Russia And Greater China

Tuesday, August 28, 2012

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SPECIAL REPORT

RUSSIA

www.rbth.asia

AND GREATER CHINA

Monthly supplement from Rossiyskaya Gazeta (Moscow, Russia) which takes sole responsibility for the contents

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Billionaire’s vision High-profile businessman hopes next month’s summit in Vladivostok will boost his country’s presence in Asia PAGE 5

New routes for exports

Organisation plans nuclear expansion

Siberian adventure for visitors

Moscow to unveil transport initiatives

Apec economies are focusing on developing new technology

Trip to world’s largest freshwater lake is a once-in-a-lifetime experience

> PAGE 4

> PAGE 7

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2 Tuesday, August 28, 2012

RUSSIA AND GREATER CHINA PERSONALITIES OF THE MONTH

RGC RECOMMENDS

Religion not the issue S

Life and times in Moscow

ROUND-UP COSTLY LIVING

FUN AND GAMES

Robots put their best feet forward in Chinese city hai Jiaotong University, St Petersburg National University and Fujin No 3 Middle School also claimed awards. The Russian team won the “folk dance” category and came third in “original dance”.

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If you thought the London Olympic Games were the only major international competition this summer, you would be wrong. In Fujin, in China’s northeastern Heilongjiang province, robots were involved in a heated dancing competition.

Some 29 teams from countries such as China, Russia, Mexico and South Korea competed in solo dance, pas de deux, group dance, ballet, yangge, street dance and folk dance, where a pair of giant panda-shaped robots drew attention as they had to move more than 20 joints in their costumes while dancing.

The team from Mexico took the title in the solo category. Harbin Engineering University won four prizes, while Shang-

Dancing robots exhibit their wares during the competition in Fujin.

Capital is fourth most expensive city for expatriates

Pussy Riot members (from left) Maria Alekhina, Yekaterina Samutsevich and Nadezhda Tolokonnikova on trial in Moscow.

Mercer’s latest “Cost of Living” ranking of the most expensive cities for expatriates puts Moscow in fourth place. Mercer examines the prices of 200 types of goods and services, including housing, transport and entertainment, in 214 cities calculated in US dollars. Tokyo is the most expensive, followed by the Angolan capital, Luanda, and another Japanese city, Osaka, The average daily cost of an international class hotel in Moscow is US$3,118. It will cost US$2,340 in Hong Kong, which ranks ninth.

NUMBERS GAME

PICTURE OF THE MONTH

46

Paratroopers are so cool

MEDAL COUNT Russia was fourth in the gold medal count at the London Olympics with 24, but this didn’t stop some bloggers from claiming an overall victory. They took the 46 golds won by former parts of the Soviet empire, such as Ukraine, Kazakhstan, Belarus, and proclaimed the USSR winner. The United States also won 46 golds, but the combined USSR score was higher, with more silver medals.

Others argued that among empires, the USSR was only fifth. The old Mongol empire with 103 gold medals was first, while runner-up was the Roman Empire with 90. Third was shared by Han dynasty China and the British Empire as of 1946 borders, with 55 medals each.

ILIA VARLAMOV

ers”, the court said. Two of the accused have young children, one reason why some people opposed their arrest.

The trial caused a new wave of protests and underlined how divided Russian society is.

Most online commentators were sympathetic towards the group.

Nevertheless, opinion polls by the Levada centre found 44 per cent thought the controversial group received a fair trial, against 17 per cent who thought the opposite. Some 36 per cent of those polled agreed that the verdict was based on the facts, against 18 per cent who looked at it as a decision that was heavily influenced by the government.

Lawyers for the group say they plan to appeal.

ITAR-TASS

entenced to two years in prison for staging a punk prayer inside a Russian Orthodox cathedral, the all-female Pussy Riot punk band caused a sensation at home and around the world.

Their trial and sentencing was the most talked-about event in the country.

Members of the feminist group staged a performance in Moscow’s Cathedral of Christ the Saviour in February. The three were arrested days later after a video of the performance appeared online.

Nadezhda Tolokonnikova, 22, Maria Alekhina, 24, and Yekaterina Samutsevich, 30, were each found guilty of hooliganism and inciting religious hatred earlier this month for lip synching a “punk prayer”.

During the trial, members of the group said their actions were motivated by politics and not by “hate towards Orthodox religion”.

The court chose not to believe them, despite support from celebrities such as Paul McCartney and Madonna, and demonstrations of support that spread beyond Russia, to cities that included London, Paris, Berlin and New York.

The women “were motivated by religious enmity and hatred, and acted provocatively and in an insulting manner inside a religious building in the presence of a large number of believ-

Please check the new addition to our blogs page at rbth.asia. Former South China Morning Post journalist and Hongkonger Freda Wan spent a month in Moscow studying the Russian language six hours a day, five days a week.

She crams in the local culture, from the banya (a sauna) to contemporary art. Wan blogs twice a week about her Russian experiences and encounters, including visiting a wet market, getting lost inside Moscow University and learning how to cook genuine Russian borsch (not the soup one can find in some restaurants in Hong Kong).

Find more at www.rbth.asia/blogs

Former Russian paratroopers enjoy a holiday this month in Moscow, cooling down in fountains and breaking watermelons over their heads.

RUSSIA BEYOND THE HEADLINES’ SUPPLEMENTS AND SECTIONS IN ASIA: GET THE BEST STORIES FROM RUSSIA EACH MONTH IN YOUR FAVOURITE NEWSPAPER In China Business News (China) “BACK TO SCHOOL IN SEPTEMBER: IS IT JOY OR SORROW?” http://ezhong.ru

In Mainichi Shimbun (Japan) “AN AMBITIOUS ALLIANCE: RENO-NISSAN PLANS TO TAKE CONTROL OF AVTOVAZ” http://roshianow.jp

In The Economic Times (India) “INDIA, RUSSIA AND THE SYRIAN CRISIS” http://indrus.in

SPECIAL SUPPLEMENTS AND SECTIONS ABOUT RUSSIA ARE ALSO PUBLISHED BY RUSSIA BEYOND THE HEADLINES, A DIVISION OF ROSSIYSKAYA GAZETA (RUSSIA), IN: THE WASHINGTON POST AND THE NEW YORK TIMES (UNITED STATES), THE DAILY TELEGRAPH (UNITED KINGDOM), LE FIGARO (FRANCE), SÜDDEUTSCHE ZEITUNG (GERMANY), EL PAÍS (SPAIN), LA REPUBBLICA (ITALY), LE SOIR (BELGIUM), DUMA (BULGARIA), GEOPOLITICA (SERBIA), AKROPOLIS (GREECE), LA NATION (ARGENTINA), FOLHA DO SAO PAOLO (BRAZIL), EL OBSERVADOR (URUGUAY).

Tuesday, August 28, 2012 3

RUSSIA AND GREATER CHINA

© RMIL SITDIKOV_RIA NOVOSTI

Land of forgotten feelings Funny and touching, ‘Slava’s Snowshow’ is a return to the realm of dreams and childhood, writes Ekaterina Zabrovskaya Slava Polunin wants to teach people to be happy. His eccentric pantomime, which he dubbed ‘expressive idiotism’, has brought him enormous popularity in Russia and around the world.

T

THEATRE SLAVA POLUNIN Vyacheslav Polunin (Slava Polunin) was born in 1950 in the Soviet province of Orel. He was fascinated by Charlie Chaplin, Harry Langdon and Marcel Marceau from a young age and imitated Chaplin during highschool performances and developed a range of comic characters during his school years. Polunin later moved to Leningrad, where he founded the clown-mime theatre Litsedei in 1968.

He graduated in 1977 from the Leningrad Institute of Culture and later studied at Moscow’s State Institute of Theatrical Art (Gitis). Polunin shot to fame after a 1980 TV sketch of a parody of a phone conversation between two lovers. He is married and has three children. He lives in London and keeps a home in Russia.

“The person sitting in the audience sees the clown as himself in the acting space and literally becomes part of the performance. In other words, this humorous oddity becomes the representative of the spectator in that unreal world,” Polunin has told various newspapers.

The spectator does not just sit in the theatre, it’s as if he’s on stage. The theatre itself, with its walls and ceiling, its scenery and wings, is his inner world.

“We are not running away from the existing reality, but creating a new one in which we are happy, and we want to teach this to other people,” Polunin once noted, and spectators responded sensitively to this idea.

One blogger noted: “An hour and a half of childhood – that’s great. Don’t pick the show to pieces, don’t compare it, don’t try to dig deeply into it. The child inside you will make it all clear.

If you go looking for happiness, for a fairy tale, for a dream, this show has everything.”

Polunin, appearing as a small, naive and timid man in shapeless bright yellow overalls, a red scarf and shaggy red slippers, radiates waves of goodness, audiences say.

Slava Polunin won the Laurence Olivier Prize for ‘Slava’s Snowshow’, which was acclaimed as the best theatrical show of 1998.

ITAR-TASS (3)

hey call Slava Polunin “the best clown in the world”.

London newspaper The Times dubbed his Snowshow “a theatre classic of the 20th century”. Polunin began touring the world with his own shows in 1979. And in 1993 he created Slava’s Snowshow, which he has taken to Europe, Israel, North America and Asia. Snowshow has been shown in more than 50 cities to more than a million spectators, including a 2007 visit to Hong Kong. The show is in Singapore until September 9.

Snowshow is a brilliant and fascinating collection of theatrical sketches: meetings, partings, joys and losses, with characters that are amusing and touching oddities in yellow overalls or green coats. They are expressive clowns with amazing mimes, gestures and appearances of unsurpassed skill.

The show creates a kind of Alice in Wonderland, a land of forgotten feelings and emotions where there is happiness, gentleness and love.

The spectator cannot help but be drawn into this amazing world. Adults are reminded of what it is like to be a child. There are no familiar circus tricks in Snowshow. The artists do not juggle or walk on tightropes.

“I have removed anything that looks like a circus skill, in order to leave only that which is naive,” Polunin says. “So the clowns move from one corner to another, and the spectator should get the feeling that he can do the same too.”

He says the clowns only pretend to be clumsy, so that the audience will begin to identify with them.

Snowshow is enjoying phenomenal success as it travels throughout the world. It is notable that every time Polunin performs it, while retaining the overall structure of the show, he adapts it to the mentality of the audience and the traditions of the country where he is performing. The artist does not have a permanent company but reportedly relies on dozens of friends from around the world.

He once explained: “Every time we go somewhere, I ask myself what kind of country is it? What’s the atmosphere there? Who would be able to convey it best? Then, out of all my friends I choose the ones who will be most appropriate for that situation – the passionate ones are best for the Spanish, and the cleverest ones for the British, while for Russia I take the gentlest ones, because the Russian audience is the most empathetic.”

As Polunin once said, that is why Snowshow “is like jazz, it’s constant improvisation”.

The person sitting in the audience sees the clown as himself in the acting space and literally becomes part of the performance SLAVA POLUNIN

4 Tuesday, August 28, 2012

RUSSIA AND GREATER CHINA

Fresh routes for exports Moscow to unveil port and overland transport initiatives for north Asia, writes Irina Drobysheva

R

ussia next month will unveil its plans to further integrate its transport systems into Asia at the Asia-Pacific Economic Co-operation (Apec) CEO Summit in Vladivostok.

The nation’s proposals include plans to modernise the Trans-Siberian Railway and the Northern Sea Route, and to develop new routes between Asia and Europe, and within Asia.

Global forecasts show that trade within Asia will grow faster than trade between the region and either the European Union or the Americas, due to intensive regional integration.

Asia is the world’s leader in simplifying inter-regional customs procedures and cutting the costs of doing business.

While Russia was preoccupied with accession to the World Trade Organisation, many Apec countries opted for regional free-trade agreements.

Since the mid-1990s, more than 70 free-trade zone agreements have been concluded in Asia.

Mikhail Kholosha, head of the transport development department of the Far Eastern Marine Research, Design and Technology Institute, explains the potential for expanding existing Russian transport infrastructure in the region.

“The best place to start [in the Far East] is in the south of the Primorye Territory,” he says. “Japan, South Korea and China periodically test the possibilities of freight carriage via the Trans-Siberian Railway and in regional directions, such as the Multi-Modal Transport Corridors, Primorye-1, and Primorye-2. These three corridors form a common, mutually complementary transport space.”

Several years ago, the Greater Tumen Initiative, acting under the auspices of the United Nations Development Programme, conducted a survey of experts, government officials and businessmen in northeast Asia on the possibilities of cargo flowing between them and China’s Jilin province. A rough estimate of

New logistics network can speed freight to key markets

TRANSPORT

the amount of freight passing through this region in 2030 is 90 to 100 million metric tonnes.

This means that the port of Troitsa Harbour in Russia’s Primorye Territory should be developed. It could become the biggest port, not only in Russia, but in all of northeast Asia. This cargo transit route alone could earn Russia billions of dollars a year, and there are several such growth points in the region.

Last year, the first batch of contain-

Forecasts show trade within Asia will grow faster than between the region and either the EU or the Americas

ers arrived at Troitsa Harbour by truck from the Chinese city of Hunchun, near the Russian border. From Troitsa Harbour, they were dispatched to Japan on a container ship. Jilin, which borders Primorye, had been working towards that possibility for almost 10 years.

Now, it takes two days to deliver cargo from northeastern China to Japan, and there are plans to use the new transport line not only for transit carriage between China and Japan, but also to

carry freight from those countries to Europe via the Trans-Siberian Railway.

However, to optimise the project, capacity must be increased at the Russian border crossing at Kraskino.

So far, the town processes 30 vehicles a day, but there is a demand for 200 vehicles with containers. The construction of a modern border crossing point at Kraskino is slated for completion in the autumn, but increasing its capacity alone will not solve all the town’s problems. Customs procedures still need to be simplified and Troitsa Harbour’s port capacity expanded.

The idea of improving combined land and sea cargo shipments between Russia, China and Japan was backed by all the members of a consultative meeting within the framework of the Greater Tumen Initiative, in Harbin, in February. Unfortunately, Russia is still lagging behind, and pilot projects are being implemented between China and South Korea, and between China and Japan, despite the fact that this partnership was initiated by Beijing in 2008, as part of a drive to improve co-operation between its northeastern provinces and the Russian Far East.

Experts hope that Russia’s presentation at the Apec CEO Summit will mean that the country is ready to improve logistics integration in the Far East.

Russia Beyond the Headlines – General Information Partner

Sochi Forum is a driver of economic modernisation XI INTERNATIONAL INVESTMENT FORUM SOCHI-2012 SEPTEMBER 20-23

Last year, 548 delegates from various countries and regions took part in the 10th forum, where 105 deals, worth HK$13.7 billion, were signed.

NIKOLAI PRYANISHNIKOV, PRESIDENT, MICROSOFT, RUSSIA

My overall impressions of the forum (Sochi-2011) are positive. The plenary discussion with Vladimir Putin was the most useful part. I remember his statements on the necessity for reducing the role of the state in the economy. And I think that was a very correct decision.

Tuesday, August 28, 2012 5

RUSSIA AND GREATER CHINA

Influential billionaire has global ambitions PRESS PHOTO

High-profile billionaire Ziyavudin Magomedov will chair the Apec Business Advisory Council.

Z

iyavudin Magomedov is earning a reputation for being one of the few Russian tycoons who speak internationally for his nation’s business community.

The 43-year-old founder and chairman of the Summa Group of “is just different”, says a Moscow correspondent for a major American newswire. “Many people told me that he thinks globally.”

A year ago, Magomedov was not very well-known, even inside Russia. Now his Summa Group is making headlines there after bidding for several high-profile assets, particularly in the transport and logistics sectors.

“In five years, [Magomedov] might have one of the most powerful shipping holdings, not only in Russia, but internationally as well,” says Alexey Bezborodov, director of consultancy Russia Infranews.

Magomedov has acknowledged major plans to expand beyond Russia. Having invested in the Port of Rotterdam, he is contemplating joint international port projects with it.

This year, the Moscow-based billionaire is chairing the Asia-Pacific Economic Co-operation Business Advisory Coun-

INTERVIEW cil (Abac), a body that advises Asia-Pacific Economic Co-operation officials on business-sector priorities and concerns. And Magomedov is making the most of it.

We meet at a French restaurant in Ho Chi Minh City, where the tycoon is accompanied by aides and a handful of journalists.

Asked if he is satisfied with the results so far, the billionaire jokes about improving his English and presentation skills, and then gets serious.

“Abac is the full analogue of an international organisation, with the only difference that countries are represented by

FOURTH APEC BUSINESS ADVISORY COUNCIL MEETING SEPTEMBER 3-6 VLADIVOSTOK, RUSSIA

BUSINESS CALENDAR

FIND MORE IN THE GLOBAL CALENDAR

at www.rbth.ru

The council’s annual report to AsiaPacific Economic Co-operation (Apec) economic leaders outlines the views of business on regional issues and recommends improvements in the business and investment environment. The council includes up to three senior business people from each Apec economy, involves large and small enterprises, and its chair comes from the Apec host.

WWW.ABACONLINE.ORG

Businessman Ziyavudin Magomedov embodies his nation’s growing role in Asia, writes Sergey Vinogradov

businesspeople rather than ambassadors,” he says. “Decisions are based on consensus, and the only way to get things done is to offer something that is good for everyone. It is difficult, but this is how soft power works, and it is important for Russia to continue to do so because after being the host country for Apec; we are taking up leadership in Brics [the economic group involving Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa], G20 and G8.”

Indeed, Abac can be seen as a testing ground for bigger things. The council lacks the power to make decisions for Apec governments, but it helps to set the regional agenda.

“It’s a big question – who has more power: someone who makes the final decisions, or someone who limits the available options for the big guys,” says Wu Fei, a Chinese expert on Russia.

For years, Abac has been dominated by the United States, which used the platform to consolidate its interests in the Asia-Pacific “without making big efforts to bring everyone on board”, says one long-time Abac member from a developing country. This situation changed in November 2011 during the Abac

meeting before the Apec summit in Honolulu, when Russia made its presence felt for the first time.

Several Abac members told Russia Beyond The Headlines that they were positive about Russia’s growing influence in the organisation.

“Russia was very instrumental in

APEC CEO SUMMIT 2012

RUSSIA-SINGAPORE BUSINESS FORUM

SEPTEMBER 7-8 VLADIVOSTOK, RUSSIA

The Apec CEO Summit will be held for the first time in Russia. More than 700 chief executives are expected to take part in the annual forum for the Asia Pacific’s business elite, held as a part of a series of meetings organised for senior government officials from member economies. Business leaders will have the opportunity to share views with government leaders and heads of state.

WWW.APEC2012CEOSUMMIT.RU/EN

Magomedov hopes to see Russia become an integral part of Asia’s dynamic economy bringing [developing and developed countries’] views closer together,” says an Abac member from the Philippines.

Some of Russia’s initiatives were based on best practices across the region. “Our experts studied the experience of Apec countries and proposed a framework of incentives for businesses to go green in construction and urban development,” says Magomedov.

Technology transfer is a tough issue,

SEPTEMBER 24-27 MARINA BAY SANDS, SINGAPORE

From an objective to “demystify” Russia in 2006, the Russia-Singapore Business Forum has evolved into a complex and sustainable platform to forge business links, launch projects and tie-ups, and bridge regional and global business across the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) and beyond. The event is the most significant international forum on the CIS and emerging markets.

WWW.RSBF.ORG.SG

but with the help of many developing nations, Russia managed to get it included in the Letter to the Leaders that the council prepares for Apec chiefs before every summit. Magomedov hopes to see Russia become an integral part of Asia’s dynamic economy, especially as many of the region’s businesses are eager to use Russian transit routes instead of facing the congestion of major sea lanes. “[We can] play a greater role in global trade. It takes 28 days for a container to reach Moscow from Vladivostok; [for] 13 of them, it just stays idle at customs.

Let’s compare [that] to Singapore, where customs formalities take no more than 24 hours,” Magomedov says.

One unresolved problem leads to another, the tycoon adds. “Once you are on this path, it is hard to stop - you start to see things with a wider perspective,” he says. He hopes that other Russian businessmen will participate in the region. The National Business Centre for Apec was established with Summa’s help, and aims to raise awareness and interest in Russia about Asia.

“This model worked in other countries, why shouldn’t it work in Russia?”

Magomedov asks.

INTERNATIONAL ECONOMIC FORUM NOVEMBER 3-9 SEOUL, SOUTH KOREA

The International Economic Forum convenes representatives of business, the public and the political and scientific communities to analyse Russia and South Korea’s experience in innovative development. Participants will also provide recommendations after discussions focused on economic and technical upgrade, energy and resource efficiency, intellectual property, and Russia and South Korea’s investment appeal.

WWW.CONF.RBC.RU/EN/

6 Tuesday, August 28, 2012

RUSSIA AND GREATER CHINA

Host CEOs line up to show new presence in Asia Mark Zavadskiy

PRESS PHOTO

The Russia Singapore Business Forum draws over 800 government and business leaders from about 40 nations.

This year’s event will focus on Russia’s links in Asia, at the Marina Bay Sands from September 24 to 27.

Singapore lures Moscow chiefs Lion City’s business forum shows how nations’ treaty can lead to top-level trade partnerships, writes Viktor Kuzmin

W

ith a well-established annual forum and a newly ratified investment treaty, Singapore may be overshadowing Hong Kong in terms of business and investment links with Russia.

“Hong Kong and Singapore are at different stages of engaging Russian businesses,” says a former Singapore ambassador to Russia, Michael Tay. Although, trade between Russia and Singapore fell last year for the first time in years, business links are growing rapidly along with support from leaders in both countries.

These links will be the focus of the Russia Singapore Business Forum (RSBF) from September 24 to 27 at the Marina Bay Sands, an event organised by the Singapore Business Federation and its strategic partner, Sberbank Russia. An annual event, the forum has grown into one of the largest international gatherings of Russian business and political leaders outside the country.

Tay launched the first forum in 2006, and the event regularly attracts more than 800 government and business leaders from about 40 countries. Speakers this year include former prime minister of Singapore Lee Kuan Yew, Sberbank chairman Herman Gref, Russia’s First Deputy Prime Minister Igor Shu-

valov, and famous American investor and Singapore resident Jim Rogers.

Tay believes Singapore is an appealing partner for Russia because it is home to a wide range of industries.

“If you consider Singapore’s expertise in areas such as airports [Changi Airports International], urban planning [RSP Architects], infrastructure [Jurong Consultants], and commodities [Olam

Singapore’s expertise and experience across a multitude of skilled professions put us in good stead to offer Russia a range of services International], it is quite clear that bilateral business ties and interests are not solely confined to the world of finance and banking,” Tay says. “Singapore’s expertise and experience across a multitude of skilled professions put us in good stead to offer Russia a range of services that can strengthen overall bilateral business relations.”

Hong Kong’s bilateral trade with Russia has been growing over the past few years, but the vast majority of that trade is re-exports between Russia and China.

Singapore has been working to attract direct trade with Russian. While total trade volumes slumped last year, Russian investment in Singapore jumped and officials expect trade and investment will grow further after Russia finally ratified a 2010 investment agreement.

In April, Russia ratified a bilateral deal that would encourage and protect bilateral investment between Russia and Singapore. The agreement was signed in September 2010 and Singapore ratified it almost immediately. Hong Kong does not have a treaty with Russia.

Last year, the Russian Ministry for Economic Development reported positive trade dynamics with Singapore, even as actual trade volumes dropped, thanks to the economic slowdown. At the same time, Russian investments in Singapore increased more than fivefold, from US$487 million to US$2.8 billion. Singapore’s bilateral trade with Russia hit US$3.7 billion, lower than the record US$4.1 billion recorded in 2010.

Last year, Hong Kong’s bilateral trade with Russia amounted to US$2.56 billion, but 96 per cent of that was re-exports to and from China.

Last November’s Asia-Pacific Economic Co-operation (Apec) CEO Forum in Honolulu was a great event. There was just one drawback, however - there were too few Russian speakers. There was just one, the then-president Dmitriy Medvedev.

There were no business people, scientists or opinion makers. It looked as if Russia was completely missing from Apec public space, and unwilling to share its views at one of the biggest business events of 2011.

This year, will be different. The CEO Forum in Vladivostok is organised by the Russian National Centre for Apec, which made sure it would have strong Russian participation, and include business heavyweights such as Oleg Deripaska or Ziyavudin Magomedov (featured on page 5), along with Russkiy Mir Foundation executive director Vyacheslav Nikonov and politicians such as Moscow’s mayor, Sergey Sobyanin.

The usual Apec suspects will also be there. Prominent American investor Jim Rogers and JP Morgan banker Jing Ulrich will be among those sharing their views on the global economy.

The forum aims to tackle several issues. The limits and unintended consequences of economic integration will be discussed, and the challenges that globalisation poses to economic and political stability.

The event will look at the future of

fiat currency regimes, and will examine ways to address resource limitations to ensure energy and food security, to improve the reliability and robustness of global supply chains, and to realise the untapped potential of the more distant provinces and borderlands. Forum organisers plan to ask world leaders how governments can help their people prepare for the new demands and new opportunities of the present decade and century – and how new technologies will change those opportunities and challenge established social structures.

The main question remains the same as a year ago, however. Five years on from the height of the global economic crisis, can we return to – or near – pre-2008 growth trajectories? This year’s 17th Apec CEO Summit will explore what can be done to make this challenging aspiration a possibility.

TOP 3 sessions

TOP 5 speakers

Technologies: The Next Big Thing

ANATOLY CHUBAIS

What will be the technological breakthroughs of the early 21st century?

Participants will also focus on recent innovations such as new internet technologies, biotechnologies and artificial intelligence.

Emerging Markets’ Middle Classes: The New Consumer

FORUMS

ACEO AND CHAIRMAN OF ROSNANO, RUSSIA

A politician and business manager responsible for privatisation in Russia.

JIM ROGERS INVESTOR, UNITED STATES

An author, financial commentator, adventurer, and successful international investor.

JING ULRICH

This discussion will focus on the upcoming shift in consumption trends from developed to developing economies due to their growing middle classes. What needs to be done to make this shift?

MANAGING DIRECTOR AND CHAIR OF GLOBAL MARKETS AT JP MORGAN CHASE, CHINA

Ranked as one of Fortune Magazine’s 50 Most Powerful Global Businesswomen for the past three years.

ARTEM VOLYNETS

Distant Provinces: The Scale of Opportunity This session will discuss countries’ untapped natural, geographical and human resources, and how they can be used to benefit the economy and those regions themselves.

CEO OF EN+GROUP, RUSSIA

Heads the nation’s leading diversified mining, metals and energy groups.

SERGEY SOBYANIN MAYOR OF MOSCOW, RUSSIA

Mayor since October 2010.

Tuesday, August 28, 2012 7

RUSSIA AND GREATER CHINA

Group eyes nuclear sector Organisation plans to develop technologies for huge market, writes Alexander Emelyanenkov

EASTNEWS

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Nuclear technology could become the platform for most contemporary industries.

Nuclear medicine

PRESS PHOTO

ed by Russia’s Skolkovo, AsiaPacific Economic Co-operation (Apec) economies are increasingly focused on developing and commercialising nuclear technologies, a sector that is growing faster than nuclear power.

A project that Apec members plan to implement this year aims to develop scientific and trade collaboration in nuclear technology applications in health care, the environment, transport, food and food safety. The initiative belongs to Skolkovo, a special-purpose vehicle established after Russia’s president and government moved to support and promote innovative projects and technologies.

“When they ask why we are focusing on [nuclear] technologies now, the answer is simple and obvious,” says Denis Kovalevich, executive director of the Nuclear Technologies Cluster. “The potential volume of the global market for [nuclear] technologies is expected to reach US$400 to US$500 billion. Is there a connection with the Fukushima accident? They say there is no direct causal link. However, on a global scale, there is.”

The market for nuclear technology is growing much faster than the nuclear power sector. The world market has topped the US$200 billion mark and is already as big as the market for services in the nuclear power generation industry. With average annual growth of 10 per cent, it will eventually surpass the energy sector. The range of the nuclear industry knowhow that can be applied outside of the energy market extends to about 500 products and solutions.

About 20 per cent of the 100 largest corporations in the world use nuclear technology in one way or another. They use it for cancer diagnostics and therapy, and the sterilisation of medical products. In the transport sector, nuclear technology is used to create modern passenger and luggage inspection systems. In the automotive industry, it helps to increase the durability of tyres and body paint. Nuclear technologies are also used in food processing and cosmetics for disinfection and increased shelf life, and in materials production.

“A year ago, when we outlined the strategy for the Skolkovo nuclear cluster, we decided to promote technologies that contribute to long-term global development and have a high potential for start-ups in growing markets. The Asian market and the nuclear technology market [as an innovation-based business] are equally promising from our point of view,” Kovalevich says.

This year, Apec economies have launched several initiatives to promote scientific, technical and trade co-operation in the nuclear technology sphere. Kovalevich believes Apec will demonstrate the strongest demand for nuclear technology products and ser-

Denis Kovalevich He was born in 1979 in the science town of Troitsk, in the Moscow Region. Before moving to Skolkovo, he worked for the Rosatom corporation for four years from 2007, supervising programmes to reform and develop the Russian nuclear industry, including long-range planning.

Since 2009, he has co-ordinated the work of Rosatom within the Commission for Modernisation and Technological Development of Russia under the president of the Russian Federation, and driven the efforts of the working group towards nuclear technologies.

The future of nuclear medicine depends on how accurately problem areas are found and how to contain deadly radiation. Medical equipment developers and practitioners need more than just pinpoint accuracy; they now require accuracy. This means that a nanoscale proton injection is not a fantasy but a necessity for scientists today.

The first units for radioactive treatment of polymers were

launched in developed countries in the early 1970s. One of the earliest and most important uses of nuclear technology was in radioactive-induced crosslinking of polyolefins. By the mid-1970s, the leading suppliers of polyethylene and polyvinyl chloride products used nuclear technology in their production chains. In Japan, more than 200 accelerators had been installed by the early 2000s to treat polymers.

vices over the next 10 years. “My Russian colleagues and I share the vision that [nuclear] technologies have an excellent chance of becoming the technology platform for most contemporary industries, the way microelectronics was developed 50 years ago and nanoscale solutions during the last decade,” he says. “Second, while implementing the [nuclear technology] promotion programme, we are encountering new challenges and problems on a daily basis – and there are no ready answers,

mostly because we are among the first to take them on.” Skolkovo president Viktor Vekselberg, a former researcher at the Russian Academy of Sciences, shares this view. “These are not just words to me, as a businessman,” he writes in the foreword to the report “Radiation Technologies: Changing the Industry and Quality of Life”.

“Even before Skolkovo, I had formulated my position on the outlook for investment in radiation technologies.

I have plans to invest more in this sec-

TECHNOLOGY tor – both in nuclear medicine, a market that is entering a new development phase, and other growing target areas,” he says. He believes that despite 60 years of nuclear research, it has not made Russia a dominant player.

“The Skolkovo Foundation not only supports start-ups, but also co-ordinates the national technology platform, ‘Radiation Technologies’, a crucial mechanism for facilitating commercialisation of innovative technologies,” Vekselberg adds.

8 Tuesday, August 28, 2012

ITAR-TASS (2)

RUSSIA AND GREATER CHINA

Summit raises city’s hopes Vladivostok wants pre-event clean-up and bridges to lure tourists, writes Vaughan Winterbottom

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BUILDING

cuse, but the pomp and ceremony on July 2 went ahead.

Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev flew in for the aborted occasion and said: “As someone not living in Vladivostok, I can objectively say that the changes here have been huge. I’m glad that the 152nd anniversary celebrations of the city coincide with another very important event – the beginning of test operations on our beautiful bridges ... They have already become symbols of the city.”

Vladivostok Mayor Igor Pushkarev said “time is still needed to complete

the construction work. As before, we promise that when they are opened, citizens will have the opportunity to walk the length of the bridges and take photos before traffic is allowed. This should be at the start of August.”

Anniversary celebrations were extended to a full week to unveil a host of other urban-rejuvenation projects. On the final day of festivities on July 7, the old Arbat pedestrian street in the city centre was packed. Girls posed in front of new fountains. Fireworks dazzled to the accompaniment of live music.

Nation’s first island-based university

© RIA NOVOSTI

he gritty Russian port of Vladivostok — where the main business is importing righthand-drive Toyotas, Hondas and Nissans — will host the 24th Summit of the Asia-Pacific Economic Co-operation (Apec) forum on September 2-9.

About 600,000 locals are aware that the leaders of 21 countries and accompanying media will descend on the city.

However, the real party is reserved for infrastructure projects that will be completed on the eve of the summit, and the hopes that tourism will flourish in the formerly closed naval outpost.

Chief among the building efforts is the construction of two massive bridges, one from the city centre across Zolotoy Rog Bay to the residential area of Churkin. The other is from the city’s Nazimov Peninsula to Russky Island, where the Apec meetings and conferences will take place. The bridge to Russky Island became the longest cable-stayed bridge in the world in June.

The bridges are connected but have opened to traffic just recently. An opening ceremony for the Russky Island Bridge was scheduled for July 2, to coincide with the city’s 152nd anniversary, but was delayed due to rain damage.

Bridge construction hasn’t been without incident as well. A large fire on the Zolotoy Rog Bridge last December led to rumours that a collapse was imminent. Locals said rain was a timely ex-

As early as October 1, all venues built on Russky Island ahead of the Apec summit will become the property of the Far Eastern Federal Uni-

versity – the region’s biggest university. This year, it will throw open its doors to 50,000 new students, to become Russia’s first island-based uni-

versity. The five presidential hotels that will accommodate the heads of the Apec states in September will be subsequently turned into residential buildings for professors and lecturers working at the university.

The conference and the press centres will be used as academic buildings, while the 11-storey structure between them will serve as premises for student organisations and associations. The centre will feature a conference hall with 900 seats, and shops, clubs, cafes, a sports section with several swimming pools, indoor courts and various track and field grounds. Several more buildings will be transformed into hostels.

“I’d give a high rating to what I’ve seen,” said New Zealand’s ambassador, Ian Hill. “The scale of construction on the island is truly impressive; I have no doubt the site will be ready. Russky Island is a great place for Apec, and for a world-class university.”

Island residents aren’t so impressed.

Many chose to live there to escape Vladivostok’s urban bustle, and say newcomers will spoil the environment.

“We’ve seen the bridge getting closer and closer, and for us it seems like a giant snake [coiling] up to us with its mouth wide open,” said Voronchuk Konstantin, 28, an army sergeant who lives on the island.

“Besides, the slick, new roads only pave the side of the island closest to Vladivostok, and most of the present population lives on the far side. The construction isn’t for us.”

Back in the city, many believe preApec beautification is a poor solution to the infrastructure problems. The expression “Potyomkin Village” has been popping up, referring to a historical myth of fake settlements erected to fool Empress Catherine II on a visit to the Crimea in 1787.

There is some truth to this accusation. While the Arbat sparkles, it’s not unusual for the city’s water supply to be cut off for weeks in the summer. Massive potholes in suburban roads make four-wheel drives a necessity. The city is in need of reconstructive surgery, not a makeover, some say.

Tuesday, August 28, 2012 9

RUSSIA AND GREATER CHINA Vladivostok prepares for the arrival of 21 state leaders next month with the construction of two landmark bridges and a renovation programme that could draw more tourists to the port.

On the whole, however, locals seem excited by the flood of money and projects in the region.

“The hope is that these bridges – along with all the other beautification projects in the centre – will attract more tourists,” said Katya Zebzeyeva, 24, a local journalist. “Tourism here is essentially a trickle of tour groups from the Chinese border. The geography of the city is stunning – a sort of Far East San Francisco, only colder – and the bridges emphasise that”.

A new airport, capable of handling five million passengers per year has just opened.

Getting to the remote city is still expensive, but thousands are willing to pay exorbitant ticket prices to attend the Apec forum.

“Among the planned activities are performances by famous artists, art exhibitions, video shows, concerts for children, a laser show, a photo-festival and much more,” said the Primorsky Territory’s acting head of the department of culture, Dmitry Chugunov.

“On September 2-3, Vladivostok will also hold the first ‘Day of Peace in the Pacific’. It’s an exciting time.”

The city’s new bridges will steal the show, however.

21.2 BILLION US$ spent on building over 50 facilities for the Apec summit

Tourism here is essentially a trickle of tour groups from the Chinese border.

The geography of the city is stunning – a sort of Far East San Francisco, only colder

10 investors ‘place bets’ on Primorye Gambling Zone Pavel Belavi, Kommersant With infrastructure development under way, the leaseholder of one of Russia’s four gambling zones says it has identified 10 investors.

OAO Nash dom Primorye, which holds the lease for the Primorye Gambling Zone and is owned by the Primorsky Region government, said in its latest annual report that 10 investors were ready to inject US$600 million.

Investors include one company that is building facilities for the 2012 AsiaPacific Economic Co-operation (Apec) summit and Rital Time Group of Kazan, which owns the first gambling venue in the Krasnodar Region Gambling Zone.

On the northwestern shore of Ussuri Bay, about 20km from Vladivostock International Airport, the 620-hectare Primorye Zone is one of four zones in which gambling is allowed after a 2009 law banned it anywhere else.

Investments in the zone are projected to total US$1.76 billion, with the company expected to account for 30 per cent.

Plans are for 16 hotels with casinos by 2022, a yacht club with a pier for 65 vessels, a ski slope, a trade and exhibition centre, an office complex, guest villas, landscaped areas and beaches. The entertainment complex and five hotels are to be completed by 2016.

The infrastructure is under development and work on an entertainment centre and casino is under way.

Primorye is a very appealing area, but investors must be ready for fierce competition from Asian neighbours that may also invest in gaming venues, says Lenar Kashapov, director of the Azov-City Development Association.

Only one investor had been previously identified, Pervaya igrovaya kompaniya Vostoka (PIKV or The First Gambling Company of the East), which got a licence to build an entertainment and casino complex in October.

The report names seven other inves-

tors whose contributions total US$626.8 million. PIKV plans to invest US$30 million in an entertainment centre, while Vladivostok-based Dalta-Vostok-1 is investing US$133.2 million in a four-star hotel and casino. Aleksei Simanchuk and Oleg Drozdov own the company that is part of Dalta Group, which built facilities for the Apec summit.

Homeworks Primorye, controlled by Nutelico Trading of Cyprus, plans to invest US$214.8 million in a five-star hotel and casino, while the Moscow-registered Investitsionnoe soobshchestvo (Investment Community), controlled

by Vyacheslav Bushuyev, will build a four-star hotel for US$101.9 million.

Investors must be ready for fierce competition from Asian neighbours Moscow’s Firma Master, controlled

by Marat Zakirov, will spend US$37.1 million on a three-star hotel. Zakirov also operates another investor in the zone, ZAO Finprim, owned by Vadim Kondratov and Alexander Samsonov, which plans to build a hotel for US$54.9 million. Gaming Construction will build a five-start hotel for US$54.9 million.

All of the investors were found last year, Marina Lomakina, general director of OAO Nash dom Primorye, told Kommersant.

“We have signed contracts with all of them,” she said.

Primorsky Governor Vladimir Miklushevsky told Russia Today that travel and gambling revenues could eventually account for 30-40 per cent of the region’s budget.

The Yantarnaya Gambling Zone in Kaliningrad has yet to attract any investors while the Sibirskaya Moneta Zone in Altai Krai has one.

The city’s preparation for the Apec summit was a key priority for Russia.

The infrastructure projects for the summit include: 1,388-metre bridge across the Golden Horn Bay. 1,885.53-metre bridge to Russky Island, the world’s largest cablestayed bridge.

Two new hotel complexes with a total area of 75,400 square metres and cost US$2 billion. The 42km route along which summit participants will be first taken from the village of Novy, across the De Vries

peninsula, cost almost US$8.1 billion. The construction of a new airport terminal, including the terminal, took almost US$3.24 billion. The capacity of the new terminal exceeds 3.5 million passengers a year. With the terminal in place, Vladivostok Airport is expected to handle 1.8 million people by year’s end. A new Aeroexpress line has been built, costing more than US$2.16 billion to link the airport and the city.

More than 8,000 new jobs have been created to build the facilities for the summit.

PHOTOXPRESS

Key infrastructure built for summit

The Primorye Gambling Zone is expected to have 16 hotels with casinos by 2022. There are also plans to build a yacht club and a ski slope.

OPINION VICTOR SUMSKY

Asia-Pacific ties begin to solidify Among the news on the forthcoming Asia-Pacific Economic Co-operation (Apec) summit is a report that Russian representatives at the Apec Business Advisory Council have presented a list of priority recommendations to leaders at the event. On that list are ideas linked to food security, transport and logistics, the green economy, and technology transfers.

This is an important instance in which private-public partnerships, as they are understood in the Russian context, can mature. There is even a visible degree of expert input in the composition of this list.

At the same time, while the list reflects Russia’s national interests as Apec chair, it has also received several positive reactions from other Apec members. This means there’s a degree of similarity between Russian national aspirations and the expectations of the international business community.

Finally, if one takes this set of initiatives as a whole, it can be seen that the focus is on improving all sorts of links and connectivity between Russia and the Asia Pacific. In fact, the term “connectivity” has become quite popular in the economic and political discourse since October 2010, when the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) put forward its Master Plan on Asean Connectivity aimed at facilitating links between its members.

Russia is starting to think and act very much in line with the rest of the AsiaPacific, which is especially important as Russia chairs the Apec summit.

Talking about developments in the Asia-Pacific as a whole, one has to pay attention to Asean, which has a central place in the region’s emerging architecture of security and co-operation.

Somewhat disturbingly, however, for the first time in the history of Asean ministerial conferences, its foreign ministers in the meeting at Phnom Penh in July failed to produce a final statement — a communiqué – due to rising tensions in the South China Sea. The good news is that after a series of bilateral meetings between the Indonesian Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa and his colleagues in several Asean capitals, a joint statement emerged, so a sort of consensus within Asean seems to have been restored.

That’s certainly a positive signal.

Indonesia’s growing clout was visible last year, when it chaired Asean.

Next year, Indonesia will take over the Apec chair and will, once again, have a chance to show its growing importance in international affairs.

Dr Victor Sumsky is director of the new Asean Centre at Moscow State’s Institute of International Relations

10 Tuesday, August 28, 2012

RUSSIA AND GREATER CHINA

Critics go over the top

T

he time has come to ask if criticism of the global financial system is deserved. The main complaints focus on bubbles in capital and derivatives markets that could have catastrophic effects on the real sector, high debt levels in developed economies paid for by their developing brethren, growing economic imbalances that skew consumption in favour of the “golden billion”, and the idea that certain countries “rule” the world economy thanks to their ability to issue reserve currencies. Many economists in developing countries, Russia included, call this an abomination. But is it really true?

At the end of last year, the capitalisation of global capital markets was US$47 trillion or 67 per cent of global gross domestic product (GDP), compared to US$2.9 trillion, or 34 per cent, in 1960. As a result of crises in 2000-2002 and 20082009, this indicator shrank by US$6.3 trillion and US$10.2 trillion in developed economies, but the global economy did not collapse. It did not contract in 2000-2002 but grew by 7 per cent in the United States and 5.3 per cent in the European Union. During the 2008-2009 crisis, the US economy shrank 3.8 per cent and the EU 3.7 per cent, but the financial sector survived.

The sector is something of a safety valve for the real economy, protecting it from overheating, clearly not an untreatable flaw.

Developed economies “live on credit,” but

OPINION this may not be bad. Debt is a growth tool. From 1960 to 2010, the indebtedness of America’s households and corporations jumped 37.2 times (unadjusted for inflation), while GDP rose 28.3 times in nominal terms and some 73.4 million new jobs were created. In the EU, private sector debt rose just 22.1 times, GDP grew 16.7 times and 10.2 million new jobs emerged.

The modern financial system is as good as it can get, as evidenced by the fact that nothing like the crises of 1907-1908, 1929-1932, or 19731974 has happened. The existing financial system allows huge “bubbles” of fictitious assets and the creation of trillions of currency units that can stop an economic downturn and prevent a global depression. This unsecured money supply supports consumption and encourages the development of manufacturing, while the international imbalances that arise

DMITRY DIVIN

Vladislav Inozemtsev Ogoniok magazine

create prospects for emerging economies.

The seeming imbalances conceal an amazingly well-balanced and resilient financial system, and crises like the euro zone’s are generated by Europeans’ hesitation to use the instruments available to them, rather than by any contradictions in the system. A market economy cannot develop except through ups and downs. At first sight, the existing financial system maximises the amplitude of these cyclical dynamics but by creating surface storms it leaves the real sector relatively intact.

If an attempt is made to regulate the money supply on a global scale, the world economy will return to living “within its means”. Consumption in the US and Europe will shrink by at least the amount of their trade deficits – US$1 trillion annually. The economy will contract by 4 to 5 per cent a year for several years. Capital markets will lose more than half their valuation as institutions slash debts and sell risky assets. Commodity

prices will fall by between a half and three-quarters. Recent financial shocks have caused no losses to bank depositors in developed countries, unlike in the 1930s. Additionally, GDPs and consumption have not declined.

The financial situation since 1971 has helped developing countries grow and allowed developed countries to maintain growth rates and it is worth noting that the US and Europe powered the world in the 1990s and 2000s.

Also consider this: failures and problems haunted countries that tried to make their currencies quasi-convertible and peg them to the US dollar – Asia in 1997, Russia in 1998, or Argentina in 2001. Freedom to manoeuvre is worth more than the advantages of “stability” but, unfair as the financial system might seem, any alternative would be worse.

Vladislav Inozemtsev is director of the Centre for Post-Industrial Studies, Moscow

State must take heat out of Pussy Riot case Fyodor Lukyanov Vedomosti The international response to the Pussy Riot trial has taken on a dimension out of all proportion to the original incident. The punk group has touched a nerve, broaching a subject that is extremely sensitive, not just in Russia.

What’s happening is a consequence of the changes at the end of the 20th and the start of the 21st centuries. The cold war imposed a rigid structure on the palette of ideas, dominated by two ideologies – Western liberalism and Soviet communism. Then the “socialist alternative” collapsed, but the liberal ideology failed to become “all-powerful”. Traditionalist and fundamental approaches began to fill the vacuum, appealing as a rule to religion, which lost ground in the 20th century in the face of pro-

gress but which now seems to be regaining position.

Conservative attitudes are on the rise. The emergence of the ultraconservative Tea Party movement has had a big influence on the Republican Party in the United States, forcing it to shift to the right. In Europe, radical conservatives rely on protectionism – from resisting immigration and complaining about the decline in traditional cultures to demanding that their national economies be protected against transnational factors.

The uprisings against the tottering regimes of the Middle East – which are authoritarian but secular – are bringing into power Islamists who are not noticeably moderate. People living in Arab countries want changes, but paradoxically revolutions can take things back to more traditional ways.

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The traditionalist trend is rejected by devotees of liberal views: they are appealing to the ideals of the freedom and rights of the individual. The global situation – social, political and economic – requires more flexible approaches.

But aggravating the clash of values and ideologies within countries leads to stances becoming oversimplified and crystallised.

In this context Russia is not so much a special case, more one that is particularly clearly expressed. The psychological, intellectual and cultural inertia of the Soviet system has gone – it is exhausted, together with the ideas, sympathies and antipathies conditioned by the experience of the past. We don’t have a robust system of political co-ordinates, but like a photographic film being developed, the outline of the picture is beginning to emerge. And the first lines to appear are those with the sharpest contrast.

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The issue of national self-identification is coming to the fore. The clash between fundamentalist and libertarian is a testing of boundaries, sounding out how people feel. A painful search is beginning for a consensual basis, accepted by the majority, on which Russian society can develop. It just happens that the first conspicuous cause is this punk prayer with a political tinge, but there will probably be quite a few such stories to come. The state has a huge responsibility. While recognising what a delicate issue the trial is, it must act as a pacifying force and a shock absorber. It must not try to flirt with the extremes for the sake of achieving shortterm political ends. That would be dangerous for the state and for society.

Fyodor Lukyanov is editor-in-chief of Russia in Global Politics magazine

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Tuesday, August 28, 2012 11

RUSSIA AND GREATER CHINA

Future remains nuclear All post-Fukushima scenarios point to continued push to develop industry, writes Viktor Kuzmin

S

COMMENT

© VALERY MELNIKOV_RIA NOVOSTI

tress tests performed on nuclear power plants since the Fukushima nuclear disaster in Japan in March last year have shown that existing plants are reliable and safe.

These tests have reassured potential customers, and demand for nuclear energy has started to recover. It turns out that there is no viable alternative to nuclear power, given the shortage of hydrocarbon resources, an alternative energy industry that is still in its infancy, and the existing caps on carbon dioxide emissions.

All post-Fukushima scenarios - in the wake of the series of equipment failures, nuclear meltdowns and release of radioactive materials, following the earthquake and tsunami - have pointed to a continued long-term push to develop this industry.

As panic swept across the world after the Fukushima disaster, governments were forced to declare their intentions to abandon nuclear power. However, there have been few changes on the ground.

In countries such as Germany and Switzerland, where nuclear power plants already exist, they will continue to operate at least through the 2020s.

Construction of new power units has continued in China, India, Russia, France, Finland and South Korea. Some countries have decided to increase the share of nuclear power in their energy mix. One example is Britain, where production of hydrocarbons has been declining markedly. South Korea and Saudi Arabia are also boosting nuclear energy production.

The Russian state-owned corporation Rosatom estimates that by 2030 worldwide NPP installed capacity will rise by more than 40%. This corresponds with the World Nuclear Association’s forecasts.

Russia has had its share of nuclear accidents. The Chernobyl disaster in Ukraine, which was part of the Soviet Union at the time, in April 1986, when an explosion and fire released large quantities of radioactive material into the atmosphere, which spread over much of the western Soviet Union and Europe, spurred the development of new safety technologies.

Rosatom has continued financing the research and development of nuclear power for the past 20 years. This has yielded innovations such as the “corium trap”, which localises core melts and is now a feature of all Russian projects.

Besides upgrading Chernobyl-type reactors, 20 VVER (water-water energetic reactor) type units have been built in Russia, Ukraine, Slovakia, Hungary, China, Iran and India since the disaster. Rosatom is now building generation 3+ nuclear power plants and ranks second to France’s EDF in installed capacity, at 25.2GW. The company’s engineers are working on reactor tech-

Despite last year’s Fukushima disaster, and subsequent calls to shut down existing nuclear reactors, nuclear power is unlikely to fade away and be found only in history books. nologies based on “natural safety” systems that will be the basis for a fourth generation of reactors, where any serious accidents resulting in radioactivity leaks will be all but eliminated, one expert claims.

Developing countries with nuclear power ambitions make up a considerable proportion of customers. They typically partner with global leaders in construction.

The need for energy has spawned demand for integrated nuclear power solutions. Only major companies that are global nuclear industry leaders can offer solutions of such complexity. Rosatom is one such leader. The company incorporates more than 250 Russian nuclear industry companies and

Globally, Rosatom offers a universal solution covering every possible aspect of a nuclear energy complex research organisations. The corporation has a range of nuclear solutions, including uranium production, nuclear power plant construction, legal framework drafting, personnel training and project fund-raising.

Energy development after Fukushima

Rosatom offers a universal solution covering every possible aspect of a nuclear energy complex. It includes elements such as a power solution, an industrial solution, a financial solution, expertise and knowledge transfer, personnel training, legal support and the creation of the requisite infrastructure, in addition to fostering public loyalty to the project.

In the energy sector, Rosatom offers two approaches for the design and construction of generation 3+ nuclear power plants.

The first is engineering, procurement, and construction. The second is build-own-operate. Its industrial solutions provide for broad local involvement. Rosatom is prepared to localise

up to 85 per cent of the project’s total value and offers government loans on preferential terms.

“Both countries involved in developing an existing nuclear power sector or creating a nuclear industry from scratch normally not only want to build nuclear power plants, but also to deploy the requisite infrastructure and plan on involving their national industry and creating jobs,” says a Rosatom representative, pointing to his company’s co-operation with the Czech Republic.

Together with Skoda JS, a Czech engineering leader, the Russian nuclear giant is bidding for a contract for the Temelin nuclear power plant and is ready to localise up to 70 per cent of the services and equipment, enabling the Czech industry to be fully involved from the initial stages of the project to the creation of the “nuclear island”.

Demand for clean energy in Asia is growing. “Despite the events at Fukushima, Apec [Asia-Pacific Economic Co-operation] countries today drive the development of nuclear power worldwide,” says a Rosatom representative. “Even Japan, which shut down all its reactors after Fukushima, has announced the launch of two power units.”

None of the problems can be resolved easily. However, it is clear that nuclear power is economical and quite safe.

Rosatom’s links with Apec countries grow Russia’s state nuclear corporation Rosatom is increasingly working with a number of Asia-Pacific Economic Co-operation countries, including China, Vietnam, South Korea, Japan, the United States, Singapore and Australia.

Russia and China are engaged in long-term co-operation. In 2007, the Russian-designed Tianwan Nuclear Power Station, the world’s most advanced, was completed. Last year, a master contract was signed for the construction of two additional units.

Russian specialists engaged by Beijing have also built a research fast-

breeder reactor. Vietnam became the first Southeast Asian economy to opt for Russian technology for its nuclear power sector. In 2014, Vietnam will start building its first Russiandesigned nuclear power plant.

Russia also supplies South Korea with one-fifth of the uranium it needs for its nuclear power plants.

It allows Japan to transport nuclear materials across Russian territory and process feedstock at Russian facilities. It is planning a joint scientific and nuclear technology centre with Singapore and signed an agreement to enrich Australian uranium.

12 Tuesday, August 28, 2012

RUSSIA AND GREATER CHINA

Filipinos drawn to Moscow Capital is coming to terms with its growing numbers of foreign workers, writes Dmitry Butrin tor, so Filipinos live on a shoestring budget.

Most are well-educated, thanks to a system in the Philippines modelled on the American one of the 1970s, not bad

by Russian standards.

They are also entrepreneurial and like to set up their own micro-businesses, even if most of them fail. This means that work for hire is their only income.

Nina was a teacher and her best friend is a talented market researcher. There are economists, lawyers, you name it.

But in Moscow they mainly work as nannies or home helps.

The cost of living cuts them off from the entire service economy. Health care is concern number one Although their chances of staying in the Russian capital are much slimmer than their Central Asian or even African counterparts, many live here for years and learn to live with the winters.

Filipinas are appreciated above all for the kindness with which they treat children in their care.

On the other hand, it would be an exaggeration to say that Moscow’s gener-

PEOPLE al indifference and cult of money, which they treat very pragmatically, are unacceptable to them. Nina’s sister, who lives in Saudi Arabia, was willing to arrange for her to move to the Gulf, where the Filipino community is much larger and more accepted, but it was easier for her to work in Moscow.

She left Russia due to problems with a small business that she was relying on to maintain her family back home.

Some Filipinos appreciate mixing with the local Japanese community and being exposed to their culture in Moscow.

It is a huge city whose rhythm is not unlike that of the Philippines’ own metropolises. Nevertheless, it is an alien city where secrets can be kept.

The cost of living cuts Filipinos off from the entire service economy. Health care is concern number one. An annual work visa costs US$500, a sizeable amount.

The cheapest air tickets to Manila cost

PRESS PHOTO

M

y two-year-old daughter always smiles and says “hi” when she sees a Filipino woman, one of the many that are regularly seen in any small park in central Moscow.

A decade ago people had heard Filipinos were coming to work in Moscow, but only a few could lay claim to knowing one.

Russia’s Filipino community has grown into the thousands, but few locals can claim to really know them.

It’s only thanks to Nina – not her real name – that my family and I have learned much about them.

We have learned that the main problem facing Filipinos in Moscow is the lack of sunlight. That Moscow is a difficult and aggressive city with a silver lining: anonymity.

That there are no employment contracts, and taxes paid through employment agencies are more likely non-burdensome.

Filipino women, for there are very few men, first started arriving in the 1990s along with American expats.

A short-lived fad for exotic nannies and home cleaners followed and then more Japanese companies sprang up, providing thousands of Filipinas with a stable job market.

Moscow is a city where hard and thankless work pays more than in Hong Kong and comparably as much as the Persian Gulf and the European Union, as much as US$1,200 to US$1,400 a month. The high cost of living is a fac-

Hong Kong may not be as welcoming to Filipino workers as Moscow. The Russian capital seems to be a more acceptable place to live and work.

People had heard Filipinos were coming to work in Moscow, but only a few could lay claim to knowing one as much or more. Vacations are rare but they do visit their homeland once a year.

Then there is the huge language barrier, inhospitable public transport and

high crime – unheard of in countries where Filipino immigrants normally work. In Moscow, foreign Asian women are always at risk.

The internet, on the other hand, works fine and allows skyping, reading news in Tagalog and English, watching movies, and listening to music when it’s freezing cold outside.

These petite, bright, smiling women live in the city but in their own world.

Only those children lucky enough to have a Filipino nanny know them for who they really are, and always say “hi”.

Migrant workers find new opportunities Felyssa Chu-Ramirez There is much myth and mystery attached to Filipinos’ ideas of Russia.

These perspectives were mostly based on propaganda against the old Soviet Union, which was regarded mainly as a rival of the United States during the cold war.

During those years, the Philippines was an ally of the US and hosted the superpower’s military base at Subic, in the province of Pampanga. It is therefore understandable that Filipinos in general possess little knowledge, and even less affection, for Russia than any other European country.

The early 1970s saw the beginning of the exodus of Filipino migrants to greener pastures abroad. Russia wasn’t the first country on their list, however.

The US has been Filipinos’ favourite destination since the middle of the 19th century. Based on existing records, Filipinos didn’t arrive in Russia until the mid-1970s, and then they only came in trickles. There are good reasons for this. Apparently, most Filipinos find it difficult to work in Russia, due to its very stringent policies covering foreign nationals. The nation’s higher cost of living also prevented many Filipinos from working there.

At the height of the transformation

Working conditions A Filipino cleaner is paid an average US$50 per client for one weekly visit, and can make US$400 to US$500 from eight clients in a six-day week.

Their expenses can be US$700 to US$800 per month. Nannies on average earn between US$1,200 and US$1,500 per month, with seven-to 11-hour days, four or five days off per month, and 25 to 30 days’ annual leave. Filipinos in Moscow usually pay for their air fares, sometimes with pre-trip “bonuses”.

from the Soviet Union to the Russian Federation, the Philippines and Russia kick-started their partnership as a way to build the latter’s economy.

Bilateral agreements between the two countries started in 1976, and their pacts involved tourism, construction, mining, energy and the deployment of Filipino workers to Russia.

At this time, a string of economic zones were being built in Russia to buttress the nation’s need to rev up the economy. Workers with various skills would be needed to sustain such a gargantuan effort. At this time, roughly 2,000 Filipino workers had already been deployed to meet the need for skilled

hands in Azerbaijan. Today, the number of Filipinos in Russia continues to be small when compared with their counterparts in Europe, the US and the Middle East. Government records show that the number of land-based Filipino migrant workers in Russia fall well below the tally of those who are deployed in the rest of Europe.

Between 2004 and 2010, this total peaked during 2007, at 3,129 overseas foreign workers, and levelled off at 960 and 910 in 2009 and 2010, respectively. Experts say that Russia must learn to relax its policies on foreign nationals in order to create a more friendly and welcoming environment.

Tuesday, August 28, 2012 13

RUSSIA AND GREATER CHINA

Ushering in a golden era Three Olympic golds and a silver have put nation on top of judo world, writes Ajay Kamalakaran

AFP/EASTNEWS

F

It’s hard to escape from Arsen Galstyan’s grab (top photo). Tagir Khaibulaev (left inset) and Mansur Isaev (middle) owe much to their Italian coach Ezio Gamba (right inset).

SPORT

REUTERS/VOSTOCK-PHOTO

REUTERS/VOSTOCK-PHOTO

Olympics,” Putin said. This time, unlike 1980, no one can raise the boycott bogeyman. One of the keys to Russia’s gold haul in judo in London was the hiring of Ezio Gamba, who won a gold medal for Italy in the 71kg class in the 1980 Moscow Olympics. Each medal-winner gave a lot of credit to their Italian coach and his rigorous workout regime.

The seeds of success for the medal winners were probably laid by Putin, who has taken a proactive role in the development of his favourite sport. In

Soviet sport,” Putin said at the time.

Khaibulaev, another ethnic Avar and resident of Dagestan, was a dark horse to win gold in London. The 28-year old won the European Championships in Tbilisi and the World Championships in Helsinki last year. Alexander Mikhaylin took home the silver in the heavyweight category and Ivan Nifontov won bronze in the 81kg event to take the Russian medal haul in judo to five.

“As far as I know, before there was only one such victory, at the Moscow

ITAR-TASS

a television interview, Galstyan spoke of his New Year’s Eve meetings with the president. In addition to encouraging Russian judokas, Putin was the brainchild behind the Zvenigorod Judo Academy, a facility that promises to produce many more champions.

Surveys show that Putin is very popular in the far regions of the country.

The gold medals won by residents of places such as Krasnodar, Dagestan and Chelyabinsk show his efforts to popularise the sport have struck a chord.

Olympic athletes cash in

Chelyabinsk’s governor has promised to pay US$1 million to Olympic gold medallists from the region.

REUTERS/VOSTOCK-PHOTO

ormer president Boris Yeltsin’s attempt to popularise tennis in Russia led to an unprecedented level of interest among the youth of the country. In a decade, Russia became an international force, producing grand slam champions.

Vladimir Putin, Russia’s most famous judoka, may have done the same with judo, as shown by the three gold and one silver medals Russians have won at the London Olympics.

The sport does not have the international mass appeal and popularity of tennis. So, even though Arsen Galstyan won a bronze at the 60kg event in the 2010 World Championships in Tokyo and a European gold a year earlier in Tbilisi, hardly any sports commentator listed the judoka from the Krasnodar Region as a gold medal prospect.

The buzz around Galstyan started only when he shocked the international judo fraternity by defeating the top ranked judoka in the 60kg category, Uzbekistan’s Rishod Sobirov, in the semifinals. The victory over Japan’s Hiroaki Hiraoka in the final made the 23-year old an instant sensation across the country, especially in the flood-ravaged territory of Krasnodar he calls home.

Galstyan’s victory was toasted by the residents of the Krasnodar Territory as “our” triumph and there was very little talk of the judoka’s Armenian origins.

This is a great story for the southern Russian region that has occasionally been in the news for racial flare-ups between ethnic Russians and immigrants from former Soviet republics. Galstyan was born in Armenia in 1989, when the country was a part of the Soviet Union.

His parents emigrated to Russia later.

After Galstyan struck gold in London, Mansur Isaev followed suit by defeating Japan’s Riki Nakaya in the 73kg final to get Russia’s second judo gold medal.

The 26-year old resident of Chelyabinsk, a small city in Siberia, was again not someone most pundits were predicting would win a medal in London.

Isaev’s best performance before London was a bronze at the 2009 World Championships in Rotterdam.

It remains to be seen whether the governor of the Chelyabinsk Region will honour a pre-Olympic promise to give US$1 million to each gold medal winner from the region. Still, Isaev has become an instant celebrity in Russia and no doubt has pleased the president.

Isaev is also a poster-child for multiethnic Russia, being a Muslim and an ethnic Avar, a community with origins in the Republic of Dagestan.

As the country was toasting its first two judo golds, Tagir Khaibulaev won a third by defeating defending champion Naidar Tuvshinbayar of Mongolia in the men’s 100kg category final by ippon. It was poetic justice that President Putin was in the audience when the third gold medal was won. “It’s a brilliant success, the likes of which we’ve never had in the history of Russian or

President Vladimir Putin with the national judo team. He began studying judo at 14 and is now president of St Petersburg’s Yawara Judo Club.

14 Tuesday, August 28, 2012

RUSSIA AND GREATER CHINA

Confusing fact with fiction Hollywood depictions can turn a thriller into a comedy for Russian viewers, writes Sofya Raevskaya

M

angled Russian words, exaggerated and absurd scenes and people, and unverified or unreliable data do not make American movies credible in the eyes of a Russian audience.

Yet, Russia has become an important market for Hollywood products, and celebrities such as Tom Cruise, Will Smith and Megan Fox often visit Russia to promote their films.

The language is the main challenge for Hollywood studios. There are collections of bloopers on Russian-language websites.

A typical example is The Bourne Identity, in which the main character’s name Foma Kiniaev is spelt in his documents as “Fshf Lshtshfum”.

The writer simply changed the keyboard layout, hoping the same keys were used for the Cyrillic letters.

Tom Hanks’ character in The Terminal had a driving licence issued to Gulnara Gulina, a name that would fit a Muslim woman from Tatarstan rather than an Eastern European male.

“Hollywood makes pictures for itself.

They don’t care that we all have accents there. So why are we hurt? They didn’t shoot the movie for us. They didn’t

Igor Zhizhikin, a Russian actor who lived for 23 years in the United States and had a solid Hollywood career, had to argue with director Steven Spielberg about the too-obvious accents of Russian characters.

CINEMA check the facts? They never pay too much attention to it,” says Igor Zhizhikin, a Russian actor who lived for 23 years in the United States and had a solid Hollywood career.

When Steven Spielberg was shooting Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, Zhizhikin had to argue with the director about the too-obvious accents of the Russian characters.

The actor believes that those responsible for making films never consider these faults to be worthy of any attention and make mistakes unintentionally.

Russian film producer Viktor Alisov attributes these distortions of the Rus-

sian language in Hollywood films to mere incompetence. “It seems they economise on advisers. It is pointless to spend so much time and resources on checking the facts. The audience will be happy with what you have,” Alisov says.

Erik Sarkisian, a former supervisor of the cinema archive at the Russian Ministry of Culture, however, disagrees with the idea that this is just incompetence. He believes depicting stereotypical Russians in major films is a political statement.

“How can Hollywood be so blind when it portrays a Russian cosmonaut in Armageddon as a drunkard wearing a fur cap? They should have added a bear and a nesting doll!”

Alisov, on the other hand, does not think Hollywood directors should be blamed for distorting the image of Russians and that the real responsibility lies with another form of media.

“The portrayal of this country in Hollywood films is a result of the impact the American media has on the American mindset,” Alisov says.

“The films manifest what the American public really thinks about Russia.

Hollywood is an unconscious victim of the media.

“They make pictures about what they believe to be true and what people really want to see.”

While there are continuing debates about the continued use of Russians, communists and Russian mafiosi as the number one enemy in Hollywood films, Zhizhikin argues that Russian villains in blockbusters actually benefit the country. “It acts as a counterweight, an archenemy. This makes it more exciting; it is a good tactical move. Russia is described as a worthy opponent, and rightly so,” Zhizhikin says.

Sarkisian notes that Russian cinema also distorts the image of Americans in films and television shows.

Take The Interns, a popular comedy series featuring Phil, a naïve, fair and kind-hearted American whose parents are gay. Phil is mocked and attacked in every episode and is often referred to as a Yank. “That’s a set of stereotypes, albeit quite mild and gentle. However, this series may just be the first one in a sweeping trend,” Sarkisian says.

The language is the main challenge. There are a collection of [language] bloopers on Russian websites

How Americans see Russians in their movies

WWW.ALLSTARPL.COM (4)

AFP/EASTNEWS

Ivan Simonov (Brian Cox), RED, 2010

Ivan Danko (Arnold Schwarzenegger), Red Heat, 1988

Cosmonaut Lev Andropov (Peter Stormare), Armageddon, 1998

Vitaly the Tiger (Bryan Cranston), Madagascar 3, 2012

Ivan Vanko (Mickey Rourke), Iron Man 2, 2010

The former KGB agent spends his time in dark vaults wearing a fur coat and ear-flap hat with a bottle of vodka on the table. This set of stereotypes enhances the comedic effect for the Russian audience.

The movie became famous in Russia for its parody portrayals of regular Soviet policemen. Schwarzenegger walking in Red Square in a Soviet police officer’s uniform still raises a few laughs.

When Americans arrive at a space station, cosmonaut Andropov welcomes them wearing a hat with earflaps and a T-shirt with a five-point star and the acronym “USSR” on it, while, naturally, drunk.

Russian circus tiger Vitaly’s fur was burned during a jump through a ring of fire. He does not trust the lighthearted American lion, Alex, but is lifted out of his depression when Alex gives him fur conditioner.

Russian engineer Ivan Vanko (Whiplash’s alias Crimson Dynamo) reminds the viewer of the villain’s communist roots. To make Mickey Rourke look more Russian, make-up artists gave him metal teeth.

Tuesday, August 28, 2012

15

RUSSIA AND GREATER CHINA

The ‘Blue Eye’ of Siberia Visiting world’s largest freshwater lake is a once-in-a-lifetime experience, writes Emma Burrows

ITAR-TASS

O

Lake Baikal is one of Russia’s most prominent tourist attractions, in southern Siberia. Visitors can see much of it on a seven-hour train journey along its southern banks, from Ulan-Ude to Irkutsk.

Discovery tour

stead has a fantastic view of the lake and is only a short walk down the coastal path to the Burkhan Cape. One of the best ways to see Olkhon is to drive across it.

The drive lasts all day and takes in some spectacular views of the lake. The true expanse of Lake Baikal is revealed on the eastern shore of the island as the water fades away for miles to meet the sky in a thin blue line.

Although the lake’s waters look inviting they are, in fact, very cold.

Nothing had prepared me to meet the cold of Baikal.

Normally after a minute or so in cold water it feels warmer as the body adjusts to the temperature. Not so with Baikal.

The water was so cold it felt like tiny knives were repeatedly jabbing my skin.

What is strange about Baikal is that it is a freshwater lake and it was odd to surface and not to feel the salt crackling in my hair and face as I sat on the rocks and dried off.

TRAVEL Underwater wonder of the world

LORI/LEGION MEDIA

One may visit Lake Baikal by driving across Asia on the Trans-Siberian route.

This is a network of federal highways that span the width of Russia from the Baltic Sea to the Sea of Japan. It runs for 9,288km between Moscow and Vladivostok, and, even if you don’t make any stops, takes almost a week to complete.

The lake is also on Trans-Siberian railway, but a road trip allows tourists to explore more of Russia.

In winter, buses can drive across the lake’s ice to Olkhon Island, but in summer passengers are ferried there by boat.

ITAR-TASS

ne of the main destinations on the Trans-Siberian railway is Lake Baikal, and visiting the world’s largest freshwater lake is a once-in-a-lifetime experience.

A seven-hour train journey around the southernmost end of the lake, from Ulan-Ude to Irkutsk, ends at one of the great travel hubs on the trans-Siberian route, and the point from which it is possible to explore the great lake.

Buses or minivans to Olkhon Island, off the western shore of the lake, leave from outside the main train station in Irkutsk.

The journey takes about five hours, depending on what sort of bus you take, and it costs around 500 roubles (HK$120).

For this price, do not expect comfort.

The road to Lake Baikal starts to deteriorate immediately outside Irkutsk and it is difficult for the driver to avoid the potholes. At some point on the road to the great lake, the asphalt stops and it becomes a dirt track.

The drivers will stop for a toilet break after an hour or so and then pull over for lunch. The traditional stopping place for lunch is a yurt-like structure somewhere along the dirt track, surrounded by hills. The food is simple but welcome after three hours of bumping across potholes. As soon as the drivers have eaten, they are ready to hit the road: do not stray too far because they will not wait.

The road towards the lake snakes tantalisingly in and out of view of the water, which looks cool, blue and inviting. In winter, the buses can drive across the ice to the island, but in the summer, everyone is shuttled across by a small boat.

Before crossing, buses are unloaded and passengers are herded into a small hut where they are asked to pay a small fee to keep up conservation work on the island.

It is then just a short journey across the deep, blue water to one of the most magical places in Russia.

I cannot think there would be a better place for travellers to rest their heads than Nikita’s Homestead in the settlement of Kuzhir, on the island’s western shore.

Built by hand, all the wooden buildings are ornately carved and trimmed in traditional style.

After checking in we were shown upstairs to a beautiful room with two double beds and a separate shower and toilet area.

After almost 14 hours of travelling, we could not believe our luck; it was heaven.

Nikita Bencharov, the owner, is a former table-tennis champion and he and his helpful staff can help organise almost anything on the island.

In the winter, it is possible to snowshoe or drive across the lake and in the summer, swimming and trips across Olkhon are the order of the day.

Perched on top of a cliff, Nikita’s Home-

One of the best ways to see Olkhon Island is to drive across it, taking in spectacular views of Russia’s largest freshwater lake.

One of the Seven Underwater Wonders of the World, Lake Baikal is located in Southern Siberia. It is often called the “Blue Eye” of Siberia and also the “Sacred Lake”. The name probably derives from the Yakutian word “Baig’al”, meaning “deep water”. It is the world’s largest freshwater lake, with a depth of 1,642 metres and a surface area of 30,000 square kilometres.

Its cold water is so clear that it is possible to see to a depth of 40 metres, and so clean that it can be drunk like distilled water. The 1,800km tourist trail running along its coastline is called the Big Baikal Trail. Aquatic life constitutes around 1,500 species and 1,000 varieties of plants, of which two-thirds are not found anywhere else. In winter, a metre-thick layer of ice covers the entire lake.

16 Tuesday, August 28, 2012

RUSSIA AND GREATER CHINA

Learning just an open book

Martial arts school facing tough fight Oleg Kozlov

I

Varied answers to literature quiz PRESS PHOTO

n Hong Kong, where even taxi drivers snatch a couple of minutes to read a page of their favourite book at traffic lights, it is no wonder the Hong Kong Book Fair draws enormous crowds.

Russia and Greater China (RGC) exhibited at the fair’s International Cultural Village at this year’s event, thanks to the Russian consulate which secured the agreement with the fair’s organiser.

Organised by the Hong Kong Trade Development Council, the fair is dedicated to exhibiting and selling all kinds of printed matter, from the works of local and international authors to children’s books and travel guides.

This year’s fair saw more than 500 exhibitors and thousands of book lovers roaming the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre last month.

Visitors were reluctant to leave, even in the face of the approaching typhoon Vicente.

Attracted by bargains, author interviews and autograph sessions, many visited the International Cultural Village “street” in the middle of which RGC had a booth and represented Russia, it’s culture and the project.

Visitors expressed strong interest in the RGC supplement, noting that this is the only source of information about Russia in Hong Kong. Many had read previous issues while others browsed through issues at the booth.

“Russia is such a mystery for Hong Kong people. But we want to explore and learn more about it. I don’t know much about your country besides the fact that it’s big and very beautiful,” said Michael To, an accountant, while his two sons looked over a photo album of Russian scenery.

A quiz, with questions about Russia Beyond the Headlines (RBTH), the Russian language and literature was run.

Winners received a set of bookmarks with quotes from Russian writers and

Many visitors to the Hong Kong Book Fair knew little about Russia, but were keen to know more about its culture, cuisine and sights. an RBTH Asia gift bag. Many visitors asked about Russian culture, cuisine and sights. “I have always wanted to go to Moscow and Saint Petersburg, but I had no idea where to start looking for information,” visitor Rainbow Wong said. It was a pleasure to introduce Russia and it is hoped there will be more opportunities to talk of things involving Russia and China.

Russia Beyond The Headlines’ (RBTH) booth was a big hit during the fair and we managed to distribute over 500 copies of our “Russian literature quiz for beginners”. The majority of answers were correct, but we also received some strange entries. Some 20 per cent thought that Vladimir Lenin was the greatest Russian poet, and the Russian alphabet has 120 or 88 letters. We also asked you what RBTH stands for, and 30 per cent said it stood for “Russian idea of paradise”, while 1 per cent thought that it was a “Russian swear word”. But 60 per cent said RBTH was a media organisation.

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CITY “We used to exercise in Kowloon Park with the Symphony of Lights laser show [as] our background and inspiration,” says Litalien. He is also optimistic about the future progress of the school: “We have already organised three seminars with international instructors and we are planning the next one now.” However, he is not so sure about expansion since students are hard to come by.

Litalien recognises that while systema is potentially interesting as it is customisable for individual qualities and abilities, and has already created curiosity, not everyone will instantly convert to it.

Attracting new students can be difficult, particularly in a city where it is quite unlikely that they will have a chance to put any new skills to use, and where Bruce Lee is still the No 1 martial arts role model for many.

PRESS PHOTO

Visitors to fair keen to discover more about the ‘mystery’ surrounding a huge neighbour, writes Lisa Tam

Hong Kong is one of the martial arts capitals of the world, crowded with wushu wannabes and old ladies doing morning tai chi.

However there is a special school that dares to be different and compete with the rest of them.

Systema is a unique martial arts school that embraces ancient traditions that have been adopted from multiple foreign cultures by medieval Russia and incorporated into the ingenuous fighting style of Russian warriors.

Its reputation as the martial arts school used by the Russian Spetsnaz – elite special forces unit – created a strong base for recognition around the world.

Even so, systema is still relatively unpopular in Hong Kong, probably due to the city’s obsession with local heroes and fighting styles.

Dating back to 10th century and rooted deeply in native Slavic culture, systema looks exotic among Hong Kong’s wing chun and tai chi classes.

“Systema cannot be compared to wing chun or any other Eastern martial arts because it is based on a different concept that implies more flexibility, ability to react to circumstances and essentially thinking outside the box,” says Janik Litalien, a Canadian systema instructor who brought the school to Hong Kong.

Apart from physical training, systema offers a unique philosophical aspect of self-development based on Russian Orthodox Christianity doctrine that emphasises humility and striving to understand yourself.

The spacious studio in Tai Kok Tsui is decorated with banners that feature the five basic principles of systema: breathe, relax, know, move and have fun. Heavy kettlebells - Russian exercise tools that resemble cannonballs and nagaikas - short, thick whips - are used here very often. One of the instructors is a native Hongkonger.

This establishment is the first school in Hong Kong and the mainland to serve as a systema ambassador. There are about 30 students learning relaxation and self-defence techniques from two instructors, which makes it a more serious endeavour than the school’s humble beginnings in 2010.

Attracting new students is proving tough for the little-known school.

Copies are available at: Russian Consulate in Hong Kong (2106-2123, 21/F, Sun Hung Kai Centre, 30 Harbour Road, Wanchai) Russian Language Center (701, Arion Commercial Centre 2-12 Queen’s Road West Sheung Wan) Sun Studio (Unit3, GF, Westley Square, 48 Hoi Yuen Rd, KwunTong) Red Square Gallery (11 Yuk Sau Street, Happy Valley ) ATC AVIA (Room 3105, 31/F, Tower 1, Lippo Centre, 89 Queensway Please write to saleshk@rbth.ru if you want to add your company name to this list.