JULY 07 2007 www.passportmagazine.ru CHATEAU 9 West HAUT BRION is the way it is Is this the best Malaysia wine in the special report world? A Londoner’s London Content 4 Editor's choice Regarding from Shaoling 4 Russian romance 4 Summertime... 4 10 Retail news Shopaholic Guide 2007 10 Mercury ushers in Ralph Lauren 10 TopShop on a roll in Russia 10 12 Business Nine West 13 Value added shopping throughout Europe 14 Do Svidaniya DFID 15 Andreas Romanos, AEB 16 17 Real Estate Russian real estate investment 17 High-end dachas 18 23 Malaysia Special Report Malaysian Russian relations ripe for development 23 Russian Malaysian Trade ready to growth 24 Buying property in Malaysia 24 Getting there 24 Malaysians to blast off to ISS 25 Visit Malaysia 25 Malaysia a choice business location 25 Retire to Malaysia 26 Alluring contrasts in Kuala Lumpur 28 35 Art History of Art 35 India's 60 years of ties with Russia 36 38 Wine & Dine Concerto to creativity 38 Tour of Italy 39 Nick Van Riemsdijk, Executive Chef of Courtyard by Marriott Moscow City Center 42 47 Community Our Lady of Hope: Catholic Ministry in Moscow 48 Postcard from Belarus 49 Tricks of the Trade – The lanes 50 53 Out & About Prince Robert visits Moscow 53 President's Golf Cup 55 Stars go out in Mercedes 55 The effect of Presence. Interviews with legends 56 07 2007 Letter from the Publisher This month I insisted on having a bottle of Château Haut-Brion wine on the cover. This is, in my opinion, one of the finest Premier Grand Cru wines to come out of Bordeaux. Also, I was honored to be a guest of Prince Robert of Luxembourg who owns this French vine- yard, at a gala dinner in Moscow where we were treated to some examples of this very fine wine by their importer Dmitry Pinski, the President of DP Trade. This is the “white nights” season when everyone wants to visit St Petersburg; at least for a weekend. To entice you, we have a special four-page section on that beautiful city. The retail business in Moscow is booming and our Editor-in-Chief John Bonar met with Tom Gibb, the head of international development of 9 West, the U.S. shoe retailer that is expanding rapidly in Russia through licensee The Apparel Group, headquartered in Dubai. Our intrepid editor also talked with the charming and dynamic Desiree Bollier, CEO of Value Retail, which operates nine Chic Outlet Shopping Villages across Europe and was in town to encourage Moscow residents to put them on their short list to visit when traveling there. I’ve been to their village outside Madrid and I have to say a visit to these unique shopping “villages” is an attractive way to spend a day. Andreas Romanos, who has powered the Association of European Business to a new influential relevance in the last three years, is departing Moscow and we have a valedic- tory interview with him where he tells us about his work to make the AEB relevant again to the Moscow business community. Moscow Real Estate is flourishing, and Katya Sutton tells us it’s not too late to rent a dacha … at a price! Piers Gladstone gives us a Londoner’s tour of London and Ian Mitchell bids farewell to the British DFID. Malaysia is one those tropical paradises that often gets overlooked, but with a 12-page John Ortega Special Report produced by Media Solutions, our sales house, we give it the attention that Owner and Publisher is due. From burgeoning trade growth to advise on retiring in Malaysia, we open the doors to you. We look forward to more reports from this dynamic SE Asian hub. Back in Moscow, where the weather is nearly as hot, but without the monsoon rains, we go wine tasting at the Concerto Restaurant at the Swissotel. Enjoy the summer, there’s nothing nicer than a chilled glass of Chablis sitting on one of Moscow’s verandahs. moscow telephone codes change Dear readers please note that since the beginning of 2007 the stationary telephone codes were changed. Now there are 2 codes functioning: -495 and -499. For those who have 495 code: out of 495 you dial: to 495 – 7 digits, to 499 – 8 (499) 7 digits. To mobile – 8 (code) 7 digits. For those who have 499 code: out of 499 you dial: to 499 – 499 7 digits, to 495 – 8 (495) 7 digits. To mobile – 8 (code) 7 digits. In any combination of numbers the call is considered and billed as local. general director and publisher contributors John Ortega, 784-2834 Anne Coombes, Daniel Demytria, Charles Borden, John [email protected] Bonar, Piers Gladstone, Susan Hetherington, Linda editor-in-chief Lippner, Chris Milliken, Ian Mitchell, Natalia Shuvalova, John Bonar, 959-2873, 8 (916) 544-8073 Katya Sutton, Olga Slobodkina-von Bromssen [email protected] proof reader assistant editor Stephen Lapeyrouse Anna Kulyagina, 959-2271, 8 (903) 243-1318 designer [email protected] Marina Orlova wine and dining editor [email protected] Charles Borden photographers [email protected] contributing editor Serge Golovach, Evgeniya Ksenofontova, Daniel Klein Ruslan Sergeev [email protected] webmaster business writer Alexey Timokhin James Blake [email protected] [email protected] accounting and legal services copy editor Vista Foreign Business Support Linda Lippner, 728-5000 ext. 5834 Trubnaya Str. 25/1, Moscow, (495) 933-7822 Circulation 40,000. Readers 80, 000. Published by OOO Passport Magazine. All rights reserved. This publication is registered by the Press Ministry No. 77-18639. 08.10.04 Editorial Address: Ozerkovskaya Embankment, 50 Bldg. 1. Office 515. 5th floor. 115054 Moscow, Russia Tel: (495) 959-2332, (495) 959-2875, (495) 959-2271, Fax: (495) 221-2677 www.passportmagazine.ru 07 2007 Editor's choice Regards from Shaoling As Russia has announced year 2007 a Year of Chinese Culture, it is of no surprise that news, museums, music halls and theaters are full of events “made in China”. This time the Theater of Russian Army hosts a highly-praised show – “Chun I: Kung Fu Legend”. It is said to be a unique theater performance: for the first time ever Kung Fu tech- niques are combined with ballet, circus and modern dance. The story tells about a little boy who arrives in Shoaling to become a monk in the Kung Fu tradition. He gets the name of Chun I – "pure", and over time attains mastery of the art of life: remains steady and unshakable in the face of any challenge. The art director Han Lisun recre- ates the spacious and colorful scenery of the Shoaling monastery which gets even more impressive during the show due to the dynamic light and sound effects. The “Chun I: Kung Fu Legend” performing group consists of about 65 people from more than 13 provinces of China. Theater of the Russian Army All of them are masters of Kung Fu as well as professional dancers and acrobats. Most Suvorovskaya Ploschad, had to undergo theater training to get their place in the show. The first performance M. Novoslobodskaya took place in 2004 and was a great success. 37-65-06 9:00 2-5 July Russian Romance Oleg Pogudin is a big star of Russian classical romance. He is referred to as the “Silver Voice of Russia”. All the critics praise his excellent taste in the choice of material, deep under- standing of the songs he performs, and the complexity, diversity and yet unity of his con- cert programs. Most admire his respect and warm attitude to the audience. Outstanding vocal abilities allow Oleg to perform any music, but he chose to concentrate on one. “Ro- mance is my reference point in the world of music. It is my home. I live in this genre, I am its citizen. If I do any other type of work, it is still under it’s ‘flag': whether it is songs by Vertinsky, military, tango or anything else. For me it is still a romance, but performed, let’s say, in a manner of French chanson”, he says. He never applies any special effects during his performance – everything is classically simple: black smoking jacket and an acoustic guitar. Yet, it creates such an intimate feeling with the audience that many have tears in eyes and chills up their body. Since his first concert (back in 1987) he has been performing in the largest concert halls all over the world. Now he also actively participates in TV and radio programs (including BBC). “Selected” M. Borovitskaya, Polyanka Estrada Theater 959-05-50 Bersenevskaya naberejnaya, 0/ 8 July 9:00 Summertime... Tushino, which obviously has many advantages to offer. First of all it has enough space for all wanting to come and a soft grassy sur- face welcoming you to sit down while enjoying the music. Besides, particular attention is always paid to the location of the stage, au- dio and video equipment. At least five huge screens are installed so that the performance can be seen and heard from every point. If you are interested to see something very Russian – this is the place. The organizers promise thousands of guards to secure safe- ty. A note of caution – do not romanticize the event. Part of the experience will be garbage everywhere, lots of beer consumed (if not something stronger), crowds and huge queues to the bio-toi- “Kryliya” (Wings) is an eagerly awaited summer event for Russian lets... not as clean as in Europe. music lovers. Eight years ago it started as a one day festival of con- temporary Russian rock music.