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Business&Economy Nation's second largest airline changes owners
Special Report A cheaper ruble brings more tourists to Russia TASS
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Monday, September 28, 2015
International Kremlin's Middle East involvement might enter a new phase after the increase of military aid to Assad
What exactly is Russia trying to achieve in Syria? U.S. policy on the preparation of groups of the Syrian opposition, Turkey and Saudi Arabia’s support of the opposition that features extremist groups, and also because of Assad’s statement that regime forces are experiencing difficulties due to the shortage of personnel and weapons – information about Russia’s strengthening of its military contingent in Syria looks logical. Acting in such a way, Moscow consolidates its image as a reliable partner which does not change its position, which is important for the region.” Daniel Pipes, President of the Middle East Forum, disagrees. In comments made to RBTH, he noted that Russia’s actions in Syria are directed not to support the regime of its partner Assad, but “to win goodwill among the Iranian leadership and to irritate the Americans." Iran is the main ally of the Syrian regime in the region, and Iranian forces have often been seen fighting on the side of Assad’s troops.
Saving Assad and more
EPA/VOSTOCK-PHOTO
Russian military presence in Syria has become a major topic in global media. Moscow denies this information, but admits the supply of weapons to Assad. EKATERINA CHULKOVSKAYA SPECIAL TO RBTH
According to Western media reports, Russia has sent an expeditionary force to Syria and begun the construction of a military airbase near the international airport in the province of Latakia in the north of the country. Moscow denies these reports, but at the same time concedes that it has been providing military and technical assistance to the Syrian leadership.
“We have always supplied equipment to them (Syrian authorities) for their struggle against terrorists,” Maria Zakharova, the Foreign Ministry spokeswoman, told The New York Times. “We are supporting them, we were supporting them and we will be supporting them.”
Washington’s concerns Information about the strengthening of Moscow’s military presence in Syria could not help but cause concern in Washington, which since August last year has led an international coalition against the Islamic State (ISIS) terrorist group that controls wide areas of Syria and Iraq.
On September 5, Secretary of State John Kerry called his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov to discuss the issue. According to Kerry, the increase in the number of Russian troops and equipment in the region may lead to a further escalation of the conflict and more deaths of civilians, an increase in the flow of refugees and the risk of confrontation with the coalition fighting against Daesh in the region. Washington has also asked its NATO ally Greece to close airspace to flights by Russian aircraft bound for Syria. The Greek Foreign Ministry confirmed the receipt of the U.S. request and said that it would consider it in the near future.
Building an image in the region Experts link the alleged strengthening of Russia’s military presence in Syria with the need, first of all, to help embattled Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. “More than four and a half years ago, Moscow took the course – and consistently adheres to it – to support the legitimate regime in Syria as represented by Bashar alAssad,”said Tatyana Tyukayeva, a lecturer of the Moscow State Institute of International Relations (MGIMO) at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Russia and an expert of the Vneshnyaya Politika analytical agency. “Against the backdrop of the
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After news of alleged deployment of Russian troops in Syria, Benyamin Netanyahu came to Moscow to discuss the issue with president Vladimir Putin.
The talk about the need for a broad coalition for carrying out a ground operation has been going on for a long time
“While obviously Moscow would be happy to help support one of its few remaining allies in the world, I am not convinced that the sole aim is to support Assad,”said Mark Galeotti, a professor at New York University. “Instead, I suspect that this reflects both a growing genuine concern about ISIS, as we see more signs of its penetration into the North Caucasus, and also a hope that Russia can break its current diplomatic deadlock with the West through becoming part of an anti-ISIS coalition.” Experts note that the talk about the need for a broad coalition for carrying out a ground operation has been going on for a long time. “The main component of the Russian initiative is Damascus’ participation in the anti-terrorist coalition as one of the few players in the region that is really interested in the victory over Islamic State and that has been fighting – not unsuccessfully – against the militants for several years,” said Tyukayeva. “Our proposal is to gather all the efforts together — all the international players, all Syria’s neighbors, all members of the opposition coalition, all of those who are involved,” said Maria Zakharova to The New York Times.
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Politics&Society
GULF NEWS_MONDAY_SEPTEMBER_28_2015
Crisis Refugees do not want to stay in Russia because they don’t receive welfare and housing Education More funding goes to universities
Unhappy with one in a 100, Russia goes for 5
As Europe searches for ways to cope with thousands of refugees fleeing the violence in Syria, Russia remains an unattractive destination.
Project 5-100, launched by presidential decree two years ago, sets the ambitious goal of getting five Russian universities in the world’s top 100 by 2020. GLEB FEDOROV RBTH
GETTY IMAGES
Since 2013, Russia has invested millions of dollars in an attempt to drive up the position of its universities in international rankings. According to its official mandate, Project 5-100 is focused on increasing the competitiveness of Russian universities in the international marketplace. Fifteen universities were selected for the program, whose name comes from the overall goal of having five Russian universities in the top 100 of three world rankings: Times Higher Education World University Rankings, QS World University Rankings and Academic Ranking of World Universities. Currently Moscow State University is the only Russian university to appear in the top 100 of any of the rankings. It is rated 86 in the Academic Rating of World Universities. It is also ranked 108 out of the 700 schools in the 2015 QS World University Rankings. According to Irina Abankina, director of the Institute of Education Development at the Higher School of Economics, with Project 5-10 0, the Ministry of Education and Science intends to separate out the Russian universities with the most potential, and give them the financing needed to help them achieve their goals. In 2015 the Project 5-100 universities will receive a total of 10.1 billion rubles ($148 million). In interview with Times Higher Education, Alexander Polvalko, deputy minister of science and education, said that the program was not just about improving Russian university rankings, but making long-lasting changes in Russian higher education — which will in turn result in better rankings. “This transformation has three key objectives,”Polvako said.“We want to change the university environment, upgrading it to a world-class level by creating a large choice of international educational programs. Second, we want to reform our university research — to join in partnership with leading international research teams and to increase our presence in highly cited international research journals. Third, we want to increase the attractiveness of our universities in order to recruit talented international faculty and students.” Since the start of Project 5-100, Russian universities have indeed become more noticeable on the international education market, said editor-in-chief of Times Higher
Syrian refugees ignore Russia in favour of EU MARINA OBRAZKOVA RBTH
In mid-September, as Europe struggled to cope with thousands of Syrian refugees seeking asylum, Russian President Vladimir Putin took the opportunity to blame the situation on European countries themselves. Speaking on the sidelines of an economic forum in Vladivostok, Putin called the crisis “completely expected.” “We in Russia, and myself personally said several years ago that our so-called Western partners continued to maintain their flawed foreign policy, especially in regions of the Muslim world,” said Putin. The Russian president’s words were a rebuke to those who suggested that Russia could do more to help refugees. Yet in fact the number of Syrians who want to come to Russia is minimal. “Syrian refugees do not want to remain in Russia because here they don’t receive welfare, housing and work. And it is also difficult to apply for legal residency,” said Munzer Khallum, a Syrian journalist and writer living in Moscow. According to Khallum, the Syrians who have come to Russia can be separated into three categories: transients whose final destination is Europe; students who come to study and don’t know what they will do after they finish; and longtime expatriates who still maintain a dream of moving on to a better country. Mahmoud Al Hamza, Council Chairman of the Damascus Declaration Abroad Movement agrees that Russia has little to offer Syrians, in part because the process of applying for asylum is long and difficult. “Russia accepts very few refugees from Syria and doesn't offer much help to asylum seekers. While they look for work, they
THE NUMBERS
12,000 Syrians live in Russia, but Russian authorities did not specify the number of those who were migrants or asylum seekers.
912 Syrians applied for temporary asylum in Russia from January to August 2015. During the same period in 2014 the number of asylum-seekers was 1,198 people.
6 The number of months after which a Syrian is allowed to apply for a residence permit in Russia.
Russia is also less attractive as a transit zone, in part because the distances refugees must travel must go through complicated procedures and pay bribes,” he said. “I encountered cases in which people on the Russian border were interrogated about their political convictions and which Islamic rules they follow. In Europe the approach is completely different.” Russia is also less attractive as a transit zone, in part because the distances refugees must travel to get to a border between Russia and an EU state are vast. “It’s difficult to get to Europe from here,” said Al Hamza. Additionally, few Syrians have taken
such a path and therefore cannot advise others on how to travel. Most refugees attempting the crossing to Europe rely on the experience of a family member or friend, according to Khallum. “Usually one of their acquaintances illegally arrives at a location and then through personal contact on the phone or by mail says how he got there,”said Khallum. “None of these refugees will reveal the route that they intend to use to get to Europe because they are afraid for their safety and the safety of those who trusted them with this information.” It also remains difficult to determine the exact number of Syrian refugees in Russia because many Syrians come to the country on work visas or as students and not as asylum seekers, said Svetlana Gannushkina, chairwomen of Russia’s Civic Assistance Committee. “The Syrians who come here are not formally refugees. They have a visa and a part of them had come to Russia to work. But now they have nowhere to return to,” she said. Munzer Khallum said that he had recently met some Syrians with student visas, but doubted they were in Moscow to study. “In the airport I met a group of ladies wearing traditional Muslim attire with year-long student visas. They told me that they had come to study Russian in St. Petersburg. However, I think that they had used the only way to avoid the war and possibly, they will not stay long in Russia,” said Khallum. On Sept. 4, Russia’s Federal Migration Service announced that there were 12,000 Syrians in Russia, but did not separate the number of those who were migrants or asylum seekers. According to Gannushkina, it is doubtful that the number of Syrian refugees in Russia is very high. “In 2012, when the UN High Commissioner for Refugees asked representatives of the countries that had signed the convention on refugees to introduce a moratorium on their deportation to Syria,
THE QUOTE
Svetlana Galushkina CHAIRWOMAN OF RUSSIA’S CIVIC ASSISTANCE COMMITTEE
"
In 2012... the Russian authorities demonstrated their loyalty to the refugees and started preparing documents for them. However, when last year we were flooded with Ukrainians, the Syrians were practically forgotten."
Munzer Khallum SYRIAN JOURNALIST AND WRITER LIVING IN MOSCOW
"
Usually one of their acquaintances illegally arrives at a location and then through personal contact on the phone or by mail says how he got there,” Khallum said. “None of these refugees will reveal the route that they intend to use to get to Europe because they are afraid for their safety and the safety of those who trusted them with this information."
the Russian authorities demonstrated their loyalty to the refugees and started preparing documents for them. However, when last year we were flooded with Ukrainians, the Syrians were practically forgotten,” she said. Recent statements from the Kremlin contradict Gannushkina, however. On Sept. 10, presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov told Russian news agency Interfax that Russia was not interested in contributing to an international effort to help Syrian migrants. “We expect that for the most part that expenditures [for dealing with refugees] will fall on the countries linked to causing the catastrophic situation,” said Peskov.
In 2015 the Project 5-100 universities will receive a total of 10.1 billion rubles ($148 million) Currently Moscow State University is the only Russian university to appear in the top 100 of any of the rankings “The management of universities which are very successful in rankings is much more ‘bottomup,’” Usher wrote in a recent article for Higher Education in Russ i a a n d B e yo n d . “ R u s s i a n universities, on the other hand, are very much ‘top-down’. University cultures change very slowly, so no one should expect Russian universities to suddenly become freewheeling havens of progressive academic practice.” According to Baty, the program will only be successful if it is a long-term commitment.“The biggest challenge is whether or not the reform and investment program goes far enough,” Baty said. The project is focused on the period up to 2020. What happens after that is anyone’s guess. Baty does point out one aspect of Project 5-100 that might contribute to its long-term success. “The most exciting aspect of the reform program is internationalization. Russia must work hard to attract and retain leading global talent from across the world. Too many great Russian scholars in the past left Russia to pursue their careers elsewhere. This must change. The reforms recognize this,” Baty said.
SELLYOURPHOTOS/LEGION-MEDIA
A long-drawn bureaucratic asylum process coupled with "lesser access" to Europe make Russia an unattractive destination for Syrian refugees, believe experts.
Education, Phil Baty, although he noted that the most noticeable school is Moscow State University, which is not part of Project 5-100. “Moscow State University has been making impressive strides up the rankings recently. I predict it will see further good news when we publish the world university rankings for 2015–2016 on Oct. 1,” Baty said. Abankina says that two universities that are in the program, Novosibirsk State University and the National Research Nuclear University, have also been moving up the rankings and are two schools to watch in the future. Experts are skeptical about the program’s potential for success, however. Alex Usher, the president of Higher Education Associates in Canada, said that there are fundamental problems with Russian higher education that cannot be solved quickly.
Moscow State University is Russia’s highest-ranked school.
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Business&Economy
03
Transportation Two companies now possess more than 50 percent of the Russian air transportation market
Aeroflot absorbs its largest competitor Russia's largest airline, Aeroflot, has decided to buy the country's number two carrier, Transaero, for one ruble. Experts are saying that this is the birth of a new monopoly. ALEXEI LOSSAN RBTH
Russia's largest airline, Aeroflot, has decided to buy 75 percent of the country's second largest airline, Transaero, which has accumulated a debt of 159 billion rubles ($2.36 billion). The purchase, which was made for a symbolic fee of one ruble ($0.014), creates a new monopoly, with the two companies now possessing more than 50 percent of the Russian market. "Transaero's activity will be fully restructured and integrated in the Aeroflot group," RIA Novosti quoted an official Aeroflot representative. A company press release stated that Aeroflot had sent Transaero its offer on Sept. 3. The decision was made after a meeting headed by First Deputy Prime Minister Igor Shuvalov. "For the aviation industry this means consolidation and a move towards monopolization, and in
this particular case, government monopolization," said Anna Bazoyeva, analyst at investment company UFS. According to Bazoyeva, while on the one hand, this is a step back from a market economy and progress, on the other hand, during a time of crisis the appearance of such a giant presents more advantages than disadvantages. In 2014 the two companies transported 51.5 percent of all Russian passengers, with Aeroflot flying 34.7 million people and Transaero 13.2 million. According to the Federal Air Transport Agency, a total of 93 million people flew in Russia last year.
The main reasons "In today's aggravated economic conditions the sector is not doing so well – Transaero's debt in the last several years has remained very high," said Semyon Nemtsov, an analyst from Russ-Invest, who said that Transaero had asked the government to lend it 20 billion rubles ($297 million). According to Anna Bazoyeva, for a private company it is much more difficult to get out of the debt hole than it is for the sector's state-
rbth.com/49035 AFP/EASTNEWS
In the end the government changed its position and decided to support the airline, even via an unusual method owned leader, even if that private company has a rather stable position on the market. "For the population and tour operators, such a merger will doubtlessly lead to a price hike in tickets," said Bazoyeva. However, for the financial markets and the banking sector such
a deal will lead to stability: From October to December 2015 there will be offers for holders of Transaero obligations, and since the announcement of the deal the risks of default have been minimized. Georgy Vaschenko, director of operations on the Russian Capital Market at Freedom Finance, says that Transaero found itself in a critical financial position which it could escape only through recapitalization or bankruptcy. "Practice has shown that companies with low budgets that are not supported by the industry's
giants do not survive," said Vaschenko.
The creation of a monopoly According to Dmitry Baranov, a leading expert at investment holding Finam Management, the creation of a new monopoly demonstrates that in the end the government changed its position and decided to support the airline, even via this unusual method. Before, the government would say that ineffective airlines should leave the market and then the crisis in the sector would end. How-
ever, in the current economic conditions the idea of creating small airlines that would compete with each other is utopian. As Semyon Nemtsov points out, the deal between Aeroflot and Transaero changes the balance of power in certain directions. "The agreement will help Aeroflot significantly improve its presence in the Asian direction, which was essential for Transaero," he said, adding that the deal increases the risk of a concentration of flights to Asia, which "may reduce the competitiveness of the sector."
Economy On the European side, however, the damage looks to be far greater
Sanctions: Russia braces for long haul Russia, already facing recession and falling oil prices, prepares for the possibility that Western sanctions may remain in place for years to come. DAVID MILLER, JARED FELDSCHREIBER SPECIAL TO RBTH
Russia is girding itself for the possibility of a long haul under Western economic sanctions, as officials in Moscow warn that they see no near-term end to the campaign of economic punishment that the International Monetary Fund has said could shave off almost a tenth of Russia’s economy. A year and a half after the U.S. and European Union launched an effort to punish Russia over its role in the Ukrainian dispute, about 150 individuals have been targeted with travel bans and asset freezes, while dozens of Russia’s biggest banks and energy firms have been cut off from access to Western finance. Russia has retaliated by banning imports of U.S. and European food products, a blow that
fell especially hard on European farmers. Albert Jan Maat, president of the European farmers group Copa, told Reuters that sanctions had led to the loss of about 5.5 billion euros’ worth of agricultural exports last year. Yet as the dispute drags on and the economic damage piles up, observers said there seems to be no end to the standoff in sight. “It looks as though the country is gradually adjusting to a new old reality: life under permanent sanctions, as it was in the Soviet Union,” bemoaned economists at Russia’s largest bank, Sberbank.
The E.U. and U.S. initially imposed measures against Russia in March 2014, following the annexation of the Ukrainian region of Crimea. Western countries also accuse Russia of continuing to support Ukrainian separatist militants, a charge Russia has repeatedly denied. The U.S. added 29 people to the sanctions list on Sept. 2 in a move aimed at tightening restrictions already in place by extending the sanctions on people and entities that are already covered, such as Russian arms maker Kalashnikov. Overall trade between the U.S.
and Russia fell by about 10 percent in 2014, according to the U.S. Census Bureau, to $34.3 billion from $38 billion in 2013. On the European side, however, the damage looks to be far greater. Europe may lose a total of 100 billion euros due to sanctions, according to an independent study published by the Austrian Institute of Economic Research inVienna this summer.
Exxon’s $1 billion loss While trade levels between Russia and the U.S. were low even before sanctions kicked in, one of the highest-profile U.S. firms dealing with the fallout is America’s biggest oil company, ExxonMobil. The Irving, Texas-based firm said in a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Committee that it lost a maximum of $1 billion due to U.S. sanctions on the Russian energy sector. Exxon was forced to back away
from a massive joint venture with Russia’s top oil producer, Rosneft. The two companies had planned to start drilling for oil in the farnorthern Kara sea this year. Sanctions also mean Exxon has been unable to collect revenues from its 30 percent ownership stake in the Sakhalin 1 oil and gas project. “In compliance with the sanctions and all general and specific licenses, prohibited activities involving offshore Russia in the Black Sea, Arctic regions and onshore western Siberia have been wound down,” Exxon said in the 10-K filing with the SEC. Exxon’s “maximum exposure to loss from these joint ventures as of Dec. 31, 2014, is $1.0 billion.” Nevertheless, Exxon has continued to quietly acquire new drilling rights in Russia, apparently with a view to expand its operations in Russia when, and if, sanctions are lifted.
TIMELINE
18 months of U.S. sanctions MARCH 17, 2014 • 31 Russian officials were added in the initial U.S. sanctions list, which included travel bans and the freezing of their U.S. assets.
DECEMBER 17, 2014 • Barack Obama imposed sanctions on Crimea by executive order, prohibiting exports of U.S. goods and services to the peninsula.
MARCH 2015 • Sanctions from March and December 2014 were extended for an additional year.
JULY 31, 2015 • The U.S. added new companies and inviduals to its sanctioned list including state-owned Vnesheconom bank and more parts of Rosneft.
While Exxon has been forced to halt operations in Russia, sanctions don’t prevent the firm from taking out rights to new fields for future development, according to Bloomberg.
Oil just makes it worse For Russia, the impact of the sanctions has been magnified by the decline in the value of the country’s main export: crude oil. Russia, a key global energy exporter that gets about half its state budget revenue from oil exports, entered recession this year after crude prices tumbled to about half their value compared to the previous year. Economists broadly agree that both sanctions and oil prices are damaging Russia’s economy, but many say it’s hard to say which is having a greater impact. “It is difficult to disentangle the impact of sanctions from the fall in oil prices,”the Washington, D.C.based I.M.F. said in a statement in August. The agency said current estimates indicate sanctions clipped Russia’s economy by about 1–1.5 percent in the early stages, and that “the cumulative output loss could amount to 9 percent of G.D.P. over the medium term.”
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Special Report
GULF NEWS_MONDAY_SEPTEMBER_28_2015
Travel A cheap currency combined with rich cultural attractions should make Russia an ideal destination for visitors
Russia’s image problem puts a damper on international tourism The fall of the ruble at the end of 2014 made travel to Russia cheaper than ever, but not many Western tourists are willing to make the trip.
In June, the Church of the Saviour on Spilt Blood in St. Petersburg was named one of TripAdvisor’s Travellers’ Choice landmarks.
ALEXANDER BRATERSKY
The value of a weak ruble Vladimir Kantorovich, a member of the presidium of the Association of Tour Operators of Russia (ATOR), believes that right now the weak ruble is the only trump card in Russian tourism, and that advantage is offset by the overall negative attitude of the European Union and the United States towards Russia. “Clearly, it is not directly related to tourism, but tourists want to travel to countries that have good relations with theirs,” said Kantorovich. Tour operators agree with this statement: “Unfortunately, the depreciation of the ruble coincided with the deterioration of the
410,000 Rostourism opened its first offices abroad, beginning with an office in Dubai in May
image of Russia in the foreign market; therefore, the country failed to become more attractive to many foreign tourists,” said Alexander Lanskaya, executive director of Patriarshy Dom Tours, a travel agency specialising in sightseeing tours of Moscow, St. Petersburg and other Russian cities for foreign tourists.
Signs of improvement? The recent downturn in tourism has only reinforced the notion that
tourists from China
Tourism to Russia, 2013-2014
162,000 tourists from the United States
The total number of foreign tourists in 2014 decreased by 5 per cent, to 2.1 million people. In 2013, most tourists came from Germany, followed by China and the United States. In 2014, China took first place.
350,000 tourists from Germany
travel.rbth.com
Travel Western carriers have cut back their Russia routes, with some leaving the market altogether
Airlines reduce flights as demand falls Airlines are reducing flights to and from Moscow as Russia’s economic downturn keeps Russian vacationers and foreign business travellers grounded. KIRA EGOROVA RBTH
The Russians aren’t coming after all. Or at least, they’re not coming to Europe or the US for their vacations. International airlines are cancelling or downsizing services to and from Moscow as the country’s slowing economy causes millions of Russians to rethink travel plans and fewer foreign tourists and business travellers to visit the country from abroad. Overall demand for flights to and from Russia fell as much as 40 per cent in late 2014 and early 2015 compared to a year earlier, according to Martin Riecken, Lufthansa’s director of corporate communications for Europe. Routes to Western Europe and across the Atlantic were hit especially hard, he added. Russian tourism to Europe fell by 30 per cent in the first quarter of 2015, according to a report by the European Travel Commission. This decline comes after Moscow's three major airports spent hundreds and millions on massive upgrades and launching
EPA/VOSTOCK-PHOTO
In a January article on CNN.com, travel reporter Laura Powell asked, “Is now the time to visit Russia?”At the time, the question seemed absurd. Relations between Russia and the West, including the United States, were at post– Cold War lows and fighting was raging in eastern Ukraine. Over the past few months, however, the idea of Russia as a tourist destination has gained more traction — partially because of the decline in the value of the ruble against western currencies. Data from Russia’s Federal Agency for Tourism (Rostourism), confirmed that there was an increase in the number of tourists visiting Russia in December, just after the value of the ruble fell sharply. However, that was not enough to improve the overall numbers for the year. Overall in 2014, the number of tourists to Russia declined by 3 per cent. Nevertheless, the trend that began in December 2014 has continued this year. Since the beginning of 2015, tourism into Russia has increased by between 3 and 5 per cent, according to a recent interview Rostourism deputy chairman Nikolai Korolyov gave to news agency Tass. However, it isn’t Western tourists who are gradually making their way back to Russia. In the first quarter of 2015, tourism from China increased by 10 per cent. While most tourists come to Moscow, the number of Chinese visitors to Siberia has also increased, according to Anatoly Kazakevich, the director of the Baikalov travel agency, which focuses on trips to the famous Lake Baikal. “This is partly because of the currency exchange rate and the strengthening of international relations with Asia,” said Kazakevich. Over the past year, Russia’s economic and political strategies have 'pivoted' around Asia, with major deals being signed between Gazprom and China’s national energy firm CNPC. Russian President Vladimir Putin also made a state visit to China last year. Traditionally the Germans have made for a huge chunk of tourist inflow into Russia with almost 380,000 making the trip in 2013, a number which declined to 350,000 in 2014, while the number of Chinese increased to 410,000 — from 372,000 the previous year. The number of American tourists also declined in 2014 to 162,000, down from 197,000 the year before, according to statistics from Rostourism.
ULLSTEIN BILD/VOSTOCK-PHOTO
SPECIAL TO RBTH
despite its rich cultural heritage, Russia needs to promote itself better as a tourist destination. This year, Rostourism opened its first offices abroad, beginning with an office in Dubai in May. By September, the agency plans to have outlets in Finland, Germany, China and Italy. Other government agencies are also working to improve Russia’s attractiveness for tourists. English signs and maps were introduced in the Moscow Metro last year, and in July 2014, Russia’s Interior Ministry created a division of police to help tourists. However, ATOR’s Kantorovich noted that tourists still complain that Metro workers and other municipal staff don’t speak English, while the tourist police have had a hard time recruiting qualified personnel. Nevertheless, the initiatives may be paying off. In early May, Russia rose by 18 points from 63rd to 45th place in the prestigious international Travel & Tourism Competitiveness Report rankings, prepared by the World Economic Forum and Strategy Partners Group. Russia received high marks for cultural attractions, but low scores for the difficulty of obtaining visas. Getting a Russian visa is associated with a high degree of bureaucracy, says the ATOR’s Kantorovich, who believes that Russia could make concessions there: “No one is preventing us from taking this step unilaterally and abolishing visas,”said Kantorovich, citing the example of the mutual abolition of visas with Israel. After the move, the flow of Israeli tourists to Russia increased by 50 per cent.
Delta Air Lines plans to halt its New York-Moscow service in December.
THE NUMBERS
40%
4 airlines
$590
is how much demand for flights to Russia fell between the beginning of 2014 and the beginning of 2015, according to Lufthansa.
currently offer direct flights from the U.S. to Russia — Aeroflot, Delta, Transaero and Singapore.
was the cheapest round-trip flight available from Moscow to New York this month, according to web portal Skyscanner.
The ruble's fresh collapse this summer appears to have put an end to hopes of recovery.
new express trains to transfer passengers to the city center. Delta Air Lines, the only US carrier currently offering flights directly to Russia, plans to halt its New York–Moscow service in December, the company said. Meanwhile, British low-cost carrier EasyJet, which was the first
major budget airline to launch service between Moscow and western Europe in 2012, is planning to drop service between Manchester and Moscow in October. On Sept. 11 it also announced that it is also to cut its London-Moscow route in March due to reduced passenger interest in flying to the Russian capital. Niki, the AirBerlin subsidiary that operated flights from Moscow to Vienna, has also announced its exit from the Russian market, along with France’s Aigle Azur, which offered flights from Paris. “On some flights, large airliners were replaced by aircraft of lesser capacity,”Lufthansa’s Riecken said. “On high-frequency routes … [the] number of flights has been reduced on days with low demand,” he said, including the Frankfurt-Moscow route. Many observers called the ruble one of the main culprits behind falling demand among Russians. The Russian currency went into a meltdown in late 2014, losing about half its value in a matter of months and making foreign trips much pricier for Russians. Although the ruble recovered some lost territory in early 2015, it has lost these gains in recent months as oil prices have plummetted.
Optimism dashed? The ruble's fresh collapse this summer appears to have put an end to any hopes that the travel market was on the road to recovery. Some observers had seized upon the ruble’s upward trend in spring and early summer as a sign that Russian travel spending might recover, with Alexander Burtin, commercial director of tour operator Tez Tour., saying back in June that interest was beginning to revive among Russians for some European destinations. However, Lufthansa’s Riecken said that although interest started ticking back up as the summer approached, the figures were nonetheless lower than would normally be expected. “We noted an increase in demand for popular dates, such as the May holidays,” he said. “But the volume of purchased tickets did not reach last year’s level.” A stronger currency would eventually help coax some airlines back into renewing their service to Moscow, said Oleg Panteleyev, head of analytical services of the agency Aviaport, by translating into reduced ticket prices for Russians. However, for the time being this looks like a pipe dream. rbth.com/46935
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Special Report
Hotels How is the industry coping with the economic crisis?
VIEWPOINTS
Hotels seeing rise in demand despite drop in business travel
Russia’s unrealised potential Maya Lomidze SPECIAL TO RBTH
T
he best phrase that characterises Russia as a tourist destination is“big potential.“ This phrase can be applied to practically all the country’s regions and cities — with the exceptions perhaps of Moscow, St. Petersburg and Sochi — and it means that there are opportunities for development. In most of Russia, there are interesting things to see, and cultural experiences that might attract tourists, both Russian and foreign, but these opportunities have not been realised. Perhaps because of the geopolitical situation, the past year has been a watershed in the Russian tourism industry.The external political situation and the serious cooling of relations between Russia and the West have had a significant impact on the positioning of Russia as a tourist market, and consequently on the demand from Western tourists. According to Russian tour operators, in 2014 sales volumes in this market decreased by 30–40 per cent. The devaluation of the ruble, however, had a notable effect. When tours became cheaper, politics essentially moved into the background. Political situations change, crises come and go, but people always travel, no matter what is happening. The main question is whether Russia is a real tourist destination or it just has the potential to become one.
Although traditionally business travellers made up most of the clientele in Russian hotels, today luxury chains and hostels alike are seeing a new kind of client. MARIA KARNAUKH
LORI/LEGION MEDIA
ALEXANDRS MUDRATS / TASS
SPECIAL TO RBTH
While the geopolitical situation and sanctions banning firms in a number of industries from doing business in Russia have caused a precipitous drop in the number of business travellers, the dismal economic situation has actually helped fill hotel rooms at both the high and low ends of the market. Traditionally, Russian hotels have filled most of their rooms with business travellers rather than tourists. Today, however, this market segment has almost completely disappeared. Business people are being replaced with leisure travellers — primarily from Asia — who are taking advantage of the devaluation of the ruble to visit Russia, as well as domestic tourists for whom the value of the local currency has made a vacation abroad prohibitively expensive. “Due to the decline in foreign business trips to Russia, Moscow hotels are turning today to tourist groups from China, Korea and India,” said David Jenkins, head of the hospitality department of the consulting company Jones Lang LaSalle. Carlson Rezidor, Russia’s largest international hotel operator, which manages 31 hotels under the brands Radisson Blu and Park Inn by Radisson, confirms the shift of tourist flows to Asia, particularly China.“There is also a considerable interest on the part of tourists from Turkey and India. At the same time, some of our hotels are maintaining a sufficiently high proportion of tourists from Germany,” said Carlson Rezidor PR and Communications regional manager Irina Zakharova. According to the Department of Tourism of the Primorsky Territory in Russia’s Far East, the number of tourists from China arriving in the regional capital Vladivostok increased by 140 per cent in the first three months of 2015 compared to the same period last year. The change in clientele is being felt in the luxury hotel segment but also in hostels. The PR department of the RitzCarlton, Moscow, said: “We are seeing a slight drop in [the number of tourists from] Western Europe, the US market has declined more strongly, but there is an influx of visitors from China, India, the Middle East and Latin America.” Anna Borovikova, the owner of two Moscow hostels, 3 Penguins and Chocolate, estimates that the number of Chinese guests at her hostels has doubled in the past year while the number of Germans has dropped by almost 20 per cent and the number of nights booked by French and American visitors has fallen by 25 and 30 per cent, respectively. Meanwhile, higher-end hotels in Russia are seeing their occupancy rates increase as visitors realise that foreign currency can now buy more in Russia. “Guests can
Hoteliers are moving ahead with plans to launch new properties in Russia’s regions
now stop not at the Holiday Inn, but at the Intercontinental, not at the Courtyard, but at Marriott, and so forth,”said Jenkins. International real estate consulting firm Cushman & Wakefield marked an increase in the return per room in luxury segment hotels in Russia of 10 per cent in the first quarter of 2015. The press service of the RitzCarlton confirmed the growth in demand, noting that the first quarter of 2015 was the best in the history of its Moscow property in terms of revenue. The press service attributed the success to the increase in occupancy, although the Ritz-Carlton declined to provide exact numbers. Representatives of foreign hotel operators prefer not to comment on how the political and economic situation in Russia is affectsing their plans for business development. Hilton Worldwide said it was acting with caution. But Marina Smirnova, a partner with Cushman & Wakefield, said that hoteliers are moving ahead with plans to launch new properties in Russia’s regions. For example, a Hampton by Hilton hotel and a Hilton Garden Inn both recently opened in the Urals city of Ufa. Smirnova put these projects down to the increase in domestic tourism: “Foreign demand is relevant only for Moscow, St. Petersburg andVladivostok, while the remaining 92–95 per cent are supported by domestic tourism.” Domestic tourists are also key to the growth of hostels in Russia, which charge as little as 500 rubles ($9) a night, even in the centre of Moscow.“Two or three years ago about half of the guests were foreigners, today they make up no more than 10 per cent,” said Andrei, the manager of the Columb Hostel in Moscow.
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Tourism Russians provide hospitality to guests from across the globe
Couchsurfing offers new insights into Russian life
Maya Lomidze is the executive director of the Russian Association of Tour Operators.
Come and see Russia for yourself Dmitry Davydenko SPECIAL TO RBTH
A growing number of Russians are using the Couchsurfing.com website to welcome travellers into their homes and give them a more authentic travel experience. YELENA DOLZHENKO SPECIAL TO RBTH
Even as hoteliers in Russia worry about the downturn in demand, the number of people couchsurfing in the country is on the rise. Alexei Korykin, who lives in the town of Blagoveschensk in the Amur Region of Russia’s Far East, has not been abroad for a long time. But he has used the Couchsurfing.com website to host guests from Australia, Brazil, Germany, Moldova, South Korea and China, among others. “In our Far East such guests are rarities,” Korykin said. “My relatives from the village always invite me to bring my foreign friends so that they can see how people live in the village.”Foreigners who manage to travel to Blagoveschensk can expect a significantly different experience compared to what they see in places like Moscow and St. Petersburg. “My guests find many unexpected things in Russia. For example, Germans Tim and Dominic saw a movie about the Great Patriotic War [World War II] for the first time and even befriended a veteran. And a Canadian by the name of Felix will never forget his visit to the banya,”Korykin said, adding that the most difficult thing for foreign visitors to his hometown to cope with were the ticks. Russia's couchsurfing maps has some interesting dynamics. For example, there are few users in
the Black Sea resort town of Sochi, but there are many in Grozny, the capital of Chechnya. Yusup Yerazov from Grozny has been using Couchsurfing for only a year, but he has dozens of comments on his page from Russian, European and Chinese tourists. Another North Caucasus couchsurfer, Bagdat Tumalayev from Makhachkala in Dagestan, says that most of his guests are from Europe: Italy, Spain, Serbia, Switzerland, Germany and Cyprus.
The map of Russian couchsurfing has few users in Sochi, but many in Grozny, the capital of Chechnya. “There are many myths about Grozny, but I try to show the real city,” said couchsurfer Yusup Yerazov. “My guests often compare Makhachkala to Istanbul. Europeans like the local fruit and vegetables. ”Tumalayev says that one problem his European guests have is that they are often vegetarians, and Caucasian cuisine is famous for grilled meats. “Guests coming to the Caucasus have always been treated specially. Tourists are fascinated by the local traditions, customs and cuisine. I try showing my guests the traditional Chechnya. There are many myths about Grozny, but
I try to show them the real city,” said Yerazov. “I’ve found many good friends on the Couchsurfing site,”said William McGuinness, an American from Yonkers, N.Y., who lives in Moscow, although he noted that he has never actually been hosted by a couchsurfer.“[Couchsurfers] are open, merry and non-materialistic people. My friend Dima always plays guitar in every train trip and we sing. We often travel together. I’ve travelled with him to Nizhny Novgorod, Kostroma, Vologda, Izhevsk,Volgograd, Samara, Yekaterinburg, Arkhangelsk.” Kat Hodgson, a Colorado native who has often travelled to the Urals city of Ufa for work, said that while her employer pays for her to stay in a hotel, she once used Couchsurfing to find a tour guide. Aliya Salimova“drove us around Ufa and pointed out landmarks, then took us to a Bashkir restaurant so we could try the local food. On our last night in Ufa, we didn’t have a hotel room, so Aliya hosted us,” Hodgson said, adding that she recommended Aliya to another American friend visiting Ufa to see a hockey match two years later. Russian couchsurfers agree that foreigners are often surprised by the small size of typical Russian apartments and their tiny kitchens as well as by the custom of taking off shoes upon entering a house. They are also often surprised by the fact that most Russians don’t drink alcohol. “They are convinced that we drink the whole day and are therefore surprised when they see we don’t,” said Maria, a couchsurfer from Kazan.
I
f I were a tourist from, let’s say, France, I would definitely go to Russia. Why? To see new cities and a new country, to try the Russian cuisine, to visit the Hermitage in St. Petersburg, to take a walk on Red Square in Moscow, to buy some souvenirs on the Arbat and then brag to my friends and neighbours back home about my trip to “authoritarian and aggressive” Russia. Possibly some of my friends would suspect that I support Putin’s regime. Then I would tell them that Russians are really worried about the situation in southeastern Ukraine, where many have friends and relatives. I would tell them about Sochi, the home of the 2014 Olympics, the first-rate all-year-round ski and beach resort built in an incredibly short period of time.The Olympic villages are still decorated with the flags of almost all the national teams that participated in the Sochi Olympics, reminding everyone that there are more important events that unite the people of the world. But most importantly, I would tell them that before making conclusions about a country and its people, one should go there and see it with his or her own eyes. One should dive into its thousandyear history and culture, speak to the people and then compare it to what is being shown on TV and printed in newspapers.
Dmitry Davydenko is Chairman of the Organisational Committee of the All-Russian Tourist Association.
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RUSSIA BEYOND THE HEADLINES www.rbth.com
Science&Technology
GULF NEWS_MONDAY_SEPTEMBER_28_2015
Medicine A Russian firm has signed a contract to sell its innovative dressings to the UAE and other Gulf countries
New Google's icon has Russian origin DailyTech says Denis Kortunov came up with concept back in 2008. IGOR ROZIN RBTH
YANA PCHELINTSEVA SPECIAL TO RBTH
Scientists in the western Siberian town of Tomsk were not thinking of skin diseases, bedsores, and venous ulcers when three years ago they tried to create a water filter based on the physical phenomenon of electrostatic interaction. Inadvertently, however, they developed a new and very pow-
erful material for first-aid bandages. Initially, scientists at the Tomsk Physics Institute of Resistance and Material Studies (IMPA) were trying to create nanostructures to absorb microorganisms from aqueous solutions. Later on, however, they realised that the same idea could be applied to bandages. "We tested the filters and bacteria did not break free from our nanostructures even if we put 10 cubic metres of water through the filter per hour.'' said Sergei Psakhie, director of IMPA. The same effect worked with the bandages. This helps to solve the problem of antibiotic-resistant bacteria."
Wound infections remain a public health problem in many countries, and the misuse of antibiotics to prevent infections leads to increased bacterial resistance. According to the Tomsk scientists, their bandages are capable of healing wounds without taking antibiotics, and the bandages accelerate the healing of wounds by up to three times quicker than usual. Also, heavy bleeding is stopped in two minutes. Thanks to these unique qualities and the low cost, the bandages are currently used in developing countries where medicine is often inaccessible. Recently the scientists received a letter from
Mozambique about a local boy who severely burned his leg during a motorcycle accident. He didn’t go to the hospital, but instead turned to a witch doctor, which didn't help. "When the leg was swollen and there was a bad smell, a friend suggested the boy try the Russian bandage,’’ said the letter. "On the second day the swelling disappeared, as did the putrid smell and the wound began to heal. Today he is walking.’’ The bandages are already being exported to Poland,Vietnam and South Africa. "Beside the main antiseptic quality, we realised that the ban-
dages also relieve pain and accelerate the regeneration of tissues," said Natalya Kirillova, director of Akvelit, a company which exports the bandages. This year Akvelit signed a contract to sell the bandages to the United Arab Emirates and other Gulf countries. The first shipment contains 150,000 bandages, and that amount is expected to soon increase by 10 to 15-fold. The Russian scientists say the bandage's only limitation is that it is not suitable for dry wounds because they don’t heal quickly. However, there is still the painrelieving effect to take into consideration.
GETTY IMAGES
Russian bandages that can stop antibiotic-resistant bacteria is finding strong demand in Gulf countries, while in parts of Africa they look set to put local witch doctors out of business.
Russian bandages are finding strong demand in countries with hot and humid climates.
GETTY IMAGES
Siberian bandages take on African witch doctors
The author of the new Google logo is a Russian designer named Denis Kortunov, writes the DailyTech media outlet. Kortunov, who works for Swiss software company Acronis, suggested an icon concept back in 2008 in an article criticizing the new Google favicon in his Turbomilk blog. He then proposed his own version of the icon, which is very similar to the current one (at the present, the site with the note is removed, but it is still available via the Wayback Machine servive - RBTH). While the two logos are not identical, they bear a striking similarity. In conversation with Russian internet media VC, Kortunov confirmed that he agreed with Google on the use of his work by the company. Google itself approached him, he said. Kortunov added that he does not want to disclose details of the agreement with Google. He also declined to answer a question about the reasons for removing the original notes with design variations for Google. Google representatives did not respond to a request for information about the company's collaboration with Kortunov. Google unveiled its new logo, which is based on a colored letter "G", on Sept. 1. Unlike the former, it features a new sans serif font and softer colors. In total, the company has changed its logo five times in the last 17 years.
The new logo outside of the Google headquarters in California.
Physics A new entry to the Periodic Table will help scientists develop a better model of the atomic nucleus
The 115th element: What’s in a name? Later this year the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC) might recognise a new element with the atomic number 115. This element could be named moscovium.
found in space. And while the element exists in the laboratory for about a tenth of a second, the isotopes in the universe may be longlived.
The IBR 2 pulse reactor at the Joint Institute for Nuclear Research in the town of Dubna.
Most likely element 118 will be the last one discovered because the process is more and more complicated
VIKTORIA ZAVYALOVA RBTH
THE QUOTE
Andrei Popeko The magic element: what’s important about it? The new element’s nucleus contains 115 protons and neutrons. It is a super-heavy substance, and therefore one of the last ones in the periodic table. The element, Popeko noted, can be created on Earth only in a particle accelerator, and only at a rate of one atom per week.
DEPUTY DIRECTOR OF THE LABORATORY OF NUCLEAR REACTIONS AT JINR
"
The discovery of this element is important for the understanding of the processes occurring in the universe. All current models are incomplete. In order to understand the atomic nucleus, we need to move away from the wellknown."
© RIA NOVOSTI
Scientists at the Joint Institute for Nuclear Research (JINR) in Dubna near Moscow hope the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC) will accept their discovery of the periodic table’s 115th element by the end of this year. The 115th element was temporarily called ununpentium, which is Latin for one-one-five, and scientists will be able to give it a permanent name only when the discovery is officially recognised by the IUPAC. “We might call it moscovium – in honor of the Russian capital, but that’s just one of the possible names,” Andrei Popeko, deputy director of the Laboratory of Nuclear Reactions at JINR, told RBTH.
On Earth we know of just 98 elements that occur naturally. Some are very unstable and found in extremely small amounts. The elements before fermium (atomic number 100) can be obtained in nuclear reactors, while the heavier elements are synthesised in particle accelerators. According to Popeko, it is possible that element 115 can be
Human-created elements can also help to develop a better model of the atomic nucleus. Element 115 pervades science fiction, video games, and conspiracy theories because scientists theorise that some isotopes of this element may exist on the so-called Island of Stability. The theory is that if we can cram in a certain “magic number” of protons and neutrons, these elements will suddenly become very stable.
Running out of names and elements Element 115 was originally created by Russian scientists in 2004.
For an element to be officially discovered, however, a second group must replicate the work, which is what scientists at Lund University in Sweden did in 2013. In addition to element 115, the scientists at JINR claim priority for the discovery of three more elements – 118, 117 and 113. The discovery of element 113, however, is debatable since researchers at the RIKEN Nishina Centre in Japan claim they made the discovery. The Russian scientists created a similar element in an experiment to produce atoms of element 115. However, they were so far unable to prove their right to priority. Researchers in France and many others are also working to discover elements with numbers between 119 and 126. However, the researchers in Dubna believe that’s going to be difficult. “Even though we are building a special accelerator,’’ said Popeko,“most likely element 118 will be the last one discovered because the process is more and more complicated and very expensive.’’
RUSSIA BEYOND THE HEADLINES www.rbth.com
Opinion
GULF NEWS_MONDAY_SEPTEMBER_28_2015
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PUTIN UNLIKELY TO MAKE WAVES IN TURTLE BAY Ivan Tsvetkov ANALYST
A
ccording to the pundits, the 70th Session of the U.N. General Assembly in New York, which opened earlier this month, could be the scene of a blazing rhetorical battle. It has become common in recent years for one maverick speaker to shake up the rhetoric and bring some life to the staid proceedings. Previously, this role has been played by the presidents of Iran and Venezuela. But at the 70th Session of the General Assembly the bookies’ odds-on favorite is Vladimir Putin. All eyes and ears will be tuned to the Russian president on Sept. 28, expecting juicy denunciations of the United States and its allies, and off-the-wall solutions to international exigencies. But all told, such grand expectations may well be in vain. Not only should obsevers consider that Putin may not make such declarations — he may decide not to make an appearance at all, instead deciding to send a subordinate to give the speech. The fact is that in today’s international climate, particularly in the U.N., it is hard for the Russian president to take the moral high ground over his opponents. And without the certainty of victory, Putin will not act — or will at least limit himself to a formal address. Over the 70-year history of the organization, relations between the United Nations and Russia have fluctuated wildly. For most of the first decade of its existence, the
United Nations in the eyes of Moscow was an enemy stronghold and a tool for the Western countries who had a firm majority in the General Assembly to exert pressure on the Soviet Union. The Soviet delegation during this period (as, indeed, any period) actively used its right of veto, mainly to block the accession of new “pro-American” members. After the death of Joseph Sta-
Putin should deliver a realistic assessment of the current threats, primarily Daesh lin and Nikita Khrushchev’s rise to power, the Soviet attitude to the U.N. made an about-face. The admission of new countries was now welcomed, and the Kremlin began to view the General Assembly as the ideal platform from which to spread its influence among the newly independent countries of the developing world. Under Leonid Brezhnev, the Soviet Union sought to utilize the U.N. General Assembly largely as a platform to promote its ideas in the area of disarmament and international security. These ideas appeared more sober in comparison with the projects put forward by Khrushchev for “general disarmament in four years,” and allowed the Soviet Union to present itself as the“bastion of peace,” especially at a time when the U.S.was bogged down in Vietnam.
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But this carefully built construct began to crumble in the late 1970s, when the aging Soviet leadership embarked on its own foreign policy misadventure in Afghanistan. As a consequence, the U.N. General Assembly swiftly turned from being a champion of Soviet foreign policy into its harshest critic. Forceful intervention in the affairs of small and medium-sized countries unable to resist was not to the liking of most members of the General Assembly. The Soviet Union’s reputation in the U.N. was restored by Mikhail Gorbachev and his“new thinking” in matters of foreign policy.
Gorbachev’s speech at the U.N. General Assembly on December 8, 1988, was one of the most striking episodes in the organization’s history and seemed to herald a new era of international cooperation. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, the new Russia tried for a while to preserve and build on the political capital gained from “the Gorby effect,” persistently calling for the U.N. to play a greater role in interntional affairs. This position was welcomed, especially in light of the openly disdainful attitude toward the U.N. on the part of the United States. But in the second decade of the
CREATING A DEFENSIVE 'ISLAND' IN SYRIA The Daesh effect Fyodor Lukyanov GAZETA.RU
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hen protests erupted in Syria in 2011, opinions about what awaited the country were divided. Commentators in the West, Turkey and the Gulf expected an imminent collapse of the regime in Damascus along either Tunisian or Libyan lines - internal revolt or via outside interference. Observers in Russia pointed out that the Syrian case was different from the others: a religiously mixed population, an effective army, a unified ruling class, and powerful support from Iran spelled a different trajectory. Events that followed showed that Moscow had a better understanding of Syria’s nuances. Between 2011 and 2015, the situation in the country, of course, deteriorated, but still ran counter to the forecasts of an inevitable revolutionary upheaval.
The explosive emergence of Daesh has utterly changed the rules. The old Syria no longer exists and it still remains to be seen whether it will be preserved at all in any shape or form. Indirect evidence that Moscow has stepped up its military assistance to Damascus allows one to conclude that Russia has decided to take a far more active part in the crisis. The situation on the ground is confusing: all the actors are involved in multi-faceted conflicts.
Hopeless divisions To expect this fractured mess to offer hopes of a Syrian settlement is utterly unrealistic - particularly since the international community is hopelessly divided on options for resolving the crisis. In Syria, as in the Middle East as a whole, there can now be no “victory”. Russian diplomats always insisted that this was not about Assad, but about the principle - "hands off, do no harm" and that the main objective was
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to protect the status quo. This policy has not worked: there is no longer any status quo in Syria. The Western view is that because of that procrastination, the door has been opened to Daesh, which ironically now represents the only effective force opposing Assad. The Russian view is that Western stubbornness has undermined the chances of a soft transformation of the Syrian authorities. In any event, the question now is whether it will be possible to prevent Daesh from entering Damascus, which would have a most powerful propaganda effect.
'Alawite Israel' In what case could Russian efforts be considered a success? Realistically speaking, only if a de-facto
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equivalent of an “Alawite Israel” is created, an enclave that – with outside support – would be capable of self-defense and that would serve as an obstacle to an uncontrolled spread of Daesh. The comparison is, of course, a very loose one, but the mechanism is similar. Numerous diplomatic contacts that took place in the summer, when Moscow received a string of visitors from the Middle East, lead one to conclude that the current busy activity on Russia’s part should come as no surprise. Moscow’s readiness to undertake risks for the sake of preserving an “Alawite Israel” is in the interests of everybody except Daesh. Still, Western leaders voice dissatisfaction and concern at an increased Russian military presence
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21st century, Russia has decisively waved goodbye to the legacy of Gorbachev’s foreign policy. If Putin decides to devote his speech at the 70th Session of the U.N. General Assembly to the need for strict observance of international law and a more prominent role for the U.N., he might simply be catcalled. For many years, Moscow subjected Washington to legitimate criticism, but now the Kremlin has demonstrated by example that it recognizes no other means in the defense of national interests other than power politics in circumvention of all international institutions.
in Syria, while calling for a decisive intervention in order to defeat Daesh, as British prime minster, David Cameron did recently. If one believed that Daesh could be defeated and that after it there would start yet another struggle for control over Syria, then Western concerns would be justified: they really would not want Russia to have a claim for a serious role in a future Syria. However, a far more realistic scenario is that Daesh will not be defeated by the international coalition and that Syria will not be resurrected on new foundations, but that the extremists’ opponents will create a stronghold in limited territories and will continue to fight for their survival. In that case, it would make sense for the West not to hinder Russia’s actions, but to assist them, if possible. However, the whole of the Middle East’s recent history and the attitude outside forces have to the region suggest the West has all but lost the ability to analyze what is happening without investing it with ideological and personal bias. The author is the editor in chief of Russia in Global Affairs and chairman of the Presidium of the Council on Foreign and Defense Policy, a non-governmental think tank. Full story rbrh.com/49347
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Having made this“coming-out,” Russia has effectively nullified the many years of image-building in the eyes of the U.N.; the goodwill toward Brezhnev’s Soviet Union in the late 1970s is but a distant memory. Fast forward to today and the reality is that appeals by the Russian president to the anti-Americanism of some delegations in the hall will not work. For many, modern Russia is no better than the United States — it, too, is a great-power predator that is only looking out for No. 1. This being the case, Vladimir Putin’s best option when speaking from the U.N. podium is to refrain from making bombastic statements about respect for international law, and from accusing the US of numerous mortal sins. In any case, there is no way that he can surpass the oddball rhetoric of Fidel Castro, Hugo Chavez or Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. As the leader of a great power, Putin should deliver a realistic assessment of the current threats, primarily Daesh, and show a commitment to creating a mechanism of international cooperation that can withstand them, preferably under the auspices of the U.N.. However, given the present state of Russia-West relations, such cooperation is wishful thinking. Ivan Tsvetkov is an associate professor of American studies in the international relations department of St. Petersburg State University. Full story rbth.com/49287
BRICS 2.0 AND THE METAMORPHOSIS OF GLOBALIZATION The new Russia Direct Brief “BRICS 2.0 and the Metamorphosis of Globalization” analyzes what is next after the BRICS Summit in Ufa, Russia. Written by Marcos Troyjo of Columbia University, the Brief looks into the primary policy choices facing Russia and other BRICS countries within the broader context of reglobalization.
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Fashion RBTH speaks to 3 designers about the Islamic fashion industry in Russia
Muslim headscarves get a distinctly Russian touch The Islamic fashion industry has witnessed a considerable global boom in recent years. According to market intelligence firm Euromonitor International, the global market for Islamic
clothing will soon experience a near double-digit annual growth. Three Russian designers share their views on the development of the industry in Russia.
VICTORIA SEMIOSHINA RBTH
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DILYARA SADRIYEVA:
REZEDA SULEIMAN:
NAZHIA GALIMOVA:
Muslim fashion exists and evolves
Adapting clothes to suit Russian tastes
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In our catalogues, there are models with and without headscarves. "A photo shoot is a creative process for me. I'm okay with a model wearing make-up, heels, and unusual accessories, although I clearly understand that Muslim women should not look like this in real life. By posting these photos we wanted to dispel stereotypes about Muslim women. "The first time I decided to put on a headscarf was when I was 19 and came to Moscow from Kazan to study. Having decided to change my wardrobe, I realised that I could not find any suitable clothes in ordinary shops. I looked at myself in the mirror wearing a
No discrimination exists against women wearing headscarves
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Modest clothes are not synonymous with being oldfashioned and tasteless, just as the notion of fashion is not synonymous with immorality. No matter how often people say that the notions of fashion and trends are foreign to Islamic clothing, they do exist and they change. "Having been a practising Muslim for 19 years and travelling all over the world, I am closely watching these processes. There are, of course, certain restrictions, but we are quite free to use modern shapes, fabrics, colours, combinations, and stylistic choices that form part of global fashion. "In addition, there is cross-cultural interaction. You can often
spot influences of the Islamic style in many haute couture collections.”
"
headscarf and thought I was ugly. That’s why I decided to make my own clothes."
It is not true that young women wearing headscarves are mistreated in Russia. There are so many opportunities in our country now. Russian women are more free-spirited. "I adhere to the fundamental norms of Islam. This is my choice and I experience no difficulties in wearing clothes that cover my whole body. "My aim is to add some refinement to a woman’s life, to make her beautiful, not just to cover her. For example, when I design clothes for a nikah (wedding), my ambition is to reveal the bride’s inner world, her emotional self.
I am guided by her feelings, I ask her what colours she likes, what dreams she has.”
Travel St. Petersburg museum comes 6th out of 25 on list of world art treasures published by TripAdvisor
Hermitage ranked among 10 best museums in the world The State Hermitage, Russia's biggest and best-known museum, continues to be assigned leading positions in world rankings. ALEXANDRA GUZEVA
LORI/LEGION MEDIA
RBTH
The TripAdvisor travel website has ranked St. Petersburg’s State Hermitage Museum 6th out of 25 world art treasures. It is not the first time that the museum has obtained a leading position in the world rankings. Last year TripAdvisor hailed it as the best museum in Europe. This year it is included in the list of 25 "best of the best" museums in the world in its Travellers' Choice awards.
St. Petersburg’s State Hermitage Museum.
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The Hermitage was surpassed by the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, ranked the best in the world, the Musée d'Orsay in Paris, the Art Institute of Chicago, the Prado in Madrid and the Louvre. “All of the world's beauty in one museum. It lets your mind travel to all the places and eras you always wanted to go,” reads the description of the Hermitage on the TripAdvisor website. RBTH asked Russian Presidential Special Representative on International Cultural Cooperation and former Culture Minister Mikhail Shvydkoi to comment on the Hermitage's success.
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He said: "The Hermitage is Russia's largest and most famous museum. In its life it has had various periods, but the last quarter of a century, under Mikhail Piotovsky's leadership, the Hermitage has been lucky." “According to film director Alexander Sokurov, who dedicated his new film Francophonia to museums, ‘the Hermitage is the Louvre's younger brother.’ Indeed there are many wonderful museums in Europe, but today it is necessary to value not only their collections, but also the activities they conduct,” said Shvydkoi. “The museum of the 21st cen-
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tury is completely different from the museum of the 19th century, it is a center of development. In this sense the Hermitage is of extreme importance," he said. Among other major Russian museums Shvydkoi named the Russian Museum and the museums in the suburbs of St. Petersburg, as well as Moscow’s Tretyakov Gallery and State Pushkin Museum, none of which were included in the rating this year as must-visit destinations for tourists. However, ratings vary and are based on various categories, which is why they should be viewed with certain reservations, he said.
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