential new leads. and give him what he needs individually: discussion.

Our Commercial Director may not have the interest or energy MORE to get into long discussions with Albert about our business and “The process and information is great as Diana is experienced and work. However, I certainly do, and that is a role I will gladly take professional, might need more for green people”…”Yes, strong part of on to keep him feeling fulfilled and loyal to Staffwell.

76 CAPITAL IDEAS July-September 2015 Employees want: I think having a coach or mentor is also a great idea and it would • Attention and discussion at times from the top man- also make a new hire feel more welcome and supported during agement and CEO. their probation period – or, perhaps, beyond. I agree that some hires that do not excel in an area after an initial training should TRAINING be re-trained again until they are proficient. “Negotiations training”…”More practical training/case studies and I subscribe to the idea that we need to periodically spot check master classes needed”…”Listen in on the interviews of others to create everyone’s work and, when time permits, we should train our a more well-rounded training experience, and sector trainings”…”More back office and administration staff on the roles of our front trainings, headhunting, highlights writing, communicating with clients, office team, so that they can better support them. In addition, time management, I think that repeating some key trainings would be I think our FD (Finance Director) should prepare a section for useful in order to not forget how we were taught to work, communi- our induction program and training for current employees on cate and deal with clients and candidates”…”More practical trainings in the function of the accounting department for the company. the inductions needed and have mostly master classes ONLY”… I made notes to follow up on everything.

I thought these were great ideas and requests and I made notes Employees want: on everything mentioned and intend to follow up on it. • For new, inexperienced Consultants to start as Re- searchers or Assistants for a few months until they are I also find it interesting to note here that the experienced pro- comfortable taking on the higher demands of a full-time fessionals, which are mostly who we have working for us right role as a Recruitment Consultant; now, really only desire master class trainings. They do not have • For experienced Recruitment Consultants to sit in on the time or patience for simple, theoretical training, in which the interviews conducted by new Consultants in order to they are already well aware of most of the material. They want check their performance and skills; master classes to be led by one of their peers who should be a • To be assigned a coach or mentor; proven expert in a particular area of their role. This they would • To be re-trained in areas where they continue to find beneficial and a highly effective use of their time. struggle; • Frequent checks to be made on the work of all staff Employees want: members, including outward business correspondence • Master classes training by peers that are experts in cer- and report writing; and tain areas within their role; • To be trained by all departments in the company on • Shadow training for interviews, to acquire better inter- what they do for the company. view skills; • Proper business communications, time management, and negotiation skills training; and ALL GOOD • Headhunting training for recruiters. “Good system – loved induction, very professional and fun and struc- tured – all was good”…”Angela and Vlada inducted her very well, plus Luda and Snezhana were also great”…”Easy to join the finance team IDEAS - was very welcoming”… “It was very professional, Ozzie had one week with her in St. Peters- burg (SPB), thankful competitors do not have as deep, it helped work- I am glad that some people were happy and content with the ing as a Consultant for the first 6 months”…”Experience in assisting the status quo. senior team in top level projects, even as a researcher, would greatly have helped him”…”More professional focus, less theory on stress man- Employees want: agement, team is mature and experienced – do not need theoretical • Sometimes, nothing at all. trainings/inductions”…”As new Consultants sit on experienced team interviews to learn, experienced Consultants should also sit in on new Consultants’ interviews to evaluate them”…”Having a coach or mentor”… NOT GOOD ”Consultants should be trained by senior Consultants who have work- “All was OK but not structured – things only happened when thought ing experience”…”English teacher told her the best way to learn is by of (getting his pass, etc) – then Lika and Lara showed him around”… constant repetition, so we need to re-run trainings frequently”…”Check on the results of the trainings by sitting in on meetings, interviews and This response was interesting to me as it came from someone in notes writing and email writing”…”Angela should prepare an induction our IT department that did not have a formal induction (we do for her on who/which accountants do what in the company”…”Training not have a program for back office staff). However, we should on Director’s and Consultant’s role for back office people and admin”… initiate such as I am sure that he would benefit from our front office induction program and very likely help him in his role of There are a few good, new ideas in here as well, such as having supporting all of our employees - the majority of which are new Consultants with no prior recruiting experience, work as a re- front office staff. searcher for a while in order to ease into the much more demand- ing role of Consultant. I also liked the idea of having an experienced Employees want: Consultant sit in on the early interviews performed by new Con- • A structured and welcoming induction to a company, sultants to ensure they are conducting proper interviews. even if they are not front office staff members. ■

July-September 2015 CAPITAL IDEAS 77 BETWEEN PAST AND FUTURE Hit in the temple

Everyone who visits the State Tretyakov Gallery is likely to rush to see Ilya Repin’s famous painting Ivan the Terrible and His Son Ivan on November 16, 1581, better known as ‘Ivan the Terrible Killing His Son’. However, the facts suggest that he did not kill his son!

Parsuna he impression that the painting produces on Ivan the Terrible. the viewer is overwhelming: red colour scheme, Around 1600 warm red blood on his hands, crazed eyes of a killer father… The situation itself is horrific. Tsar Ivan killed his son Ivan, therefore severing the TRurikovich that ruled Rus since the 9th century. There are several theories to explain the cause of the tsar's anger. Papal legate (and, incidentally, the first Jesuit to visit Moscow) Antonio Possevino first told the world about the tragedy in the royal palace of Alexandrovskaya sloboda. He reported that the king suddenly walked in on his pregnant daughter-in-law inappropriately underdressed. This negligence an- gered him, and he severely reprimanded the woman. The young Prince Ivan stood up for his wife, and im- mediately received a hit with a heavy stick almost directly to the temple from the angry father, which cost him his life. Jerome Horsey, a messenger from the Queen of England, who has repeatedly met with Ivan IV, gives a very different explanation for the fatal conflict. The Englishman thinks that was served as the impetus was not the sloppiness of the royal daughters most striking proof of the "blood thirst", "tyranny" in law, and the issue was much deeper than that — and "mental abnormality" of Ivan the Terrible. In his the differences between father and son on the issues murders the tsar saw only an execution of planned of governance and accusations from the younger Ivan hard work: "to create a great obedience, a submissive of excessive cruelty towards his subjects. state — through blood." The genocide of Novgorod, rampant Oprichnina, fighting against heresies, There are also different versions; for instance, Rhe- clans, metropolitans — all done through torture, fire, inold Heidenstein, trusted secretary of the Polish kings chopping block. Stefan Batory and Sigismund III Vasa, stated that prince Ivan didn’t agree with the concessions towards 19th century Russian historian, Sergei Solovyov wrote the Poles of , and wanted to lead the Russian about Grozny He sowed terrible seeds, and terrible army in himself, thus angering the tsar. was the harvest — the murder of his own son." This fact seemed indisputable; it was reflected not only Whatever it was, whatever the was the true mo- in the of Russian artists, and Russian and tive behind the quarrel, filicide itself has become the Western literature, but even in textbooks as one of

July-September 2015 CAPITAL IDEAS 79 BETWEEN PAST AND FUTURE

the evidences of the special cruelty of the Russian tsar. because he arrived to Russia three months after the death of the prince. By his own admission, he only re- Until recently, no one thought about how this fact corded court rumours… Jerome Horsey wasn’t an eye- came to be in the historical literature, while most in- witness either and described it from someone else’s teresting circumstances were to be revealed. words this way: "In a fit of rage, he gave him a slap to the face... the prince took ill, became sick with fe- Antonio Possevino, sent to Moscow from the Vatican ver and died three days later." The Catholic chronicler to persuade Ivan the Terrible to form a union with the Rheinold Heidenstein has not been to Moscow at all. Catholics, could not have witnessed the tragic scene Is it not strange that all the accusers were not wit- ness to stories they described, didn’t have a single au- thentic document evidencing that this sad event re- Bust of Ivan the Terrible ally happened, but a harmonious chorus trumpeted all Restoration over the world: the terrible despot, not only is he the by M. Gerasimov tormentor of his country, he killed his own son!

As is known, Possevino’s cunning plan to convert the tsar to Catolicism through territorial concessions failed, Polish King Stefan Batory failed the siege of , and England also didn’t like the fact that Ivan was fighting its friends.

But isn’t the point that, being unable to undermine strengthening Russia directly, the enemies decided to deliver a more subtle and insidious blow to the tsar, forever nailing him to the pillory of history? Ivan’s per- sonal tragedy — the death of his son (the death that Russian scribes describe as passing, not a murder), this tragedy was used immediately and blasphemously to vilify the undesirable tsar. "Kick in the head", "brutal beating", "slap", "epilepsy"... anything, just not a quiet death in the arms of a grieving father.

Meanwhile, the death of the prince was reported not only foreigners and Russian chronicles. The tsar

80 CAPITAL IDEAS July-September 2015 Opening of the tomb of Ivan the Terrible and his son. 1963

himself writes about his son’s deadly disease in de- Bartholomew’s Day massacre (according to various tail from Alexandrovskaya sloboda. The letter is ad- estimates) took from 10 to 30 thousand; the Holy Ro- dressed to the boyar Yuriev and deacon Shchelkalov: man Charles V (1520-1558) executed tens of “The day you left us, son my Ivan took ill and is now thousands; England’s Henry VIII (1509-1547) — tens terminally ill…” The missive is dated mid-November, of thousands, Elizabeth I (1558-1603) — tens of thou- Blessing of Ivan the last days of the prince’s life. There is no hint of sands of executed prisoners; Spain, during the sup- the Terrible before any disagreements, any familial conflict. It was in his pression of uprisings in the Netherlands by Philip II his death. P. Heller, 1887 letters, as we know, that the tsar was very emotion- (1556-1598), in two years executed more than one al. And had something terrible truly passed in those hundred thousand... ■ days in November, it would have inevitably burst onto the pages in dozens, scores of self-flagellating words, such as those found in the Will and Testament of Ivan the Terrible.

Expert analysis has finally set the story straight. In 1963 the tombs of tsar Ivan and his son Ivan in the Arkhan- gelsky Cathedral of the were opened and inspected. Studies have shown that the allowable mercury content in the remains of the prince was exceeded 32 times, same for arsenic and lead. Prince Ivan, as well as Ivan IV’s mother (and possibly the tsar himself) was poisoned by the most "popular" poison in medieval Europe — mercury salts.

We do not attempt to undertake an evaluation of Ivan IV’s actions in this article. Be he a genius he or villain — the dispute has been going on for centuries with- out any advantage for either one of the sides.

Let us just point out that you cannot hold the past centuries accountable by modern standards. People reflect their epoch. If we compare with Europe at the time: in 50 years the reign of Ivan the Terrible executed about 4 thousand people, while just St.

July-September 2015 CAPITAL IDEAS 81 LIFE&CULTURE

A hundred and thirty-five years ago, a circus opened at Tsvetnoy Bulvar in Moscow that remains one of the “Up! most popular places of entertainment today. And the tigers sat at my feet…”

of the 19th century. Interestingly, in spite of the fact Replacing buffoons that Salamonsky’s circus project was a big success from day one, he had to take out a loan in order to he story of the famous circus on Tsvetnoy build it. The businessman didn’t have any money of Bulvar started in the beginning of the 1870s, his own, and the future owner of the circus asked when Albert Salamonsky came to Moscow. merchant Danilov for a loan. The merchant believed Salamonsky was the owner of a successful the temperamental foreigner and loaned him mon- circus in Germany who decided that Rus- ey to build a circus. The circus was to be constructed Tsia didn’t have enough quality circus performances. on Tsvetnaya Square, which had always housed cir- In spite of the fact that national circus stands and cus stands. street performers have always existed in Russia, there were no stationary circuses until the middle On October 20, 1880, the new circus building, de- signed by the architect August Weber, was already hosting its first guests. The owner put the first ru- ble he received at the ticket booth in a frame and hung it up on the wall. There were five rows of pit stalls, a mezzanine, several lodges and also an in- novation – “second seats” with unmarked seats and a standing gallery. Notably, the audience at Albert Salamonsky’s circus was incredibly diverse –major merchants and aristocrats sat in the same room with poor people.

For the first performances, the circus featured the fol- lowing: “the pretty Henrietta, juggling marvelously while balancing on a tightrope, Ms. Trutsi, who rides a horse with no saddle, rider Freddie Salomonovsky, the Paskali clown-gymnast brothers and Albert Salomon- sky himself, with 14 trained stallions.” The doll fairy

urprisingly, you wouldn’t be able to find any children in the audience of a 19th century cir- cle. Back then, circuses were intended solely for adult audiences. Albert Salamonsky decid- ed to correct the injustice, rightfully thinking Sthat having kids in the audience for morning shows will provide a supplementary income to evening

82 CAPITAL IDEAS July-September 2015 “Up! And the tigers sat at my feet…”

July-September 2015 CAPITAL IDEAS 83 LIFE&CULTURE

100,000 buckets of water

ot wanting to bore the public with re- peat circus tricks, Salamonsky periodi- cally put on fabulous new shows and invited the best foreign performers. The advertisement from 1896 reads the following:N “A water show with a ballet. 100,000 buckets of water in two minutes. A sailor ballet. A giant waterfall. An admiral battleship with an or- chestra of 24 people.”

The public was enthralled with the unique shows generated by the owner’s wild imagination. “Ma- levsky’s Magic Show” was a great example – the trick entailed fountains installed in the arena creat- ing magical glowing shapes out of water. In anoth- er show, the audience watched as Miss Paula spent several minutes in a pool with snakes and crocodiles while Margarita danced in a cage with lions. As a kind of tribute to the circus of buffoons, the circus hosted Albert Salamonsky an orchestra comprised solely of peasants who played unforgettable musical compositions on dudas, horns and flutes in 1883. shows. However, permission had to be obtained from city authorities to let children into the circus. Soon enough, the authorities gave Salamonsky permission To the “Yar”! to hold weekly shows for children on Sundays. A spe- cial show, called “The Doll Fairy,” was produced for he Salamonsky circus soon became so popu- children for the first time in 1895. lar that it eclipsed all similar establishments in the Empire with its tricks, shows and for- Horses and more horses eign guest performers. T For a while, the Nikitin brothers circus s everybody knows, there are three pillars that opened nearby was a serious competitor to that hold a good circus together – clowns, Salamonsky. Presenting their establishment as a acrobats and tricks with trained animals. “Russian Circus of the Nikitin Brothers,” the own- Salamonovsky circus clowns included ers managed to get together a collective of pri- Anatoly and Vladimir Durov, Max Vysokin- marily Russian performers. After several years, the skyA and the legendary Bim-Bom. Foreign artists Nikitin circus caught up to Salamonsky in terms of came to performances from abroad as well, but the popularity – a success that was largely due to their main feature of the show were the horses. unique performances featuring elephants. Albert Salamonsky, who didn’t want to deal with competi- At first, the circus owner used to make stage ap- tors, simply bought the circus for 35,000 rubles. The pearances himself. Aside from being an excellent bill of sale included a receipt that stated that the businessman, Albert Salamonsky was also a talented Nikitin brothers could never open another circus in trainer – he delighted the public with waltzing hors- Moscow. es, which executed the complex, beautiful configu- rations. During the climax of the show, Salamonsky After taking care of his competitors, Salamosky would scream “Off,” at which point all sixteen horses started to grow more distant from the circus. He would rear simultaneously. Salamonsky also set a re- only appeared on stage during premieres or over cord by riding on horseback on a log, set at a height of the holidays. The performers even had a theory five meters. Albert Salamonsky’s adopted son Ezens that the director came out before the opening of Merder also put together a phenomenal performance each season in front of the public and then secretly with 35 horses. Merder’s horses walked across tight- went to the “Yar.” Supposedly, he would hang his ropes or jumped across obstacles with a rider in the coat on the back of his chair in his office in order saddle. The audience found the show thrilling! to make people think that he was still there. Over

84 CAPITAL IDEAS July-September 2015 time, the Salamonsky family sold the circus, which then cycled through several owners before the rev- olution in 1917. The circus and the revolution

uring the years following the revolution, circus performers were going through challenging times and had to resort to street performances, like their Russian predecessors had many years ago. In the winter,D the legendary clown and animal trainer Vlad- imir Durov gave people rides on a sled pulled by a camel. Jugglers performed on tram stops.

Everything changed because was of the opinion that the circus is an important form of art. After nationalization in 1919, the circus received the honorable title of State Circus No.1 and continued to perform for the city’s guests and residents during the Soviet years. The most famous clowns in the country performed there: Dmitry Alperov, Karandash, Boris Vyatkin, Oleg Popov and, of course, - one of the most beloved performers in Russia who head- well-known Italian master Antonio Dzharola. Today, ed up the Circus on Tsvetnoy for 15 years. Today, the the circus has modern technical equipment, make- establishment is named after the performer – The up rooms, animal rooms and a comfortable audito- Nikulin Circus on Tsvetnoy Bulvar. For its 135th an- rium that can host over 2,000 people. As one popu- niversary, the circus is putting together a new pro- lar song about the circus goes, the place “is packed gram called “Carnival,” the producer of which will be yesterday, today and tomorrow!” ■ www.ruscircus.ru

July-September 2015 CAPITAL IDEAS 85 THIS AND THAT Friendship Every language has a word that means “friend,” but the Russian equivalent indicates something slightly different.

he American historian Richard Pipes, from a bar or a coworker. The Russian word for who was well-versed in Russian history “friendship” implies a much closer relationship and culture, once pointed out that Rus- between people: a feeling of kinship, a support sians are very warm people: “If a Rus- system in life. A friend would never let you be sian person becomes your friend, he will lonely, which is why Russians have the popular Tbe your friend forever.” Unlike most foreigners, saying “Without a friend, there is a snowstorm Pipes really understood the meaning of the word in your heart.” “friend” to a Russian person. “I came to the US when I was sixteen,” Pipes said during a speech Russians think of friendship as a round-the- in Moscow once, “and was really disappointed in clock obligation. This means that a friend is the . We have extremely superficial someone you can call at any time – day or friendships! You may be friends today, but tomor- night – to share a moment of joy, sadness, or row one of you will move to a different city and just chat while knowing that the person on the that will be the end of your friendship. In Russia, other end won’t hang up the phone and call friendships run deep and are truly personal.” you insane. A friend is someone you can visit any time of the day and be sure that they will Richard Pipes is absolutely correct – in Russia, a welcome you warmly and pour you a cup of . friend is much more than a friend. A Russian per- All of this will be done selflessly and genuinely. son will think hard before deciding to call some- one a friend, since doing so implies a lot of obli- Borrowing money from friends is also some- gations. To a Russian person, a friend is someone thing Russians do frequently – and nobody really close – someone one shares absolutely would even think to ask for an interest pay- everything with. For all other people Americans ment of some sort. A friend will loan you mon- would typically refer to as “friends,” Russians will ey even if they’re short on cash themselves. use the words “acquaintance” or “buddy” (“pri- yatel”). Essentially, the Russian equivalent for the It is no wonder that Russians say that real word “friend” does not have an accurate transla- friends are closer than your relatives. After all, tion in other languages. At the very least, it does a friend is someone you choose for yourself. It is not mean the same thing as the word “friend” in no surprise that many Russians consider friend- English. Alla Sergeeva, who holds a PhD in Phi- ships to be tighter bonds than blood ties. In any lology, says that, in Russian, a friend is not a for- case, real friends are never jealous of each other

Pictures by Anastasia Saifulina Pictures mer classmate, chess partner, an acquaintance in the way that relatives often can be.

86 CAPITAL IDEAS July-September 2015 in Russia These types of friendships in Russia are com- Russians also have a lot of toasts on the sub- mon for both men and women. Like a good ject of friendship. The Chilean poet Pablo Neruda psychologist, a close girlfriend is always ready was a big fan of one such toast, which he heard to listen to all of your problems and help you during a dinner party from the famous Russian resolve them. If they don’t have time to meet writer : “One night, Ivan you immediately, they will stay on the phone didn’t come home. His wife, Tatiana, was obvi- for hours just to hear you out! ously worried: what happened to her husband? She decided to send twelve telegrams to twelve Friendships between Russian men often turn of his closest friends to ask them where he was. into such solid bonds that Russians have made The next morning, she received twelve tele- up proverbs to describe them. Here are some of grams from all twelve of his friends, and they all them: “Die yourself, but save your friend,” “Don’t said the same thing: ‘Don’t worry, Tatiana. Ivan have a hundred rubles, have a hundred friends,” stayed at my place last night.’” “He who is a true friend is like a brother,” “Even an axe won’t hack through a true friendship.” Let’s raise a glass to real friendships! ■

July-September 2015 CAPITAL IDEAS 87 LIFE&CULTURE Light summer breeze

“What is there to do in Moscow in the summer? Leave this stuffy city at the first opportunity and go to the countryside, to the pond!” pessimists might say. “Well, why would you suggest such a thing?” optimists reply. “It is precisely during the summer in Moscow that one can go to many cultural events and opening nights, to which tickets cannot be found at another time of the year.”

he Bolshoi Theater con- tinues to surprise with huge events. Critics have not yet managed to finish their rave reviews on the Topera, “Marriage of Figaro”, and now there is a new production. On the historic stage of the Bolshoi Theater, the opening night of “Car- men” is scheduled for July 15. And the details about it are being kept secret for now. And July 22 is the opening night of the ballet, “A Hero of Our Time”. The choreographer of this production is Yury Posokhov, who for ten years was a soloist at the Bolshoi Theater. He danced all of the lead parts – Shchelkuchnik in the ballet of the same name, Duke Albrecht in “Giselle”, Prince Désiré in “Sleeping Beauty”. Yury then put on many ballets on different stag- es. And now he has returned to the Bolshoi Theater.

Here are a few words about the opera, “Marriage of Figaro”, the opening night of which took place in April. This show is certainly sug- gested for viewing in the fall for those, who have not yet managed to see it. Theater director Yevgeny Pisarev was invited for the opera’s production. At the Pushkin Theater, which he manages, he has already put on “Marriage of Figaro”, but with dramatic actors. The show sold out. Pisarev managed to pre- sent himself in a new role – he man- aged to present an elegant show. www.bolshoi.ru

88 CAPITAL IDEAS July-September 2015 “Light, lively, with humor and un- expected!” wrote critics about the production. The many decorations, which were present at the strictly graphic house and the work of cos- tume designer, Viktoria Sveryuko- vaya, who conducted a bold exper- iment, were especially impressive. She did not use the usual hoops and crinolines. The main characters of the opera looked more like dan- dies, swaggering in striped suits, bright socks and colorful ties. The ladies on stage appeared in typical dresses but with a new look.

n July 16, at Crocus City Hall, Gregory Leps, a popular Russian singer and record-holder for sold-out shows, is cele- bratingO his 53rd birthday. Why is this singer so popular and loved today by the public in Russia? Because his manner of speech is distinguished by colossal dedication, what is called “aortic rupture”, overflowing with emotion. Perhaps, today Leps, who began with performances in restaurants of the resort town of Sochi on the Black Sea coast, has reached the peak in his show ca- reer. Therefore tickets to his per- formances are quite expensive. And VIP places on the parterre for personal banquet tables cost about one thousand euro and more.

or rock lovers, the sur- prise is at the end of sum- mer – on August 29 at the Olimpisky sports com- plex, Linkin Park will have Fa concert. This music group from California that was founded in 1996 is distinguished by its powerful en- ergy. Alternative rock fans from all over the world dream of making to the group's concerts, which are led by charismatic front man Ches- ter Bennington. The rockers have won Grammys and other pres- tigious music awards. And each of their performances is stunning and charged. By the way, the tick- ets to the concert will be cheaper for Linkin Park than the tickets for Grigory Leps, Linkin Park tickets will only between 3,000-14,000 rubles.

July-September 2015 CAPITAL IDEAS 89 LIFE&CULTURE www.biletexpress.ru

here is also the outstand- ness of Moscow and All this group, and not only in coun- ing choir group – Patriar- Russia Kirill. On August 28, a ma- tries where the group has toured. chal Men's Choir of the St. jor holiday for Orthodox Christians Everywhere is sold out. And why? can will be marked, the Assumption of Because at the foundation of the be heard completely free the Blessed Virgin. And the choir group’s program lie the folk danc- Tof charge. The Patriarchal Men's will be present at the solemn lit- es of the world. And the language Choir was founded in 1994. It is urgy at St. Danilov Monastery. of dance is understandable to all, made up of 16 professional sing- in any country, in any homeland. ers. Their repertoire includes not n September 10, at only prayer chants such as "Heav- the Tchaikovsky Con- ramatic theaters mean- enly King, Comforter," "Most Holy cert Hall, master pia- while return from their Mother of God, Save Us", but also nist, composer and holidays. By the autumn famous ballads, "Shine, Shine My jazz performer Daniil season, the new play Star", folk songs "Black Crow" or KramerO will celebrate his (55th) «Mephisto» by director "Love, Brothers, Love". The choir birthday. Kramer plays jazz in all of AdolphD Shapiro, which is based on not only sings in concerts at differ- its styles. On September 16-17, on the novel of Klaus Mann, which was ent locations, but also participates this same stage the legendary en- written in 1936, will open in Sep- in Saturday and Sunday, as well semble of Igor Moiseyev will per- tember at the Chekhov Moscow Art as holiday liturgy led by His Holi- form. The whole world applauds Theater. The project promises to be the event for the Moscow theater scene. And the basis of the topic is sharp and relevant. This is a conflict of the artist and power. This sum- mer viewers are expecting reviews. The main character is Hendrik Höf- gen, who cooperates with the Na- zis, and is played by actor Alexei Kravchenko. It is possible that many will make parallels with the famous film of Istvan Szabo, who received an Oscar in 1982, where the main role was played by actor Klaus Maris Brandauer. Kravchenko also added his own color to this por- trayal – his main character is a self- involved narcissist, full of insatiable ambition which leads to his full spiritual degradation, he is a person, who despite success, is ready to sell his soul to the devil.

90 CAPITAL IDEAS July-September 2015 his theme is continued by Lithuanian director Ri- mas Tuminas, who heads the Vakhtangov Theater, each production of which Tis eagerly awaited by Moscow’s theater lovers. Tuminas began rehearsals for the play “Minetti” by Thomas Bernhard, the great Austrian novelist and playwright. The play “Minetti” was specially written in the 1970s for German actor Bernhard Minetti, the tal- ent of whom was highly valued by the writer. In an old hotel on the coast of the Baltic Sea during the New Year holiday, the actor, who happens to be there, sums up his life, which is drawing to an end. He thinks about the vicissitudes of fate, on his profession, on his des- tiny and mission. The premiere at the Vakhtangov Theater is sched- uled for the middle of October.

t the same time Mos- cow's theater critics are advised not to miss the production of director Kirill Serebrennikov at AGogol Center. The performance was “M (student)”, “Performance- explosion”, “performance-shock”, “performance-bomb” – such are the epithets awarded to this pro- duction. In the center of the plot is a boy, a teenager, Veniamin Yuzhin. He thinks that he knows everything about moral norms and ethics, and so has every right to denounce his education, physical education class- es, carnal love and the divorce of his parents. The young rascal’s biology teacher responds to him. Where the border lies between morality and intolerance, freedom and permis- siveness – Serebrennikov attempts to address these issues.

nother opening show touches upon the se- rious and important theme of summing up one's life. The perfor- Amance of the Chekhov Moscow Art Theater, “The Jubilee of the Jeweler”, which director Konstan- tin Bogomolov presented at the 80th anniversary of the birth of famous and beloved actor and ar- tistic director of the theater, Oleg www.kommersant.ru

July-September 2015 CAPITAL IDEAS 91 LIFE&CULTURE Pavlovich Tabakov. This play was selected by Tabakov himself. This is the story of a person of advanced age who clearly feels that his life is coming to an end, but looks on the future with dignity and calm. A traditional benefit performance at first glance in essence is an ex- ample of strong and high drama. This is a story about how to die brightly, having lived the dream of one's life, asking for forgive- ness from your close friends and relatives and asking all for a happy smile. It is necessary to talk about death, to think about it, wait for it and it is necessary to prepare for it. And there should be wise and bright attitude towards it. This is the main idea of the performance.

t the Moscow Interna- tional House of Music on October 8, the very prom- ising young opera singer, 33-year old Anna Aglato- Ava, will hold a concert. In 2005, Anna became the youngest soloist at the Bolshoi Theater and since then has been part of some of its most no- table projects. Anna's repertoire in- cludes not only parts from famous operas, but also foreign ballads. Opera star Dmitry Khvorostovsky also values the art of Aglatova, this is not the first year he is inviting the young singer to join him for the tra- ditional program “Khvorostovsky and Friends”, which will take place in Moscow on October 29.

n October 10 at the , there will be a concert by young pop singer Slava. And although SlavaO in Russian is a masculine name, a nickname derived from Svyatoslav, Vyacheslav, Rostislav and so on, this female singer has adopted a masculine pseudonym. Incidentally the performer also has a manner of singing that is gruff, not feminine, and which even could be called coarse. “Loneliness is a Bitch” is, for example, a name of one of her hits. It is interesting that with such a repertoire and manner, Slava loves feminine dresses, jewelry and bright makeup. By the way, this will be the first solo concert of the singer.

92 CAPITAL IDEAS July-September 2015 n October 21 at the year on television. The film is loved endless concerts. But she stood and Kremlin Palace, events by viewers, and its main heroine, waited for “her hour”. In the 1970s, will be held for an the happy Lenochka Krylova with Gurchenko returned to cinema. In- evening in memory of her unforgettable song, “Five Min- deed, she played very bright roles the 80th anniversary utes”, was the icon of the 1950s. But in melodramas, comedies and in Oof ’s birth. This after this resounding success, there musical films. All her life she sang, actress passed away four years ago, was nothing for a while. Gurchenko sewed, wore extravagant outfits. but she left an indelible mark on did not film for 10 years. “The best Her personal life was tumultuous, Russian cinema. One could rightly years, I was in the prime of femi- several marriages, romances, many call her a super star. Everyone re- nine beauty, but directors seemed plastic surgeries (about 17), a fierce members Gurchenko’s bright debut to have forgotten about me!” the fight against encroaching old age. in cinema, the New Year’s com- actress later said in her interviews. Words for the life of this true star edy “Carnival Night” is shown every She had to make her living with are bright and charismatic. ■

July-September 2015 CAPITAL IDEAS 93 FOOD&DRINK Moscow on the menu Our capital is a giant megapolis that never ceases to amaze its visitors with the diversity of its restaurant scene. But there are some cafes and restaurants that our foreign guests are particularly fond of. Our editorial staff has put together a list of top restaurants that are frequently visited by foreign tourists and expats who live and work in Moscow.

Café Pushkin This was the first theatrical project with a historical atmosphere. Andrei Dellos is the author of the project, and Andrei Makhov is the head chef. This restaurant offers the best of old Russian aristocratic cuisine. The restaurant’s name – Café Pushkin – came about thanks to the French singer Gilbert Becaud and his song "Natalie," in which he sang about Moscow, Red Square, love and hot chocolate in a place called Café Pouch- kine. Over thirty years after the release of the song, this poetic fantasy about the café came to life. Every guest can get small elegant souvenirs with the café’s logo when visiting the restaurant. There are magnets painted in the style of Russian lacquer miniatures (300 RUB), small vases with the logo(1,450 RUB), Laguiole knives with the logo (6,500 RUB) and natural assorted honey (850 RUB). Guests can also send letters written in pen and ink (like in the olden days) to anywhere on the planet from the restaurant. The Café Pushkin mail service costs 300 RUB. Address: Tverskoy Boulevard 26-A, The place is always open for young ladies and gentlemen, but many advise to visit M. Pushkinskaya, , Tverskaya. the restaurant on Saturdays and Sundays. On Saturdays, there are games starting Telephone:(495) 739-00-33. at noon, a puppet show at 1.00pm, and cooking classes with Café Pushkin chefs at Open 24/7. 3.00pm. On Sundays, there are games starting at noon and cooking classes with chefs starting at 3.00pm.

There was a famous bar with the same name on Novy Arbat from the 60s until the Zhiguli Bar early 90s, which was known in Moscow and all over Russia as the center for drinking beer in the Soviet era. This traditional establishment recently celebrated its 45th an- niversary. The bar has been popular for all of these years. You can eat here – the food selection is quite impressive – or just knock back a few beers with a snack. Guests are often curious about cocktails from the Soviet era. And of course, what sort of tourist wouldn’t want to go to a bar that Vladimir Putin and themselves used to frequent? There are two halls at Zhiguli: a bar that accommodates 100 people and the main room that fits 300 people. The freshly-brewed Zhiguli beer – light, dark or unfiltered – is particularly popular. Moreover, there are another 5 additional draft beer brands available. Every day, bands that play unforgettable hits from the 70s and 80s perform at Zhiguli.

Address: Novy Arbat 11, bldg.1, M. Arbatskaya. Hours of operation: Sun – Thurs, 12.00pm to 2.00am, Fri – Sat, 12.00pm to 4.00am. Telephone: (495) 691-35-21, 691-41-44. Kitchen hours of operation: from 11.00am to 2.00am.

94 CAPITAL IDEAS July-September 2015 This restaurant is rightfully considered one of the highest European restaurants – it’s lo- cated on the 62nd floor of the Federation tower in Moscow City, which certainly makes Sixty it unique. Sixty combines the ultra-modern urban skyscraper style with 60s nostalgia – trendy, reckless, stylish and a little bit crazy. Bright, rich colors in the style of Andy Warhol and Blow Up create a holiday atmosphere and bring on waves of pleasant emotions. Sixty has a wide selection of traditional Italian dishes, as well as Mediterranean and European cuisine. The head chef at Sixty is Carlo Greku, whose legendary dishes are famous in Moscow. The guests leave impressed by the unusual combinations of ingre- dients: deserts out of marshmallows and winter cherry, golubtsi with morels, mango soup with elderberry sorbet and so on. The restaurant’s specialty cocktails will help you relax and have a great time with friends. Sixty provides menus for breakfasts and business lunches, family gatherings, romantic dinners and parties.

Address: Presnenskaya Naberezhnaya 12, Federation tower, 62nd floor, M. Vystovochnaya. Tel: (495) 125-28-60. Hours of operation: Mon-Sun, 12.00pm until the last client. Oblomov This restaurant can easily be considered an object of cultural and historical heritage. It is located in an old mansion that has been restored in the style of a typical noble house of the 19th century. The restaurant’s menu is an excursion into the history of during the time of Ilya Oblomov, the main character from Ivan Goncharov’s famous novel. Here you can try all the Russian classics – food, recipes and techniques that have stood the test of time over hundreds of years. There are three floors for guests. From the hall decorated with columns and a large carved cupboard, visitors walk into a coffee room with an old fireplace where the restau- rant hosts Friday tea ceremonies with home-baked goods and a samovar. Guests have lunch on the second floor, in the rooms “Oblomov” and “Shtolz.” Above them is the “East- ern Room,” where guests can rest on couches after having a meal. When the weather is warm, the restaurant opens the “Summer Garden” – a spacious terrace in a quiet and cozy courtyard surrounded by trees. There is a wood-burning Russian oven here, which Address: 1st Monetchikovsky pereulok 5, is used to make meat, fish, soup and porridge in the summer. Signature dishes include the M. , Paveletskaya, Serpukhovskata, Oblomov Olivier salad, smoked venison, country pickled treats, jellied veal, soup of white . Tel: (495) 953-68-28 root with smoked goose, and veal pelmeni with butter and sour cream. Hours of operation: 12.00pm-05.00pm.

One of the best and most impressive Russian cuisine restaurants in Moscow, located in an old tower in Kitay Gorod. The restaurant’s specialties include Russian blinis with Old Tower different fillings, hand-made pelmeni, fish soup, shi soup, quail, burgers and traditional Russian pastries. The interior of the banquet restaurant combines ethnic Russian style with a castle- fortress atmosphere. The first floor of the restaurant looks more like a Russian bar, featuring an oak bar, real cast- cannons from imperial Russia, brick arches on the ceiling, old maps of Moscow, wrought iron lamps and a collection of old bottles. The second floor of the restaurant is set up like a small separate hall that is decorated with decorated with oil canvases illustrating imperial military campaigns for the Motherland. The third floor has a cozy fireplace with windows in the form of gun ports and oak shutters, with large and comfortable wooden tables and lounge chairs. This room is a favorite meeting place for the city and state government officials. Address: Teatralnaya Square 5, Bldg.1, M. teatralnaya, The fourth floor of the restaurant is unique. There is a tent here that leads to the ve- Ploshyad Revolutsii, Okhotny Ryad. randa. The chairs here resemble royal thrones and the red -ceiling is decorated with authentic emblems of Russian cities and regions. There is a massive chandelier Tel: (495) 698-40-08, 980-24-08. made out of metal and stained glass. The large windows present a magnificent view of Hours of operation: 2.00pm – midnight the center of Moscow. A small secret from those who are in the know: if you turn off the lights at night, you can see the golden of the Zaikonospassky monastery in the night sky through the window at the top of the tent. This hall is used for banquets, special occasions and special guests. Unless you attend such an event, it is unlikely you will get to the top floor of the restaurant unless you make a request.

July-September 2015 CAPITAL IDEAS 95 FOOD&DRINK Usadba Restaurant Center in Tsaritsyno Among the large residential areas in the south of Moscow, there is one of the most unusual places in the capital – Tsaritsyno State Museum-Reserve. The land occupied by the Museum-Reserve has a history that dates back to the Vy- atichi. This place is associated with the names of and royal families. Tsaritsyno combines the delightful natural beauty of the landscape with the greatest architec- tural works by the Russian architects V.I. Bazhenov and M.F. Kazakov. After walking around the park and working up an appetite, you can take a break and try traditional Russian cuisine at Usadba, which will take you back to the times of . The restaurant has been restored in order to bring back the atmosphere of an 18th century Russian manor. The chef will offer you dishes prepared in accordance with the best traditions of Rus- sian cuisine: Pomeshichiy salad, herring, Petrovsky soup, Royal sturgeon, Bazhenov beef, assorted Russian pickled snacks, General sander, and Robber-style stew. Address: The restaurant is located at Tsaritsyno Museum-Reserve: Dolskaya street 10, Bldg.1, Telephone: (495) 343-15-10, 343-15-11. M. , Tsaritsyno. Hours of operation: 12. 00pm – midnight.

The north-west of Moscow is a special place where you can enjoy the beauty of small Ermak protected islands. Here, Nizhniye Mnevninki Street opens up to an that is sur- rounded by the Moscow River. The traditional Russian atmosphere at Ermak makes guests feel peaceful and at ease. The area looks more like a cozy manor house with well-maintained trails and small ponds. The restaurant is built in the old traditions of Russian wooden architecture of the 16th-17th centuries – there is the beautifully carved Ermak building and a spacious summer terrace on the water (with its own kitchen, smokehouse and grill). The restaurant’s colorful menu is a true testament to Russian cuisine. There is royal fish soup with 4 types of fish (beluga, sturgeon, whitefish, salmon) with a shot of vodka and black caviar on white bread and hunting trophies served on the coals: bear meat and deer meat. There is a selection of traditional Russian that includes kvas and cranberry juice, along with different liqueurs and tinctures: orange, cran- berry, pepper, cherry, and horseradish.

Adress: Nizhniye Mnevniki Street 41, Bldg.1. Hours of operation: 12.00pm – midnight. Telephone: (499) 191-25-23, (499) 728-20-03, (495) 969-50-59.

The Radisson Royal Flotilla is ten riverboats with restaurant service on board. The Radisson Royal Flotilla boats do tours of the Moscow River every day, allowing guests to see the city’s key tourist attractions in under 3 hours – the Kremlin, Novodevichy Monastery, the statue of Peter the Great, St. Basil’s Cathedral, the University… The Radisson restaurant boats is an opportunity to enjoy your time in Moscow, look at the capital from a different angle and be sure that you will have an unforgettable and colorful experience. The boats are constructed to easily break through ice and ensure that the passen- gers are comfortable even during the coldest winter days: there are all-weather pan- oramic windows, climate control and a reinforced hull. The boats and the pier have been adapted to accommodate people with disabilities as well. The pier is equipped with a special lift, and crew members will gladly assist you with getting on board in a wheelchair.

Address: UKRAINA hotel pier, Telephone: (495) 228-55-55 Taras Shevchenko embankment, M. Kievskaya. Hours of operation: 10:00am to 9:00pm. Gorky Park pier, Gorky Park, Pushkinskaya embankment, See schedule and order tickets via the website: http://www.radisson-cruise.ru M. Oktyabrskaya, Park Kultury.

96 CAPITAL IDEAS July-September 2015