Caviar: Russia's original black gold by Russia Beyond

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Caviar: Russia’s original black gold RBTH LOOKS

AT THE HISTORY OF THE DELICACY

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SYRIA

Russian Air Force crew prepare a Su-34 bomber for a mission at the Khmeimim air base.

Phased pull-out of troops begins Russian PresidentVladimir Putin has ordered Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu to begin the withdrawal of Russian forces from Syria as of March 15. “I consider the objectives that have been set for the Defence Ministry to be generally accomplished,” said Putin, speaking on March 14. He noted that before pulling out, the Russian

armed forces should organise effective protection of the permanent Russian military bases at the port of Tartus and the Khmeimim airbase, which will continue to function as usual. “Part of our military group was in Syria traditionally for several years, and now will have to perform the very important function of monitoring the ceasefire and creating con-

ditions for the peace process,” Putin added. According to Fyodor Lukyanov, editor-in-chief of the Russia in Global Affairs magazine, Russia has fulfilled its main task in Syria and did not allow the country to repeat the Libyan scenario and become a completely uncontrolled source of instability. “The main objective of the Russian aerospace forces’ operation was not only combating ISIS militants, but turning the tide of the civil war,” Lukyanov stressed. “Due to our airstrikes, the Syrian army was able to force part of the radical

opposition and terrorists out of the largest cities in the country.” However, Moscow has been accused by the West of using the campaign against ISIS as a cover-up for the strategic targeting of rebel groups, in an attempt to bolster Bashar alAssad’s position. According to Lukyanov, Russia will follow the path of the U.S. in Afghanistan by withdrawing a significant part of the troops, but keeping a politically relevant and efficient group in place. Russia will maintain a military presence at the Tartus port and the Khmeimim airbase. According to Vladimir Yevseyev, an expert at the the CIS Countries Institute, the withdrawal will affect only the land and aerospace forces. “The group of warships in the Mediterranean Sea will be fully preserved, as well as missile defence, electronic warfare and intelligence systems in the region,”Yevseyev told RBTH. According to him, should events develop unfavourably and Turkey and Saudi Arabia take advantage of the reduction of the Russian military presence, Moscow will relaunch an air campaign.

ASEAN MARKET

Russian cars on Vietnamese roads

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Renault Russia, the Russian division of the French automobile manufacturer, has begun exporting cars produced in Russia toVietnam. The Southeast Asian country is importing the Renault Duster, which is made at the company’s Moscow plant, as well as the Renault Logan and Sandero Stepway, which are assembled at AvtoVAZ in Togliatti. The production of the first series of cars for Vietnamese clients started in the beginning of February 2016. “These are the first exports of light automobiles made in Russia toVietnam,” says Renault Russia General Director Andrei Pankov. “This is a unique situation. It is the first time in

Renault Duster in tough Russian winter conditions.

Russia that highly localized assembled cars will be supplied to real foreign markets.” In terms of numbers, the Vietnamese market is obviously small when compared to Russia. However,

it still serves as support for the Russian car industry and the Russian economy in general, whose main aim in conditions of low oil prices is to increase nonenergy exports. But most importantly, the establish-

ment of cooperation with Vietnam, a member of ASEAN, will open great opportunities for duty-free supplies of Russian cars to larger ASEAN markets. Renault Russia, which controls AvtoVAZ, is not the only is Russian automaker interested in the Vietnamese market. Russian car manufacturers such as KamAZ, the GAZ Group and Sollers (which owns UAZ) have also expressed interest. This will not only benefit the growing Vietnamese market, but will also create more attractive conditions for exports from Russia and the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU), with whichVietnam signed a free trade agreement in 2015.

Banks look to attract Chinese investors Russian Central Bank to allow the country’s banks to hold their capital reserves in Renminbi ANNA YURYEVA RBC

A Central Bank of Russia source told RBC that the regulator intends to encourage Chinese financial institutions to invest in Russian banks. “The Central Bank’s draft regulation, which will include the Yuan as a capital reserve currency for Russian banks, was approved at a board meeting,” the source said. Now, the document is being reviewed by the Ministry of Justice. The draft was prepared keeping in mind Russia and China’s goal to abandon the use of the U.S. dollar as a currency for trade settlements, a market participant said. Under current legislation, banks are allowed to hold their capital reserves in rubles and some foreign currencies, such as U.S. dollars, Euros, Swiss francs, and yen. The potential law could attract Chinese lending institutions to set up base in Russia, Sergei Sanakoyev, president of the Sino-Russian analytical center said. There are several Chinese banks currently operating in Russia such as the Bank of China. The largest of these is the ICBC Bank, which is ranked among the top 100 credit institutions in terms of assets. Its assets in Russia amounted to more than 74 billion rubles (over $1 billion) as of Feb. 1. A senior manager at a Chinese bank told RBC that he sees opportunities in Russia. He believes that Chinese banks would like to lend inYuan rather than in rubles, which has been fluctuating over the last year and a half. According to Sanakoyev, the possibility to attract funds inYuan may be of interest to large Russian banks servicing foreign trade contracts with China. “Customers of these banks may be interested in the extension of the scope of financial services with the use of theYuan,”he said.

IN BRIEF Security ﬁrst Russia and Vietnam will intensify security cooperation, the Russian Security Council said in March. The sides agreed to step up cooperation between Russian and Vietnamese law enforcement bodies, intelligence services to tackle cyber crime, drug smuggling and terrorism.

Medvedev’s photo art ALEXANDR RYUMIN / TASS

‘Through the lens of the Prime Minister,’ an exhibition of photos taken by Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev will be held from March 23 to April 3 at the Siam Paragon mall’s Life Style Hall. 100 images from Russia and several other countries will be featured at the exhibition. Photos of Thailand that Medvedev took during his official visit to the Kingdom in April 2015 will also be on display.

CALENDAR ORTHODOX CHURCH IN THAILAND Services are conducted in old Slavic, English and Thai languages. Occasional religious rites are done at any time at the instance of believers. Confession usually is conducted before Divine Liturgy or at believers’ will at any time. Prayer service in the church of Saint Nicholas the Wonder-worker, archbishop of Mira in Lycia, is conducted every day at 8am and 7pm. At non-service hours the chapel is open from 7am to 8pm. ON SUNDAYS: 9AM – DIVINE LITURGY, 7PM - EVENING SERVICE. THE SACRAMENT OF THE HOLY UNCTION WILL BE HELD ON MARCH 26 AT 9AM. › www.orthodox.or.th

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Thailand Thammasat has become a prestigious centre for Russian language study

EXPERIENCE

Bangkok’s window to Russia

Go outside Moscow or St Pete to learn Russian

The country’s oldest Russian language university department is popular with Thai students exploring government, public and private sector careers.

every year,” Yoboon told RBTH. “The objective of the programme is to help students meet the demands for Russia-related jobs in Thailand’s government, public and private sectors.”

Ajay Kamalakaran COLUMNIST

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So impressed was Thailand’s HRH Princess GalyaniVadhana with Russian culture that she decided a major university in Thailand must have a Russian-language department. Bangkok’s Thammasat University, which began to offer Russian classes in 1975, is the most prestigious centre of Russianlanguage studies in Thailand. Yodboon Loesrit, a philology graduate of the Moscow State University, was chosen by Princess Vadhana to be the first Russian teacher in the university. For her efforts to popularize the language in Thailand, Professor Yodboon was awarded the Order of People’s Friendship by the Soviet government in 1990.

Research on Russia and the CIS A student needs to write a research paper on his or her key area of interest at the end of the 4-year programme. This can range from politics, art, literature or economics in Russia and the former Soviet states. Pennapha Naknawa chose to write her paper on the Halal food industry in Kazakhstan. “I think the halal food industry in Kazakhstan is becoming popular among investors and has seen swift growth over the past decade, fuelled by growing awareness among its Muslim community,” she says. “More than 70 percent of the population of Central Asia is Muslim. I want to study the potential of the Halal food industry in Ka-

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About 100 students annually enrol for Thammasat’s 4-year Russian Studies programme.

zakhstan in order to explore investment and trade opportunities between Thailand and Kazakhstan.” Papada Concar chose to focus on the evolution of ties between private businesses and the Russian government. “It is a subject that I find

fascinating and worthy of further study and analysis,” she says. Besides their studies, students are involved in various interesting and creative projects connected to Russia. Last year, they helped set up the Thai-language Fa-

cebook page of the Russian Embassy in Bangkok. The students with help of their teachers translate all posts of the embassy’s official Facebook page, so that Thais who are not fluent in Russian are kept abreast of the latest developments in Russia-Thailand ties.

ence, nuclear energy technology, geology, linguistics, fine arts and medicine. Thai applicants who want to get the Russian government scholarship must speak Russian or English fluently. Foreign students who cannot speak fluent Russian must study the Russian language for one year before they start studying their main courses. The candidates must also have secured a minimum of 80 per cent in major subjects (recommended mini-

mum GPA level of 3.5). Grades for other subjects should be above average. The period between graduation from high school or other secondary education institution and entering a Russian higher education institution must not be more than three years. Candidates should visit the Russian Embassy in Bangkok (Monday to Friday. 9am to noon). For any inquiries, please, send an email to Russian.Scholarship@ mail.ru.

New interest in Russian The end of the Cold War and the advent of Russian tourism to Thailand heralded a great amount of interest in Russian in the country. In 1993, Thammasat University established the Department of the Russian Language. Thammasat launched its Russian Studies Programme at the Faculty of Liberal Arts in 2003. Yodboon was the natural choice for director of the programme, which covers Russian politics, business studies, music, arts and literature. “About 100 students enrol for the programme

Apply before April 15 to study in Russia 22 scholarships will be awarded to applicants from Thailand, mostly for master’s degrees. GLEB FEDOROV RBTH

Along with several thousand annual open scholarships for all international applicants, the Russian

Ministry of Education grants scholarships for specific countries. Thailand’s quota for 2016-17 is 22 scholarships, mainly for two-year master’s degree programmes. The last day to apply is April 15. The programmes include engineering, computer sci-

n 2003 I was invited to talk about my life in Sakhalin with Russian university students who were learning English. As soon as I entered the room, I accidentally declared that I was gay! “Ya poteryal orientatsiyu,” I said, as everyone in the room burst into laughter. Instead of telling the class that I was late because I lost my way, I ended up coming out of the closet! It had only been four months since I had started learning Russian and I was still on the path to understanding the nuances of the language. Despite making a fool out of myself that day, I continued to speak Russian with courage, since I realised that Russians are extremely tolerant of mistakes a foreigner makes. The main reason I could manage a decent Russian conversation in less than half a year was because I lived in Sakhalin, where very few people spoke English at the start of the oil and gas boom. The first advice I would give a serious student of the Russian language is to head away from Moscow and St. Petersburg and enrol in a university in a smaller city in a Russian region. By having no choice but to learn the language to survive in a social situation or just to go to a corner shop, it’s not difficult to find motivation.

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History RBTH traces the origins of the luxurious treat

Caviar: Russia’s original black gold

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DARIA STRELAVINA RBTH

Black caviar is one of the most famous and expensive delicacies in the world. On average, a 250-gram jar costs $130 (Bt4,500), but this was not always the case. In the 12th century, Russia had so much caviar that it was affordable for the masses. The Soviet film “Ivan Vasilievich: Back to the Future”, has a scene that pokes fun at ancient Russia’s abundance of caviar. In the scene the Tsar’s dining table has plates full of red and black caviar, but a very small quantity of imported eggplant caviar (the least expensive variant today).

races of sturgeon in Russia Historical records show that the Slavs ate caviar in the 8th century. It was mainly Atlantic sturgeon caviar. Sturgeon spines have been found in ancient fireplaces. Archaeologists even discovered sturgeon fossils dating back to the 11th century during excavations near the territory of the Moscow Kremlin.

The first caviar plant The Kirillo-Belozersky Monastery (Monastery of St Cyril on the White Lake) is considered to be the first

“industrial” fishing enterprise in Russia. It was founded in the late 14th century on the banks of Lake Siverskoye where sturgeons lived. The authorities gave the lake to the monastery, and the monks proved to be very industrious. In addition to several types of

In the 17th century the Trinity Sergius Lavra annually bought: 6,000 sturgeons and starry sturgeons, 300 belugas, 10 tons of caviar, 15 barrels of sturgeon black caviar, the monastery was selling sturgeon, beluga, starry sturgeon (sevruga) and other fish.

Caviar for all In the middle of the 16th century, sturgeon was regularly served to Russian Tsar Ivan IV (Ivan the Terrible). In 1554, Dervish Ali, protégé of the Russian Tsar and grandson of the Khan of the Golden Horde, became the Khan of the Astrakhan Khanate. As a tribute for his assistance in an internecine war, Ivan the Terrible ordered the Khan to send him 3,000 large belugas and sturgeons (average weight of 200 kg), both fresh and salted, annually. After the annexation of the Astrakhan and Kazan Khanates in 1556 and 1552, the Volga

River Basin was officially absorbed into the Russian realm and Russians were allowed to fish without paying tribute.

QUOTE

Giles Fletcher

Monopoly of the state

ENGLISH AMBASSADOR TO RUSSIA IN 1588.

In 1676, the first tsar from the Romanov dynasty, Mikhail Fedorovich, established a monopoly on caviar trade with foreigners. The Boyar Duma (the royal advisory assembly) appointed special merchants from the Great Treasury (equivalent to the Ministry of Finance) for foreign trade and set the monopoly price for black caviar at 3 silver rubles per pood (16.38kg). Even at that price, the caviar business generated a profit of 30-40 per cent for foreign merchants.

Likewise of Ickary or Cavery, a great quantitie is made upon the river of Volgha out of Ickary the fish called Bellovgina, the Sturgeon, the Severiga & the Sterledey. Wherof the most part is shipped by French and Netherlandish marchants for Italy and Spain, some by English marchants.”

Scan the QR code to read an in-depth article about the history of black caviar

Loss of monopoly In 1704, in the midst of the G r e a t N o rt h e r n Wa r against Sweden (17001721), Peter the Great introduced a state monopoly on the entire production and trade of fish in Russia. As a result, by the end of his reign, almost 80 per cent of caviar was exported, while, according the Senate’s decree of March 2, 1725, all export revenues were used to finance the Russian Navy. However, under Elizabeth I, the daughter of Peter the Great, the state lost its monopoly until the end of the 19th century, and all the fisheries on the Volga and in Astrakhan were privately owned.

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ETORETRO.RU

Caviar was known in Russia long before crude oil, and may be more deserving of the term ‘black gold.’ The history of black caviar is intertwined with wars, religion and commerce.

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INTERESTING FACTS

In the 19th century, Russian scientists conducted a series of successful experiments on artificial insemination and incubation of the caviar of sturgeon in natural river conditions. The largest documented beluga in Russian history was caught in the Volga in the Astrakhan region in 1827. Its weight was 1.5 tonnes. In Soviet Russia, on May 3, 1926, a female beluga weighing more than 1 tonne was caught in the Caspian Sea. Nearly 190kg of black caviar was removed. Russia owns less than a third of the Caspian Sea coastline once owned by the USSR. In 2000, Russia produced only 40 tonnes of caviar – 34 times less than the USSR did in 1990.

The threat of extinction In the beginning of the 20th century, Russian fishermen caught up to 40,000 tonnes of sturgeon annually in the Caspian Sea and the Volga, which, according to some specialists, was the peak sturgeon catch. During World War I and the Russian Civil War (1917-1923), sturgeon fishing declined sharply, leading to a slight increase in fish populations. In 1938, the USSR imposed limits on sturgeon fishing for the conservation of valuable fish species. But in 1940, the Soviet Union and Iran signed a treaty of commerce and navigation, which allowed Iran to catch sturgeon fish on par with the Soviet Union. After the war, oil production by both countries began to rise in the Caspian Sea. Contamination of the Volga-Caspian Basin with oil and oil products had a negative effect on the sturgeon population. In 1962-1965, the USSR introduced strict measures to control and regulate fishing, so the population of sturgeon in theVolga and the Caspian Sea increased significantly by the 1970s. After the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, the Caspian coast was divided between Russia, Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan,Turkmenistan and Iran. Since 1998, international trade in sturgeon is regulated under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora.

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Caviar guide The famed delicacy is mostly extracted from farmed sturgeon in different parts of Russia

Russian caviar: Is it genuine or fake? DARIA STRELAVINA RBTH

Since the days of the USSR, the caviar of each species is packed in jars with lids of a certain colour.The most expensive beluga caviar is packed in jars with a blue lid, a yellow lid represents sturgeon caviar, and a red one stands for starry sturgeon caviar. In Russian Federation, sturgeon caviar is classified by the type of fish from which it was taken. Foreign experts also use DNA to classify caviar by the age of the fish, its genetic and territorial origin. In 2014, the Russian government adopted a programme for the development of the sturgeon fishing industry until 2020, allocating 5 billion rubles (Bt2.5 billion). In 2015, the countries of the Caspian region held a meeting of the Commission on Aquatic Bioresources of the Caspian Sea, where they

agreed at the government level to work together to regulate the sturgeon population.

Global production After introducing a moratorium on fishing of sturgeon from the Caspian Sea in 2004, Russia lost its pole position in the supply of caviar to the world market, which is now held by Iran. In 2011, the Federal Agency for Fishery, Rosrybolovstvo, allowed the export of 150kg of caviar to the European Union annually, while Iran supplied twice as much. Since 2012, the universal moratorium on the production of caviar from the Caspian Sea has been in effect. It will expire in 2017. Black caviar that is produced in the wild, rather than at artificial breeding farms, is not available now. To save the sturgeon, caviar is produced in fish farms where after the extraction of caviar the fish does not die, but returns to the flock. In addition to the Caspian states, sturgeon aquaculture is now well developed in Israel, Thailand, China, Japan, the United

CAVIAR HOUSE caviarhouse.co.th

How good is your caviar Alex Tyutin THAI STURGEON FARM DIRECTOR

The quality of farmed caviar depends on factors such as fish feed, the type of farm and breeding techniques. A nutritious and balanced feed is vital. While open water farms breed sturgeon in nets in ponds and rivers, closed ones use tanks. Caviar extracted from fish after a cycle in a winter simulation room tastes as genuine as wild caviar.

Arab Emirates and other countries, where sturgeon fingerlings were brought to from Russia.

How to buy real black caviar “In early 2013, about 80 per cent of the total consumption of caviar in Russia accounted for poached cavi-

Types of caviar Depending on the method of processing, caviar is divided into whole-grain, pressed and yastik. Yastik, the cheapest and most affordable, is made without separating eggs from

the membrane (yastik). Pressed caviar is made from a mixture of starry sturgeon and sturgeon caviar. Whole-grain caviar, the most expensive caviar, is made from ripe sturgeon roe.

ar,” Andrei Moiseyev, coordinator of the WWF Sustainable Marine Fisheries programme in Russia, told RBTH. “But since then, the public authorities have done a great job in the fight against poaching.” In 2013, the Russian criminal law on poaching,

which called for a prison term of three to seven years, was expanded to punish not only illegal production, but also transportation, selling, possession and purchase of illegal black caviar and sturgeon. From May to September 2015, the police seized about 830kg of sturgeon

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caviar and about a tonne of sturgeon in Kamchatka and the Khabarovsk Territory. The main legal product in Russia is the caviar of farmed Siberian sturgeon. The production of Beluga caviar is highly regulated.“Only a few aquaculture farms in Russia are engaged in cultivation of this breed,” Moiseyev said. Beluga caviar is sold to the state for further breeding and returned to the natural environment of theVolga River.” Currently, the Russian Union of Sturgeon Breeders in cooperation with state authorities is working on the product traceability, to be able to trace the path of legal caviar at all stages.

CAVIAR HOUSE CO., LTD OFFERS THE MOST POPULAR AND FAMOUS TYPES OF CAVIAR:

In 2014, Thai Sturgeon Farm Co., Ltd (a Thai limited company with Russian and Thai investors) started constructing a factory farm to breed sturgeon in Hua Hin, Thailand. The plant has a capacity of 1,500 kg of black caviar per year. Read more about the project, breeding techniques and products on www.sturgeon.co.th.

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In order to clamp down on poaching, the latest Russian Customs regulations permit a person leaving the country to only carry 250 grams of black caviar.

OYAL OSCIETRA CAVIAR Is produced by sturgeon that are more than 12 years old. Sturgeon caviar is slightly smaller than the Beluga variety.

REMIUM STURGEON CAVIAR is made from the roes of hybrid sturgeon (Female Huso Huso or Beluga and Male Acipenser Schrenckii).

ELUGA AND KALUGA CAVIAR are the most famous and expensive varieties of black caviar. Beluga is found in the Caspian Sea, while Kaluga, which is as large as the Beluga sturgeon, is found in the Amur River.

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Science&Tech

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Children A Russian startup has designed a new range of innovative and affordable prostheses for children

Gadgets help cope with disabilities A Moscow-based startup upgrades children’s prostheses with laser pointers, audio players, jump ropes, mobile phones and other gadgets. DINARA MAMEDOVA

Russia’s Agency for Strategic Initiatives says about 65,000 Russians need an upper extremity prosthesis each year, but only 14 per cent actually get one. Many adults do not use a prosthesis at all, and usually adapt to using the other hand However, the situation is far more complicated for children, especially those under 12. They need to train the muscles of the injured hand so it does not atrophy. They are usually provided with cosmetic prostheses; but these are uncomfortable to wear, and make it harder to adapt to life in school or socialise with peers. A Moscow-based developer, Ilya Chekh, founder of the startup, Motorika, has invented colourful prostheses for children that are equipped with special holders for various things such as laser pointers, audio players, skipping ropes and mobile phones. Thanks to this new gaming side of the prosthesis, a child with an injury can return to a normal social life more quickly, developers say.

A 3D-printed hand Most children’s prostheses available in Russia are nonmoving copies of a certain part of the human arm, and used mainly to hide injuries. There are also bodypowered and myoelectric prostheses. The former al-

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Sensors are used to transform electrical impulses, produced by voluntarily contracting muscles within a person’s residual limb, into movement.

lows a child to grab things using the strength of his body, and the cost ranges from US$760 to $2000. A myoelectric prosthesis, however, uses sensors to transform electrical impulses produced by voluntarily contracting muscles within a person’s residual limb into movement. The cost ranges from $19,000 to $38,000, but it’s only produced abroad. Only a handful of Russian children can afford these prohibitively expensive prostheses. One day when surfing the Internet, Chekh, who has a degree in robotics, noticed a request from Can-Touch. ru, a company specialising in industrial 3D-printing. The company was planning to print several children’s prostheses as part of a charity project, and he decided to take part. “We developed the first version of their prosthesis,’’ Chekh recalls.“We printed it, finished it, and started getting feedback from patients and doctors. Then we understood that the lack of prostheses for children was a real problem.’’ Motorika later managed to convince Russia’s Social

Insurance Fund to back the project by covering the total cost of prosthesis for children..

Super limbs According to Chekh, his company is able to produce up to 300 prostheses a year, and productivity could be increased to 1,000 units a year. Motorika’s lab employs five people, who assemble the prostheses, made from components that are 3D-printed. The cost of a single prosthesis ranges from $900 to $1,300. In 2015, Chekh patented a line of body-powered children’s prostheses dubbed, CYBEY. Motorika now offers six products with different attachments. In October its engineers made a prosthesis with two holders, one for skipping rope, and another for an MP3 player.. “Today, people express themselves through their appearance, and prostheses are no exception,’’ says Chekh.“Kids can use their prostheses as an advantage when playing and communicating with their peers.’’

Eyesight A Russian device allows the blind to read texts

Reading without eyes A new learning device for the blind converts electronic text into Braille. It may soon reach the international market. SVETLANA ARKHANGELSKAYA RBTH

A little over a year was needed to create See All, a digital tutor, which converts electronic information into Braille. The device consists of two modules. One is operated by the student, and the other by the teacher. It is equipped with a headset, plays audio files, and it also can transfer messages from the teacher to the student in conference mode. Russian engineer, Aidar Fakhrutdinov, got the idea for the tutoring device from his aunt Alfia Alieva, who is a visual-impairment specialist. She believes that learning should be more convenient for the blind. The digital tutor was developed with support from

Tyumen State University, and it was cast in a prototyping centre at the Tyumen Science Park. “The device allows users to learn to read and write in Braille, and while it is impossible to fix a typo in Braille text on a sheet of paper, it is easy to do so in the electronic tutor,” says Fakhrutdinov. The tutor is unique in that it combines the interactivity and the function of a book. Up until now, blind students have used special displays, the Perkins Brailler, screen readers, organisers and creeping lines, which do not allow for interactive learning. These methods use communication gloves, which cannot serve as a book. “The new digital tutor can be used both for people who already read in Braille, and for people who are not familiar with it, such as those who recently

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lost their eyesight,” says Ivan Onishchenko, editorin-chief of Internet radio at the Russian National Society for the Blind. Like any other instrument, See All has limitations. The total volume of files that can be downloaded into the device must not exceed 32 gigabytes. Large texts should be split into parts in order not to exceed 999 lines, and the device is unable to read PDF files or see graphics, drawings and diagrams. According to Fakhrutdinov, it is possible to code them, but this will significantly increase the cost of the product, making it commercially non-viable. Currently, the two-module device costs about US$5,900. Also, it does not provide access to the Internet. Developers say that Web integration will be the next step to help train those who cannot attend classes.

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ELECTRONICS VIRTUAL REALITY FILMS INSPIRE THE PHYSICALLY DISABLED

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THAAD WILL LEAD TO AN ASIAN ARMS RACE

WHAT THE REMOVAL OF SANCTIONS ON IRAN MEANS FOR THE WORLD

Rakesh Krishnan Simha

GEVORG MIRZAYAN

JOURNALIST

ANALYST

he lifting of sanctions against Iran has generated an entire wave of speculation about the imminent reforms in the Middle East. However, what has happened should not be overestimated. Not all the sanctions against Iran have been lifted – only those that concern its nuclear programme.

IORSH

itting an incoming missile with a missile has been likened to hitting a bullet with a bullet. That is what America’s Terminal High Altitude Area Defence (THAAD) proposes to do. The son of Star Wars, THAAD is an anti-ballistic missile (ABM) system designed to shoot down ballistic missiles in their terminal phase – or moments before they hit ground zero. However, experts have called it impossible science. The Kremlin will never say this, but the Russians know that in reality the US is burning billions of dollars in a futile quest to beat physics. In 2002 the American Physical Society asked the US to delay deployment of a missile defence system until it was demonstrated to work against realistic threats. Little has changed since then. So why does Russia continue to oppose American plans to place ABM systems like THAAD near its territory – first in Poland and now in South Korea? The reason is THAAD is a disrupter. By creating an element of vulnerability, it will tie down other countries in a furious arms race. ABM systems such as THAAD upend a – strangely comforting – balance of terror. If you think the other side can stop your missiles,

then you create even more deadly missiles while also starting work on your own ABM systems. Like a nuclear chain reaction, this process can spiral out of control.

With THAAD in their backyard, both the Russians and Chinese will adopt counter-measures The danger of deploying THAAD in South Korea is many orders of magnitude more disruptive than deploying in Poland. For, in Europe you only anger the Russians whereas in Asia you infuriate China, North Korea and Russia.There are many reasons why THAAD is a weapon guaranteed to fail.

The missile developed for THAAD does not carry an explosive warhead. Instead it relies on the kinetic energy of the impact to destroy the incoming missile. The reasoning is that a kinetic hit minimises the risk of an exploding conventional warhead. Plus, nuclear warheads are programmed to explode at certain altitudes so they hopefully won’t explode upon a kinetic hit. Chemical or biological warheads may disintegrate or explode and pose a risk of contaminating the environment. The result of a kinetic hit is that instead of the city centre, the missile may fall on the outskirts. On top of this, Russia has many modern Russian missiles. Its newest ICBM, the RS-26 Sarmat, will soon join the Strategic Missile Force and has been dubbed

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the “missile defence killer” for its manoeuvring characteristics. These new missiles will seriously erode THAAD. With imminent threats from the US, North Korea is no longer content with an arsenal of a couple of dozen nuclear tipped missiles. THAAD is likely to spur them on to make even more bombs and missiles. Plus, with THAAD in their backyard, both the Russians and Chinese will adopt counter measures. India and Japan could follow suit. So don’t expect the American anti-ballistic missile system to contribute to regional security in East Asia. Rakesh Krishnan Simha is a New Zealand-based journalist. Read the full version rbth.com/574283

Moscow has conflicting feelings regarding Iran’s exit from the sanctions regime Politically, there has been no progress in US-Iranian relations and the standoff between the two countries continues. This means that in the foreseeable future there will be no large-scale political reforms in the Middle East. The significance of the recent nuclear deal with Iran is that it has led to a change in the power balance within the current model. Some nations were able to strengthen their positions, while others remain even more isolated. Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s regime has benefited the most from the revocation of sanctions against Iran, except, of course, for Iran and the US. Along with the Russian military operation in Syria,

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the nuclear deal not only strengthened Assad’s position, it removed from the agenda his possible overthrow. Subsequently, a decisive shift in the Syrian civil war came about. For Saudi Arabia, the revoking of the sanctions is not the only nuisance. Riyadh is considered the main loser in the nuclear deal. The Persian Gulf countries see that the Saudis are losing the Cold War to Tehran and on all fronts – inYemen, Syria and Iraq. Therefore, if the Saudis also lose the support of the US, the kingdom is doomed. Moscow has conflicting feelings regarding Iran’s exit from the sanctions. On the one hand, the return of Iranian oil to Europe and the possible supplies of Iranian gas to the“Old World” create serious problems for Gazprom in particular and for the Russian economy in general. However, if Moscow plays its cards well, Iran’s exit from the sanctions will not only strengthen RussianIranian political ties, but will also significantly strengthen the Kremlin’s position in the Middle East. For this, it is necessary to assume a neutral position in the Saudi-Iranian conflict and cooperate with both countries. Read the full version rbth.com/563299

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Cuisine

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Delicious Russian spring recipes

Bring some Maslenitsa to your kitchen

Beer pancakes This is a good way to use up all your extra beer before starting the Lenten fast, even though some traditions hold that it is okay to drink beer, even if you are fasting. · 16 ounces milk · 16 ounces beer (lager, or darker beer for sweeter taste) · 2 cups sifted wheat flour, or 1.5 cups of wheat flour, or 1/2 cup rye flour · 1-2 eggs · 2 tablespoons vegetable

1 Mix the milk, slightly warmed, together with the beer. Keep stirring and add flour. 2 Carefully mix the batter, adding the eggs, vegetable oil or melted butter, sugar or white honey, salt, and, just before you finish mixing, baking soda. The thinner the batter, the thinner the pancakes will be — experiment and find out how you like them. 3 The pancakes must be cooked in a cast-iron frying pan: do NOT wash it; instead, warm it and wipe it with a napkin before using it. 4 Traditionally, the frying pan is greased with half of a raw potato on the end of a fork. Cook the pancakes in a very small quantity of melted butter. 5 Put the finished product — they should be a beautiful dark red in color — into piles and pour melted butter over them. They can also be eaten with fillings.

Images from a traditional celebration of the Maslenitsa spring festival in Russia, usually marked in March. The Pagan-origin holiday was adapted by the Orthodox Church.

During the sevenday festival, people eat pancakes, participate in games and drink a lot On the last day of the festival, people ask forgiveness of one another, before going on a fast

2 cups flour 2 tablespoons sugar 60 ml natural yogurt 1 teaspoon salt 1.5 glass milk 2 eggs 200 gr beet 3 tablespoons oil

1 Boil or bake beet, cut to pieces 2 Put beet into milk 3 Mix this up with blender 4 Add eggs and yogurt 5 Then add salt, sugar and flour 6 Mix this all and wait 30 minutes. 7 Then fry. 8You can serve these pancakes with cheese and greens or herring.

Pancakes from Sofya Tolstaya, Leo’s wife

Beet pancakes Need something else to do with beets besides making borscht? Try this!

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GETTY IMAGES

We’re not saying that eating these pancakes will make you a great writer, but eating them won’t hurt your chances! Sofya made her pan-

Maslenitsa is an old Russian pagan tradition that was adapted by the church. This week-long festival, which celebrates the sun and the end of winter, is now also used to mark the week before the beginning of Great Lent - the 40-day period of fasting and reflection that lasts until Easter. During the sevenday festival, people eat pancakes (whose round shape represents the sun), participate in games and activities and drink a lot. On the last day of the festival, Sunday, people ask forgiveness of one another and burn a large straw doll, also called Maslenitsa.

oil or melted butter · 1 tablespoon sugar or white honey · 1 teaspoon salt · 1/2 teaspoon baking soda · 1/2 potato

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cakes with kefir (a fermented milk drink) to keep them thin. Kefir is available in Russian shops in Bangkok and Pattaya, but if you can’t find any, buttermilk is an acceptable substitute. · · · ·

2 cups kefir 2 cups flour 2 eggs 1/2 teaspoon baking soda

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· 2 tablespoons oil · sugar and salt to taste 1 Mix kefir, flour, eggs, sugar and salt in a deep bowl. 2 Add soda into a cup of boiling water, mix well. 3 Pour the water with soda slowly into the batter. Mix until the batter is smooth. 4 Let the batter sit for 5 minutes. Add oil and fry.

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