Global Investment Review #2 EN

GLOBAL INVESTMENT REVIEW International informational and analytical magazine Bi-monthly magazine Magazine is published since December 2015 № 2 (1) March 2016

Contents

Chief Editor – Alex Yar Editor in chief – Vitali Pischenko Executive secretary – Kanstantsin Strausau Commissioning editor – Aleksandra Sakoulevitch Design and layout – Kanstantsin Strausau Publisher and Founder – Alkor LLC 105318, Moscow city, Ibrahimova str. 35-2-14

DISCOVERING AMERICA. FREEDOM, PASSION AND HOLLYWOOD FOR ACTRESS ALEXANDRA CALLAS COOPERATION IS NOT A MYTH, BUT A REALITY

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Ph.: 985-269-82-10 with participation of AY Publishing house http://aypublishinghouse.com/ E-mail: mail@aypublishinghouse.com PR-director – Anna Shishkina (Russia) Ph.: +7-985-269-82-10, anna@gir-magazine.com Head of department of advertising and distribution: Olga Massoner, ph.: +1-918-814-1837, olga@gir-magazine.com Printed in USA Signed to print 22.02.2016 Art paper, size 60х90 1/8 Basic font typeface DIN Pro. Offset printing.

72 pages.

Photos in the magazine: copyrights, shutterstock.com Photos of license Editorial (stated about the photo according to

ADVANTAGES OF INVESTING IN RUSSIA YAKUTIA. DIAMOND PROSPECTS OF REGIONAL ECONOMY

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editorial board. Manuscripts will not be reviewed and returned.

Advertisers are in charge of promotional materials. Editors reserve the right refuse advertising without explanation.

Any part of this materials can not be copied or reproduced without the written permission of editors.

The editorial board is looking to cooperate with professional journalists writing on economic themes, as well as those wishing to try their hand as authors.

Manuscripts will not be reviewed and returned. © GLOBAL INVESTMENT REVIEW, 2016 © «AY Publishing House», 2016

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INVESTING IN CRIMEA: SANCTIONS AND REALITY

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RUSSIAN-STYLE INVESTMENT IN U.S. BORDEAUX MEANS WINE

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CHINA PUTS UP FINANCIAL UMBRELLA OVER ASIA BUSINESS AT RECYCLABLES: MAKING PROFIT AND PROVIDING BENEFIT. ALESHKEVICH FAMILY FROM BELARUS HAS ENTERED AN INTERNATIONAL MARKET

the agreement).

The opinion of the author may be different from the view of the

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OKLAHOMA CONTINUES TO MUSCLE ITS WAY THROUGH THE ECONOMIC RECOVERY PERIOD

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MARKETING MATTERS

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ERSTWHILE, THEY USED TO MAKE PANCAKES...

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HIGH TECHNOLOGIES PARK BUSINESS INCUBATOR. FROM IDEA TO BUSINESS!

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HOW TO BECOME A SUCCESSFUL 3D ARTIST TO LONDON RIGHT NOW!

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From the Editor We late with our magazine.

There were multiple reasons.

We will try to adhere to the release schedule in the future. You are reading the second edition and the third edition is scheduled to come out before the end of August.

In this and in next editions

Alex Yar

we will pay closer attention to the human factor and will introduce you to interesting people - businessmen, actors, scientists. We are certain that investments are not only tied to finances so we tried to keep an eye on investments in multiple industries and

culture. Economics, politics, high tech industry, culture, health industry and even national Russian cuisine.

We are open for collaboration and ready for a dialogue.

Instead of building borders we build connections. Join us. Together we are stronger!

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INVESTMENT REVIEW

We create an economic area without borders and prejudices!

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debut, but also sort of a mark of fate: everything went smoothly despite the difficulties and complications that often arose during filming of this independent masterpiece. Alexandra Callas is a daughter of famed Soviet sculptor Lev Kerbel. She was a popular author, DJ and anchor of several television and radio programs in the early 2000s. Her trained voice, clear articulation, animated and emotional speech and the ability to present herself were all valuable possessions during those bright years.

CRUSH AND BUILD

A short time ago, Alexandra Kerbel was a known radio personality. The audience associated you exclusively with the media. Now you are a distinguished actress, who made a place for herself in Hollywood. How did that happen?

Discovering America.

Freedom, passion and Hollywood for actress Alexandra Callas Yelena Nelinova

[interview] [personality] [international cooperation] [success story] [premiere] [world of cinema] [cinema] [cultural life] [Hollywood]

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he US release of ‘10 Days in a Madhouse’, a movie based on a true story, took place on November 11, 2015. Reporter Nellie Bly pretended to be insane and got herself committed to Blackwell’ Island Asylum and then described her experience. In the movie, nurse Ms. Grupe was Bly’s antagonist. That complex character was played by our fellow citizen, Alexandra Callas. For her, that role was not just a Hollywood

I decided that I would be an actress at a very young age but failed to enter a theater school, failed the last test by stupidity, and chose a safe detour – the Gosteleradio Continuing Education Institute. What followed was deemed to be a successful radio and television career, but I was very unhappy: it was not what I wanted to do. My heart ached every time I was congratulated on my professional success. I wanted to be an actress. And then I told myself, “Stop

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being afraid to take the first step! You will grow old waiting!” Everyone tried so hard to discourage me, they said that I was too old for the acting career (I was ‘already’ 20 years old at the time), that my looks were wrong, and that I needed to change the shape of my nose and the color of my hair. But I decided: it was others who said that, but not God and not me. I jumped in with both feet.

What did you do?

First of all, I quit a good radio job and abandoned all television projects. It was very hard to take this step when you have a full-time job, a sizeable salary and you are invited to side jobs as a known radio personality. I thought I would get married, have a baby and quit. I did not care about money; I’d already realized that it was better to be poor but happy. Soon enough I met the father of my future child, got pregnant and my pregnancy leave cushioned my departure. Secondly, I used every contact that I had, spoke with directors and producers, kept on looking and knocked on every door and window possible. In 90% of cases I was politely ‘sent packing’. Perhaps, Alexander Nazarov, an old acquaintance of mine and a creator of the acclaimed television series ‘Better to Be Born Lucky’ was the only one who found time to discuss my acting plans seriously and at length. He helped me build an algorithm of action, introduced me to several instructors and gave lots of useful advice. In the end he told me: “No matter how hard you try, you will be an amateur until you finish school and learn the techniques.” I started looking for theater schools but my pregnancy happened and I had to delay my dream indefinitely. After my baby was born, I got acquainted with the rector of a private school, the Institute

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of Russian Theater. I was very lucky to have Marina Yuryevna Kaidalova, a Godgiven talent as my teacher and mentor.

Also, I was nervous about studying and still breastfeeding my baby. It appeared that one of the institute buildings was only a block away from my house and my classmates took turns babysitting my baby.

Did your family support you?

My parents passed away a long time ago, I was 20 when my mother died. My father died in 2003, and my grandma passed away when my son was 9-months-old. I still cannot come to terms with it My closest family is my two sisters and their children whom I treat as if they were mine. Certainly, they backed my decision but we live too far from each other. During the first year after my son was born, his father was very helpful; he actually stayed home with our baby although he was very busy running his business. Unfortunately, soon thereafter our marriage crashed against my studies and my passion for the acting career. My former husband is a very good man, yet he wanted a housewife and I could not do that. Thank God, we have a very good relationship and he is always of great help. I got lucky in my third year of school: my classmate’s mother moved from the town of Shakhty to Moscow and I offered her a nanny position to babysit my son.

Marina practically became a member of our family, her help was invaluable.

In fact, there have always been people who supported me: my teachers and my husband, Russian actor Stanislav Callas. We met while studying; he has been helping me constantly, in particular, in the work on my characters. He is always with me, in the time of joy and in the time of doubt.

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How was it to be a student amongst 18-year-olds?

I had to overcome skepticism of my teachers and classmates – I was older than everyone else and married with a child. Many thought that I was a bored housewife who found herself a hobby. And I also had to change myself. I entered the institute on a very high horse – imagine, a popular radio

anchor ranked amongst the best voices of Europe. And then I got a ‘B’ at the elocution exam! It appeared that scenic speech was a totally different thing.

Besides, I was under a huge physical strain. In my school years I slept one hour a day and caught up with my sleep once a month. I browsed the Internet for any casting call information, filled in questionnaires for every kind of actor databases, took part in auditions, made portfolios, learned from various pedagogues and spent days in the Mosfilm film studio. Once, my teacher invited me and some other students to the ‘U Nikitskikh Vorot’ Theater where she was a director and an actress.

She introduced us to Mark Rozovsky.

We were extras at first and then we were given parts. I, a sophomore, found myself in a theater. I’d worked there for several years until the U.S. movie casting call.

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You have been telling me things few people would dare say. This is a philosophical question: could it be you nature?

Yes, I think so. Our father taught us to be independent, to aspire for success and to make the most of our talents without being relentless. He was a self-made man, a remarkable portraitist and a brilliant sculptor. When someone important from the Kremlin came to sit for a portrait and his aides whispered, “You have been keeping him for 30 minutes now! Hurry up!” my father told them, “You are the masters in the Kremlin, and I am the master here.” I have often followed my father’s advice. I was glad to be promised something but I never really believed any promises and opted to do everything myself when a promise was broken. In fact, the only person in the world who can help you is yourself. If you want something but expect others to deliver your dream could it be that you are not very eager to have it? As soon as I realized that I ventured out to discover America. Many people listen to what they are being told, and the family appears to be the biggest danger.

The family discourages you, the family gives advice and tries to scare you by telling stories about failures. You need

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to be independent. Do not hang onto your friend at a social event, learn how to stand alone and to reach out to people wherever you find yourself. Communication is always a source of ideas. Just look into yourself and decide what you want. You will have to try a lot of things before you make this decision. We tend to narrow our horizons.

People rarely think outside the box: they think about being a lawyer, an accountant or a doctor while the world is a much bigger place. You can be a Lego toy designer, or an expert in oil pipeline welding or a geologist. So many wonderful occupations are waiting for you! Thank God, my family never forbade the children to choose their way. Our parents tried to broaden our horizons; they read to us a lot, they told us stories and they traveled with us. We were not told which school to go. Our horizons were broad enough but still all of us chose art. I tried a lot of things. I was a freelancer with the Moskovsky Komsomolets newspaper at the age of 15 and realized that the media was not my choice. I was a DJ in a club, a modeling agency manager, a businesswoman, which was my most unsuccessful experience, and lots of other things. I was testing my abilities.

As a child, I became conscious of adults being so boring! That was odd: they were kids who had just grown up.

Many people lose the ability to see the world through a child’s eyes in their adult life. Those who do not are young even if they turn a hundred. Children do not know that some things may be impossible.

You have said this phrase, ‘passion for the acting career’. Where did it

come from? How did you realize that it was your choice?

I was very young, about five years old.

I like to joke about this, but this is true.

When they were making a documentary about my father, my elder sister and I were asked to draw something with chalk on the asphalt. The scene was staged, with several takes. It was a revelation: movies were miraculous, they were what I always wanted to do. I started watching movies from that angle, I rehearsed, I copied actors and really enjoyed the entire process.

Our parents gave us a video camera, and we started making movies. They would have been on YouTube if it had existed back then.

Does it matter where to look for the place where one belongs?

Every case is special. The place has to be comfortable. My elder sitter married twelve years ago and moved to Egypt. She likes it there. My younger sister became the director of my father’s gallery, and this is where she belongs. She is in harmony with herself. Many people come to Moscow to build their career: they spend 10-15 years struggling for survival, they have three jobs so that they could pay the rent and do not starve to death. They furrow their brows in the constant fight for survival and their eyes look grim.

Twenty years pass before they realize that they once had a dream but did not notice losing it. This is sad.

I have stopped loving Moscow for some reason although this is my hometown. The city has changed, retreated inside oneself and lost its calm and openness. I can feel this very intensely. I feel good in place where there is a job to do and people have respect for my profession, for me as an actress. I have always wanted a world-class acting career. The theater

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is a perfect school but this is not quite my choice, I like sporadic performances which do not become a routine. All I need is movies. No matter what they say, Hollywood is the ‘cinematographic Mecca’. And I was welcome. If it’s God’s will, I will accomplish something here, in Hollywood; I am told that my chances look good. I love Los Angeles and my husband also likes it here very much.

ONE IN TEN THOUSAND Back to your Hollywood story. How did you succeed in the casting?

I was looking for adventure and it found me. I told my European friends and colleagues that I wanted to take part in an international project and they supplied me with information about auditions and casting calls. I also found information about an international casting call online. They were looking for actors to play the parts of main characters of an American journalist’s book. Something happened as soon as I saw that announcement; it was love at first sight. First of all, they needed an actress for the Nellie Bly part, but I was aware that a Russian actress could not play the part of the legendary Irish-born American journalist.

However, I could aspire for another big part, the part of the hospital’s head nurse. It was a 90% female casting call, and everyone was asked to record a monolog. My monolog was directed and recorded by Stas. I had to learn to talk with a German accent because Ms. Grupe was German, an immigrant.

I sent my recording and they chose me from 10,000 aspirants. The telephone rang early on Saturday morning. It was movie director Timothy Hines; he said I got the part and right away started telling me about assistants, costumes, and the filming process. I was shaking all over. Two months later I was on a

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plane to snowy Oregon for the production of the first part of the movie. I spent seven weeks there.

difficult moment when the Ukraine conflict began. I was very afraid of war.

I wanted to go home, to my family.

Someone from the film crew has told reporters with surprise about your happiness, you taking joy in snow Yes, it was amazing. The set was inaccessible many times: first a snowfall blocked the roads and then there was a flood. We were enjoying our free time. I was playing snowballs all by myself, enjoying Christmas weather, and my colleagues were shivering and complaining about the freeze. Endorphins overwhelmed me when we were working; it was a non-stop joy, lots of memorable moments and new friends. The movie was made with a six-month pause.

Our second location was Los Angeles, and Christopher Lambert and Kelly Le Brock joined us there. I liked them very much. Lambert has perfect manners, men can learn from him a lot. He is a career actor and he is always ready for another rehearsal just to make it easier to work on the set. We once had to play an extra scene without having a chance to rehearse; we improvised and that was very interesting. This a real challenge. This is a chance for every actor to shine.

Ms. Grupe is a villain. How did it feel to play that character?

Wonderful! I loved playing the nurse part. It was a huge work. My teacher, talented Russian actress Yelena Sergeyevna Sokolova, helped me very much. We did a lot of research together, we analyzed, and we discussed particular scenes and tried to understand what was driving my character at each particular moment. Marina Yuryevna Kaidalova joined us. I rehearsed at home with my husband, we kept on playing various scenes and he was any character I wanted him to be. Those moments were unforgettable, beautiful.

I am totally grateful to my teachers for their support and their belief in me.

They are my close people.

Speaking of my character’s personality … First of all, you create every character from the depths of your own personality.

All of us understand that there are circumstances under which anyone can kill, betray or steal or, on the contrary, be noble. It is interesting to ‘pull out’ a certain part of your personality and to play it. Besides, Ms. Grupe is a real rather than ‘comic’ character and her personality was a result of her choice.

Where there any other challenges?

I speak English fluently but when we were on the set I realized that I did not speak it well enough because people were using abbreviations and acronyms all the time. There were so many new phrases I’d never heard in my life! I was very nervous at first, fearing that I would be sent home… Time passed and I saw the light. There was another psychologically

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Practically nothing is known about Ms. Grupe. I visited the archives to study stories of immigrants dating back to those times, their fates and reasons why they came to America, and even found a biography which was very similar to the biography of my character. Probably, it was not her, but I created her story for myself and understood why my character had to be that way.

10 Days in a Madhouse is a movie about women, about the time when they were second-class citizens.

A good wife stayed at home, and her husband was in full control. It was impossible to commit a man to a mental hospital without a court order, statements of witnesses and a doctor’s opinion. And it was easy to commit a woman just because a man said so. In those times, it was difficult for women to make their way in life and

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We are great friends. Caroline Barry is a rising Hollywood star, this is her first big movie and, being little known, she succeeded in a colossal and complex casting just like me.

We feel alike about many things.

She is very nice and talented.

And she is a workaholic, just like me.

to build a career. And my character is an average woman, moreover an immigrant. People who had nothing had a chance to survive by doing the hardest work. Dozens of immigrants were ‘worked to death’ at factories. It was not easy to work at an asylum either. That island accommodated not only the asylum but also prisons, and quite often inmates were hired to look after insane persons. Ms. Grupe was not a prisoner, she was simply a survivor.

She badly needed that job. She also saw American women who came from decent families amongst her patients and felt superior to them. On the other hand, she saw immigrants just like her and involuntarily tried to distance herself so that it never occurred to anyone to compare them. It was definitely not the idea she had about her life in America; being a woman, she had ambition to be loved, to have a husband and to quit that terrible job. As soon as you grasp her motivation, you realize that she was not a bad person. She just made a wrong choice and could not understand that. When Nelli Bly comes to the asylum, she confronts my character.

They have a lot of traits in common but Nelli puts them to good use, and Ms. Grupe minds her own benefit and harms people around her by doing so.

What are your relations with the actress who played the Nelli Bly part?

US VS. THEM How does the acting in Russia differ from the acting overseas?

The differences are huge. First of all, everything is streamlined here, in America. Every person has a place and a duty. You know well which person to approach in every situation. I had my trailer and my personal assistant, and it was arranged so that no one talked to me during production, I was isolated.

It’s not good if an actor is unable to concentrate on one’s part for 15 takes in row. An actor needs to grow into one’s part. This is why the actor needs space for quietly concentrating on one’s tasks. Complete isolation is good for the movie: the work is harmonious, the emotional atmosphere is good, scenes are played rapidly and smoothly, and, in the end, investors’ money is spent wisely. I think this is one of Hollywood’s secrets.

The second secret is that everything here is multiplied by the American dream: no matter who you are, you can achieve anything. I like it very much that America shows profound respect for the work of every person, even an extra. The movie industry is a miracle industry, and everything there needs to be miraculous. The ability to do so is an important factor. Here, we often lack respect for work. Just think about one awful phrase: ‘a bit part actor’. The movie production process

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in Russia resembles of a tangled ball of yarn; everyone has a duty, everyone is responsible for everything but in the end… Although a structure which, they say, used to exist in the Soviet era has begun to reappear lately.

Yet Russian cinematographer has its fortes. What is it that Hollywood lacks?

We have wonderful instructors and brilliant career actors and you can always learn from them. Our theater is a wonder! True, some may say there are theaters and actors everywhere.

But you have more chances to see a well-trained actor who can make a huge input in your movie rather than an amateur in a casting call here. Lots of special effects and crowd scenes have lately appeared in Russian movies under the influence of Hollywood. But the forte of European (including Russian) cinematography is a movie based on a story and top-notch acting rather

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than a big budget and special effects.

Russia should not chase America, we can never catch up with their budgets.

Did the international political situation have an effect on the attitude of the Americans to Russia? Did you feel it?

Absolutely not! The attitude is very friendly. They are well disposed to Russia and the Russians, and regular domestic problems are their agenda, just like every average person’s. By the way, every American I have met has some relation to Russia – either friends or family members live there or they have worked there or they are learning Russian. All of them know a few words in Russian.

The premiere has taken place. The movie is planned to be nominated for Oscar. What are you doing now?

Before the premiere, we had been engaged in promotion, attending events

and meeting with the press. Now I am negotiating my participation in new movies. 

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Cooperation is not a myth, but a reality

By Victoria Kluchevskaya

[International cooperation] [Magazine events] [Business meeting] [Report] [ Inter Invest Oklahoma Foundation] [ The Chamber of Commerce of the Russian Federation]

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n November 9-10, 2015, the Chamber of Commerce of the Russian Federation held a round table attended by representatives of the Russian and American businesses. They discussed topical issues such as the Russian-American Investment Cooperation: Attracting Investments in Russian Projects; Experience of Project Financing in the US and Alternative Russian Investment Project Financing Mechanisms and Instruments in Modern Conditions. The round table also provided for the session Development of Construction: Prospects for Russian-American Cooperation.

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the industry in Russia had developed actively: there was studied and widely embedded mortgage instrument which took more than half of the low-rise building market.

The Chairman of the International Expert Network ‘Soyuzkonsalt’ Oleg Palade emphasized that at the time the technological investment and technology transfer were becoming one of the most important trends in the development of international cooperation. According to him, the investment attractive is the financial area.

In the field of sales and marketing the most successful development will be in the case of cooperation and collaboration with other brands. A potentially attractive industry is procurement, as the current policy is aimed at providing preferential status to goods produced in Russia. In addition, locating the production can bring a significant reduction in logistics costs and reduce the risks associated with the movement of goods across the border.

The Director of the Chamber of Commerce’s Department for Exhibition, Fair and Congress Activities Igor Korotin, welcoming guests from Oklahoma, drew their attention to the fact that even despite tensions between the two countries, the initiative to hold the round table came from the American side and the Russian Chamber of Commerce provided support for the bilateral business dialogue. He also expressed confidence in the constructive development of direct links between business representatives of the two countries.

In his speech, the Deputy Chairman of the Expert Council on Housing under the Committee of the State Duma, the VicePresident of the National Agency for LowRise and Cottage Building Valery Kazeikin stressed that the Russian building industry is transparent and the state is ready to provide guarantees for investors planning to enter the Russian market.

The Director General of the National Construction and Housing Management Agency Mikhail Green elaborated on the legal aspects of the investment cooperation in the field of building, but also noted that in recent years,

Representatives of the US businesses took active part in the round table as well.

Thus, the Ross Group President, Mr. Warren Ross, spoke about the investment projects in the state of Oklahoma, emphasizing special conditions that are offered to investors.

The peculiarities of doing business in the United States for non-residents were highlighted

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by the lawyer and the managing partner of the InterInvest Oklahoma Foundation – Lydia Lawson.

According to the president of the Regent Bank Sean Copeland, an important factor in establishing mutually beneficial cooperation with American partners is an understanding that various states have various economic and tax policies. In particular, Oklahoma has significant advantages as compared with other more ‘expensive’ ones, which, in particular, showed the crisis of 2008, when financial institutions were not destroyed, but strengthened.

When asked whether the sanctions policy affects investment in the Russian economy Mr. Copley replied that the Russian market was to some extent underestimated due to sanctions, even though it was extremely attractive and promising for investors. Therefore, at present it is the interbusiness dialogue and individual approach to each project that is the key to successful implementation of investment projects.

In his view, the US economy experienced a similar crisis in 2008-2009, and the Russian economy is going through hard times right now. But actions expanding cooperation in all areas are necessary even today.

During the event there was held a direct video conference with the President of the Inter Invest Oklahoma Foundation, the Chief Editor of the Global Investment Review magazine Alex Yar, and the General Director of Alcor, the managing partner of the Inter

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Invest Oklahoma Foundation, and co-founder of the international edition Global Investment Review Anna Shishkina told in detail about the aims and objectives of the Foundation.

The audience took the great interest in the first edition of the Global Investment Review magazine: they asked the Chief Editor Vitaly Pishchenko numerous questions. Everyone could get the book ‘Priority Promise’ by Sean Copley, which is very popular in the US, for the first time released in Russian language in the Library journal. It should be noted that it caused genuine interest; many people did not miss a chance to take the author’s autograph.

Within the framework of the round table the attention of the American guests was drawn to a number of projects potentially interesting for bilateral cooperation. Russian participants also expressed a desire to visit Mr. Copley’s educational business seminars and lectures during a return visit to Tulsa.

In conclusion, Igor Korotin stressed that the two-day US-Russia round table confirms the keen interest of the parties in the development of business relations in specific areas and sectors of the economy, and also confirmed that the Russian Chamber of Commerce will continue working on the expansion of direct contacts between Russian and American businesses and amongst short-term plans will be the organization of the Russian business mission to Oklahoma and preparation for the broad US-Russia business forum. 

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Advantages of Investing in Russia Victor Zuev

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n 2012, Russia ranked sixth in the international rating of investment inflows, and then moved up to the third position in 2013. Since introduction of the economic sanctions in 2014-2015, the inflow of foreign capital was significantly reduced. However foreign investors continue showing a strong interest in the Russian Federation. Many foreign companies preferred not to exit from the promising Russian market despite the economic restrictions. On the contrary, today the US and European businessmen are actively seeking cooperation with potential partners from Russia and hoping for the improvement of political climate in the near term.

WHY DO FOREIGN INVESTORS DESIRE TO DEAL WITH RUSSIA?

[investments] [crisis] [economic situation] [the future] [research and analysis] [international situation] [what’s current]

There was no a single day after the collapse of the USSR that Russia would have lost its investment attractiveness for foreign businesses.

The key driver provoking the interest in it on a part of experienced investors is its numerous extensive deposits of valuable natural resources.

Russia is the world leader in terms of both scope and variety of domestic raw materials.

It is packed with all known minerals and huge amounts of oil and gas, apatites, phosphorites, potassium salts, iron ores, wood, peat and coal deposited everywhere from Moscow to Vladivostok.

The Russian oil and gas industry remains a key sector of the national economy, although an enormous and diverse potential of its manufacturing sector is also recognized by the foreign companies who have had the experience of operating in Russia before the imposition of sanctions. The era of financial instability will come to its end soon or late, and the consumer markets will see the renewal of intensive growth trends, together with increased individual incomes and further rise of the middle class. Alongside with relatively cheap workforce, all these factors sufficiently explain why foreign investors continue targeting the Russian market.

THE INVESTMENT ATTRACTIVENESS OF RUSSIA STILL GROWS

According to expert and analytic opinions, immediately after the abolition of the sanctions Russia will be ready to renew the consistent implementation of infrastructure projects, the development of consumer goods manufacture, automotive and heavy industry sectors. In 2012, 128 large businesses with foreign investments were launched in Russia, with compatible number of projects having started in 2011.

Due to the successful attraction of investments, in 2012 Russia was rated second in Europe for the amount of jobs created through the procurement of foreign capital.

The e-trade segment looks no less promising.

The Internet has become accessible to almost a half of Russian citizens, with local market of e-services being among the European tops for several recent years. The majority of investments in sales and services offered through the global Web is still concentrated in Moscow in Saint-Petersburg.

The membership of the country in the World Trade Organization, its integration in the Common Economic Area with Kazakhstan and Belarus, as well as the establishment of

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the Eurasian Economic Union and many other similar factors provide a sound contribution to its attractiveness as a subject of fruitful investments. The Russian government continues to actively pursue the privatization goals and takes measures improving the demographic statistics which also contribute to the growth of the country’s investment potential.

ATTITUDES OF POTENTIAL INVESTORS

The overwhelming majority of Western companies currently operating in Russia strive to expand their presence in the country regardless of the sanctions and their implications. The regime of economic restrictions forces them to adopt certain adjustments of course, but many businessmen from the USA and Europe still maintain the far-reaching strategic plans for Russia.

However many potential investors show more reserved attitudes just due to deficiency of information. Such entrepreneurs usually target the Russian metropolitan cities but, after having obtained some experience, start actively enquiring about the opportunities to develop their businesses at regional levels.

MEASURES TO MEET THE NEEDS OF POTENTIAL INVESTORS

In the financially unstable environment, the Russian government concentrates its efforts of facilitation and reforming of the key economic processes to attract more business people and companies interested in dealing with our country. Many of these efforts are directed against the obstacles which restrain economic growth and the development of regional enterprises. Notwithstanding the sanctions, the country regularly holds international conferences and meetings designed to keep the potential investors better informed.

Today, when the growth of many economic sectors has slowed down, Russia may use this time to reform the problem areas of its administrative system, legislative basis and to solve the key political issues related to the recruitment of foreign investors.

To overcome the high reliance of public

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well-being and the country in general on the oil exports, Russia strongly needs to promote other industries in order to achieve the balanced economic model which will support the stable development of the state in medium to long run.

Russian companies show a strong interest in cooperation with foreign partners in innovations sector, particularly by sharing the experience between industrial enterprises and educational institutions.

There are several state programs currently implemented in Russia with an aim to develop the Eastern and Western parts of the country to increase the investment potential of its constituent entities.

Also, the RF Government takes efforts to train staff for the companies involving the foreign capital. Within the segment of business education, an extended range of qualifications is currently developed for those students whose future careers will have direct or indirect relation to businesses.

HOW DO INVESTORS COME TO RUSSIA?

The tough restrictions adopted by the European Union and the USA with regard to Russia have instigated the investment inflow through offshore areas. Since the introduction of the sanctions, the financial flows from the British Virgin Islands have increased 5 times. The flow of funds through Cyprus has grown 13 times.

These facts demonstrate not so much the increasing appeal of Russia for entrepreneurs from these island states as the way how the Western companies try to find the alternative channels for import of their investments.

To raise more foreign capital, both executive and legislative powers in Russia consistently work to reduce the tax burden of domestic and foreign companies. The national accounting system is currently being adjusted to conform as much as possible to the international principles and standards.

The insurance market represents further area of active reforming with a view to provide potential investors with additional guarantees of safe business in the Russian Federation.â€‰ď Ž

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GOLDEN OPOSSUM 01.01.2016 – 15.12.2016

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NOMINATIONS 1) Caricature: Topics – MONEY/INVESTMENT, IMMIGRATION/MIGRATION, COWBOYS, PASSION, FUNNY MONEY. 2) Poster: Topic – MONEY WILL SAVE THE WORLD. PRIZES AND AWARDS In the nomination «Caricature»: 1ST PRIZE «GOLDEN OPOSSUM» and $2,500; 2ND PRIZE «SILVER OPOSSUM» and $1,500; 3RD PRIZE «BRONZE OPOSSUM» and $1,000; 4TH PRIZE «ENCOURAGING OPOSSUM» and $500.

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[Investments] [Analysis and Research] [Figures and Percents] [Economic Situation] [Crisis] [Prospects]

effect on investment attractiveness of the industry and the region as a whole.

By the way, a similar situation is being observed in industrially-developed Poland.

The Polish people always welcome devaluation of the zloty because it causes a rise in exports and revenue of their enterprises.

A proof is the successful operation of joint ventures involving Japanese, Indian and Chinese capital. Israel and Asia Pacific countries also have a keen interest in diamond-cutting business.

Experts predict that the activity of export-oriented enterprises of Yakutia will remain at the pre-crisis level despite numerous negative trends in the Russian economy. The ongoing legal reform is assisting in the development of industries

Yakutia. Diamond Prospects of Regional Economy

Inga Yudina

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oday Yakutia is the largest region of Russia. The republic is able to cover its costs without tangible financial support from Moscow.

It is not accidental that Yakutia is called a diamond state: diamond cutting is a local core industry, which yields finished products with a high added value.

DIAMOND-CUTTING INDUSTRY IN DIGITS

• The industry accounts for approximately 2% in the regional industry structure.

• Twelve diamond-cutting companies were operating in Yakutia in 2014.

• The total cost of diamonds produced in 2014 stood at $167 million,

demonstrating 17% year-on-year growth.

• Revenue from diamond sales reached $236 million in 2014.

In all, 116,000 carats of product were sold.

• Approximately 50% of diamonds are exported.

• China, Japan, the United States, Israel and the EU countries are major buyers.

PROSPECTS OF DIAMONDCUTTING INDUSTRY IN REPUBLIC OF SAKHA (YAKUTIA) AMID CRISIS

The diamond-cutting industry is predominantly export-oriented, so devaluation of the ruble has had a positive

and the attraction of investments. For instance, the Federal Law on Industrial Policy of the Russian Federation provides substantial tax benefits for industrial enterprises. Federal and local authorities are actively cooperating in the liberalization of export duties and VAT.

FUTURE OF YAKUTIAN DIAMOND-MINING INDUSTRY

Modern industrial parks focused on diamonds and jewelry will appear in the territory of the republic in the upcoming years. A boost to world-class development of the

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industrial sector is a primary objective of local and federal authorities. EPL Diamond, the leader of the republic’s jewelry and diamond-cutting industry, is the main initiator of industrial parks.

Four enterprises affiliated to Alrosa Group are mining diamonds in the territory. This industry is highly essential to the republican economy and is steadily exhibiting superb profitability levels.

DIAMOND-MINING INDUSTRY IN FIGURES

• Diamond mines ship approximately 38% of the republic’s industrial products.

• About 20% of workforce employed in manufacturing sectors mine diamonds.

• Diamond mines provide 76% of revenue among profitable industries.

• Over 20% of taxes paid to the local budget come from this most profitable industry of the Republic of Sakha.

The diamond-mining industry develops under a special program designed by Alrosa specialists. This is a long-term document: action plan stages are set out for the period until 2023 and coordinated with the Russian president.

Alrosa plans to increase diamond mining to 36-37 million carats by 2016 and to maintain an equal output in a later period. The goal can be achieved through the expansion of existent mining facilities and the creation of new ones.

YAKUTIA AS ADVANCED DEVELOPMENT TERRITORY (ADT)

The formation of advanced development territories in Eastern Siberia is a part of strategic plans of the Russian government.

Non-resource export-oriented businesses will be entitled to preferential rates of insurance contributions. New enterprises will enjoy five-year property, land and revenue tax breaks. The operation of

GLOBAL INVESTMENT REVIEW

advanced development territories is regulated by a separate federal law which envisages the creation of a special economic zone in addition to tax benefits. Once the zone is set up, production equipment, finished products and raw materials will be imported to and exported from the region without such impediments as taxes and customs duties.

The Republic of Yakutia is productively cooperating with national authorities in the acceleration of economic growth in the region. The most prominent and promising advanced development territory project is Kangalassy industrial park to be created within the administrative borders of Yakutsk city district. The project will provide a universal platform for industrial production in a number of most popular areas.

The size of business and the specific features of an enterprise operating within an advanced development territory are not restricted by Russian laws, which is highly attractive to companies of any scope. It is a unique feature of the Kangalassy project that most residents of the prospective advanced development territory are small investment ventures.

The companies specialize in production of polyethylene pipes, paint, composite, insulation and building materials. China’s Sunyang Chemical products (bricks, building blocks, scraps melting) and Lithuania’s Vakaro Rasa, a manufacturer of continuous burning boilers, are listed

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among foreign investors. The number of enterprises wishing to become residents of the future industrial park has been growing day after day.

ADVANCED DEVELOPMENT TERRITORIES IN SHORT- AND MEDIUM-TERM FUTURE

Approximate investment in Kangalassy project may amount to 1.310 billion rubles, including 1.119 billion rubles contributed by private businesses. The advanced development territory can generate about 2 billion rubles for the local budget and over 9.3 billion rubles in added value from its anchor projects.

It is planned to create 350 jobs at the initial stage.

The industrial park project, which is unprecedentedly extensive for Yakutia, will significantly improve the investment attractiveness of the region. Kangalassy will bring the republic to a new developmental stage based on productive cooperation between local and federal authorities and businesses experienced in launching modern high-tech enterprises. 

The Oklahoma State Regional Center JOBS. PROGRESS. INVESTMENT Call Us: 1–888–749–1146

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GLOBAL INVESTMENT REVIEW

Crimea

Ilya Moravsky

[investments] [economic situation] [international cooperation] [analysis and research] [figures and percent] [topical] [crisis]

MARCH 2016

Investing in Crimea: Sanctions and Reality

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rimea has yet to be called a region boasting ideal investment climate but the Russian and local governments are doing their best to make this happen.

Innovations are mostly introduced in a manual regime but the wish of the authorities to attract foreign investors to the region speaks volumes. Not a single potential investor in Crimea will be arbitrarily rejected by an official until the latter explains to the head of the constituent territory why he says ‘no’ to the foreign businessman.

A territorial planning system of the peninsula is being actively worked out, and it is expected to boost many promising projects. A regional publicprivate partnership law is being prepared for adoption to facilitate and add transparency and clarity to relations between investors, local businessmen and authorities of the peninsula.

The Crimean administration had not shown any interest in attracting foreign capital in industrial and infrastructural projects for a long time. There is every reason to believe now that things will

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change, and accelerated development of agriculture backed by foreign investments will be included in investment areas.

What problems of Crimea as investment target can be resolved in near future?

A number of European companies which started their business in Crimea in the Ukrainian period are still working on the peninsula. The investors have quite broad interests: from the financial sector and industries to infrastructures.

Of course, the tempo and scope of cooperation are a far cry from what has been planned at the start. For instance, it is not easy for a foreigner to open a checking account in a local bank. But the authorities are promising to deal with such bureaucratic hindrances within months.

The only way to reach Crimea is via St. Petersburg or Moscow because of the sanctions, and visas are not issued upon the arrival in Simferopol airport.

This is a major problem which is being addressed by the government.

Cooperation priorities are a subject of dialog with potential foreign investors.

Land remains the major asset in Crimea. However, billions have not been invested in the peninsula yet for one simple reason: businessmen need stability guarantees for the next 30-50 years. Long-term lease of land plots is not available, which makes land a less attractive asset although local authorities keep pledging the soonest resolution of this problem at numerous forums and meetings.

Why does Crimea attract potential investors?

The tourism industry and affiliated farming projects are a magnet for businessmen from Europe and the United States. The construction of a large number of tourist complexes

GLOBAL INVESTMENT REVIEW

is planned to begin in the peninsula within years. Crimea can attract foreign tourists for whom these new complexes are intended with Yalta, the host city of the famed 1945 conference, and Sevastopol with its legendary military past.

Regretfully, few Western tourists are aware of those events known to

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every Russian. It is a task of investors and local authorities to popularize the tourist image of the region alongside developing its infrastructure.

Crimea has been developing at slow rates for decades, and hundreds of billions of dollars will have to be invested for bridging this gap. These investments will not only transform the peninsula

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but also bring substantial dividends to foreign businessmen.

Soon enough the construction of modern yacht marinas will begin in Sevastopol and Feodosia in accordance with high European and international standards. The process will start as soon as the local administration finalizes the demarcation of land and the coastline assigned for the needs of the civilian sector and defense. Investments are expected to start in early spring 2016 once the documents are signed.

The public-private partnership law awaited by many investors and local businessmen has every chance to be adopted in Crimea in the near future.

There is no similar legislative act at the federal level but more than 50 Russian regions have adopted such laws for attracting investments. Crimea is likely to follow the lead of other Russian constituent territories shortly.

Auchan is Major Investor in Crimean Peninsula Despite the sanctions, European businessmen have a keen interest in

MARCH 2016

cooperation with Crimea. The French international retail group, Auchan, is already operating on the peninsula and planning to expand its presence in the region.

European businessmen are mostly interested in recreation and entertainment infrastructures, resorts, wine-making, production of tobacco, retail trade, shipbuilding and some other industrial, agricultural and service segments which are no less promising.

Investments in Crimea in figures According to the Crimean Economic Development Ministry, the founders of over 400 projects have expressed their wish to collaborate with the region.

Eighteen projects have entered a stage of active development. Many investment agreements are under consideration and signing.

The center for investments and regional development is now adjusting 31 projects to the local realities. Investors come from Israel, Japan, France, Turkey, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic and some other countries.

Problems of land, sanctions resolved Crimean head Sergey Aksyonov said recently that the authorities had begun to issue permits, which would enable investors to receive land lease guarantees for 30 years and more as an essential condition for starting their business.

According to Mr. Aksyonov, the local administration has also developed a mechanism for the evasion of the sanctions by companies really interested in signing cooperation agreements with the authorities of the Crimean Peninsula.

The procedure has been repeatedly tested, and Western signatories to cooperation agreements do not have to fear for their business reputation in the EU or the United States.

The new Crimean authorities have also minimized the numerous corruption impediments, and investment processes in the peninsular economy are gaining momentum on every possible track.ď Ž   

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Russian-style investment in U.S. Veniamin Kovalsky

[investments] [analysis and research] [economic situation] [global economy] [international cooperation] [crisis] [prospect]

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he Russian government is justly deemed to be the main Russian investor in the U.S. economy. In July 2015, Moscow spent $9.7 billion on U.S. Treasury bonds. That sum is evidenced by estimates of the U.S. Federal Reserve System and the Russian Finance Ministry.

Prior to that deal, Russia owned $81.7 billion worth of U.S. government bodies. For years, Russia has been one of the top 20 creditors of the United States.

WHAT INVESTMENT DO RUSSIAN OLIGARCHS MAKE?

Mikhail Khodorkovsky is in confrontation with the Russian authorities; he is heavily investing in the United States. His foundation, Quadrum Global, operates at least $2 billion assets, including real estate in Manhattan, Illinois

and Florida. Khodorkovsky owns nine hotels in the United States with a total capacity of about 2,200 rooms. The assets of the former Yukos CEO also include a number of office buildings in a central area of New York City.

Forbes and Bloomberg have repeatedly tried to ask partners of Khodorkovsky and Lebedev a few questions, yet information about U.S. assets of the former Russian oligarchs is being kept secret.

The appetite of another well-known businessman from Moscow, Mikhail Prokhorov, is more modest. This Russian owns the Brooklyn News basketball team. Reports alleging his intention to sell 20% of the club assets which, according to experts, cost at least $1.5 billion have been published lately.

MARCH 2016

GLOBAL INVESTMENT REVIEW

RUSSIAN-SCALE INVESTMENT IN U.S. REAL ESTATE

Geopolitical difficulties created by both the U.S. sanctions and the Kremlin reaction are prompting many Russian businessmen to invest in U.S. assets. That process has been reported by Russia’s authoritative news agency Interfax, which, in turn, refers to MarketWatch.

Numerous companies helping Russian businessmen adapt to the unfamiliar country confirm that the number of requests from Russian businessmen has more than doubled lately.

Real estate in Manhattan, which has always been very popular with immigrants from the former Soviet Union, is the most sought-after investment. The interest in investing in private business projects and real estate in other U.S. states has also been on the rise in recent years. For instance, real estate in Oklahoma and Dakota, where ‘the shale gas boom’ is gaining momentum, is in high demand.

RUSSIANS BUY PREMIUM REAL ESTATE

Russians had been spending heavily on real estate even before the sanctions were imposed.

For example, Russian student Yekaterina Rybolovleva bought a house for $88 million in Central Park West in December 2011. After the deal was closed, real estate prices in that area were up at least 25%. For comparison, the townhouse of Lebanese Mexican Carlos Slim, the richest man in the world according to the Forbes rating, cost only $44 million.

Before the high-profile $88 million deal, the $40 million apartment of Russian composer and producer Igor Krutoi was the New York real estate market record holder. The apartment of 557 square meters is situated in the Plaza Hotel residence. The deal of Mr. Krutoi is believed to have helped the New York real estate market recover from the crisis of 2008-2010.

Russians have been especially active investing in New York real estate in recent months.

The sanctions imposed in the early 2014 are making Russian businessmen less patriotic.

The latest deals include a deluxe residence

on Union Square, a condominium near the Empire State Building, and an office building in Midtown Manhattan. Brooklyn is another target of Russian investors. The value of closed deals varies from $ 30 million to $218 million.

Brooklyn is another target of Russian investors. The value of closed deals varies from $ 30 million to $218 million.

RUSSIAN-STYLE TECHNOLOGY SHOPPING

The lifting of the sanctions is unlikely to happen in the near future. In this context, the Russian government is trying to foster substitution of

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imports. Significant progress in that area has turned out to be impossible without Western technologies. Hence, Russian companies are buying licenses to new technologies, innovative microchip design programs, hardware for manufacturing microelectronic products and other high-tech industrial equipment in the United States.

Bureaucrats from numerous Russian ministries were unwilling to allot public funds to developers

Neither the complicated political ambience nor the cooling in relations between certain representatives of Russian and U.S. authorities have stopped Russian business angels’ investment in American start-ups. only a short time ago but things have changed drastically. Russian businessmen backed by the government can now afford big buys.

Their shopping is being monitored by the U.S. government. Some deals are banned for political considerations, and other deals are closed with the help of local lobbyists.

RUSSIANS SUPPORT U.S. START-UPS

The information technology market predominantly lies outside the political field although technologies have long become the main weapon of information wars. Neither the complicated political ambience nor the cooling in relations between certain representatives of Russian and U.S. authorities have stopped Russian business angels’ investment in American start-ups. An average investment varies from $200,000 to $1 million. The spheres of interest vary from medical center applications to commodity software.

SOME OF PROMISING START-UPS BACKED BY RUSSIAN BUSINESSMEN

Prosper Marketplace, a peer-to-peer lending service of San Francisco developers, has raised about $70 million. The investors include the Phenomen Ventures Fund of Russian businessman Dmitry Falkovich and the staterun Russian Venture Company.

The Drchrono start-up is tasked to support data exchange between patients and doctors on a specialized platform supported by iPad and iPhone. The project raised $2.69 million, and Russian funds Maxfield Capital and Runa Capital of businessman Alexander Turkot and oligarch Viktor Vekselberg were listed amongst its investors. Russian citizen Yury Milner backed the project at the early stage.

Weaved is another investment of Maxfield Capital, the precise amount of which is not formally known. The ‘Internet of things’ startup has cooperated with Cisco, Philips, Astak and Lorex. The Russian fund’s investment reportedly does not exceed $1.5-2 million.

As we can see, the Russians have been developing the U.S. economy in a rather energetic manner, to the extent of their modest or sometimes breathtaking abilities.

Considering the economic instability and the ongoing sanctions, there is every reason to believe that the relocation of Russian capitals to the U.S. economy will be demonstrating an upward trend in the forthcoming years. 

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Bordeaux means wine Shirel-Natalia Munina and Meir Chernetsky

[in vino veritas] [winemaking] [Bordeaux] [cultural life] [interesting facts]

ĐĄ

First, a few words about blends.

Coupage is the blending of wines aimed to obtain homogenous, typical and standard organoleptic properties or in some cases to cure wine weaknesses and flaws.

Coupage is necessary because of differences in climate, weather patterns, soil, slope, solar exposure of the vineyard, grape airing, etc. Grapes harvested from the same vineyard on different days make different wines, because grapes differ by their ripeness, sugar content and acidity.

Vineyards may spread out over vast space in big farms, and grapes grown in the same vineyards may differ from one another. As a result, wines develop different organoleptic properties, aroma and taste.

A good wine is balanced, i.e. its organoleptic properties (color, aroma, taste and aftertaste) are fine, harmonious and delightful. Such wine will not be too sweet or too acid, it will not be too alcoholic or too harsh, tannic. A balanced wine’s aroma and taste match its bouquet.

MARCH 2016

Every grape variety has its properties.

They can be either enhanced or weakened by terroir, i. e. climate, meteorological characteristics of the vintage (maturity year) and soil. Several varieties of wine are blended for balancing purposes (for instance, for mitigating the acidity, fixing aroma and enhancing the fruit scent).

This process is called assemblage, coupage or blending.

A frequent goal of coupage is to meet the required wine parameters, including alcohol and sugar content, acidity and other physical and chemical properties.

This requires calculation of quantities of materials with known properties.

For example, 80% of wine material with 6.5 grams per liter acidity mixed with wine material with 7 grams per liter acidity will make a blend with 6.6 grams per liter acidity.

Winemakers frequently use formulas based on equations with set parameters.

Such equations are solved in many enology (wine science) research centers which often operate at universities. Besides, many farms have grown experienced in wine coupage over decades or even centuries.

As a rule, several test blends are created before commercial coupage is produced. The blends undergo physical, chemical, microbiological or organoleptic (tasting) tests. The best blend is commercialized. Commercial coupage is made in large mixers. The wine is mixed until the whole volume turns into a blend.

Blending requires experience and knowledge of wine material technicalities.

Theoretical knowledge, practical technique and intuition are the main ingredients of success. The blending skills are probably the most important component of the art of winemaking.

As we have said before, every part of the blend complements another in a harmonious and balanced product.

GLOBAL INVESTMENT REVIEW

Bordeaux appellations map from villes-de-france.ru website

Vast coupage experience has been accumulated over years of winemaking.

Most combinations of grape varieties have become known and have been profoundly studied in the centuries-old winemaking tradition. Some regions, for instance, Bordeaux in France or Valpolicella in Italy, practically do not make varietal wines but produce blends only. There are opposite examples too, for instance, Nebbiolo wine in Piedmont or Pinot Noir in Burgundy but they are much less frequent.

The world has about two dozen ‘classic blends’ learned by enologists, wine industry professionals and wine connoisseurs by name, variety assortment and organoleptic properties. Today we will tell you about one of the most famous wine regions of France and the entire world and its wine (and blends).

This is Bordeaux.

The Bordeaux wine region is situated in southwestern France, the Gironde department in the Aquitaine province.

It lies in the estuary of the Gironde River which flows into the Atlantic Ocean and its tributaries, the Garonne and the Dordogne. The regional climate

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is largely influenced by the ocean and the Gulf Stream current.

Winters are mild, rainy and quite warm, and summers are sunny and moderately hot. Bordeaux is probably the largest wine region in the world.

There are several thousand wineries (almost all of them called chateaux) and 61 appellations (AOC) there.

As a rule, Bordeaux is divided into three main regions: 1) The left bank of the Garonne and the Dordogne with predominantly gravel soils (pebble layer thickness of up to three meters), which play a role in the production of claret – complex, exquisite fine wines based on Cabernet Sauvignon. The main sub-regions are Medoc and Graves. The famed Medoc appellations are Margaux, Saint-Estephe, Saint-Julien, Listrac, Moulis and Pauillac.

Pessac-Leognan is tradtionally singled out in Graves.

2) The right bank of the Garonne and Dordogne with predominantly clay soils and a thin layer of Pyrenees pebble (up to 0.5 meters). Blends are based on the Merlot variety. The main sub-regions are Cote de Blaye, Cote de Bourg and the

Libournais area comprising of Pomerol, Saint-Emilion, Fronsac and Lalandede-Pomerol.

3) The interfluves area between the Garonne and Dordogne (Entre-DeuxMers), which mostly produces white and light (non-reserve) red wine.

Red grave varieties of Bordeaux are: • Cabernet Sauvignon; • Merlot; • Cabernet Franc; • Petit Verdot; • Malbec.

White grape varieties are: • Sauvignon Blanc; • Semillon; • Muscadelle.

‘Left-bank’ wines feature a high tannin content, they are saturated and complex.

The dominance of Cabernet Sauvignon adds the scent of black berries (black currant, blueberry, blackberry), violets, spice and tertiary aromas – humidor, leather, chocolate and often pastries, jams and even dried fruit. A reserve span is up to 5-20 years. Graves and Pessac-Leognan wines are rounder, more complex and exquisite. Their bouquet carries more fruit and mineral scents and tertiary aromas shift to fried and smoked scents. They are less strong than Medoc wines and their reserve span is shorter, approximately 10-12 years.

‘Right-bank’ wines are more velvety and dense and have a rich and complex bouquet. It is hard to describe them in general because of the great diversity of nature, soil and climate factors. The Merlot dominance brings the scent of red and black berries (especially plums, strawberries, raspberries and cherries), cloves, cinnamon and other spice, caramel, chocolate and dry fruit, especially prunes, and tertiary aromas – mushroom, humus, leather, bread.

White Bordeaux is mostly made of

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Sauvignon Blanc and Semillion. As a rule, these wines have good acidity and minerality. A special item (alongside rose wine) is the tasty sweet dessert Bordeaux, Sauternes. This is white dessert (sweet) wine made in the Graves region. Sauternes grapes are exposed to noble rot, Botrytis, which leads to the loss of liquid and partially transforms berries into raisins. The wine is concentrated and expressive.

Sauvignon Blanc contributes the vivid herbal flavor, freshness and crispness, while Semillion adds the scent of honey to the white blend. Classic white Bordeaux is pale gold, it smells of citric fruit, pears, grass and hay. Traditionally, the while Bordeaux assemblage contains at least 25% of Sauvignon Blanc which makes it herbaceous, mineral and fresh. Small amounts of Muscadelle are added for wine aromatization.

GLOBAL INVESTMENT REVIEW

Bordeaux means wine, and wine means Bordeaux – this is a common saying in the winemaking region which has been a center of the world winemaking industry for generations. Bordeaux winemakers combine long-standing winemaking traditions with modern technological progress. Their methods are used in every winemaking region of the world. Bordeaux Enology Faculty, the Wine and Spirits Institute and many other research centers promote the development of new practices, methods and techniques. In addition, Bordeaux is developing wine tourism. Chateaux welcome wine lovers who are introduced to the winery and vineyard history, are given vineyard and cellar tours and are invited to degustation. Wine tours are organized by all international tour operators and specialized agencies in Bordeaux. 

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China puts up financial umbrella over Asia Leonid Levitsky

[global economy] [economic situation] [topical] [international cooperation] [Asian block] [geopolitics] [prospect] [partners]

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elegates of 57 Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) founding nations have elected former Chinese Finance Minister Jin Liqun as the first Bank President in Tbilisi.

China is the initiator, the organizer and the biggest contributor to the Bank charter capital with a controlling vote. The new entity challenges the global financial system resting upon the Bretton Woods arrangement that is supported and maintained by the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank. The United States and its close allies are in control of these lending ‘headquarters’. Strangers are not welcome in these financial institutions.

They can be nothing but extras even if they

are let in. Their real weight and economic potential do not matter in the distribution of seats and the creation of a hierarchy.

The post-war financial system helped large Western countries not only to recover in the 1950s but also to develop rather rapidly in the 1960s-1970s and to propel the entire global economy. The development slowed down and eventually became more and more problematic amid the enhancement of neo-liberal ideas.

Most countries simply could not meet the expense of mounting difficulties. The money could be obtained from IMF and the World Bank on very tough terms. Statistics show that only a few states that took the plunge into the credit flow have reached a safe harbor. And

MARCH 2016

certainly none of them strengthened so much that it could make at least some competition against the IMF and WB founders. Or the Asian Development Bank. ADB, a third major financial institution in terms of importance and capital volume, was established under the UN aegis but managed by Japan and the United States.

The world financial system and its standards rest upon these three pillars.

China is an exception. It has not asked anyone for anything, it has not borrowed money, and it has not yielded to anyone’s terms. Quite the opposite, the republic has dictated its terms to everyone wishing to work in it and with it. Strangely enough, all developed countries

N.B. The United States has controlling voting power (over 17%) in the World Bank; China has less than 3 %, and Russia - 2.5 %. Quotas are divided in approximately the same way in the IMF: the U.S. — 17.7%, Germany — 6.1 %, the UK — 4.5 %, France — 4.5 %, China — 2.8 %, and Russia — 2.5 %. have accepted these terms – there is no other market of this scale in the world for their products. Europe has made a lot of money in China, and Beijing’s revenue has been even larger; every big country has helped the “world workshop” grow and strengthen. Enough has been written about what has become the Chinese Miracle for some and the Chinese bubble for others. The extra-systemic colossus which rose by itself, using its own recipes, gives many reasons for eulogy and criticism.

Yet everyone has to reckon with it: China is a major importer and the biggest exporter in the world. Besides, the republic has the biggest gold and FOREX reserves of more than $4 trillion. A substantial part of these reserves,

GLOBAL INVESTMENT REVIEW

$1.3 trillion, is invested in U.S. Treasury bonds.

At the same time, living standards and incomes of the Chinese population are much lower than those in America.

Strange as it may seem, the poor Chinese lend cheap money to the rich Americans. Besides, China is the main economic and geopolitical rival of America capable of destroying its treasury but it is in no hurry to use these capacities.

The two giants are engaged in a protracted semi-war of currencies. Washington is trying to strengthen the Yuan, and Beijing is trying to do the same for the dollar. A weaker dollar unavoidably cuts Chinese exports and GDP growth. China is the real economy victor, and the United States wins in the global financial sphere. The attempts of China and Russia to hold minimal reforms – to increase the quotas of emerging markets in the IMF and the World Bank – have failed again.

N.B. The United States has controlling voting power (over 17%) in the World Bank; China has less than 3 %, and Russia - 2.5 %. Quotas are divided in approximately the same way in the IMF: the U.S. — 17.7%, Germany — 6.1 %, the UK — 4.5 %, France — 4.5 %, China — 2.8 %, and Russia — 2.5 %.

The U.S. shortsightedness, confidence in its might and exceptionalism, which allegedly give it the right to dictate norms of living and conduct to others, have prompted China to create an alternative international financial system. To a large extent, America is a reason why the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) has been created.

Beijing has been careful and cautious as always. It has been hard-headed too: it has not aspired for the entire world but rather focused on the home region, Asia. Chinese President Xi Jinping was the first to say that the world’s largest region needed an independent investment center. So, China believes that the bank is his initiative. It was well-prepared indeed. China and another 20 countries signed the agreement establishing the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank in October of last year. The partners are India, Pakistan, Kazakhstan, Vietnam, Uzbekistan,

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Singapore, Laos, Mongolia, Malaysia, Kuwait, Qatar and some others.

The United States quickly realized its mistake and tried to block the entry of its allies, all the large developed countries, into the AIIB. The political and diplomatic pressure failed, probably, for the first time in years. Beijing demonstrated surprising activity, efficiency and successfulness of efforts in the implementation of its project. The diplomatic operation it held

N.B. The voting power is 26.6% for China, 7.5 % for India, and 5.9 % for Russia (together the three countries control 46.3 % of the charter capital and 40 % of voting power).

to win allies is amazing. China succeeded in attracting another 30 countries, practically the entirety of Europe. The closest U.S. allies – the UK, Germany, France, Italy, the Netherlands and Australia – backed the alternative to the IMF and the World Bank. They were not even offered a carrot. The AIIB Charter assigned

75% of quotas to regional states and 25% to the others.

The AIIB founding agreement was signed in Paris on Monday, June 29, 2015. Thirty states backed the Chinese initiative immediately, and seven more were planned to complete the relevant procedures by the end of 2015.

Russia found itself in the second group of Bank founders. The prolonged reflection of Moscow is understandable and easy to explain.

Our financial elites are loyal and diligent followers of the IMF and the World Bank. It was hard to take a 180-degree turn in a snap.

Eventually, the West pushed Russia into the change of its vector by the sanctions and the financial blockade. China behaved as if it did not notice the prolonged contemplation and treated Russia with respect by offering honorary conditions. The Chinese leaders also answered the question why the AIIB should be formed after the BRICS Development Bank had been established. It has the same main founders – China, India, Russia (and Brazil) – as the AIIB. Will the nearly kindred institutions be rivals?

No, they won’t. They are not rivals, they are partners. There is enough work for everyone.

The Chinese do not deny that the AIIB project is a ‘touchstone’ for the new foreign strategy. They deserve praise: ‘the touchstone’ was masterly put into place and the project rocketed within a year. The bank has been founded and will get down to business next year. Every country which expressed such a wish became its founder (only the request of Taiwan has been rejected: Beijing sticks to the principle of ‘two systems – one country’).

The bank’s charter capital amounts to $100 billion. It is divided into a million shares, each of $100,000. The main five co-founders are China, India, Russia, Germany and South Korea. The biggest investor ($29.8 billion) with the controlling voting power is China. Russia’s contribution is $6.5 billion.

N.B. The voting power is 26.6% for China, 7.5 % for India, and 5.9 % for Russia (together the three countries control 46.3 % of the charter capital and 40 % of voting power).

The news agency Xinhua has called the AIIB

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“an important mechanism which can provide mutual benefits to Asian countries.” Indeed, this is true. The huge Asia-Pacific region does not fit the existent global economy, which is too tight for it. Even the strong and rich but isolated countries have to obey global economy regulations. China has offered a remarkable strategy, ‘One Belt, One Road’, and is ready to make unprecedented investment: the cost of the New Silk Road and Maritime Silk Road programs nears $100 billion. According to analysts, China plans to spend $500 billion on the development of infrastructures, the economy and border territories.

Naturally, this will not happen immediately.

China has planned progress for the next 20 and 50 years to come. The plans imply multilateral cooperation. China is putting up a financial umbrella over its region, and it will be convenient for both ‘Asian tigers’ (developed countries) and growing ‘tiger cubs’. The AIIB is a financial platform for interaction which is offering initial resources and a sufficient degree of independence from global rivals.

CCI-Inform has mentioned ‘four great benefits’ of China from the project, according to Doctor of Economics Liu Shang: the creation of Chinastyle free trade zones in the Asia Pacific region, an unlimited increase in orders for goods and services of Chinese companies and lesser dependence on American and European export markets, accelerated internalization of the Yuan (growing exports expand the scope of Yuan settlements and enhance prerequisites for transformation of the Chinese money into a world reserve currency), weakening Western control over the Asia Pacific region and a possibility of replacing Western standards with those established by China.

Russia’s expectations are much more modest.

In the words of Finance Minister Anton Siluanov, the AIIB may invest in the development of infrastructures in Siberia and the Far East.

This is a concrete goal, and a more general one is the new bank’s support to the Russian economy in its turn to the East. The wish of Western nations to become AIIB founders despite the U.S. bans is understandable. This

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membership is seen as a way to access future infrastructural projects in the Asia Pacific region.

So far, things have been going smoothly for China and its alternative financial system project. Even the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank have expressed their wish to cooperate with the newborn financial institution.

But there is no doubt the U.S. will answer to the challenge of its main geopolitical rival. The economy is an area where you need to be

N.B. Major financial institutions by comparison: the charter capital stands at $283 billion for the World Bank, $165 billion for the Asian Development Bank, $50 billion for the BRICS Development Bank (planned to be enlarged to $100 billion), and $100 billion for the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank.

prepared to beat your rival if you want peace...

N.B. Major financial institutions by comparison: the charter capital stands at $283 billion for the World Bank, $165 billion for the Asian Development Bank, $50 billion for the BRICS Development Bank (planned to be enlarged to $100 billion), and $100 billion for the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank.

The Encyclopedia of Myths says that once upon a time there was a nomad people, the Abii (Ptolemy attributed them to the Scythians, Homer - to the Thracians). They mostly fed on milk and were known for their chastity and peacefulness.

Those wonderful qualities were enough only for being mentioned in myths. The modern financial ‘tribe’ should remember that ancient true story or legend and be prepared to stand up for itself…

The journal Russia Today, issue No 17, 2015 

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MARCH 2016

Business at recyclables: making profit and providing benefit

Aleshkevich family from Belarus has entered an international market Yelena Nelinova

[personality] [interview] [success story] [construction] [business]

T

he word “businessman” has two meanings in Russian: an entrepreneur, a man who runs his own business, and a rusher, a busy man. In other words he has been making something in his field. His main target is making profit, but at the same time he creates jobs, produces or sells necessary products, pays taxes, responds effectively to economics events and he is looking for ways to keep his business. The business of Aleshkevich family from the Nesvizh city in Belarus is unique for the country and it became unexpectedly

very useful for the environment. A conversation about how is it to be a businessman today, and how to find some original idea for the business will be held with Andrey Aleshkevich, one of the “AnVoiPlus” business managers.

FREEDOM OF CHOICE

— One’s own business is always risky. Working for hire and getting guaranteed paid is so much easier.

Why did you choose the hard way?

— I’m in business for a long time, almost since the university: we worked closely with the Kaliningrad pulp and

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Andrey Aleshkevich — 34 years old, a businessman, a KUPIFURU group of companies’ member in Belarus, Russia, Kazakhstan and Lithuania, was born and grew up in Nesvizh city, in the family of workers, graduated from the Nesvizh gymnasium, and completed higher education on speciality “economics in the agricultural sector”.

paper mill for about two years, we had our own vehicles, our own teams who logged in Belarus and border areas. I’ve also run gambling business — gambling clubs. Laws of economics, of business operation are the same everywhere; the thing which differs is only specificity.

I’m interested in it, that’s my bag. My younger brother Vladimir had worked in private companies for hire and my father had worked in medical drugs’ plant for the entire life. My brother and I drew our father into this business.

We’ve registered him as an individual entrepreneur. Sharing is much simpler among close people, and handling of issues and challenges is simpler when just one family runs the business. Sure, we can have some arguments about the job, but we didn’t argue seriously for ten years.

— How do you share duties among yourselves?

— I deal with the financial activities: accounting, sales. My father and my brother deal with delivery, supplies and organization. My brother also brings ideas about what can be reconstructed or made cheaper, or how can we prolong units’ life.

— How did you choose the idea for your business?

— It all started with our good friend who offered us to go into trading with special vehicles for agriculture and building industry 9 years ago. There is a production of agricultural vehicles in Belarus, but we’d focused on imported used

vehicles. This was the basis, impulse for the first several years. We visited European countries a lot, and we had a lot of contacts there. The first deal was successful, we had discussed it, analyzed the market and took care of business. It was flourishing, we had many clients until the crisis of 2009.

— There are a lot of national vehicles in Belarus. Why do you think your idea “did the job”?

— Then only major dealers like, for example, Caterpillar and Johndeere worked here, but practically no-one dealt with used vehicles. This meant that there were new vehicles and they were expensive, but there weren’t vehicles in the lower price range. We had only one business rival at the Belarus market, we were in the second place in this field. We bought the vehicle at auctions, transported it from European countries, from China, a little from America, and everything was fine until 2009.

— Really? Was it profitable to transport vehicle across the ocean?

— Not much more expensive than from Holland or Germany.

— What was your reaction to the crisis of 2009?

— We made a family

meeting and decided to try another direction. At that moment consumer still had money but he wanted to save them when buying something, so we came up with the idea that we should restore and renew old vehicles for the final product to be cheaper. Thus the second kind of our business started: purchase of derelict and outdated vehicles, their restoration and sale. First we found the repair facility in Poland, brought all vehicles there and then we organized business in Belarus — found a facility on lease, then purchased it, recruited staff.

We decided to expand the company and enter international markets during the family discussion in 2011. In May 2011 LLC “AV-Group” was formed in Russia, my brother Vladimir became its founder and director. In August 2011 the company UAB “AV LT” was created in Lithuania, and I headed it. We recruited

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managers staff who dealt with orders and placing in our main company in Belarus. The group of companies expanded and due to this earnings and profits increased 3 times. The customer base became international: agricultural and transport companies from Russia, Lithuania, Latvia, Poland and Germany became our clients. In April 2014 we decided to set up a company LLP “KazAutoGroup” in Kazakhstan to expand the market towards Asia. In two years we assimilated markets of Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan. We joined all the companies that I’ve mentioned under one trademark KUPIFURU. Sales and profit of company had been growing.

We participated in many exhibitions and meetings on the topic in Russia, Poland and Lithuania, we traveled to gain experience, communicated with farmers, got acquainted with potential partners.

— What countries are easier for business?

— In terms of bureaucracy most difficult running is in Belarus, Russia

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and Kazakhstan. Both tax and customs difficulties are present there. It’s easier to work in Europe.

— Whether there wasn’t any repair shops for big vehicles before you came to the market?

— Don’t confuse repair with restoration.

Repair is maintenance. We didn’t have business rivals at all in this new field.

We take vehicle that, figuratively speaking, stands under the fence as a scrap metal, we replace units and devices with new ones if required or restore them, and we restore the frame. As a result we have actually new vehicle.

IT’S ALL ABOUT FIGURES

— Restored vehicle is not the same with new one. Why doesn’t customer buy vehicle that will serve longer for sure?

— A proverb “Penny-wise, but poundfoolish” is 50% true. There are important devices in the vehicle that can’t be repaired however hard one may try.

For example, crankshafts, everything related to engines and transmissions.

All this stuff is better to be replaced with new items. This is what we are doing. But there are also minor devices and units (fuel system, atomizers). New component costs about one thousand dollars, but we restored and renewed it for 500 dollars. Turbines can be restored in such way that vehicle serves with them as good as new one.

When vehicle is being restored, we buy some old “used-up” tractor, truck or tow truck. The specialist decides what should be replaced and what should be repaired — up to painting.

For sure, the final product is not plantmanufactured, but it’s like-new, plus the difference in price for customer is double. By the way, there were a lot of abandoned broken vehicles in Belarus, at the Russian market and in Europe.

Usually owners don’t want to give cars for utilization, it’s unprofitable for them, so this scraped metal just sits unused.

— Give an example in figures.

— For example, utilization of one tone of scraped metal costs 100-200 dollars. So owner will get about 300 dollars for a tractor that weights one and half to two tones. I will buy his tractor for 1500-2000 dollars, I will spend about three thousands more for renewing and restoring and I will sell it for 8-9 thousands of dollars.

New tractor costs 15-16 thousands of dollars. It’s profitable for the owner of rusted iron, it’s profitable for us and it’s profitable for the buyer.

— How many vehicles have you saved from utilization in such way?

— We started in September 2011 and we restored 15 units before the end of the year. The next year was the most productive — 88 units, during next three years the average index was 40 vehicles. This year it’s less.

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— Did you think that recyclables field is a global trend when you planned this business? That it’s relevant to environment, that several dozens of tones of rusted iron wouldn’t get the dump?

— Of course no, we were thinking about business. But if such effect came out – it’s good. Environmental issue is number one concern in all countries right now. Dumps are packed to capacity, I’ve heard that in Russia they started waste disposal program, construction of new modern grounds just last few years, the system of separate collection and utilization of waste just begins. And even if our contribution will be very small and if there will be not very few people like us than our ecological environment will improve.

— How long does it take to restore one vehicle?

— Depending on size — two weeks to month. No-one is interested in delay.

Faster is better.

— Have you ever thought about restoring of passenger cars?

— We’ve counted economics and came to the conclusion that we’re not interested in it. This field is occupied by the Lithuanians and the Poles for a long time. It’s hard to overcome them.

Restoring is a labor-intensive process and the final result is very poor compared to heavy vehicles. Passenger cars are relatively cheap.

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FORWARD, OVER THE OCEAN

How many employees do you have?

— Altogether about 15 people work in “AnVoiPlus”: accountants, managers and technicians. And three of us as senior management.

— Restoring of vehicle is actually an art. In these latter days people are talking about the personnel crisis: specialists are not like they were and they don’t do their work like they did.

Do you feel it?

— It’s really difficult to find specialists.

We had been selecting for approximately half of a year. Our team is friendly and hardworking. Everyone is an excellent specialist. We should have good painters and good mechanic who uses his head, offers something but not just twists nuts, in this business. We try to hold specialists including use of monetary stimulation.

— Belarus is situated between Europe and Russia. One time it’s crisis there, another time it’s currency crash here. How are you working between the rock and a hard place? How did you understand that hard times had begun?

— The crisis started showing itself last year when it became harder to sell vehicles. It’s all about payment and accounting. Usually buyer takes a loan or lease, but loan interest rates are high, banks don’t loan. If people had some money they started to be

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tight with them, started to create the “safety net”, they tried to do the same they did with the resources they had.

In other words, organizations didn’t expand. The crisis got hold of entire former USSR territory. In 2014-2015 we worked successfully in Asian countries, but there was a crash also, last year they started to fail in keeping of their national currency.

— You’ve mentioned that 2016 is not as successful as previous years already. What will you do?

— We are planning to enter the US market and to start the same business of old vehicles’ restoring. There is less and less transportation in Europe, noone has money, no-one is paying, agriculture is dying. So the US market is interesting for us. We will learn about the business specifics on site.

Our business will remain at home, in Belarus, our father will manage the company. We will develop one more direction simultaneously — hotel-tourism, we’re building a hotel right now. Nesvizh is an interesting historical city. Besides, there are themes to think about in the USA. For example, we have an offer to open the ice-cream production factory in the States. There is no such tasty ice-cream in America as we have in Belarus. It is the best at markets of Moscow and St. Petersburg. 

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MARCH 2016

Oklahoma continues to muscle its way through the economic recovery period Tia McKitrick

O [economic situation] [expert’s opinion] [business] [ Inter Invest Oklahoma Foundation]

klahoma continues to muscle its way through the economic recovery period.

Net job gains for the state total 4.7 percent since the recession began and the United States in general has seen a net job gain of 1.4 percent during the same time period. And, at 4.2 percent, Oklahoma’s unemployment rate is below the national average, a good sign for many of the strong industries in Oklahoma.

Several key industries in Oklahoma have been

leading the charge in Oklahoma’s recovery.

The Oklahoma Department of Commerce has identified five economic areas that are the strongest with regards to wealth generation, growth potential, and wages, among other defining criteria.

While other industries continue to witness growth, these appear to be the driving forces in the state’s economy. Here are the top five industries in Oklahoma: 1. Energy: Roughly one-quarter of working

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Oklahomans are employed directly or indirectly in the energy industry. Oil and natural gas maintain a commanding lead when it comes to job growth in this industry. About 20 percent of all jobs in the state are tied to the oil and natural gas sectors.

Wind energy has begun to make a noticeable economic impact. With about two dozen wind farms in the state, the wind energy sector provides about 4,000 jobs and contributes $340 million in labor income, according to a study commissioned by The Wind Coalition Oklahoma.

2. Information and Finance: Oklahoma boasts 70-plus data centers serving as IT lifelines for the likes of ADP, Google, and IBM. In Oklahoma City, 400 companies employ about 30,000 people in IT, high technology, and software development. Major Oklahoma employers in the financial sector include Verizon, with a financial services hub in Tulsa, and Paycom, which is headquartered in Oklahoma City.

3. Transportation and Distribution: In Oklahoma, commercial shipping of minerals and steel flows along the McClellan Kerr River Navigation System, which runs southeast through Oklahoma and into Arkansas, and provides access to the Mississippi River. Two major railroads, five

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airports, and three interstate highways give further advantage to Oklahoma when it comes to transportation and distribution.

4. Agriculture and Biosciences: Agriculture has long been an important industry in Oklahoma.

In addition to food manufacturing, the state offers agriculture and bioscience careers in research and development, commodity production and distribution, and fertilizer manufacturing.

Over 500 bioscience-related businesses and organizations are in the state, with a total economic impact in biosciences of more than $6.7 billion.

Today, agriculture and biosciences receive additional strength from educational resources like the Institute for Agricultural Biosciences at Oklahoma State University. The institute has a 33,000-square-foot research facility where innovations in crop production are developed.

5. Aerospace and Defense: Tinker Air Force Base, the world’s largest aircraft-maintenance complex and military-aviation logistics center, is based in Oklahoma City and employs 26,000 military and civilian personnel. Tulsa is home to American Airlines’ maintenance and repair facility. All told, Oklahoma’s aviation industry provides 143,000 direct and indirect jobs. 

Brian S / Shutterstock.com

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MARCH 2016

Marketing Matters Dick Rubin

[our authors] [expert’s opinion] [business incubator] [business] [success story]

I

n a weak economy how you spend your marketing dollars could make a difference between succeeding in business and becoming an ugly statistic. Put those dollars in the wrong place and you fail. Put them in the right place and you may be able to succeed at a level far higher than your peers.

Lets face it, during a recession there is wide spread reduction in spending.

However, even in the worst periods that reduction may only be 10, 20 or 30 percent. That means that 70, 80 or even 90 percent of normal spending levels remain. Thus, there may well be a marketplace for your goods and services. Identifying and reaching that marketplace is the key to your success.

In good times a consumer business

might find it convenient to place an array of print and broadcast ads into our local market. Or, if your customers are businesses then you might place those ads in trade publications or you might send selected employees to tradeshows on a regular basis. But what do you do during what may be the worst recession since the great depression of the 1930’s.

Let’s start by recognizing that marketing begins with market research and ends with after-sale customer service. Let’s also ask some basic questions about your process. Are you placing ads and waiting for the phone to ring? Or are you placing your message directly into the hands of your prospective customers and asking them to buy? Whether the message arrives in a magazine, web

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site, via broadcast or in a mass mail campaign, if you are unable to reach the audience directly you will most likely waist a large portion of your ad dollars by putting your information in front of a large number of disinterested people.

To maximize return on marketing dollars it would be best to identify your target markets. Then identify the individual companies and the individual contacts within the companies. Armed with names and contact information you can now deliver specific information to the specific “suspects”. Do not be misled into classifying them as prospects until they have confirmed to you that they have need, desire, money to buy with and the authority to buy.

The easy way to get good contact information is to check the Internet for addresses, phone numbers, email address and websites. Then reach out to the new suspects with a coordinated campaign that is targeted to the specific audience by using custom written flyers, emails, letters, faxes, scripted phone calls and personal visits. Remember that you must use as many of these methods as possible. If you use only one you will not be remembered at all.

Some people read and respond to certain mediums. Also, until your suspect has seen you and your message seven to ten times the suspect is unlikely to remember who you are.

Keep in mind that frequency matters.

Sending marketing information to suspects on a monthly or quarterly basis will almost guarantee that by the time the second piece of material arrives the suspect will have completely forgotten that they ever saw the first piece.

However, establishing a weekly contact schedule is very likely to create “top of mind awareness”.

Well designed benefit oriented messages will create a positive perception as well. Finally, remember that the

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larger the number of a person’s senses that you can positively affect by using multiple mediums the more they will tend to think of you and like you. Be sure to include telephone contacts and personal visits as a part of your scheduling system.

If your company is doing a great job of advertising, public relations and networking but you have poor selling skills your missing opportunities. Unless you are just lucky your company will ultimately fail. If your staff lacks

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professional selling skills they will alienate your prospects and loose sales in which case your business could still fail. Place a high value on the personal selling skills and your company can succeed beyond your wildest dreams.

Dick Rubin is the managing principal of Entrepôt. A 30-year-old business development consulting firm whose motto is: Building Businesses is Our Business. Mr. Rubin can be reached at www.entrepotusa.com or at 918497-1748. 

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MARCH 2016

Erstwhile, they used to make pancakes...

O Svyatoslav Loginov 1“Blin” is a Russian junk euphemism and Russians use it in the same way and cases as Americans use “shoot”. At the same time, “blin” means “pancake”, and the author uses the given junk word for the wordplay purposes.

(Translator’s note).

[“not just on daily bread”] [journey into history] [cooking] [Russian folk cuisine] [ethnography]

h blin1, what a subject you find to write on – the blini (pancakes)!

A pancake is a simple thing and it seems anyone can cook one.

However, it is a great art to make a pancake. Someone may never taste a real pancake in their lifetime and, being ignorant, would mistake flapjacks, slapjacks, blintzes and other products of the cook’s fantasy for pancakes.

Of course, flapjacks are a wonderful thing, but pancakes are something entirely else.

First of all, for pancakes you would need unleavened dough. Yeast-leavened dough is good for flapjacks, while kefir, soured milk, and milk whey would go for slapjacks, blintzes and little flats.

And obviously no baking soda because sodium bicarbonate would change the taste hopelessly and spoil the chewy texture. In pancakes, everything must

be natural, and only then you can eat them for breakfast, lunch and dinner.

CHAPTER 1: BREAKFAST

So, let’s make pancakes. We would get up early in the morning, while everyone else is sleeping, and make the start. First of all, we need flour.

For pancakes, we need straight white wheat flour or, even better, dark wheat flour (the patent wheat flour should better be used for pies). In no case we may use pancake flour – it is for lazy folks and goof-ups. Besides, pancake flour contains already added baking soda – hence, no good pancakes can be made of it by definition.

Per each 1-liter jar of flour, take one table spoonful of sugar and one tea spoonful of salt. Mix it well and then mix in one egg. One egg per half a kilo of flour is quite enough, if

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you add more, the pancakes would be too rich and start crumbling right on the frying pan.

Now, the most important moment in dough-making – bit by bit, we pour in milk first, and then water into the flour. Mind the order – not the flour into milk, but milk into flour! So, we knead some rather tight dough and, adding the liquid gradually, we bring it to the proper consistency. While doing so, we mix the dough intensely with a wooden spatula, twirl whisk, metal fork or whatever the tool we have at hand.

A spoon is not the best choice, because it is going to bend and break soon.

The secret of the whole procedure is very simple. While the dough is thick, no clots can appear in it because the whole mass of dough is one big ball.

The main point is that you should not dump all the liquid at one, because in such case you wouldn’t be able to get rid of the clots even with a mixer.

Many ladies sift flour into milk and as a result what they cook is anything but pancakes. But if you do it right, the clots would be dissolved in the dough, which does not differ too much from them in terms of thickness.

Per 1-liter jar of flour, we need about half a liter of milk. When we are done with the milk, we start pouring in water until the dough becomes liquid enough.

It must flow down from the spoon easily and not contain any little clots at all. It’s only with such dough that you can make a really thin pancake.

The last thing to pour into the dough is one or two spoonfuls of sunflower oil – then we make some final mixing and solemnly put the frying pan on the fire.

The frying pan is a peak of human thought, and the fact that in the last one hundred years the quality of frying pans has been worsening progressively proves that the mankind, alas, is degrading and quite soon the former

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homo sapiens would stand down on all fours. The secret of manufacturing the proper frying pans has been lost as a result of the two world wars. As Sergey Mikhalkov once wrote in a poem, “The factory used to produce army tanks, but not it has switched to frying pans” Certainly, the industries oriented to production of military vehicles could not adjust to manufacturing of good-quality frying pans. In the past, the Zlatoust plant manufactured wonderful frying pans, and good frying pans were also made from the Kasli cast iron. At the dawn of the century it was replaced by specular cast iron, and the proper frying pans became unavailable. Some families have preserved the old frying pans – the last of their ilk. So, we’ll have to cook on what we have.

The frying pan for pancakes must be perfectly clean, and therefore it must be burned out first. Frying pans should not be washed, they should be burned out. We put the frying pan on the big fire and make it so red-hot that the bluish gauze would appear, and then put it under the stream of cold water.

A vapor column would shoot up, the frying pan would be yelping but become perfectly clean. In the worst case, the hot frying pan may be scrubbed through with salt, but it is much better not to bring the so important kitchen tool to the condition when you can’t clean it without using salt.

Then we would grease the burnedout frying pan with oil or lard. As this procedure has to be repeated over each seven or eight pancakes, it is better to get prepared for it in advance.

The easiest thing is to take a piece of pork-speck and, having pinned it on the fork, to grease the pan. Some folks pin a piece of raw potato, pour a bit of sunflower oil in the saucer, dip the potato in it and grease the frying pan. Those who make pancakes pretty

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often have the special chicken-feather whisk. For some reason, owners of such whisks prefer to use freshly melt butter. I have never had a whisk, and I use a piece of lard or sunflower oil on the potato.

So, the first go of dough gets on the hot frying pan. You think it’s a pancake?

Fuff! The first pancake is always the worst and that’s why it’s better not to make the first pancake at all. Instead of that, we would rather base several little blintzes of the same size as a fiftycent coin. “Several” means as many as the number of family members that are already up. But since all of them are still sleeping, you would make just two little blintzes –for yourself and your dog that is watching your cooking manipulations with great interest.

— So, what’s going on?

The dog is delighted. In its view, the cooking is perfect, and the only thing that we need is more pancakes. If any family members have gotten up, after having tasted the fifty-cent blintz they would start making comments on insufficiency of salt or sugar. Of course, the cook knows better, but when I was a little boy, the grown-ups used to give me a tiny blintz to taste it, and listened to my unenlightened view. So, now I do the same, Tradition is a great thing, and as far as pancakes are concerned, it

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is especially sacred.

The second portion of blintz coins confirms that now you may start serious pancake-making business. The frying plan is on the fire and is made hotter than hell to the condition of hissing rather than yelping – that is, if you drop water on it, the drop would not spread over the surface but would roll over it like a mercury droplet. However, if it causes yelping, this would mean that the frying pan is too hot, and the fire must be slackened a bit. So, we scoop the dough and pour it on the edge of the frying pan surface. It would be good to have a big wooden spoon, like a boat-spoon, but where would we find it now, in the times of decay and vexation of spirit? We have found a plastic one, and it’s OK.2 When pancakes are in the making, the whole gas stove is under supreme reign of the cook. One hearth ring is taken by the frying pan, and two more, being turned off, are occupied by the pot with dough and the flat plate for pancakes. Nearby, there is a saucer with the melt butter (if we use the feather whisk) or with a piece of lard becoming soft in the warm kitchen.

So, we pour a portion of dough on the edge of the frying pan surface, take the frying pan up and rotate it

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smoothly in the air, so that the dough would spread thinly throughout the surface but would in no way on the pan wall. A good frying pan weighs some three kilograms, and this motion would have to be repeated at a quick pace about one hundred times. Who would say then that to bake pancake is a female business? Well, certainly, in Russian villages, you would see women for whom juggling a heavy frying pan is not a problem, but still …

As we know from legends and TV ads, an experienced cook would turn the pancake upside down by throwing it up on the frying pan. However hard I tried, I never managed to do anything similar to such exercise. In the past, we had a special bevel-edged wooden spatula to overturn the pancakes, and now I use a knife, although this is considered to be a bad manner. By two half-ritual movements you cut along the edge of the pancake being baked, and then when the shining and moist surface of dough becomes matt, you must slip the knife under the pancake and then, within one movement, the very thin and not yet baked-though product would be overturned on the other side.

This seems to be much easier than overturning a pancake by throwing it up on the frying pan.

There is a proverb that the first pancake always gets thrown out. Whoever was the first to say so, that person was not capable of cooking the pancakes.

If the frying pan is burned out properly and then greased thinly with lard and is made properly hot, if the trial fiftycent blintzes have been baked thereon, then even the first pancake as such would be a real beauty.

Just peer attentively at the ruddy

surface of the pancake being baked – you would see all tints of the yellow, honey-like, and pale brown colors. The pancake, so flat to the touch, appears to be a map of some mysterious country with its seas, continents, valleys and mountain ranges. For quite a long time, I did think that every pancake was a map of some unknown planet – until I happened to see a photo of the Sun, made in infrared rays. Since then, I know that our ancestors did not make a mistake when they baptized the pancake as the symbol of the Sun! In terms of chemistry, pancake making represents, on a first approximation, the process of polysaccharose destruction resulting in dextrin formation. Dextrin – a nice-sounding, crispy word. Dextrin is the crust broken off from the still warm loaf of bread, or the crust of potatoes being roasted in lard, or the dignified gold of soaked peas roasted in oil, or the fluffy rattle of potato chips.

Roasting is the art of making the tasty dextrin – even meat or fish, before it is thrown on the frying pan, is often bread-crumbed or rolled in flour.

The main point is that destruction should not go too far and result in formation of carbon and resinous substances. It is not without a reason that the words “burned pancake” are considered as a curse in Russian. But the half-baked dough, too, it not the food you want to eat. It sticks to your teeth and falls like a lump in your stomach causing the brash and grouch. To evade such unfavorable turn of events, let us make a simple little test – touch the pancake surface with three fingers and twist it swiftly. The half-baked pancake would turn by some 90 degrees, while the

2The author’s perception of the wooden-spoon market in Russia is very incorrect. Wooden spoons, whether the decorated and lacquered to be bought as souvenirs, or plain to be used for cooking purposes – are widely available in every Russian city in all food markets, at almost every subway station, in home-hardware stores, gift stores, etc. (Translator’s note)

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well-baked pancake would make the full turn, or, in imitation of Zsuzsa Almássy, the famous figure skater, would even make a jump of two and a half full turns. We immediately throw it to the nearby waiting plate and pour another portion of dough into the frying plan seeing that it would not get on the pan wall as otherwise the edge of our little sun would be distorted by an odd prominence.

While the new pancake is in the making, we have a couple of seconds to grease the first one with butter and meanwhile to look at its other side. One would think that there is the same dextrin, produced from the same dough on the same frying pan, but the picture on the other side of the pancake would be of the type totally different from what we see on its face.

I do not know, what is represented by the picture on the pancake backside – probably nobody has taken a photo of our Sun this way, or none of pancake lovers had a chance to see such photo so far.

Further on, the cook would be working like at the belt line – one after another, each pancake is laid on the plate and greased with butter quickly. The pancake pile would be growing slowly and steadily like the Tower of Babel.

Waken up by the pancake smell, the family members would appear in the kitchen, each of them expressing joy at the sight of pancakes in the baking, while for each of them a task is found.

— Lay the table! — you would say briskly without turning your eyes from the stove.

To lay the table is, indeed, a female business, as today the family would not have breakfast in the kitchen, but, like on holidays, would take it in the dining room, at the table covered with a white tablecloth. Therefore, the parlor dish set should be taken from the cup-board,

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together with little crystal dishes for jam as well as porcelain sauce boats and cream jugs.

— “This one is for sour cream”, you would command, having casted a quick look at the taken-out dish, “and that one is for sour cream with garlic and salt …, yes, exactly such amount of garlic would be perfect”.

Willy-nilly, you would recall the “Three Fat Men” movie and the hopping crowd of cookees.

“Over there, in the cup-board, take out the pastry syringe … - what do you mean by ‘What for?” I need it! No, no buttercream today...”

The cook, too, has to make some room, and the kettle is put on the only vacant hearth ring. In the big teapot, the brewed tea is stewing – it’s either the English tea, with bergamot and orange pekoe, or Russian, the Krasnodar tea, with added balm (Melissa) and currant buds.

The last leftover dough is scrubbed out onto the frying pan. There is too little of it for a standard pancake, and the thin streams of dough are roasted in an intricate grid shape and are laid like an exquisite decoration over the pile of pancakes.

The final strokes to get prepared for the feast, and the quire-high pile of hot pancakes appears in the dining room.

— “The meal is served!” — No provincial actor would be able to pronounce it as elegantly as you do.

CHAPTER 2: OUR ANCESTORS DIDN’T SPARE TIME FOR MEALS

It seems that the pancake feasts have been described in the Russian literature exhaustively – any writer, having seen a Russian person at meals, mentioned the pancakes invariably. The most eloquent description of the pancakeeating exercise was offered by Alexander Kuprin: “She eats pancakes hot as fire,

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she eats them with butter, with sour cream, with fresh-grain caviar, pressed caviar, cloth-laid caviar, Achuev caviar, calico-salmon caviar and catfish caviar, with all sorts of herrings, with anchovy, sprats, and sardines, with salmon and baby cisco, with smoked sturgeon and whitefish, with fish belly and sturgeon milt, with smoked sterlet and with the famous whitebait from the White Lake. Pancakes are eaten both with some simple filling and with fancifully combined, too ”.

You are impressed, aren’t you? And, this is a just a short list of Russian delicacies that used to go with pancakes.

Salted red pine mushrooms (as far as I remember, mentioned by Gilyarovsky) and more generally – all mushroom delicacies, and the infinite variety of dessert menu including the traditionally mentioned pancakes with treacle. And what about the pancakes with goldcolor roasted onions or with radish baked in honey? …

However, enough, I would rather stop here…There are many things described in literature, but in our current meager situation, we do not have enough wealth to buy the fresh-grain caviar – to say nothing of the cloth-laid caviar, which, as we heard, could be cut with a knife like cheese. Let’s discuss the things than

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can be found in the refrigerator and in the pantry. As for the halibut belly or sturgeon belly, let it be described in hop stories.

So, what do we have on our Sundayfeast table? First of all, there is pate.

During Maslenitsa, our folks do not serve meat, and even so, Pushkin characterised the festival as “greaseful”.

However, Russians eat pancakes with all sorts of dressings the year around.

So, you may quite well buy a tube of North American pate – the one with an angry woman on the label, although the home-made pate would be much tastier.

We cook the pate in the evening, because, as you already know, there is no time to do that in the pancake-bake morning. We should take one kilogram of beef liver, cut it in broad thin slices and roast them in the mixture of lard and sunflower oil. Meanwhile, one kilogram of carrots should be boiled. Then we would peel half a kilogram of onions, and if you like it roasted, we would roast in the same oil mixture. Also, we should add some garlic – as much as you like. Then everything should be minced in the mincing machine. Add

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salt, black pepper and various spices.

As for the bay leaves, it would be good to mince it together with liver. Then we mix the pate thoroughly and add the softened butter. The amount of butter would vary from two to ten sticks.

Some folks take more, but in that case the product will be the liver-flavored butter rather than pate. With butter in the mixture, we would mix it once again, put the bowl in the refrigerator, and in the morning, before we start baking the pancakes, we would take the pate out so that it would become softer and could be squeezed out from the kitchen syringe easily.

Now, put in the Bohemian-glass salad bowl, the pate takes the honorable position next to the pancakes. And the syringe, already filled, is waiting for the impatient hand to press the plunger.

Kuprin had reasons to mention the fancily combined fillings as these combinations contain the best savor.

Pate would be combined with sourcream sauce (sour cream, pressed garlics, and black pepper) or with horse radish, which, too, has been stretched with sour cream. All those fillings and dressings were cooked by the cookees while the chef was making miracles on the frying pan. For horse radish, I have a special beautiful container nicknamed as “horse radisher”.

All the above-described ingredients are, so to say, mandatory. But if you have the pancake feast on a Maslenitsa day – that is, when sparling fish goes along the Neva River, then you may quite well have some amount of tiny-grain sparling caviar at home. Just when you clean the sparling fish, put aside the tiny caviar bags, and if you collect at least half a jar of them, don’t fry the caviar but salt it down. Several drops of lemon juice, a bit of salt, then mix the caviar with a teaspoon and take out as many of membranes as you can.

Such products should not be stored for too long, but it would be good after a couple of days in the refrigerator prior to the Sunday pancake feast. Of course, the sparling fish caviar is not the same as the Achuev caviar, but what can we do when I have never seen the Achuev caviar and even have no idea what it is.

There is enough room on the table for hot-smoked fish, which should be broken into small pieces, and the imported eggplant paste. With pancakes, everything is tasty.

Well, let’s cut the cackle, the pancakes are getting colder!

Everybody is sitting at the table, has taken several pancakes and put them on their plates. At this point, we have to tell how the pancakes should be eaten before we start.

This question, as it seems to be clear, has never been addressed in literature.

But the pancake is not just another dish, but a ritual dish, and the culture of pancake-eating is millennia-long. A round pancake made of unleavened dough is a dish much more ancient than bread. Pancakes used to be cooked on a flat stone luted in the hotbed of primitive human dwelling. Pancake is a sacred product, a symbol of sun as well as rich and successful living. To cut a pancake by knife or to pierce it with a fork is a great sin because such actions would injure the sun and doom the whole population to hunger and diseases. As a Russian proverb says, “A pancake is not a reap of hay, you may not pin it on your hayfork”.

Even just one hundred years the one who would choose to cut a pancake took the risk of being killed on the spot with sharp poles. Indeed, do not wish trouble to your neighbor. Today, the manners are milder, but anyway the immutable law states that PANCAKES MUST BE EATEN WITH FINGERS! A

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wish for pancake-eaters is “let you be smudged up to your elbows and be full to your throat”. Teaspoons for all sorts of dressings are served on the table, while knives and forks are left in the kitchen as the items unnecessary for today.

As for any other actions, you may do whatever you want with the pancakes: fold, roll, or tear apart in order to share the last pancake between two eaters. The only demand is that all this must be done with fingers. As I am a staunch atheist, the sacral meaning of pancakes is lost for me, but the tradition must be respected!

So, let’s start. We lay a narrow strip of pate across the pancake (that’s why we needed the kitchen syringe!), pour the sour-cream sauce therein, fold the pancake in two and make roll. Holding the pancake with three fingers, take it up, slightly bending it like a boomerang so that the sour cream would not drip from the but-ends, bring it to the mouth … or, no! I cannot write any more, let me go to the kitchen and have some snack… The second pancake, the third one, the fifth … With smoked fish, with Russian vinaigrette, with mushroom paste, eggplant paste, zucchini or pumpkin paste… Even Kuprin could not list everything, and for me this is even more difficult. And – sour cream, sour cream, sour cream… The one-liter bowl of sour cream will be half-empty after the breakfast today.

“Pancaa-ake! . .. pancaa-ake!... paaancake!...” — that’s the hot blood banging in my temples.

So, we set aside the first set of dishes, take more of pancakes and reach out for desserts. The “roughand-ready” blackberry preserve (the jar of which has been unsealed especially for this occasion), and over it – sour cream, this time without garlic and horse radish. The fluid amber of honey

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– and, again, sour cream …, and, tea – freshly brewed, hot and rich-flavored; of course, it goes without sugar – no sugar when there are so many sweets on the table!

One by one, the folks get away and plunge in the blissful languor. In a sense, digestion is somewhat akin to nirvana…

Oh God! I, too, cannot take any more…

Nobody would be able to have more... well, maybe the very last pancake, with condensed sweet milk and grated chocolate…

BY ALL EVIDENCE, WE ARE NOT GOING TO NEED ANY LUNCH TODAY… CHAPTER 3: LUNCH

No, no, not at all! This would not be a dinner on the same day, but the next weekend! We got up late, had a scanty breakfast and now time hаs come to give a thought to pancakes.

Again, we make dough, but this time, not that much – just for two 1-liter jars of flour, not more. All females would be dislodged from the kitchen, and only some of our little assistants would be on duty at hand, while the pancake pile is growing on the plate.

Everything goes in the same way as before – with the only difference that this time less sugar would be mixed in the dough, and the fourth hearth ring, vacant a week ago, would be occupied by a pot, where broth is in the making.

Quite a time ago, Elena Molokhovets used to give useful advice to housewives: if you want to have nourishing broth, she said, put the meat into cold water, and if you want to have a tasty piece of meat, put it in the boiling and already salted water. What should I do, when I want to have a juicy piece of meat and at the same time the nourishing broth? Rich people do not have to care about such problems – in old cookbooks you could see the advice calling

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you not to throw out the broiled veal, because “your servants would eat it with pickled cucumbers willingly”. But, for a former Soviet citizen, it would do no hurt to devise a needed solution.

The recipe is found: we take a piece of beef and cut it in two different-size parts. The bony part and shackles would be plunged in cold water so that to cook tasty broth, and when it starts simmering, we take off the foam and plunge the rest of the boneless meat in the already salted broth. Today we would not cook any soup – just the broth, and therefore together with meat, salt, pepper and bay leaves, we would put nothing else in the pot but some green roots and very thinly chipped carrots. Or, rather than to chip a carrot, you may cut it in halves, burn to the coal condition on a dry frying pan and plunge in the broth, which thus would acquire the special golden color. Nobody knows as how this can be done at the same time with pancake-baking, but somehow we manage to cope with this unresolvable task as well.

When the meat is boiled properly, we would take it out to get colder, and meanwhile we would boil eggs, peel onions and take out the mincing machine from the ceiling cabinet. By that time everybody would understand already that meat-stuffed pancakes are coming.

The meat and onions are minced and eggs are cut in cubic pieces that must be felt when you chew a pancake. If you want, the minced onions can be roasted in veg oil. If the meat seems a bit dry, boil an extra carrot in the broth, and when it’s ready, mince it together with the meat. Those, who like spices, may spice the ready mince with crushed nutmeg, thyme, sweet marjoram, sweet basil, dried dill, or mushroom powder…

Since this moment, everybody, young

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and old, are let into the kitchen – we would start stuffing the pancakes.

A pancake would be placed on the chopping board, a tablespoonful of meat would be taken from the bowl and placed like a neat hill-shaped lump on the pancake. It is to be placed neither in the center, nor on the edge, but at the distance of about 1/3 radius from the edge. The nearest edge would be folded first, the two edges on the sides next, and finally the pancake envelope would be sealed by the vacant opposite edge. Pancakes may not be placed on one another, because the filling would quickly absorb the oil and the pancakes would start sticking to one another.

And, if you do not overturn a folded pancake, it would most probably unfold, and all our efforts would turn out vain.

Bit by bit, the kitchen boards would be covered by pancakes, while the broth is ready and everybody is looking forward to having the dinner.

Again, the frying pan, still warm from the recently hot pancake-making is put on the stove, but this time we would not spare oil. I roast the meat-stuffed blintzes in the mixture of sunflower oil and lard or margarine, but there is unlimited liberty of choice – any

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person would roast in whatever they want or whatever their heart and stomach like better.

The blintz, the folded side down, would be placed on the frying pan. Within a minute its edges would be roasted and become ruddy and crispy. Now, even if you wish to do so, you wouldn’t be able to unfold such pancake. Hence you may turn it over and roast the other side, so that the pancake would be soaked in meat flavor and the filling would be warmed properly and would be permeated by the pancake flavor.

The meat-stuffed blintzes should not be warmed for the second time, but they must be eaten hot, and therefore we would not roast all of them at once, but as many as we would eat during one meal. By five pieces per person would be quite enough. If my wife eats three, I will have seven.

We would serve the broth in tea bowls and the blintzes would be placed like a hill on the sole plate in the center of the table. I hope, you remember that there would be no knives and forks on the table? Your fingers would get oily, but to lick fingers on such occasion would not be a wrong thing to do.

Today, we would forget the Rabelaisian

variety of dressings and additions for common pancakes. Meat-stuffed blintzes are good as such, without any dressings. First we drink the broth and bite a pancake bit by bit; then we eat pancakes and wash them down with the remaining broth. In an extreme case, the not-too-sweet berry drink would be served. On such day, no main course would be expected. What kind of steaks and potatoes are you talking about? We would not dare even think about dinner!

CHAPTER 4: DINNER

To go to sleep on an empty stomach is no good, all anxiety and no sleep.

Those who go to bed while feeling hungry are either idle people who could not earn their meal during the day, or scatterbrains, who torture themselves with all sorts of diets. A serious person always has supper before going to sleep.

However, to eat too much before the bedtime is also no good as you would have nightmares and in future you would be haunted by the wheezy ghost of obesity.

Because I’ve reached my early forties, And many roads I have passed, What I need now is the curd cheese, And cottage cheese, too, is a must!

I do not remember who wrote these candid words, but that poet was right.

Evening is the time for fruit and curdcheese dishes. So, we would cook the nalistniks (apple-stuffed blintzes) and curd-stuffed blintzes, also known as curd blintzes, or tvorozhniks.

As the procedure of pancake folding and roasting has been described already, let us discuss nothing else but fillings.

Nalistniks is a special name for applestuffed blintzes. Actually this is a way to bake apples on the iron sheet. For the sliced apples not to be effusing, getting dry and burned fast to the iron sheet, they would be wrapped in a pancake.

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Today the nalistniks are roasted on a frying pan, but you certainly may try doing it on a baking sheet. You may take any apples for the nalistniks green windfalls collected before the Savior of the Apple Feast Day, or – if you want to cook it in mid-winter – the overripe autumn brands which by that time would be less flavored and crunchy. Any apples would be good for the nalistniks.

So, we peel the apples, remove the cores and peels, crunch finely and whelm with a small amount of granulated sugar, leave it for about an hour, pour out the extra juice (I hope, you know what to do with that juice), and wrap the apple slices in pancakes in the same way as we wrapped the meat mince. And then, roast and eat, reminding ourselves vainly that eating too much before the night sleep is not good for health.

Apples – whether all or a part of them – can be mixed with steamed lingonberry, sprinkle with cinnamon, or add thereto slices of kiwi, or canned apricots or peaches. With such excesses, however, your nightmares would be guaranteed – unless you cook a too small number of nalistniks.

The curd filling is very easy to

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prepare. You take fresh curd cheese, mix it with a small amount of thick sour cream, sweeten the mixture to your taste, and that’s all.

Then the cook’s tricks would start.

The curd may be flavored by vanilla or different spices. The sweetened cheese is very good with cardamom – several nuts should be peeled, the seeds mortared and then added to the filling. Sometimes it might be good to add the grated cumin, and I always add hemlock seeds. A coconut lover would certainly use coconut flakes that would add wonderful flavor to hot curd-cheese, but would gnash slightly on the teeth.

Besides, the curd filling must contain such traditional ingredient as raisins.

You may add just a bit of raisins, or many raisins or very many. You may even cook raisins-stuffed blintzes without any curd, but in such case the raisins must first be steamed.

Once I happened to eat curd-filled pancakes with dates. Besides, I happened to add dried blackberries, and I would also note that the human fantasy is unlimited, especially when it comes to eating something new.

Nalistniks and curd-filled blintzes must be eaten just when they are off the frying pan and so hot that you

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can hardly touch them. Cautiously, bite off the corner and suck the flavored filling in so that it would not drip out.

These blintzes go with hot tea. Tea was accommodated in Russia during the reign of Tzar Alexey Mikhailovich (1645 – 1676), while coffee appeared only under his son, destroyer of traditions Peter the Great. No wonder that coffee continues to be perceived as a foreign beverage, while an indigenous Russian resident – blin, does not recognize coffee.

Instead, berry drinks (mors), dried fruit compote (uzvar), honey water (syta), and, if you can actually make it – the honey-and-spices drinks (sbiten) would be very good with nalistniks and curdfilled blintzes (tvorozhniks) Well, do you still believe that eating too much for supper is bad for you?

EPILOGUE

The kolatch (white loaf) the rich man, pie the landlord, sieved bread the petty trader, and spicy gingerbread of the Tula nobles – all of those used to gather around the pancake and bow to it: Hail to thee, the round pancake! You are the master for all of us! Your sides are oily, and you are like the shiny sun! Whoever eats you, will never have trouble or misery! 

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only cluster-focused incubator in Belarus which purpose is the development of startup companies in high-tech industry.

Secondly, it may even seem unbelievable how much community-focused it is!

And the last but not the least, it is an awesome atmosphere and remarkable people who really love their job! And, taking the cue from their boss, they always leave the door open.

Head of the business incubator Yuri Sudarev is eager to answer any questions no matter how tight his schedule is.

Having such a sound experience in science, technology and innovations he definitely knows what he is talking about.

High Technologies Park Business Incubator From idea to business!

Aleksandra Sakulevich

[IT] [international cooperation] [business incubator] [outlook] [expert opinion] [investment]

A

business incubator is a company creating favorable environment for small venture startup and earlystage companies that implement innovative scientific and technical ideas. This is done by providing such firms with physical, informational, consulting and other services necessary for their survival and growth.

High Technologies Park Business Incubator is a unique organization in whatever light we view it. Firstly, it is the

ONE OF THE PRIORITY TASKS IS THE ADVANCE OF THE HIGHTECH INDUSTRY

‘We decided to create a business incubator in order to help smart and talented young people achieve their full potential. We want young entrepreneurs to have a special place where they can come to represent their ideas, meet other keen people and create something completely new. With the support of our incubator startup teams may gain valuable knowledge, find investors and what is the most important experience the informal environment of like-minded enthusiastic, persistent and creative entrepreneurs.’ This is how Yuri Sudarev describes the project mission.

‘Belarusian IT professionals have the potential worthy of everyone’s respect: there are lots of prospective ideas and ambitious people who are not only able to generate a concept but also turn it into reality. Hi-Tech Park was established for the advancement and support of high-tech industry as well as for brain drain prevention. Business incubator is the next step underway towards the completed startup ecosystem.’

Business incubator is a special environment aimed at fostering innovative

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and unique projects. This is a startup space (‘startup company’ or ‘startup’ means ‘the process initiation’). However, not every entrepreneur can be called a startupper. Opening of a family barbershop or working in retail business has nothing to do with business incubators. Startup projects are about rapid development, growth-orientation and uniqueness of the product. The competition is incredibly tough! Moreover, a startup company always faces various risks.

‘According to the statistics, only one of ten startup companies survives,’ specifies Yuri Sudarev. That is why it is hard to underestimate the importance of innovators support.

IF A COMPANY SUCCEEDS TO QUALIFY AND BECOME A RESIDENT OF THE BUSINESS INCUBATOR, IT WILL NEVER BE LEFT UNSUPPORTED!

Business incubator has several focus areas. First of all is one of the biggest coworkings in the CIS (‘co-working’ means a style of work that involves a shared working environment) where anyone can learn something new, communicate and start working on projects. Second, the coworking cooperates with top ranked Belarusian universities i.e. the students are able to embody their ideas in startup projects or use gained knowledge in practice (as part of their term projects, contests or hackathons, for instance).

Finally, the coworking is about business the incubation itself.

High Technologies Park Business Incubator provides young enterprises with ongoing front rank assistance and support that cover such areas as mentoring, expert support, assistance in getting the investment, education necessary for business development and of course the creation of likeminded people community. ‘Imagine that you are trying to start up a new

business. How to do it right? There are no ready answers available. But you have a mentor who has already travelled a long way so he or she definitely knows where you should choose between right or left turn. For this reason, expert support is vital,’ explains Mr. Sudarev. Obviously, one of the biggest problems of startup teams is lack of both business education and experience of survival in harsh competitive environment. Within the incubator one may always expect friendly advice, meet people holding the same views or even future partners as well as establish connection and forge relationship with high end segment experts.

Educational part is worth special mention. The Business incubator provides free five-month course which program has nothing in common with widely used advanced training. The point is that High Technologies Park Business Incubator is an international venture.

Each month it holds various IT-related events such as seminars, workshops or speeches of well-known experts.

Successful businessmen share their experience along with representatives of

consulting and legal companies. ’These are not common lectures,’ smiles Yuri Sudarev. ’We invite top managers, CEOs, founders and co-founders. All these people have already set up lots of hightech products, passed this way and now they are willing to tell us about the bottlenecks they encountered, how they settled particular issues and how to avoid such issues in future. They give us an opportunity to attend live training events as the trainees are interested in current situation rather than the events of the past days.’

According to the law, the term of residence within the Business incubator is three years. When it comes to High Technologies Park Business Incubator, the three-year term is divided into three one-year periods. According to preliminary estimates, intense work within such term is quite enough. Nevertheless, each case will be considered individually. ’Someone might need more or less time,’ says Yuri Sudarev. ’A startup may not be considered a typical or predictable project. One day everything may be all right, while the other day the environment changes and the

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company has to adjust. By the way, this is the reason why startuppers have to be extremely flexible. Sometimes we have to get the entire project revised.

Anyway, it is just a usual workflow and never a tragedy.’

When asked about what it takes to succeed (except flexibility and ability to quickly adapt to the constantly changing market conditions) Mr. Sudarev answers quite simply, ’You need to do what you like. Put your heart to the project rather than pursue immediate profit. Calculations are just numbers.’

Someone enters the market with a unique product while others (for example, Apalon, the HTP resident) create such iPhone applications as calculators or alarm clocks and occupy top positions in the Apple App Store.

THERE IS AN IDEA – WHAT’S NEXT?

Start-up companies need to represent and justify their projects i.e. objectives and ways to achieve them within one-

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year period. Taking into account specific features of most startup teams, it is pointless to ask them provide economic or accounting calculations. Instead, the project prospects and the potential of the team will be assessed.

The Board engaged in the assessment of the submitted projects consists of experienced businessmen and experts. ’The final decision is made jointly on the basis of personal experience and confidence of its members. If you fail at first stage, it is not a big deal!

We usually do not split up with such companies. Instead, we continue the cooperation in many ways.’ sums up Yuri Sudarev. Among other things, the business incubator leases office space at a very low rate!

THE BUSINESS INCUBATOR IS A HUGE STARTUP VENTURE ITSELF!

The coworking space decorated as a loft calls up thoughts of San Francisco and the first coworking spaces located

in large industrial buildings with minimal decor. One may hole up in a red publiccall box to make a call (especially during workshops!). The Café resembles Western Europe, London, the Walk of Fame and has bikes over the bar.

There is a corner of Korean culture which has even accessories for the tea ceremony. The Business incubator has been successfully cooperating with the Korean Republic. Besides, they have already held some events (including cultural) and BelarusianKorean Information Centre has been founded as well. ’My intension was to bring here some pleasant memories,’ says Yuri Sudarev. ’And to create a unique informal environment which would promote business and personal relationships.

After all, in fact, our business incubator is a great startup itself. Our team consists of self-motivated people who are doing their thing. They all are aimed at success!’

Modern life is a fast thing. Opportunities pop up all the time and you only have to be able to notice them. ’I do not believe that everything has already been invented. You can always find a market niche. When there’s a will there’s a way.’ All that is left to do is to agree with Mr. Sudarev’s words and continue watching out for the success of the Business incubator and its residents because the success is not long in coming. 

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Character for the game is the style “post-apocalypse.

How to become a successful 3D artist Komin Evgeniy, 3Dartist, city of Saint Peterrsburg [personality] [success story] [interview] [3D artist] [computer graphics] [game development]

V: Evgeniy, how did you become familiar with computer graphics?

O: since 13, while going to school, me and my brother were invited to programming classes to the center of Information culture MTSIK of Pushkin town. As we were fond of computer games, we made trials to create our own computer games. Gradually we divided our roles on working with projects, my brother wrote a code for games, and I created the graphics. In the beginning those were simple games, platformers with a two-dimensional graphics, with time we proceeded to 3D graphics. I started to work with 3D Studio Max 1.0.

V: Could you tell me please, if your education is somehow connected with you current profession?

O: No, it is not. According to my education I am an Energy Engineer. I graduated from university and wrote a diploma paper more on inertia as the choice of the future profession has been made, and in parallel I was busy with creation of the portfolio as a 3D artist.

I educated for this myself on the home computer. I bought books about computer graphics for the money from scholarship as there was no internet at home. I got the first graphic tablet - Wacom Graphire. I also studied the drawing,

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Location “abandoned room”

tried to make sketches on the paper, then scanned and accomplished them in the computer, prepared the strong background for my profession. Later I found out than in some studios which were interesting for me, they require the knowledge of Maya, I started to learn this program. When finally I was invited as a computer graphics artist in one of studios, I started attending for half a year the courses of drawing and art in the school of painting for adults. I think that my education is not finished yet, in future I plan to achieve the degree in the sphere of computer graphics or in painting.

V: Evgeniy, you made a self-education and in order to achieve such success you had to work a lot. How did you get your first job as a 3D artist? Was it difficult to get this position?

O: Yes, it was difficult. In 2004 I decided firmly that I want to make a career in the sphere of 3D art and started to create works for my first portfolio. Back then I was a 4 course university student and after study I every day devoted 4-6 hours for this work.

My study in university gradually came to the second place. As my new works appeared I submitted them to the forum gamedev.ru (which exists today as well), and asked other 3D artists to give their feedback to my works, and I was glad to receive critics and valuable advices from professionals. With time, as soon as I had first valuable developments, I started to send resumes to game studios, there were situations when I made test tasks but they didn’t hire me, and that demotivated me, but I stuck to my decision. Presumably after a year and a half of hard work in creation of the models for the portfolio, my dream became true – I got my first job! It was a position of 3D modeler in the Company «Lesta Studio» in

Saint-Petersburg (at the moment it is absorbed my holding Wargaming (by creator of “World of Tanks”).

V: Evgeniy, do you have some specialty in your profession or you are quite a universal artist in computer graphics?

O: Yes, I am a 3D artist with a very wide specter of knowledge, it is difficult to find an area in 3D graphics with which I haven’t worked yet. I started with modelling and gradually developed my skills, in our industry it is very appreciated, when it is more convenient for the customer to hire a specialist who does his work “under key”, and there will be no need to involve additional people. Actually, I am a 3D artist of the “full” cycle, so I can make an animation video “from beginning to the end”: with models, textures, rig, animation, special effects and montage. In gaming industry the specialty is also important, and my main direction is “ Character artist”.

Often I took exactly this position, that is

why for 10 years I accumulated a huge experience in this area, and I think it is in priority to me and the main one. The modeling of characters in more close to my interest then creation of technic or models for environment, cause the creation of character you need to think a lot of his spirit, need to make him look unique and alive.

V: Egneniy, what is the biggest project in your career you worked with?

O: It was a world-wide project – Star wars: The old republic. Back then I was an employee in outsourcing company Sperasoft Studios (in SaintPetersburg), and the central office is in the city Santa Clara (California), I was a hard-surface modeler (creator of game techno genic models). My main specialization was creation of modelsdroids for this project and also, less – creation of character models. For me it was a great experience of working for the project known worldwide. The main program I worked with for that

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Character Gnome. Was created for motives of the game “Golden Axe”.

awarded for high working results with a certificate «Best artist of the year».

V: Evgeniy, you passed all this way, and what position do you now occupy?

What are its functions?

O: At this moment I hold a position of a leading 3D artist in well-known company Game Insight (the central office is in Riga, Lithuania) on a gaming project X-Merces. This is a mobile game for iOS platform, genre is a step-by-step strategy with advanced 3D graphics.

My responsibilities are the assembly of gaming scenes on a working engine Unity 3D, accepting and correction of other 3D artists’ work, and outsourcers as well, including a new content on the game, creation of character models and special effects, gaming catscenes (animation video created on Unity 3D).

time was a program Softimage | XSI, which, as I think, is more suitable than any else for hard-surface modeling.

The deep knowledge of this program, and also a huge experience in the sphere of poly-gonyc (highpoly) modeling

allowed me to get an advantage in speed and quality in comparison with other 3D artists. Seeing that, many other colleagues asked me for support and consultation when they needed to make similar tasks. In 2009 I was

V: What tools do you use in work at the moment? Are there many programs that 3D artist should know?

O: At the moment the core program for me is Autodesk Maya for highpoly hard-surface modelling, low-poly modeling and animation, Zbrush for organic modeling, Photoshop for creation of textures, Unity 3D as a game engine.

These are the main programs. Also they use a lot not big, but important utilities, aimed to solve the narrow tasks, for example XNormal for burning cards, Quixel Suite for simplification of the texturing process, Marmoset Toolbag for real0time visualization of their work..

V: What would you advise to young people who want to prove themselves in the profession of 3D artist?

O: I would advise them to make their wish to master this profession number one and go to their goal, and realize that they need to study and work a lot, learn new technologies by themselves.

If there is a possibility to start with

Character “ Enemy” for the game in genre “Shooter” from the first person

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Car for the game in style “Post-apocalypse”

study – it’s right, but in any case this stage will be the first step for being and remaining successful 3D artist, remember that this profession need constant improvement as it is a leading branch, its technologies change fast.

You need to be flexible and adjust to changes. Also, it is preferable to have maximum wide range of skills in the profession, I mean to be able not only to create models but also, let’s say not deeply, but know relevant areas, such as Rigging, animation, rendering, knowledge of gaming engines. It is especially important if you are going to be a freelancer and be free in employment. But also important is the specialty in something specific as they can invite you to work in a studio only for a concrete position, let’s say: character artist, or environment artist, animator, texture artist.

V: What plans do you have for the nearest future in terms of development your professional skills?

O: Yes, of course I have such plans.

I want to deepen my knowledge in the sphere of gaming engines, especially now the Unreal Engine becomes very popular. Also I plan to continue to deepen my knowledge in the sphere of modeling characters, anatomy, learning of ZBrush program, in which all the time new functions appear etc.

V: What is the secret of your success?

O: I set clearly a goal and go forward.

You need to have a plan of actions to get what you wish in 5, 10 years. You need to have some sense of what will be on need in terms of programs, which technologies will be popular and start mastering them already today, to be flexible, quickly adjust to changes and trends, to be the first among your colleagues.

V: Would you like to have your own business? Do you have enough strength for this?

O: Yes, I have such plans. Possibly I will start to share my experience and with time will find my niche in coaching activity, I have a vision how to organize courses of computer graphics in a right way. As I want to share my experience with beginners in 3D art and with those who decided to master this profession and dreams to show his creativity, as our profession is very creative.

V: Engeniy, what is your main hobby beside work?

O: At this moment I am busy with making of tutorial videos about my profession on my Youtube channel.

I am inspired by the fact that other users see my videos and develop their skills, I understand, that the channel lives and develops, new subscribers come. I have a wish to continue this further. Besides, this material will be used in future as a background for my teaching activity.  Model of Renault Alpine car

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To London right now!

‘We must run as fast as we can, just to stay in place.

And if you wish to go anywhere you must run twice as fast as that’ Lewis Carroll, Alice in Wonderland [publishing business] [books] [iBooks] [travelling]

R

unning is completely useless.

‘Travelling without moving’ (travel staying in place) – this how the creators named the software product allowing you to make a virtual journey using only the tablet and finger movements!

‘To London right now’ includes ten tourist destinations of the capital of England, a lot of high-quality photos and

the narration of the traveler, who visited the city in rain and fog. The interactive guide includes everything you need to arrange trips as efficiently as possible: the city full-scale map with routes not to get lost among the streets and alleys. You can see elements of basreliefs and clothing of the townspeople on the large pictures!

All images are provided with the

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comments: a user can not only find out what kind of place it is, but also learn historical facts and important details. Attention should be paid to the recommendations: you will get prompts in which days you’d better visit a museum, and when walk along the Baker-street. Lovers of neon lights can have a walk through the city, and those of peace – a trip to the city suburbs.

‘To London right now’ plunges you into the atmosphere of one of the most visited cities in the world: a feeling of real presence, as though that red bus would beep, and the mount police officer

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horse snort. ‘To London right now’ make the journey staying put!

«ActivePads» ActivePads - the entire world at your fingertips www.activepads.com

The book will benefit both travelers and a broader audience interested in the history and culture of England, as it includes more than 750 photos and interactive route plans.

You will be able to take a tour of London without leaving home and imbibe the spirit of this amazing city.

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