SOVIET NOSTALGIA VS COMMUNISM HANGOVER PAGE 16-17
RussianMind №5 (05), 30 June-13 July 2011, www.RussianMind.com
The Russian Davos Page 20-21
A Modern Book Keeper Page 10-11
“Khimki-Life” Page 26
Precious Stones Page 18-19
www.RussianMind.com
EU
UK.........................£2.00 Germany............€2.00 Austria................€2.00 Belgium..............€2.00 Netherlands......€2.50 Italy......................€2.50
UK
RM
8-9
Contents
Acting Editor Olga Kudriavtseva olga@russianmind.com Head of Editorial Board Mark Hollingsworth mark@russianmind.com Managing Director Azamat Sultanov md@russianmind.com Business Development Director Alina Blinova alina@russianmind.com Art Director Yuri Nor ynor@russianmind.com Front Page Design Elizabeth Yurieva info@russianmind.com Special Project Department Daria Alyukova d.alyukova@russianmind.com IT Director Oleksii Vyshnikov it@russianmind.com Sub Editor Julia Gobert julia@russianmind.com Distribution Olga Tsvetkova distribution@russianmind.com In print: Ivan Kolpakov, Christine Riedel, Ecaterina Kilian, Anatoly Karlin, Xanthi Skoulariki, Tatiana Irodova, Richard Bloss, Anton Phatianov, Ekaterina Petukhova. Address United Kingdom 40 Langham Street, London W1W 7AS United Kingdom Tel: +44(0) 207 637 1374 E-mail: info@russianmind.com France 6 Rue du Docteur Finlay 75015 Paris, France Tel: +33(0) 981 147 395 E-mail: france@russianmind.com
4
6-7 – The Press Baron 8-9 Cargo 200: Alexei Balabanov’s Message About the Soviet Union
10-11
10-11– A Modern Book Keeper 12-13 – Perm Is Changing 14-15 – National Comparisons: The People
12-13
16-17 – Soviet Nostalgia №5(05) 30 June - 13 July 2011
Contents
18-19 Precious Stones 20-21 The Russian Davos 22 Empowering Employees
28-29
24-25 Weekend in Deutschland 26 “Khimki-Life”
26
18-19
27 How To Survive Living In London 28-29 Great British Summer 30 Event Guide
Born in the USSR I was considered to have been born in the USSR but in reality I grew up in an entirely different country – independent Ukraine after the 15 Republics of Soviet Union separated in 1991. During the time of the USSR existence, the Soviet people underwent different periods from the totalitarian regime under Joseph Stalin; through Nikita Khrushchev’s thaw; to the “iron curtain” hung by Leonid Brezhnev; and finally to Glasnost and Perestroika proclaimed by Mikhail Gorbachev. Nowadays opinions and attitudes regarding the nonexistent USSR are conversely different. Some people truly believe that the collapse of the Soviet Union was the right measure which would lead to the development of democratic societies, at the same time others say that the loud promises about democracy never worked out and since the country’s down fall things are only getting worse. For me, the Soviet period will always remain one of the most interesting pages in the world’s history. Probably, this feeling is fairly commonplace for those born in the USSR. To discover what was the Soviet Union turn to photo blog on page 16-17.
Best Olga Kudriavtseva, Acting Editor
5
Profile
The Press Baron T
Mark HOLLINGSWORTH In the last issue of Russian Mind, we described the early life of Alexander Lebedev, owner of the 'London Evening Standard' and 'The Independent', when he was a KGB officer based in London. In this second instalment, we reveal how Lebedev made his fortune:
6
he origins of Alexander Lebedev’s millions can be traced back to when he was Head of Foreign Investments at Imperial Bank which managed the assets of LUKoil (the oil equivalent of Gazprom) in the mid-1990s. But what is less well-known is that he was also briefly involved in two UK companies - Grainsale Ltd and The Milith Plc. On 28 May 1992, the future press baron became a director of Grainsale Ltd, a financial services company, registered at 115 Gloucester Place, Marylebone. He worked closely with the law firm Malkins which held the company’s two shares on trust on behalf of Lebedev. But the association did not last and Grainsale Ltd was struck off and dissolved on 16 June 1998. Later in 1992 Lebedev became a director of Milith Plc, a UK business and management consultancy which represented Russian companies who were interested in doing business in the West. Lebedev was joined on the board by his old KGB associate Andrei Kostin alongside the accountant Michael Simon and Roger Chesses, a ‘Buying Agent’ for commodities trading companies. For the first four years business flourished. But in March 1996, Lebedev and Kostin resigned, leaving Simon and Chesses in control of the company until it was dissolved in 1998. Their resignation stemmed from a dispute between Lebedev and Kostin and their fellow directors. Lebedev and Kostin held only 20 per cent of the company’s shares. The remaining 80 per cent were jointly held by Roger Chesses and two Russians - Roman Chvetski and Vitaly Vinogradov. The company held a 39.6 per cent share in Lebedev and Kostin’s Russian Investment & Finance Company, but it was not a happy relationship. According to the accounts: “The majority shareholders took steps to sell their shares to the minority interests and their partners, but negotiations proved abortive. As a result of the impasse, the shareholders decided to suspend trading activities and are seeking opportunities to dispose of the company’s investment”.
A far more successful venture was Lebedev’s involvement with the National Reserve Bank (NRB). In 1995 Lebedev became Chairman of NRB, but informed sources say that NRB had no assets to speak of and was valuable only in that it was authorised by the Central Bank of Russia. In essence, Lebedev and Gazprom were buying a licence to act as an investment bank. In reality it was an off-the-shelf concern whose value lay mainly in its banking licence. From 1995 to 2002 the NRB operated as a subsidiary investment bank for Gazprom, although Gazprom’s share in the bank decreased due to its conversion into a Joint Stock Company. In 1997 Gazprom held a 65 per cent share in NRB and a 57 per cent share in 1998. While Gazprom’s stake in NRB’s was reduced, it continued to exercise control over National Reserve Bank’s activities. During the same period NRB also held Gazprom shares. In 1997/98 the accounts state that it held 167,000,000 Gazprom shares and 173,826,000 in 1998. NRB also held shares in the Swiss bank Eurosco Bank AG and the Russian power company UES. One of Lebedev’s most astute investments is that he bought 9 per cent of the electricity monopoly UES for $350 million, or five cents a share, and within a year the price had risen to 40 cents per share. Russian analysts say that the initial reason for the purchase of NRB by Gazprom was so that NRB could settle the issue of the Ukraine’s gas debt to Russia. Much of
Alexander Lebedev’s London Evening Standard №5(05) 30 June - 13 July 2011
Profile
NRB’s initial capital therefore consisted of government bonds issued by the Ukraine to pay for Russian gas. In the 1990s the NRB was heavily dependent on its holdings of Ukrainian Government Bonds. The Bank’s balance sheet for 1997/98 stated that it acted as a depository for Ukraine Ministry of Finance bonds totalling $1.4 billion which were issued as settlement for Ukraine’s debt to Gazprom, for the supply of natural gas. The bonds carried a tax exempt US dollar denominated interest of 8.5 per cent. A similar arrangement was reached with the Republic of Moldova. In 1998 NRB held $140 million worth of Moldovan Ministry of Finance bonds with tax exempt interest of 7.5 per cent per annum. NRB also traded in Russian government bonds and made loans to Russian companies – mostly in the manufacturing sector. By 1998 Lebedev was phenomenally wealthy. “I was a money-maker”, he said later. “By mid-1998 my fortune was around £1.2 billion.” In 1998 NRB was identified by Euromoney as one of the Russian banks most likely to survive the economic crisis that year - along with the Bank of Moscow, Unexim and Alfa Bank. NRB was identified as a likely survivor because of its relationship with Gazprom which was protected from the crisis by its hard currency earnings from gas sales. This prediction was largely accurate: The National Reserve Bank and Alfa Bank were the only two out of the ten largest Russian banks that survived the 1998 Russian financial crisis. №5(05) 30 June - 13 July 2011
However, according to The Banker, NRB almost collapsed during the crisis. Even Lebedev admitted that he was technically bankrupt when the rouble collapsed. But he managed to restructure his debts and rebuild by buying cheap shares in Gazprom and Aeroflot. “I lost it all”, he said later. “It evaporated and National Reserve Bank survived. Stock markets came up again”. 1998 was a dramatic and high risk year in Lebedev’s life - he lost the fortune he had accrued in the previous two years. But he managed to stay afloat, thanks in part to some reserves of the Ukrainian central bank that happened to be on his balance sheet. But there were still problems. After the financial crisis, NRB’s business was then largely suspended when the French banking giant Credit Agricole Indosuez sued over $111 million of forward contracts. The case was later settled in June 2003 for an estimated $70 million. Gazprom maintained its 40 per cent interest in and its control over NRB until 2002 when Lebedev became the principal beneficiary and owner of the bank. The change in ownership occurred during the bank’s long planned conversion into a Joint Stock Company. In 2002 Gazprom lost majority representation on the Board of Directors and no longer exercised control over its activities. Gazprom disposed of its 37 per cent of its shares and all of its preference shares in the NRB. After securing full control of the NRB, Lebedev moved out of the energy sector. “After the 1998 crisis, I decided to go into the real economy and agriculture, airlines, affordable housing”, he said. From 2002 his agricultural holding company, Planeta Management began purchasing farms and food processing plants and then purchased a 28 per cent stake in Aeroflot from Abramovich’s Millhouse Capital for $130 million. In June 2003 he purchased the pharmaceutical company ICN. Most Russian analysts agree that Lebedev was not involved in the notorious activities of the Oligarchs in the 1990s during the Yeltsin era. But he was not immune from being linked to controversy. The Sunday Times reported that in 1997 Lebedev's Moscow home and dacha were raided by police who were investigating tax evasion. According to the Moscow Times, the
investigation was based on accusations made by a former NRB employee called Igor Fyodorov and involved Ministry of Finance bonds. But Lebedev was never arrested or charged with any offence. By 2005 Lebedev’s business empire was structured around the National Reserve Corporation (NRC) which owned 28 per cent of Aeroflot and 26 per cent of Gazprom. This was in conjunction with NRB’s shares in the Russian National Housing Corporation and the National Land company. NRC also has assets outside of Russia including Energobank and The European insurance alliance in Ukraine, the aviation company Blue Wings in Germany and Alpstream in Switzerland. Like many businessmen Lebedev was a victim of the 2008 credit crunch and global recession. But by 2008, Lebedev was suffering. Later that year he sought a state bail-out to prevent losing his Aeroflot stake. NRB had used the shares as collateral for a $400 million loan from Deutsche Bank and two other unnamed Western banks in 2007. But their value had fallen more than 80 per cent in 2008 forcing Lebedev to make regular repayments or face losing his veto control. In October 2008 he acknowledged that he was worth nearly two thirds less than a month previously. “I don't think you'll find anyone who is in the same position on the Forbes list as they were before”, he said. “Some will have to be erased, some - like me - will have to be reduced.” In March 2009, Lebedev said he planned to sue Forbes magazine for reporting that he lost $2.5 billion in the global financial crisis. He said the magazine “must be held responsible for the world financial and economic crisis” for having inflated figures on its billionaire lists. However, by 2011 Russia’s most famous press baron had recovered and was wealthy enough to retire from business and concentrate on his political and media interests and activities.
NEXT ISSUE: Lebedev’s relationship with politicians, his purchase of the London Evening Standard and his London lifestyle.
7
Cargo 200: Alexei Balabanov’s Message About the Soviet Union
OPINION
I
8
CHRISTINE RIEDEL I recently watched the famous Russian director Alexei Balabanov’s 2007 movie Cargo 200. Here I want to explore and uncover the director’s message behind his artistic choice of making a visually, morally and emotionally poignant – if not shockingly grotesque – movie about the mid-1980s in the Soviet Union, a seemingly odd and unusual choice of time period for a modern Russian director. Attention: spoiler alert.
think that Alexei Balabanov deliberately chose to make a film about the final decade of the Soviet Union to send a message to all of those who view the USSR in a positive light and look back with fondness. The director’s intention comes through clearly in Cargo 200 and his goal is to set the record straight – the Soviet Union was an awful place in the 1980s – and he does an excellent job at achieving this effect. “Cargo 200” is Soviet military slang/code name for cargo delivering bodies of dead Soviet soldiers from Afghanistan. The choice of the movie title is significant because the director is underlining the importance of the war as the backdrop for the plot – Soviet citizens had no say in this deadly conflict conducted by the government. Instead, they had to accept Cargo 200s and cope with the tremendous loss of human life and trauma. The plot of the movie is rather straightforward and easy to follow. In addition, instead of complex dialogue Balabanov employs concise exchanges between the characters and heavily relies on symbols, imagery, and music. The movie is allegedly based on a true
story and takes place in late August 1984. At the time the aging Konstantin Chernenko is the General Secretary of the Party, the Soviets are deeply embroiled in the Afghan conflict, the stagnation of Soviet society could not have been more obvious or pervasive. The daughter of the district Communist party committee boss, Angelika, is kidnapped by the deranged Soviet police captain Zhurov who sexually assaults her and keeps her hostage. The tragedy of the situation is simple – there are witnesses so if only one person was willing to act with integrity, Angelika would have been saved and the captain punished. But then again, even that scenario is dubious because the system is broken and corrupt. The movie begins with two adult brothers, Mikhail and Artiom Kazakov, sitting on Mikhail’s balcony eating dry fish, drinking beer and chatting about mundane things. The details revealed in a casual conversation point to the grave problems Soviet society was grappling with in the mid-1980s. Artiom mentions that his son is not interested in school even though he was able to pull some strings and get the kid accepted
№5(05) 30 June - 13 July 2011
about everyday life in the USSR. It is especially effective because it also rings true with those who lived through those times. Here, for example, Lisa, a bright young girl, still needed her uncle’s connections to get accepted because of pervasive corruption. Moreover, people who dealt on the black market were better off than those who worked hard all their lives as educated professionals, like the Kazakov brothers. Balabanov’s assault on everything Soviet is effective not only because he accurately portrays socio-political circumstances during the late Soviet period, but also because he bombards the modern viewer with
the visual images of appalling living conditions and destitution that are no less accurate. Alexei Balabanov’s mastery of showing, for lack of a better word in English, what the Russians call byt (everyday living) in 1984 is superb. Everybody lives in crowded apartments with paint chipping off the walls, gross public bathrooms, and electrical wires hanging loosely. The fictional city of Leninsk reminds the viewer of a post-apocalyptic monstrosity of an industrial town, but also of a typically Soviet place with potholes filled with rainwater, a Soviet-style telephone booth and a post box. There are no good quality cars, TVs, furniture, appliances or even clothes. The radio that is shown in the back of Valery’s car looks like something from 1960s America. Interestingly, Balabanov does not fixate on the general poverty, but rather focuses on the characters and the drama that takes place in the movie. Cargo 200 goes beyond aesthetically unpleasant, it is also upsetting on a moral level.
OPINION
to a university that saved him from being conscripted into the Afghan war. Mikhail, a colonel in the Soviet army, comments about his daughter’s boyfriend Valery: he is not sure what the guy does, but he makes three times as much money as the colonel and has a way nicer car than Artiom. Deeply disturbed Mikhail shares that his military base is about to receive “Cargo 200” with 26 coffins, adding that they are just one provincial town in the vast Soviet Union. Mikhail also thanks Artiom for the groceries saying, “for some reason it has become very hard with that too”. Although short, this opening scene sends a powerful message
Artiom, a staunch atheist, is facing a dilemma of consciousness: he was in Kalaevo on the night of the murder, knows the Vietnamese worker who was shot and could testify to help the police, but he chooses not to because he is worried about his job at the university. Same goes for Valery, who leaves Angelika alone in the car while getting drunk with questionable people. She gets kidnapped and assaulted at night and in the morning he takes off without even looking for her. But the bigger question raised by Balabanov is the impunity with which the authorities conduct their everyday business. Captain Zhurov is a criminal in a position of power because he is in the police. He is the one who killed the Vietnamese, kidnapped, sexually assaulted and kept Angelika prisoner. Thus, the question remains: how is that possible that criminals are not only allowed to walk free but are also in the position of authority? Balabanov’s answer to this question comes through strongly – only in the Soviet Union. In Cargo 200, Alexei Balabanov attempts to refute all of those who look back at the 1980s in the Soviet Union with fondness – they have obviously forgotten what it was really like. His message comes across loud and clear: USSR was a place full of moral degradation, hopelessness and poverty. In retrospect, the viewer knows that as the year 1985 was approaching things were about to change. In a way, despite the general “chernukha” (a film genre depicting the seamy side, often low budget and quality) feeling Cargo 200 does offer a glimmer of hope. It is a message of “we have been there, we lived through this, paid with our lives and let’s not repeat this again”. But before we could get to that point in history we had to sit through a grotesque movie full of deranged psychopathic characters, people without moral integrity, to feel the pain and anguish of the victims. 9
Person
A Modern Book Keeper
Ekaterina PETUKHOVA Leaving everything to start a new life seems to be a common challenge but there are just a few people who really face up to it and overcome such a challenge. One of them is Denis Korneevsky, a young Russian journalist who left his upcoming career in political journalism and moved from Moscow back to his native city of Perm to start his business with the main passion of his life – books.
Denis Korneevsky and Mikhail Maltsev, founders of “Piotrowskiy” bookstore
Currently Denis is the owner of the bookshop “Piotrowskiy” which is a cutting-edge cultural experience even for large cities such as Moscow and St. Petersburg. Being ready for a new call-up he organized the first Book Fair in Perm which was written up as a lucrative destination for booklovers from all over Russia. This event had positive traits for the image of Perm which started being a new modern cultural capital several years ago. We met Denis in order to find out how he feels about being part of the cultural revolution in this provincial city.
all book events take place in Moscow or St. Petersburg. Until now, the only city that does not fit this profile was Krasnoyarsk - the largest city in Siberia. That is it! Of course, the above mentioned cities are big, but it does not mean that Russia has no other place for intellectuals. My friends and I live in Perm, and we care about this approach. We came up with the idea of organizing a special event in Perm which brings together philosophers, writers, literary critics and writers - all those who make up the humanitarian agenda today.
DK: In Russia, despite the huge amount of large cities, almost
DK: It is a very difficult task to invite guests to a debut event, because everyone values their
What is specific about the Book Fair in Perm and whose idea it was?
10
Which writers visited the Perm Book Fair?
reputation. We had several rounds of negotiations with each guest, explaining our desire to see them at the Perm Book Fair. However, those whom we relied on agreed to
Person
participate immediately. We are very proud that our special guest was Russian writer Vladimir Sorokin, as he is one of the most important figures in contemporary Russian literature. Also, we had the pleasure in welcoming other writers such as Viktor Erofeev, Zakhar Prilepin, Andrew Astvatsaturov, Alexander Bikbov, Boris Kagarlitsky, and many others.
You have your own bookstore and it differs from other Russian stores. What is unique about it?
DK: A year and a half ago my friends and I organized a bookstore. Today it is very difficult to run a fully-fledged business. Probably, it is our hobby that gives us a small profit. In modern Russia, books are not in great demand. The audience that likes reading is extremely small. However, we hope in the near future that the situation will change and books will attract more attention.
Why did you leave a career in political journalism?
DK: For almost 10 years I worked as a journalist, reporter and editor. I went from Perm to Moscow and spent several years in political journalism. One day I realized that this career was not for me. Then I met Mikhail Maltsev (at that time the co-owner of “Piotrowskiy” bookstore) and his suggestion for the future was to open a bookstore.
There is an opinion that Russians read a lot. Is this true? What do people read in Russia?
Denis Korneevsky №5(05) 30 June - 13 July 2011
DK: Several decades ago, Russians believed that books are the key to the world of knowledge. Today, reading is perceived by many as a useless exercise. Most people think that the Internet is more versatile. Therefore, more and more people read a book not as stimulation for the brain, but as a form of entertainment. That is why Pulp Fiction and Books-by-
night are in high demand. However, our audience which is unfortunately a minority still consider the power of books.
What is the destiny of books in Russia?
DK: I think all talk about the imminent disappearance of paper books is rather exaggerated. Despite the overwhelming growth of technological advances, a lot of people still remain loyal to the old ways of getting information. Will you read fairy tales to your child on the Amazon Kindle? What do you like more, touching the paper or inanimate plastic? This is the same thing as comparing a Big Mac and a Coke with a proper dinner and a glass of wine. I am sure that the book industry not only in Russia, but in the whole world has a bright future. And it is in our hands.
However, if we are talking about those who represent, in my opinion, the true value for Russian literature, I would say that this is quite a small circle of writers among them are Vladimir Sorokin, Maxim Gorky, Andrei Rodionov, Daniel Harms, TomMcCarthy, Arto Paasilinna, José Saramago.
What do the words "Russian mind" mean to you?
DK: Russian mind is the same as 30 years ago: balalaika, matryoshka and bears. Plus the iPhone and Twitter!
Which writers are interesting for you at the moment?
DK: While working in the book industry I have been introduced to different authors.
With Perm writer Alexey Cherepanov
Culture
Perm Is Changing Perm is changing – you change too. We are the cultural capital
Ivan KOLPAKOV No matter how hard I try, there are special Permian events that I do not understand. Or it is better to say even I, because I’ve been living here for 27 years, cannot comprehend, even though I know the city well enough.
12
F
or example, in the spring 2011, one local advertising agency adorned the whole of Perm with dozens of banners which declared the social advertisement: “Perm is changing – you change too. We are a cultural capital”. It is clear that the campaign had been authorized either by the mayor’s office, or regional government, it doesn’t really matter. The shields are interesting themselves. For instance, on one of them, we can see depicted a schematic man who is squatting on the ground, the stream is double-crossed, meaning that defecation is prohibited. The authors did not stand for a total ban on the stool (though such thoughts come to mind when you see this banner, as well you may think that Permyaks would probably burst – ridiculous!). According to this banner, it can be assumed that the locals crap more than any other Russians or experience a craving to defecate on the street. Seemly not, actually no more than others. They do piss, of course, right on the city streets, anything can happen, but this phenomenon is not of the mass character.
On the other hand, if you take a proper look on the subject, it should be admitted that the authors depicted not such a mindless advert. Last year, Russian artist Alexander Bro dsky created specifically for Perm an artobject called “Rotonda” (rotunda). This is a round building with a flat roof, knocked together from old wooden doors from the River Station (nowadays the River Station has been replaced with the Museum of Contemporary Art called “PERMM”). Blogger Legart was indignant in his diary, and even found a right thinking witness: “I do not know what it is, but it would be better if it was a toilet, because in our city Perm we have no toilets!” That is Permyaks’ simple point of view on the contemporary art object Another public service advertising in Perm
“Rotonda” by Alexander Brodsky
which I recorded last night. Generally, I am a quite peaceful man, but I think I would not mourn if the Rotonda (or arbor) made from old doors, one night were to simply burn down, so won’t be under someone else’s identity to conquer Europe and “won’t be a part of the Perm urban space”. As for the regional administration, they should allocate money to build comfortable public toilets near this place. The project which aims to develop cultural space is unlikely to succeed in a place where everything is pissed on” – Legart wrote in his blog. Further evidence continues. Recently, the local newspaper “Business Class” published an indignant letter from a Perm citizen, who criticized the local Ministry of Culture. Here is how the letter ends: “And those people, who come from the provinces, having spent three hours shivering on the road to reach №5(05) 30 June - 13 July 2011
the regional capital, must stand still in amazement seeing the sight of a red cutoff above the Philharmonic roof (referring to the project “Red people” of art group “Professors”). So it’s not like that! He is looking somewhere for a place to urinate – incivility! But for him, for hillbilly, everywhere are the posters, with the crossed out life - which appeal that “you can not!” How is it possible to become a cultural European capital with such people around?” The general summary of arguments from opponents who support the new Perm cultural policy is right here. First, why the hell do you spend money on imported art and the activity of “Vikings” (invited artists) when local artistic genius is totally ignored? Second, it would be better if you built public toilets instead of the ugly art objects. Third, the “simple Permyak” would burn all your bawdry anyway, or would break it and crap. And
in his primitive impulse he would be absolutely right. For the last two years, all regional journalists debated on only two themes: the destruction and toilets. This humanitarian phenom enon requires some thinking, but my intellectual capacity is not enough. There is something abnormal and archaic in this pathological Permian craving for urine. Like some prehistoric terror, it looks like a failure to understand themselves, their nature. Or it is an unwillingness to deal with their own passions? In June of 2011 Perm has been hit by unprecedented hurricanes: the storm sewers have not coped with the water and streams of dirty muddy liquid flooded the streets. So, it seems that the tacky horror of the average local thinker has materialized and we are drowning, guys. Perm is changing, but we cannot act differently. 13
NATIONAL COMPARISONS: USA, UK, RUSSIA 14
The People
Foreign Languages
Anatoly KARLIN The second part of my series comparing Russia, Britain and the US focuses on the people themselves. What foreign languages do they speak? What is their level of intelligence? Where do they travel? And finally, which of them party from dusk till down?
Unlike the more urbane central Europeans, all three countries perform pretty miserably on foreign language knowledge. Perhaps 20% of Americans (excluding Hispaniacs) can speak Spanish fluently, though this is probably a California bias and lower in the eastern states. Knowledge of other languages is rare, excluding
immigrant communities. A similar proportion of Britons can speak French fluently; the vast majority can only dredge up a few phrases that they learned back in secondary school. The situation in Russia is a bit more complicated. The older generations, that is until 1970, mainly studied German at school. Needless to say, the vast majority did not reach
â„–5(05) 30 June - 13 July 2011
American, the cultured Englishman, the uncultured Russian savage, etc., they are fairly useless. Differences between personalities far exceed any national differences. For what they’re worth, international IQ tests peg the US, the UK and Russia at around 95-100; lower than East Asian countries like Japan or Korea (105), but average for industrialized countries. All three countries have an anti-intellectual climate. In British schools, especially amongst males, not giving a fuck about schoolwork confers coolness. In the US, “nerds” and “geeks” are ostracized, since associating with them threatens one’s social status. From what I heard, things are largely similar in Russian schools.
Travel & Tourism
proficiency. After 1970, the emphasis switched to English, but again, for the vast majority of Soviet citizens – those who did not intend to become trade delegates, diplomats, spies, academics, etc. – fluency was not required, so amongst the middle-aged, perhaps 20% or fewer can competently communicate in English. From the 1990's, it became clear that English is indispensable to success in the modern global marketplace. I would say that amongst young Russians, an adequate level of English knowledge is approaching 50% (though this is still far below the near universal English knowledge amongst young Germans or Swedes). Knowledge of languages other than English is minimal.
Intelligence While there exists stereotypes of the ignorant №5(05) 30 June - 13 July 2011
Many middle-class Americans travel to places like Mexico, Australia, Canada, the UK, France, Italy, or other places in the US on holidays. In winter, ski resorts in the Rockies are popular; in summer, the US has a rich variety of stunning national parks to choose from (e.g. Yellowstone, Grand Canyon, Everglades, etc). Among Californians, favourite getaway destinations include Yosemite National Park (it of the giant sequoia trees), the ski resorts of Lake Tahoe, the casinos of Reno and Las Vegas, and the beaches south of Santa Barbara (which offer great surfing). Americans can freely visit the border Mexican city of Tijuana, either individually or, as recommended, in tour groups (in the guardhouse on the border, there are photos of the hundreds of Americans who went into Mexico and never came back). Needless to say, Mexicans aren’t accorded similar privileges.
If going abroad for the sun, Russians tend to visit Turkey, Egypt, the Crimean peninsula or Odessa in Ukraine, or their own resorts at Sochi and Krasnodar. The latter also include ski resorts; they were once primitive, but are now being rapidly developed in time for the upcoming Sochi Olympics. Many Russian residents of the Far East hop across the Chinese border to do shopping. However, most Russians stay at home, or go to their dachas (country houses), where they do some of the following: harvest their fruit and vegetable gardens; swim in Russia’s myriad lakes and rivers; mow the grass; make barbecues (shashlyk) and drink beer; etc. I would estimate around half of Muscovites have a dacha outside the city. For the British, popular destinations include: the beaches of Spain, France, Majorca; cities with cheap booze like Prague or Budapest; or further afield, the US and Australia. The most popular emigration destinations are Australia, the US, Canada, Spain and New Zealand. Hundreds of thousands of Britons maintain holiday homes in Spain and Portugal. All three countries’ tourists have very poor reputations. American parties tend to be wilder than British
Americans are regarded as arrogant, ignorant, loud, demanding, and culturally insensitive. Britons are infamous for trashing places during alcohol-fueled parties; in particular, their football hooligans are the stuff of legend throughout civilized Europe. Russians are considered rude, pennypinching gluttons and drunks (where Russian clienteles predominate, hoteliers and restaurateurs have learned to avoid open-ended “All you can eat” deals, because Russians exploit them for all they’re worth and they end up losing money on them).
Parties & Night Life British and US parties involve a lot of beer, and hard spirits with mixers. The American parties tend to be wilder and have more drugs. Russian parties just have a lot of beer and vodka. American night clubs tend to have older clienteles, because of the higher drinking age and strict checks. Especially compared to the university towns, American nightlife is far more subdued. Hip Russian nightclubs and American frats practice “face control”. You may not get in if you are (1) a male without 2+ girls or (2) a non-pretty girl.
NATIONAL COMPARISONS: USA, UK, RUSSIA
One Turkish resort even built a replica Red Square for Russian tourists
Photo Blog
Soviet Nostalgia Public transport
Sayano-Shushenskaya Hydroelectric Power Station construction Peasant woman
“Deficit”
Olympic gymnast Natalia Kuchinskaya
16
№5(05) 30 June - 13 July 2011
Cellist Mstislav Rostropovich with conductor Kirill Kondrashin Youth, 1980s
TV-show "Good Night, Little Ones"
Peace, Work, May
Soviet car ZAZ-965
Moscow Olympic Games, 1980
“Deficit”
Pioneers
17
Russia in Detail Daria ALYUKOVA
Divnogor’e Divnogor’e is a national park in Voronezh region. It is an area of fairy-tale chalk mountains, cave churches and scenic beauty. In the eye of a geologist, the park is an exposed chalk deposit. The upper layer includes 15-20% of it, while it is followed by 80m of pure chalk. The name Divnogor’e derives from the word “divo” meaning “wonder”.
Manpupuner Rock Formations The rock pillars in Manpupuner plateau, aka the Seven Strong Men Rock Formations, are a treasure of the Komi Republic. These monoliths are around 30 to 42 meters high and jut out of a hilly plateau formed through the weathering effects of ice and winds. According to a local legend, the stone pillars were once an entourage of giants walking through the mountains to Siberia in order to destroy the Vogulsky people. However, upon seeing the holy Vogulsky Mountains, the shaman of the giants dropped his drum and the entire team froze into stone pillars. One of the pillars resembles a man with a raised hand. Deemed one of the Seven Wonders of Russia, the Manpupuner rock formations are a very popular attraction in Russia, though not well-known on an international level and relatively unspoiled by tourism. Their height and abnormal shapes supposedly make the top of these rock giants inaccessible even to experienced rock-climbers. It used to be a sacred place for local people.
Camel Mountain The mountain located in Orenburg region is a 20m high quartzite skerry. The Camel is one of the most unusual natural monuments. As one of the legends has it, the camel once came from the desert to match strength against the Urals, but froze in fear when he arrived.
Precious Stones Stone Mushrooms The natural boundary Akkurum also known as Stone Mushrooms is situated in the Karasu river valley in the Northern East part of Altai, Siberia. These unique natural forms were formed by heterogeneous hard rock corrosion. A block of a hard rock served as an original umbrella for its base. The softer rock around the base was eroded by rain and snow and the "scape" was growing, growing. The process lasted for centuries. Unfortunately, the Mushrooms tend to tumble. The recent earthquake in Altai Mountains in 2003 caused several mushroom caps to fall down. Our grandsons might not be able to see them, archeologists say.
Lena Pillars Lena Pillars is the name given to a natural rock formation along the banks of the Lena River in far eastern Siberia. This unique ecological and tourism location was submitted as a World Heritage site in 2006. Lena Pillars National Park lies less than a day's boat ride upriver (south) from the city of Yakutsk, the autonomous capital of the Sakha Republic. Apart from stunning vertical rocks, one can be tempted to visit the area to see numerous petroglyphic drawings made with yellow mineral paint – semiabstract animals, fragments of Old Turkic runic characters, everyday scenes involving humans.
Cape Stolbchaty The cape is a part of Kunashir – the southernmost one of the Kuril Islands. “Stolbchatyi” means columnar, as the cape is formed by basaltic jointing. Erupted volcanic minerals took shapes of tetragonal, pentagonal, hexagonal columns. The coastal platform polished by waves looks like a causeway.
№5(05) 30 June - 13 July 2011
19
Comments
The Russian Davos T
Mentioning Churchill’s famous Russia is a riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma has become a sine qua non for any discussion of foreign investment in Russia. However, we picked up a few more quotations that have expanded on securing global growth, building Russia’s creative capital and expanding technological horizons. These three topics were the focal points of the recent St. Petersburg International Economic Forum that took place on 16-18 June.
he forum held in St. Petersburg every June since 1997 is the main annual economic summit of Russia and the CIS states. It is conducted in the form of plenary sessions, roundtables, exhibitions, presentations of investment projects, business meetings and negotiations. In which presidents, the heads of governments and parliaments of different countries; the heads and representatives of international organizations; as well as businessmen, experts, scholars and public figures all participate.
"There are signs that some countries have learned lessons from the crisis and I believe Russia is one of the best examples", Yaroslav Lissovolik, Member of the Management Board, Chief Economist, Head of Research Department, Deutsche Bank Ltd
of Economy and Finance, Government of the Kingdom of Spain "Over the next decade emerging countries will take market share from each other. India and China are pricetakers from international trade, while Russia and Brazil are price-givers", Peter Mandelson, Chairman, Global Counsel; Senior Adviser, Lazard Ltd; Member of the House of Lords, European Commissioner for Trade (2004-2008)
"The middle class has almost tripled in the last five years in Russia", Kirill Dmitriev, General Director, Russian Direct Investment Fund "Whether you have a strong economy or a weak economy, you have a democracy or not such a good democracy the fact of the matter is that internet makes everything better", Eric Schmidt, Executive Chairman, Google
"I personally, and my company, believe that Skolkovo is a project that’s absolutely needed both in Russia and globally and I 20
believe this project will be implemented", Sergey Kravchenko, President of Boeing-Russia/CIS
"The aim of creating an International Finance Centre in Moscow is to ensure the flow of capital into Russia and the countries of the Eurasian Economic Community", Igor Shuvalov, First Deputy Prime Minister of the Russian Federation "The crisis is not only economic or political, it is also a crisis of mindsets, and this is a big risk", Elena Salgado, Vice President and Minister
"Germany is a developed BRIC", Jim O’Neill, Chairman, Goldman Sachs Asset Management "Integration is not an end in itself. Each participant in the integration process aspires to obtain benefits and advantages. The obvious benefits of the CIS are sales markets for members, replenishment of scarce resources, the use of common transport infrastructure and the preservation and development of cooperative ties", Andrei Spartak, Director of the Russian Market Research Institute №5(05) 30 June - 13 July 2011
Comments “Brands are increasingly looking throughout the world at franchising. Why? Because it is a much safer investment for people who are doing their own business”, Mark Hilton, Vice President International, Sbarro International
"Education is changing and it’s becoming an industry of superstars", Sergei Guriev, Rector, New Economic School "I think it is very important that we [in Russia] preserve our academic traditions in the field of aircraft construction, based on industry-specific institutes doing fundamental research", Mikhail Pogosyan, President, United Aircraft Corporation JSC “In fact, gas production is at exactly the level it would have been if the financial crisis had never happened”, Laszlo Varro, Vice President for Strategy Development of MOL Plc., International Energy Agency
"The date of Russia’s entry into the WTO is 2011. Full stop", Anatoly Chubais, CEO, Russian Corporation for Nanotechnologies №5(05) 30 June - 13 July 2011
"The Russian Federation has made great strides on the issue of attracting foreign workers, and we hope that this policy will continue to evolve in the future", Frank Schauff, CEO, Association of European Businesses in the Russian Federation
On training young Russian professionals at the world’s leading universities: "We have the example of the very person who built St. Petersburg. Peter the Great went abroad, studied, came back and built a wonderful city", Igor Butman, Saxophone virtuoso, Jazzbandleader "In a few years’ time, we want to produce 50% of what we sell here in Russia itself. At the same time, the quality will be the same as in other countries", Gabor Kapus, Financial director, Schneider Electric
"For the past 300 years, St Petersburg symbolised Russia’s determination to look towards the West …but with economic growth rates in Asia much higher than in Europe, looking East is suddenly more attractive", Nik Gowing, Main Presenter, BBC World News "We need to capture the imagination of our young people again. We need to be able to establish the kind of vision that was present in many different contexts at very different points in the lives of our countries. We need more young people engaged in science. We need more science", John J. DeGioia, President, Georgetown University
"The need for all of us individually – and
countrywide as well – is to separate the noise from the important notes of information. It takes leadership to focus people on what is important and it takes leadership to ensure that the difficult decisions and solutions have been taken", Maria Bartiromo, Anchor, CNBC's Closing Bell; Host and Managing Editor, Wall Street Journal Report
"In Silicon Valley, when you fail, you still get your badge of courage. In Russia, when you fail, it’s always something you can never accomplish. Anybody who isn’t willing to take risks and realise that you can fail isn’t going to get ahead in life", John Chambers, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, CISCO Systems Inc. "We do not only want the fund to be a vehicle to co-invest, but we want it to be a vehicle to show that Russia is indeed a very good and attractive destination for investments. If we cannot make this transparent, easily understood and very-very clean, it won’t work", Kirill Dmitriev, General Director, Russian Direct Investment Fund 21
Business Lunch
Empowering Employees drives them to succeed? If possible, select people you want to work with. Make sure members of the team are leaders, creators; initiators etc‌get the right mixture. Share common goals and vision with your team. People have to know where they are headed and how it can be done using a collective effort. Make sure goals are clear, measurable, achievable, realistic and time-based. Give more responsibility to your employees, not just more workload. Challenge employees who want to shine and delegate responsibility accordingly. Employees are always looking out for opportunities to show off their talents and capabilities at work. Hold regular meetings and be honest about everything happening in the company. Encourage your team to come up with ideas to overcome challenges. You will be surprised with the options these meetings will create as well as increasing job satisfaction. Do not control every single task your people do. Every member of a team has their own work style, pace and skills. Give them more control over what they do. Appreciate their uniqueness and let them grow. Believe in your people, because the majority want to succeed. Applaud your people. It is a form of recognition. Give genuine thanks to people in front of the other team members, before, during and after work, during meetings, basically, whenever. Boost your people’s self-esteem.
3
Tatiana IRODOVA Managing people at work is about motivation, productivity, accomplishment, contribution and empowerment. Empowering employees improves job satisfaction and positively affects business growth. Effective managers never give away responsibility and authority completely; they allow their employees to grow and feel important. Do not allow your best assets to walk out the door.
1
Create a positive work environment. You are a role model. Be happy and energetic at work. It is all about your attitude. Your employees will feel that you are motivated to work and will definitely follow your lead. Know your team. Who are these people? What are their expectations and professional goals? What motivates and
2 22
4
5
6
7
Make it a habit to give constructive feedback and show appreciation for a job well done. Let your team know that you fully trust them. Give employees the right amount of authority and responsibility. However, they should understand the project, why they are doing the tasks and when it is time to report back on progress. It will concentrate their energy on taking actions and completing tasks rather than worrying. Provide constructive feedback on a regular basis. Reward your people and show recognition of hard work. Let your people know where they stand. It will allow them to continuously develop their skills. Do not blame a specific team member for failure. Acknowledge that failure is part of the process. If it is team work, everyone is to blame equally. As a leader you have
8
9
10
to discuss together what went wrong and how it can be fixed. Create worthy job titles. For you it will not cost anything. For your team members it will mean everything, as well as boosting confidence and acknowledging importance. Have your staff come up with a job title they would not be embarrassed to share during networking events. Invest in your people. There can never be enough training. It is an ongoing process. Regular training sessions can be conducted by skilled people in your organisation. Give training to your team members who are missing the required skills. Introduce performance based incentives. Push your employees beyond the boundaries of a salary and let them take an extra step to earn bonuses. Reward them fairly and they will reward you back.
11
12
13
www.lifeskillsemporium.com â„–5(05) 30 June - 13 July 2011
RussianMind
annual subscription
ÂŁ49
Subscribe to Russian Mind magazine now and get a complementary book by our Head of Editorial Board Mark Hollingsworth 3 WAYS TO SUBSCRIBE: Fill in the form online www.RussianMind.com Fill in the coupon and send to International Publishing Group Limited UNITED KINGDOM 40 Langham Street London W1W 7AS Tel.: +44 (0) 207 637 1374 Email: info@russianmind.com
Postal Address_ _______________________________________ _____________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________
Call us on 0207 637 1374 or email: info@russianmind.com METHODS OF PAYMENTS Cheque: cheque should be written out on the name of International Publishing Group Ltd (in UK). Bank transfer: International Publishing Group Limited
Name, surname________________________________________
HSBC Bank, 18A Curzon Street, Mayfair, London W1J 7LA Sort Code: 40-05-22 Account no.: 61391968 IBAN: GB22 MIDL 400522 Date, signature
Phone, email__________________________________________ Subscribe to Russian Mind magazine now and get a complementary book by our Head of Editorial Board Mark Hollingsworth.
www.RussianMind.com
Düsseldorf
Weekend in Deutschland
B
efore talking about the four cites I would like to take note of the amazing, on the verge of frightening, organisation of the country. It is extraordinarily clean, people are incredibly nice, most of them try to speak English, everyone is very helpful, and most importantly they drive like they Bonn
24
are competing, all of them. We were driving 150km/h and were still in the slowest lane being passed by everyone as if the car was stationary.
Koln
Düsseldorf
Düsseldorf became the first city Alophie* and me visited on our German weekend tour. We got very lucky and had the chance to witness a parade. We saw men walking down the streets wearing different attires carrying flags, marching bands and knights on horses. Düsseldorf is small, one day was enough to see most of the city, without, of course, spending time in museums and looking at cathedrals and churches from within. There are a lot of statues, fountains and the Rhine with the magical boats rides that go down through Koln and Bonn.
Along the river, the promenade, houses many authentic cafes and restaurants, one can also take a boat to go to Koln and Bonn as all three are very closely situated.
Koln
It became city number two and the place we stayed
overnight. Koln is a bigger city, with a university, many tourists and people in general. We went on a tourist excursion, a little disappointed by the fact that the tour terminated with a 360 turn by the central station. Not giving up on finding out more, we went back to the hotel to get ready to №5(05) 30 June - 13 July 2011
Traveller’s Diary Germany is a wonderful country. So many things are right. Everything is clean, ethical, nice, organised, and there are many more superlatives to describe Germany. We went for a weekend, visiting the closest cities to Belgium. The four cities in two days turned out to be Dusseldorf, Koln, Bonn and Monschau. All very different, yet very similar.
Ecaterina KILIAN
Monschau
not before wondering around the deserted streets of Bonn in search of something, anything to do. This is a city where I would like to return at some point, but not on a Sunday. The feelings you get when walking around are majestic. Bonn was once the capital of Germany and that feeling of tradition is still present.
Monschau
paint the town red in the evening. Walking around the little streets of the old city, we sat down at a typical German restaurant ordered some sausages and beer. This is where the fun began. The politeness with no limits comes off when the students are under the influence of alcohol. I have been to a few places during my life, yet this was something else. They become obnoxious, loud, dirty and disgusting. In about an hour and a half the whole ground of the old city was covered in an even layer of broken glass, young people walking around almost naked and yelling, the amount of noise Strudel
№5(05) 30 June - 13 July 2011
that night was abysmal. Scared we went back to our hotel room to wake up and leave as early as possible the next day.
Bonn
Day number two, city number three was Beethoven's birth place Bonn. Size-wise it is somewhere between Koln and Dusseldorf. It has a very aristocratic feel. Unfortunately we arrived on a Sunday, a dead day in Germany. We were lucky enough to find a Starbucks open and Beethoven’s museum was open too, that is where the whole tourist population of Bonn was that day. The museum is indeed very interesting, as one could read a lot about Beethoven’s childhood, find out a lot about different instruments and most importantly see original, authentic, written music by Ludwig himself. As mentioned above the only place open was Starbucks so we went for a coffee and went back to the car,
Calling it a town is a lie. It is a fairytale. The first time I went there I was nine. It was during winter, the town looked like it came straight out of Hansel and Gretel, there was snow everywhere, lights decorations, smiles and half timbered houses. Nothing has changed in the last 300 years. This time we arrived in summer, mid July. It was still out of a book. Monschau is tiny, it has one main street which goes from the parking area to the glass factory/market which is situated a ten minute walk away and the end of the town. Its location is rather interesting, Rhine
between two hills, on top of the hills in the castle of Monschau, a rather intimidating structure for such a small place. We witnessed a glass blowing session and wandered around the market, where we found the most exquisite glass creations. Monschau is beautiful in any season and on any day. Travelling along the Rhine offers an endless amount of beauty, from landscapes to castles. Travelling through Germany is a great place for shopping, the amount of shops is indescribable. Meat lovers will find their paradise, not steak wise, but I never knew that meat could be cooked and done it so many different ways, I am not a fan of the onion abuse, nor the amounts of beer drunk. But that’s me and I look for different things when travelling. Next up will be going through south east Germany, the castles and Berlin. Tschüss *
names are changed
Art
“Khimki-Life” Xanthi SKOULARIK
V
ilma Gold gallery opened an exhibition of two Russian contemporary artists, Vladimir Dubossarsky and Alexander Vinogradov. Dubossarsky (born Moscow, 1964) and Alexander Vinogradov (born Moscow, 1963) live in Moscow where they have collaborated since 1994. In 2011 they have had a solo show at the Triumph Gallery, Moscow and in 2010 at Paperworks Gallery, Moscow and at Gallery Charlotte Moser, Geneva. In 2009 they represented Russia at the 53 Venice Biennale with their installation ‘Danger! Museum’. In 2011 they will be included in From Russia with Love, Palazzo Panichi e Museo Virtuale piazza Duomo, Pietrasanta, Lucca and Inspiration Dior at The Pushkin State Museum of Fine Art, Moscow. In 2010 they were included in Contrepoint, L’art Contemporain Russe – De L’icône à L’avant-garde en Passant par le Musée Louvre, Paris and in 2009 From A Study to An Art-Object Moscow Museum of Modern Art and in Art 21 RUSSIA at the PinchukArtCentre, Kiev. The current exhibition in London is titled “Khimki-Life” (Khimki is a small provincial town in the suburbs of Moscow). The result of the collaboration of the two artists is a ‘manifesto’ on their creative approach and filters: “an Artist must be simple minded / an Artist should not be otherwise: In general an artist should be simple-minded in order not to make anything up but to let the air flow go through him. 26
Two works from the “Khimki-Life” exhibition by Dubossarsky and Vinogradov, on view at Vilma Gold Gallery
So it seemed quite natural for us that in the 1990s we worked with the Soviet age aesthetics, in the 2000s switched to glamour, magazines, models, fitness now a new theme seems to be emerging. However, in the 1980s each of us did something similar to what we are doing now. You can find the prototype of “Khimky - Life” in our recent works. They used to be a part of something and now they are the main flow. You can say that they are the ideas from the old baggage arranged anew. We walk along the streets and take pictures. There are days when we take 2,000-30,000 photographs. As a result we have the whole world on our computer from which we can choose the stories we like
best. Some pictures are used for graphics, others - for an oil painting and the third lot for a watercolour. We almost give up editing pictures, so our work is very similar to photography. We are against such terms as “new sincerity” or “new realism”. All we want to do is to take a contemporary life image and then portray it. We are making the whole picture from pieces of mosaic. There are cheerful, sad and rainy works. The girls are talking about something, the men are standing near a car, the veterans sit on a bench drinking, a woman stands thinking, waiting for someone… Speaking about prototypes, the works resemble Pimenov in something or Daineka or Faibisovich. We can
recite a hundred other names because we don’t really have any references to them. It is still not easy for us to express something definitively. We have launched a new flow, sometimes we lead it, sometimes it leads us.” Till 10 July at the Vilma Gold, 6 Minerva Street, London E2 9EH www.vilmagold.com №5(05) 30 June - 13 July 2011
Blog
How To Survive Living In London Richard BLOSS Is Partner at the Professional Forum PR and press agency. His articles regularly appear in the international media, and his current book is available in the Sony and Apple iBook stores. So. You've decided to live in London. And it's true: there are indeed worse places to live. It's just that, if you have to get up at 6.00 every morning just to get the bus and then the train and then the tube - just to get to work: then maybe it's not such a great place after all. Or maybe London is like Democracy. It's the worst of all places - apart from all the others. I'm not too sure I know much about democracy. I'm not too sure anybody is actually listening. I mean, yes, if I can summon up enough motivation, I suppose my vote does make a difference, but it's a bit like my membership of Chelsea football club, whether I renew my membership or not will not really carry much influence as to whether Drogba stays. So this whole business of freedom of expression, having an "opinion", which is actually the bedrock of London and England etc.. maybe we are all very naive over here. Or maybe it's just me. I stopped living in London about twenty years ago. It's not that I woke up one morning with a master plan for reengineering my life and live somewhere else, - as perhaps you may have done if you are Russian and here you are in the UK. My renaissance was a little bit №5(05) 30 June - 13 July 2011
more abrupt, along the lines of my Boss at the time, thanking me for dropping by...it was 10.30 after all. Those were the days before it was cool to be relaxed about IT, and before "informal Fridays", which frankly have only substituted one uniform for another, but hey, this is modern London, right? - and in those times, a Boss actually had the right to fire you. So. Life is different now. The problem now, alas, is that we as English people, have forgotten to put any new rules in place. What is worse, no English person can actually afford to live in London, so you get the strange situation where on a casual walk down that Mecca of shopping, Oxford Street - you will meet no English speaking people whatsoever. It reminds me of my last time in New York when the taxi driver only spoke to me in Spanish. Bearing in mind that in a recent survey, about one in five English people cannot actually write prose in their native language - there is actually no chance of ever finding someone who will speak to you in your own language unless you pop into the Louis Vuitton store, where everybody speaks either Russian or Japanese - and it's probably you who are reading this article there anyway! Which brings me to the point of this article, and where we started: if we in England have lost our identity - then why on earth would you want to be here in the first place? And why do I, who lives four hours away on the Atlantic - always have my business meetings in London. Why not say Bristol? Or somewhere else? I have no absolute answers to any of this, but I do have a roadmap that will help guide you: There is no such thing as English. We speak SMS. It's really gr8. So.if you've come to London looking for culture and eloquence of expression... Hhmmm. We absolutely welcome you guys to be part of us - as long as you don't
• •
beat us at football. There are limits, after all, come on... You are free to buy our expensive houses. Remember, the Council Tax you pay, is really contributing to our kids education, and we could not afford to do it ourselves, so, let me, on behalf of all of the rest of us - thank you very much. You will certainly feel at home in any of the restaurants and jazz clubs. At my favourite, Ronnie Scotts, the girls come from Vilnius and they offered to give me Russian lessons. And I offered to teach them English... Never give a "tip" at a restaurant. You will find that, as a courtesy, the restaurant owners have added an extra 12.5% to your bill, for "Le clientele". As they say in France..laisse-tomber. You can actually talk to our policemen. Most of them have degrees. It's not that we go out of our way to have intelligent policemen, it's just that we have the highest rate of unemployed graduates in western
• • • •
Europe, and these guys have to get a job somewhere, after all. You can talk to our policemen, if you can actually find one. I don't mean to be disparaging, but the chances of finding the guy who stole your Rolex are frankly very small. Sometimes in life you have to be focussed, on bigger things, such as terrorism. We drive on the left. Well, we would, if we could get finance to pay for the loan to cover our car park charges while we have lunch. Leave the car at home. Yes, you can talk about politics, and religion. Only 20% of the population voted for our present government, and less than 10% actually go to church, so nobody will have any idea what you're talking about. Disregard this article. Perhaps this is the secret of London after all. It's simply a cool place where people arrive. Please excuse me, my Eurostar is just getting in to St Pancras. They have a champagne bar up on the mezzanine, and it would be entirely wrong not to stop by.
• • • •
27
Street Chic
Great British Summer
Amelia McClelland, 19, student, Disco pants, 50’s Band jacket, Karen Millen handbag
Joanna Mayor, 19, student, shoes Vans, Trousers Pimkie, t-shirt Abercrombie
Olga, 33, veterinary nurse, Zara top, Tod’s bag, Primark shoes
28
Coppelia, ageless jacket Damo, dress Versace
Lynsay, 19, student, top Urban Outfitters, scarf H&M, shoes New Look, jacket and bag Vintage
№5(05) 30 June - 13 July 2011
Photographer: Anton Phatianov www.onanton.co.uk
Martin, 20, student, vintage coat, t-shirt COS, trousers Zara Sophie Merreu, 16, student, top and bag Vintage, jeans Topshop
Dex, 27, student, shirt and jacket Primark, shoes McQueen, pants bought on Ebay Namha Sekhgi, 24, student, bag Chanel, shoes Gucci, top and short H&M
â„–5(05) 30 June - 13 July 2011
Ivy Van Dervorst, sound designer and singer, jumpsuit Rage
29
Event Guide
Friend or Rival? Franz Liszt Conversational Concerts “The Dualities of Liszt” with Karl Lutchmayer Sun 3 July 2011 – 11.00am Even in his own lifetime both friends and critics debated the apparent dualities of Liszt’s work – artist or showman, saint or sinner, prophet or charlatan, friend or rival – and two hundred years after his birth arguments still continue. Conversational concerts invite you to join the debate, as Karl Lutchmayer plays and talks us through the arguments in an exciting series of three events. Mixing the well-known with a generous helping of Lisztian rarities almost never heard in concert, this promises to be a fascinating journey of discovery – not least for Karl himself! Karl Lutchmayer enjoys an international career as both a pianist and lecturer. He studied at the Royal College of Music where he won numerous prizes and scholarships, and later held the prestigious Constant & Kit Lambert Fellowship awarded by the Worshipful Company of Musicians – the first time in its history that it was awarded to an instrumentalist. Karl has given recitals and concertos throughout the world, working with conductors including Lorin Maazel and Sir Andrew Davis, and performed at all the major London concert halls. He has broadcast on BBC Radio3 and Classic FM, and his regular recital series at the Warehouse has been received with critical acclaim. A regular chamber performer, particularly with his own ensemble, Dialogos, he is also a passionate advocate of contemporary music, and has given numerous premieres and had many works written for him. His research interests include the piano music and pianism of Busoni, The Creative Transcription Network and the history of piano recital programming. He has recently returned from a guest professorship in Ithaca, New York, and is currently professor of performing practice at Trinity College of Music. He is also a regular guest lecturer at the Manhattan and Julliard Schools in New York, and at the Wigmore Hall, London, and writes a weekly column for Time Out magazine.
Ticket price includes a glass of wine. Tickets: £15, conc. £12 (students and OAPs), free for Friends of Pushkin House 30
Is it Worth Doing Business in Russia? Talk by Stephen Dalziel Mon 4 July 2011 – 7.00pm Language: In English with Russian subtitles The idea of doing business in Russia is regarded by some with horror; others see it as a challenge; the majority of those doing it say what a great place Russia is to do business! It’s certainly a different business climate in 2011, compared to the 1990’s, when Russian business earned the nickname of the ‘Wild East’. But with the recession still being felt in many areas and the uncertainty caused by parliamentary and presidential elections within the next 12 months, how stable is the Russian business climate? Stephen Dalziel, the Executive Director of the Russo-British Chamber of Commerce, takes a look at Russia as a place for business. Stephen started learning Russian at school in 1971. He first visited the USSR in 1974 and while studying for his degree in Russian Studies at the University of Leeds, spent a year at Kiev State University. Stephen served in the British Army before joining the Soviet Studies Research Centre at the Royal Military Academy, Sandhurst, as a lecturer on the Soviet military. In 1988, Stephen moved to the BBC World Service. In 16 years as the BBC’s Russian Affairs Analyst, he reported from Russia and the UK on the final years of the Soviet Union and the collapse of Communism; the Yeltsin years; and the coming to power of Vladimir Putin. In 2004, Stephen stepped into the world of consultancy and continued to broadcast on Russian affairs. In July 2007 he was appointed Executive Director of the Russo-British Chamber of Commerce (RBCC). Stephen’s book, The Rise and Fall of the Soviet Empire, was published in 1993. He also wrote and presented a number of radio series during his time at the BBC, including The Re-Making of Russia (1991-92) and Russia’s Runaway Revolution (1995). Stephen is married with three children. As well as spending time with his family, he likes to spend his leisure time watching football (especially his beloved Arsenal); taking photographs; writing and reading. Tickets: £5 Book Tickets
What is
?
Russian Media Solutions www.russianmediasolutions.com
Our Products:
Like us on
Follow us on
www.twitter.com/RussianMind