RussianMind #07 July

LAZY, CRAZY DAYS OF SUMMER PAGE 18-19

RussianMind №7 (07), 28 July - 10 August 2011, www.RussianMind.com

Another Blow to Russia’s Democracy Page 8-9 August in Russian History Page 16

Fashion Fate Page 20-21 British Men and Russian Women Page 22-23

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6-7 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 Editor’s Assistant Rukhshona Shakhidi shakhidi@russianmind.com Distribution Olga Tsvetkova distribution@russianmind.com In print: Dmitry Babich, David Gillespie, Ekaterina Petukhova, Richard Bloss, Ecaterina Kilian, Anatoly Karlin, Anastasia Grishchenko, Anton Phatianov, Maria Anderson.

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

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6-7 The Press Baron 8-9 Another Blow to Russia’s Democracy 10-11 The Philosophy of Energy Science 12-13 Andreï Makine: A Russian Writer in France

12-13

8-9

14-15 National Comparisons: Immigrants 16 August in the Russian History 17 Famous Russians Born in August №7(07) 28 July - 10 August 2011

Contents

18-19 Lazy, Crazy Days of Summer

20-21 26-27

20-21 Fashion Fate 22-23 British Men and Russian Women 24-25 Anapa’s Cooler 26-27 Tiny Mexico in Moscow

30-31

28-29 Young and Bright 30-31 Poker of Wing Peelers

№7(07) 28 July - 10 August 2011

Summer is Calling I am sitting in front of my computer with 10 Internet windows opened and a thousand questions unanswered.

But my thoughts are already far away from the office - I am sunbathing in Spain, drinking coffee with my friend in New York and shopping in Paris! I am thinking about the holidays and the best way to spend these two summer weeks.

Even though I love my job, sometimes after a long day at work, I simply don’t have the energy for anything else, except falling into bed and sleeping. That is why, going on holiday means devoting time to yourself.

When there is no need to work, you can do plenty of things. You can travel to countries you always wanted visit, but haven’t had time to yet; you can meet friends and chat the whole night (as tomorrow there is no need to wake up to the alarm); visit museums and galleries; party till dawn; read books you bought long ago or simply walk into town with your favourite music on your iPod with bright dreams in your head.

I want to have time for my holiday plans, that is why, I am going to finish this column, answer the thousand questions, turn off my computer, buy a floral dress and say: “Watch out summer, here I come” and afterwards… I will tell you in two weeks time what happened.

Enjoy your holidays and I’ll be in touch soon.

Best Olga Kudriavtseva, Acting Editor

P.S. Russian Mind magazine is taking a summer break from the 11th till the 25th of August. We will be back, invigorated and energetic, to make the magazine even better for you.

5

Profile

The Press Baron In Mark HOLLINGSWORTH

At the heart of Alexander Lebedev is an enigma and a paradox. On the surface he is the wealthy, brash oligarch, and yet he dresses very casually, is quite reticent and even shy. In the final instalment of our special profile, I explore the complex personality of Russian’s press baron and his flamboyant son Evgeny Lebedev.

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the Spring of 2009, Alexander Lebedev claimed that he was the victim of a mercury poisoning. In a little-noticed interview, the former KGB spy mentioned – almost casually - that he was being treated for mercury poisoning. Medical tests revealed a mysterious spike in his blood mercury levels of 14 times the normal limit. His Belgian endocrinologist warned him that it may well be high enough to enter his nervous system, then his brain, and begin to kill off his memory.

But Lebedev was remarkably sanguine about his impending demise. “Though if I wake up tomorrow morning and cannot remember Putin, that would be nice,” he said smiling.

Russia’s most famous press tycoon is still alive and the poisoning plot remains a mystery, but the incident is indicative of his enigmatic personality.

People who have met Lebedev find him difficult to read personally as well as politically. He can be, simultaneously, the oligarch and the antioligarch — the powerful banking magnate whose estimated wealth prior to the financial crisis was $3.7 billion who also criticises the system that produced his wealth. He lives among the rich while lambasting those, like Roman Abramovich, who indulge in extravagant conspicuous consumption. At different times he alternately angers, inspires and mystifies the Kremlin, democratic activists and Western allies alike. Nobody really knows whether he is pro or anti-Putin.

Despite being a billionaire, Lebedev’s dress sense is odd for a middle-aged man – skinny blue jeans, black tailcoat and designer plimsolls without laces.

With his cropped white hair, he looks more like a sports star than a glitzy oligarch. Only his enormous Panerai watch flashes his wealth. “He looks more like a successful nightclub owner than a newspaper proprietor”, said one observer. “He is part 19thcentury landowner, part member of ‘Take That’”, said the Guardian’s fashion editor.

These contradictions arise from his conscious effort to distance himself from the more rapacious oligarchs like Berezovsky and Abramovich. He portrays his wealth as a means to fund social projects and he regards himself as a man of intelligence and good taste, rather than a hedonist. His hobbies are tennis, fishing, scuba diving, Russian literature and

politics rather than jet-skiing in St. Barts or partying in St. Tropez.

When asked about the other oligarchs, Lebedev commented: “We all come from different backgrounds. I am more keen on reading books, writing and travelling. I am not into yachts. I get sick on a boat. If I started buying luxurious planes and yachts I would feel ridiculous. I don't like birthday parties, I get bored. I do not know what to say. Sometimes I do not go and send a present later”. Instead, he will stay home and read classical literature. He once made the rather staggering claim that he has “read almost everything that is worth reading in literature”.

Lebedev’s intellectual pursuits was reflected in the choice of his first wife, Natalia Vladimirovna Sokolova, the scientist daughter of Vladimir Sokolov, an eminent biologist. On 8 May 1980, the couple had a son, Evgeny, while Alexander was an economics student. In their early years they lived in central Moscow, near the Kremlin, and Sokolov would take the family on all his research expeditions, mostly to Soviet bloc countries, but also to Bolivia and Vietnam.

Alexander and Natalia Lebedev separated in 1998.

But it was not until 2003 that Lebedev, then 43, first met his current partner, Elena Perminova, when she was 16. She is currently a model and an economics student at Moscow State University, but when they met she was a drug dealer in a nightclub. At that time Perminova had got into trouble with the police and wrote to Lebedev for assistance because at the time he was a Duma member and campaigning for a witness protection programme for people who help the authorities.

Alexander Lebedev and his son Evgeny №7(07) 28 July - 10 August 2011

Profile

Evgeny Lebedev

“Elena was in love with an older man, who used her to push ecstasy tablets”, recalled Lebedev “She tried to say it was wrong. She was arrested and convinced by the police to co-operate in a sting on another much bigger drug dealer. She was wired up, involved in a very dangerous car chase, and then still ended up in court, alongside this drug dealer, who was threatening to kill her. There is no plea bargain in Russian law, or witness protection. She was going to go to prison for six years, despite helping the police, and her life was in danger. I was campaigning for this law to be instated in Russia at the time.

Elena's father heard me on the radio and wrote to me. I contacted him, and then met Elena”.

It was another three years before the couple started a relationship when she was 19, and not until last year that Elena gave birth to Lebedev’s second son, Nikita.

Today Lebedev divides his time between Russia and the UK. His main residence is in the Moscow suburb of Rublyovka where most of Russia’s power elites have their dachas. “It’s where Putin lives, too", he remarked. №7(07) 28 July - 10 August 2011

“I hate it, but I’m there”. The house, which was once occupied by Lenin's widow, includes an underground pool with a cherub-laden fresco on the ceiling, Italian marble floors and a huge ovoid window onto a grand staircase. The interiors are typical of classical Italian architecture. Outside, at least four bodyguards are always milling around in the driveway alongside a black BMW with tinted windows.

At 8.30 am Lebedev is driven into his Moscow office. “It’s only 25 kilometres but it can take two hours, there’s so much traffic”, he said. “I keep a swimming pool and gym there”. The second central Moscow property on Ladozhskaya Street, which acts as an office and town house, is a stately pink building where he sometimes works and sleeps. Despite having a swimming pool and gym, the apartment was described by one guest as “relatively modest”.

In April 2007 Lebedev embedded his UK links by buying Stud House in Hampton Court Park, Richmond, where Lord Byron used to live. The property is so large that it is marked on the London A-Z and used to be owned by a Greek businessman called Antony Georgiadis. Lebedev paid £12,250,000 for the mansion, using the Bahamas company Ardin Investments Ltd. Until recently Lebedev and his partner were having the property renovated. They visit London twice a month for four or five days each time, staying in a hotel near St James's Park while renovations on Stud House are under way.

Lebedev also owns a French Chateau near Paris which he bought around 2003 for €2.5 million and a 13th-century castle in Umbria, Italy, which he is restoring as a boutique hotel and a cultural centre.

The press baron's eldest son, Evgeny Alexandrovich, 30, is even more part of the Londongrad scene than his father. Between the age of 8 and 12, he lived with his parents in London and attended a Church of England primary school in Kensington which was forbidden by the then Soviet authorities. He later returned to Britain to attend boarding school at Mill Hill in London and lived here ever since. He then obtained an art history degree.

An energetic socialite, Evgeny rents a flat in Cadogan Square, Belgravia, and makes use of a rented house at Gerald Road, Belgravia, once the home of Noel Coward. Both are currently owned by property companies.

If Sir Elton John or Donatella Versace is hosting a show or Robert Hanson is going with friends to Aspen, the chances are Eevgeny will be attending.

“I love going out with him because tables get cleared, doors open and everyone knows him”, said Russian socialite Assia Webster. “But it can be

exhausting - Evgeny does five or six places a night.”

In 2009 Evgeny Lebedev was listed in Tatler's Little Black Book at no.3 on the men’s list after Sam Branson and Russell Brand. Tatler commented that Lebedev ‘entertains in a fabulous blacked-out flat in Belgravia’.

In 2007 Evgeny’s social profile was raised when the Financial Times listed his designer clothes and accessories and thereby promoting his business ventures. He also began dating former Spice Girl Geri Halliwell who he met through Roman Abramovich.

They made their first public appearance together at The Serpentine Gallery summer party and that August Evgeny organised a surprise 35th birthday for Halliwell in St Tropez. But Halliwell ended the relationship just three months later. “Evgeny is back in Russia”, said a friend. “He is gutted. He fell for Geri and wanted something serious.”

On 14 November 2007, Evgeny hosted a launch party for his new restaurant Sake No Hana in St James's (run by Wagamama founder Alan Yau) and it has been his best-known business venture.

The following year Evgeny began dating the actress Joely Richardson who attended an exhibition at the National Theatre sponsored by Evgeny with her sister Natasha and her mother Vanessa Redgrave.

The exhibition was in homage to the Russian theatre director Konstantin Stanislavski.

Officially, Evgeny's business interests are in the restaurant, hotel, publishing, film and fashion industries. He has raised millions of pounds as Chairman of The Raisa Gorbachev Foundation. He has owned the Palazzo Terranova Hotel in Italy since 2006, and invested in The Silver Room, bar at Hush, a restaurant in the heart of Mayfair.

While Evgeny is often referred to as a playboy, Alexander is an unassuming character who rarely displays any of the brusqueness or coolness usually associated with Russians. Instead he is polite, quietly-spoken, even shy. “He's incredibly reserved”, said one acquaintance. “Yes, he has some extravagant tastes - a vast wardrobe of designer clothes, and some amazing but very discreet jewellery. But he's very quiet, diffident, very caring.

Very intelligent. Actually quite shy, a bit of a dandy, but a very nice chap”.

While Evgeny shows no signs of following his father's business career, he remains full of contradictions. On the surface, he is a flamboyant socialite dressed in exotic couture and designer outfits and partying late into the night and yet at the same time maintaining a remarkably diffident and introverted manner. Like his father, he is a difficult man to read. The Lebedevs are an enigma. Just like Russia really.

7

Opinion

Another Blow to Russia’s Democracy

T Dmitry BABICH Reading your friends’ columns is a potentially dangerous pastime.

Especially if your friend is a foreign journalist.

You always have to walk the tight rope balancing between a desire to expose his or her penchant for stereotypes about Russia and insincere compliments.

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he problem is made worse by a strange tendency among both foreign and Russian journalists in Moscow: the staunchest critics of Russian state among them tend to be hypersensitive to any criticism of their own writings.

I knew one such journalist whose all stories started with a refrain “In another blow to Russia’s democracy.” He broke his tradition only once – in a published response to an angry blog about his writings. This time, the story started with a somewhat more promising “In another feat of Kremlin-inspired Nashi-like “patriotic” fury…”

So, it is with a rather grave feeling that I subject to my humble scrutiny a story by my friend and former Russia Profile colleague, Shaun Walker. My only hope is that my modest historical observations will be a useful footnote to one of his Moscow reports in The Independent. And if they are not or in a feat of Solzhenitsynlike (but, by Jove, not Kremlininspired!) patriotic zeal I hurt any one of Shaun’s delicate feelings, let all of my so called doubts end up in the vortex of oblivion.

Now to business. Dear Shaun, in your report from Moscow published in The Independent and headlined “Putin Kicks off Campaign to Lionize a Ruthless Predecessor,” you inform us that “Putin has launched a program to lionise Pyotr Stolypin, a Tsarist-era Russian primeminister who was known for his ruthless methods.” Well, Stolypin was known also for something

else. And you, Shaun, grudgingly admit it a few lines further, saying that Stolypin “tried to implement a series of social reforms, but at the same time was a staunch political conservative and cracked down on the left-wing revolutionaries who wanted to bring down the Tsarist autocracy.”

The facts are true, but since certain important details are not included in this passage, it is only half true. First, Stolypin not only tried, but implemented several reforms which modernized Russia. Thanks to him, 3 million Russian farmers got plots of land in Siberia, thus moving Russian colonization of this territory much further than during the whole Soviet period, which barely managed to keep 10 million people (out of the Soviet Union’s 250 million) living in the vast territory bordering the Pacific ocean. Second, the poor left-wing revolutionaries of 1905-1907 wanted something more than to “bring down the Tsarist autocracy.” They wanted to kill and to rob – and they did it with much success until Stolypin became the minister of the interior in April 1906.

Nowadays, historians agree that the revolution of 1905-1907 was an abortive attempt to seize power by the same forces that brought about the October revolution of 1917 – the biggest misfortune of the 20th century, whatever the intentions of its various participants. It was thanks to Stolypin that the Russia and the Western world didn’t have to face someone like Lenin 10 years earlier than

it was scheduled by fate – in 1907 instead of the actual 1917. Lenin knew it full well, and this is precisely the reason why Lenin called Stolypin “a master of hanging, an organizer of pogroms, the head of the counterrevolution” (quotes from Lenin’s article “Stolypin and Revolution,” 1911).

Surprisingly, the terms used by Shaun for his further description of Stolypin echo Lenin's ones: “His reputation was so fearsome that the hangman’s noose became

A Portrait of Graf Pyotr Stolypin (Ilya Glazunov)

known as Stolypin’s necktie due to the hundreds of opponents that were executed during his rule.”

Again, only a half-truth. One should add that there were №7(07) 28 July - 10 August 2011

Before the Russian Revolution

thousands of innocent people killed by the revolutionaries (not just opponents!) in 1905-1907. There were also hundreds of state officials and policemen, killed simply because of their status.

When Stolypin reported to the first Russian parliament (State Duma) that the 90 revolutionaries executed in 1906 were guilty of terrorist acts that left 288 state officials killed and 388 crippled, these brave parliamentarians whistled and yelled that there were “too few” officials killed.

This scene is described in detail in Alexander Solzhenitsyn’s novel The Red Wheel.

As for Stolypin himself, he survived 11 assassination №7(07) 28 July - 10 August 2011

attempts between 1905 and 1911. The twelveth one, made by an individual anarchist terrorist Bogrov, was spectacular and successful – the 49 years old prime-minister was shot dead in a theatre, under the eyes of the Tsar and a large audience. Unfortunately, Stolypin was not the only casualty of the "acts" of his "opponents." The assassination attempt in St. Petersburg, in 1906, was especially bloody: terrorists, exposed by the guards, in despair, exploded their bombs far from Stolypin, killing 24 people, including themselves. Two of Stolypin’s children, a boy and a girl, became disabled for life because of this explosion.

One should add here the murder of general Sakharov, killed by a woman terrorist at Stolypin’s home, which she visited with the intention of killing Stolypin himself.

As for Stolypin’s “fearsome” reputation, it was indeed fearsome only for the people who later plunged Russia into a real bloodbath. They had reasons to want to make his reputation fearsome – it was against them that Stolypin directed his famous phrase: “You need great upheavals

– we need great Russia!”

Sorry, if this phrase applies also to some modern foreign journalists nowadays. That just shows how little has changed in Russia-West relations during the last 100 years. On September 14 we shall be remembering the centenary of Stolypin’s assassination in Kiev city theatre (the true reason for Putin’s “lionising” activity). Prime-minister Putin will most likely will be taking part in the ceremonies. It won’t bother me. I am sorry if that bothers you, Shaun.

Dmitry Babich is a political analyst. He contributed this story to his personal blog www.dmitrybabich.livejournal.com which runs on a weekly basis by www.russiaprofile.org 9

Person

The Philosophy of Energy Science I

gor Lobovsky, the President of the Partnership, elaborated for RussianMind on the 2011 laureates and the global energy trends.

Igor Markovich, you are well known for your career in the telecommunications industry; is this experience useful in energy science?

Daria ALYUKOVA Global Energy has established an independent international award for spectacular scientific achievements in energy and power advancement. The Global Energy Prize was established in 2002.

The idea for founding the award was put forward by a group of famous Russian scientists, supported by some of the largest energy companies and approved by the President of Russia.

Currently, the Global Energy Prize Fund amounts to 30 million roubles.

IL: In fact these industries have a lot in common – both represent a complex system, a network. Their ideology and intrinsic logic are so alike. Flexibility and intelligence are vital for networks like these. The concept of a Smart Grid is one of the leading technologies in energy engineering and in telecommunications a similar idea has already been implemented.

The difference, however, for me would be in infrastructure: with Komstar in fact, we built the first digital network, whilst with “Global Energy” we don’t construct anything.

By definition the work only suggests the award, but in fact we do much more – we study the trends carefully, to find the most advanced ideas and we participate at various conferences. So it is also enlightenment, out-reach and raising awareness of the work achieved by the laureates.

on the safe side. In this respect it’s more interesting to listen to lesser-known speakers.

Nevertheless, in the end you get a “takeaway” of the average opinions, in other words – a trend.

Which trend do you consider most promising?

IL: Around 4 years ago the concept of Energy Mix came into general use. We are trying to introduce it in Russia. The hydrocarbon era is drawing to an end. However, it is vital to remember that there is no panacea that would fit all countries. Energy Mix implies using each source of energy in the right place at the right time. For example, if a village on a hill has a propitious wind pattern, it makes no sense to lay a gas pipeline. Energy Mix is a term of geopolitical importance, and it is a sound idea.

I dare say there is a global trend emerging. Look at fashion: trends exist, but they

Igor Lobovsky

do not dictate consumer choice – people tend to choose clothes according to personal preference. So the concept of Energy Mix goes far beyond energy engineering, it is a philosophy.

Another fascinating trend is that all the breakthrough discoveries are cross-sectoral.

All the latest laureates of the “Global Energy” demonstrate this trend. Dr. Philipp Rutberg of Russia has worked to develop high powered plasma technologies which can convert waste materials

Philipp Rutberg and Arthur Rosenfeld, the 2011 laureates

How predictable are the global conferences? Do you often learn new things there?

IL: Well, 99% of any conference is quite predictable. There are few real front page sensations announced, especially by the global VIPs who prefer to stay 10

№7(07) 28 July - 10 August 2011

At the awarding ceremony: “Global Energy” Board of Trustees Chairman E. Velihov; President of Russia D. Medvedev; Chairman of the “Global Energy” International Committee N. Laverov

into synthetic fuels, with minimal harmful emissions.

Using this technology, a town of around 30,000 people can supply all its heating needs and a portion of its electricity supply using domestic waste as a power source – this provides a single solution to both garbage disposal and energy supply issues. This also solves the intricate problem

of medical waste disposal.

Dr. Rosenfeld is renowned for his groundbreaking work in energy efficiency. In 2010 a new unit of energy conservation was named after him.

The “Global Energy” prize awarded to these scientists can result in an excellent international project and change the world for the better. It has already attracted attention to these new technologies and at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum; President Medvedev announced his patronage for the project.

At the point of awarding the prize, is the practical use of the laureate’s discovery obvious? Or is it a kind of gamble?

IL: I think the danger of a brain drain is overdone. I feel quite optimistic, as I deal with scientists on a daily basis and I don’t feel that “everyone has left”. Modern science is global instead of national; it is not merely cross-sectoral, but cross-national as well.

This is reminiscent of Henry Ford’s classic "If I had asked people what they wanted, they would have said faster horses".

One of your projects, «Energy of Youth», focuses on supporting young scientists. Was it designed to prevent a brain drain?

№7(07) 28 July - 10 August 2011

IL: Let me take a roundabout approach to the subject.

Around 15 years ago I went to Japan for Panasonic’s hi-tech exhibition. Among many amazing exhibits I noticed something completely unimaginable – a WC equipped with dozens of buttons and a remote control.

I asked why they decided to design this in the first place, and the managers’ answer was “our creative engineers invented this and we cannot discourage them from going beyond the obvious, so we produced it even though it might seem useless!”

IL: Exactly. So here is the answer to your question – sometimes the most daring assumption cannot predict

how far a particular discovery will advance civilization.

How strong is the post-Fukushima political pressure against nuclear power?

IL: It is a tremendous and dangerously emotional subject.

Instead of top level careful discussion, we have mainly seen a wave of demonstrations that force national leaders to make populist statements which probably improve the politicians’ ratings, but their reasoning has nothing to do with energy science. At the current level of technological production, a unit of hydrogen fuel would require spending 10 units of oil or natural gas.

Further research into renewable energy would be impossible without the taxes paid by oil and gas companies. So it is much more complicated than it seems and I advocate a sensible approach, like the aforementioned Energy Mix. But it goes without saying that the Fukushima accident was a terrible tragedy and I feel deeply saddened for its victims.

11

Culture

Andreï Makine:

A Russian Writer in France Y David GILLESPIE When I travel to Russia, as I do about two or three times a year as part of my lecturing work, I often ask Russians what they think of the work of Andreï Makine, a writer living in France who also writes in French. I am surprised when someone replies that they have even heard of him, because only one of his works has been translated into Russian, and that back in 1996, in the journal Inostrannaia literatura.

Otherwise, he is only known to Russians if they read him in French or translation.

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et Makine has been accepted by the French as ‘their’ writer, he has won French literary prizes and all his novels have been translated into English as well as other languages. But not Russian.

And it’s easy to see why.

Makine writes about Russia and its history, so there is nothing new for the native Russian to learn. In fact, some Russian reviewers of his work criticise him for his picture of Russia as a violent and unforgiving place, and even for his expertise (or lack of it) in the French language.

But Makine joins a very honourable list of émigré writers who have written in a foreign language, among them Elsa Triolet and Vladimir Nabokov, of course, as well as the Czech Milan Kundera (who writes in French) and our very own Joseph Conrad (or Józef Teodor Konrad Korzeniowski, as his native Poles refer to him). The difference is that Makine rarely engages with the life of his adopted country in his writing, he mainly writes about Russia and Russians. His themes are the Soviet past and its heartless oppression of human endeavour and decency, the suffering caused by the War, and the need for beauty in this world. So, not a million miles from nineteenth-century themes, if we remember Tolstoy and

Dostoevskii, and if Makine had written about life in the Gulag then he could even be compared with Solzhenitsyn.

Makine moved to France in 1987, having earlier studied as a postgraduate in Moscow State University, where in 1984-1985 he shared an accommodation block with the author of this article. He even came to my wedding.

When he arrived in France, by his own account he had little money and at first lived in great poverty. His first books, A Hero’s Daughter, 1990, and Confessions of a Fallen Standard-Bearer, 1992,

attracted little attention. The first is about a girl who is the daughter of a war hero who is forced into prostitution by the KGB, the second a memoir of communal apartment life in the 1950s and 1960s. Once Upon the River Love was published in 1994, about how the lives of three boys in Siberia are transformed by the showing in a local cinema of a French film starring Jean-Paul Belmondo.

But it was with the publication in 1995 of Le Testament français that his fortunes changed for the

Andreï Makine №7(07) 28 July - 10 August 2011

Culture

incest and murder in the Russian émigré community in France in the late 1940s, and Requiem for the East, 2001, another memoir of life in Soviet Russia written from the point of view of one who now lives abroad (like the author himself, of course).

In my view Makine’s later works are his best, beginning with the very short A Life’s Music, 2001, whose theme is the transforming power of music as a symbol of beauty, and The Earth and Sky of Jacques Dorme, 2003, the unlikely but harrowing story of a French airman who ends up fighting (and dying) for the Red Army during the War. The Woman Who Waited, 2004, offers an excursion into the Russian countryside and an almost forgotten way of life, similar to works

by Ivan Turgenev and the

better, as it was awarded both the Prix Goncourt and the Prix Médicis, the first time both these prestigious honours had been bestowed on one work.

It was, indeed, this work that was translated into Russian and published in Inostrannaia literatura in 1996, and surely the irony of publishing the work of a native Russian as ‘foreign literature’ was not lost on that journal’s editors. The story is another memoir of a Russian who believes that he has a French grandmother, but this is exposed as an illusion at the end. The Crime of Olga Arbyelina, 1998, is about №7(07) 28 July - 10 August 2011

‘village writers’ of the 1960s and 1970s. In Human Love, 2006, an Angolan Marxist revolutionary falls in love with a Russian girl and in the end gives his life for her, and in his latest novel, The Life of an Unknown Man, 2009, Makine gives a gruesome account of the siege of Leningrad as recalled by one of its survivors.

So, who is Andreï Makine, a French writer of Russian descent or a Russian writer who writes in the medium of French? Well, the French certainly like him and claim him for one of their own and Russian critics have generally turned their noses up at the very idea. But his themes remain faithful to the traditions of the Russian literary heritage, because in all of his works, despite the momentous savagery of the times, there always shines out a beacon representing beauty, and, as Dostoevskii said, it is beauty that will save the world.

Maybe, critics and academics like myself will no doubt spend many years ahead debating the cultural affiliation of writers whose work is written not in their native language, especially in the age of globalization where everyone is supposed to speak English, or at least American English. I’ll leave the final words to Makine himself, when in Le Testament français the author finds his own books alphabetically arranged in the East European literature section of a French bookshop: ‘My first books were there, sandwiched, and at the risk of inspiring giddy megalomania in me, between those of Lermontov and Nabokov.’ It’s always nice to know your place.

13

National Comparisons: USA, UK, Russia

Immigrants

Anatoly KARLIN There is a lot of antiimmigrant rhetoric in all three countries. The complaints are pretty similar: they steal our jobs; commit crimes; etc.

In my opinion, their real sin is to be willing to do the work that Americans / British / Russians are no longer willing to do for low wages, and they are easier scapegoats for the economic problems than the politicians, bankers, and others who have wealth and power. As a rule, the crowd picks on the weak and the losers.

immigrants than either Russia or the UK, possibly due to its “melting pot” traditions.

Americans are far more understanding of people who have difficulties communicating in English, and immigrants have a far easier time getting a job than their equivalents in Britain. As long as Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) stays off their backs, some of them do quite well. Their children can attend US schools for free (though problems can start up once they apply to universities, where background checks are more stringent). Any children born in the US automatically become citizens, for this reason they are disparagingly called “anchor babies” by anti-immigrant activists. If they are apprehended by ICE, then they are typically put through

A skilled foreign worker in the US needs an H1-B work visa for 6 years before he becomes eligible for a Green Card, which entitles him to Legal Permanent Residency

deportation proceedings.

They can hire a lawyer or the government appoints one for them. If they are found guilty of illegally entering the US, they are driven over the Mexican border (or flown to their country of origin) at government expense and barred from returning for many years, or for life if the immigrant has committed a felony while in the US.

The US immigration process, pursued by the rulebook, is incredibly inefficient, taxing, and idiotic. A skilled foreign worker needs an H1-B work visa for 6 years before he becomes eligible for a Green Card, which entitles him to Legal Permanent Residency (if he changes employer, the clock starts ticking from the beginning again; furthermore,

Typically, illegal migrants live in run-down communal buildings and their employers pay the police for leaving them alone

Most low skilled migrants to the US come from the poorer, southern areas of Mexico and from Central America. They are widely employed as agricultural labourers throughout the US south-west and Texas; as nannies everywhere (including the North); and as construction workers. The US is more successful at integrating 14

№7(07) 28 July - 10 August 2011

National Comparisons: USA, UK, Russia

during this time, his spouse cannot work unless she also has a work visa). After getting a Green Card, it takes five more years to become a US citizen, during which time it is impossible to go abroad for any long period of time without risking the permanent residency (two years is the absolute maximum if you exploit all bureaucratic channels). To America’s detriment, many decide that spending 11 years in this state of limbo just isn’t worth it and thus return back to China, India or Eastern Europe after getting an American degree or work experience in the US. In the UK, most low skilled migrants come from the Indian subcontinent (Pakistan, Bangladesh); Africa; and eastern European countries such as Poland, Latvian, etc.

As far as I know, the Pakistanis and Bangladeshis are now mostly the family members and relatives of previous immigrants who have already settled in the UK. The eastern Europeans are more recent arrivals, coinciding with the №7(07) 28 July - 10 August 2011

opening of its labour markets to the new EU members in the east (it was the only country to do so along with Ireland and Sweden). The result was a sharp rise in Polish migration – approximately 500,000 in total – where they worked as plumbers, construction workers, agricultural workers, and in the service industry. However, it’s a very transient migration wave. Following the post 2008 recession, many – perhaps most of them – have returned to Poland (which is now doing very well, economically).

The Pakistani and Bangladeshi communities are there to stay, arguably to Britain’s detriment, as not only have they transformed many inner cities into areas of urban blight (e.g. Luton, Burnley, Leicester), but they also form the bulk of the British Muslim community, which is by far the most radicalized and antiprogressive in Western Europe.

For instance, in polls more than a third of them support the death penalty for apostasy.

This isn’t just reflected in the figures, or the photos of

extremists carrying placards with “Behead Those Who Insult Islam” on them, the areas in which these communities predominate are no go areas, because of the gangs and high crime rates. They also have very backward ideas on women’s rights. Once when I was shopping for groceries with a female friend who happened to have dark features, which I guess could pass for South Asian ones, a bearded Asian man began hurling slurs at her for exposing herself, i.e. wearing a T-shirt, forcing me to resolutely intervene. Now all this might sound stereotypical, prejudicial, racist, etc. to liberals who’ve never lived or even wandered into such areas, but they are just the facts on the ground.

Some US conservatives believe that Muslims are going to demographically take over Europe, turning it into a “Eurabia”. This is, by and large, fear-mongering nonsense, including the British variant of the Eurabia scenario: “Londonistan“. The fact is that Muslims are only about 3% of the British population, they are highly fragmented by ethnicity and levels of religious devotion, and their fertility rates – though higher – are steadily converging to the UK average. In the next generation, though the UK will become a more Muslim country, minarets won’t replace Oxford’s “dreaming spires” any time soon. Nor, by the way, is Russia going to become majority Muslim (despite analysts / propagandists who argue otherwise). They constitute a maximum of 10% of the population (polls actually indicate 4-6%), and the two largest Muslim ethnicities – Tatars and Bashkirs – have fertility rates that are

no different from those of ethnic Russians. In fact, the only Russian Muslim group with fertility rates substantially above replacement level rates are the Chechens, of whom there are only about one million.

Migrants in Russia – called “Gastarbeiters”, from the German name for Turkish guest workers – are typically from the poorer countries of the “Near Abroad”: Uzbeks, Ukrainians, Tajiks, Kyrgyz, Georgians, Armenians, and Moldovans.

The Central Asians dominate construction work, Caucasians dominate open air markets / bazaars, while Slavs tend to work in services like interior decorating or hairdressing.

The typical pattern is for them to arrive legally – Russia has visa less travel with the former Soviet republics, with the right to reside up to three months – but they work illegally and overstay. The migrants live in communal apartments in out of the way places, and their employers typically arrange bribes for the police to leave them alone as long as they don’t make trouble.

Their lives are unpleasant, access to social services is far more limited than for illegal immigrants in the US, and they always live under a cloud of arbitrary deportation (sometimes, for political reasons: once, there was a large campaign at expelling Georgian illegals after a serious deterioration in relations with Georgia).

Nonetheless, around 5-8 million of them have decided to come nonetheless, because of the salary differentials. Whereas a Tajik can expect to earn perhaps $80 per month in construction in his home country, in Russia the equivalent figure is $500 or more.

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Russian in Detail

August in the Russian History August, 1914: Germany declares war on Russia Following the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, the Austro- Hungarian Empire issued the July Ultimatum to Serbia, demanding, among other things, the right to participate in the investigation into the assassination. When Serbia refused, Austria-Hungary declared war on July 28, 1914. Coming to Serbia’s aid, Russia began to mobilize its army, which prompted Germany’s declaration of war on Russia. The economic and political strain caused by the war provoked social and political unrest in Russia, eventually leading to the Revolution in 1917. Had Russia not joined World War I, its 20th-century history might have followed a different path.

15 August, 1893: The Tretyakovskaya Gallery opens.

At age 24, with the dream of a Russian national gallery in mind, Pavel Tretyakov, began to acquire art. To accommodate his expanding collection, he repeatedly remodelled his home, which he opened to the public. In 1892, Tretyakov donated the collection as well as his home to the city of Moscow, thus fulfilling his dream of a Russian national gallery. Today, the Tretyakov Gallery contains more than 130,000 exhibits and is still one of Moscow’s most popular attractions for residents and visitors alike.

3 August, 1980: The closing ceremonies of the 1980 Moscow Summer Olympic Games are held.

Fitted with numerous new sporting complexes built for the 203 events, Moscow rolled out the red carpet to visiting athletes competing in the firstever Games hosted by a communist country. A U.S. led boycott reduced the number of participating nations to 80, the lowest number since 1956, but there were other records set at the Games as well. For example, gymnast Aleksandr Dityatin won a medal in every men’s gymnastics event to become the first athlete to win eight medals in a single Olympics. In addition, 21 percent of the competing Olympians were women, more than in any previous Games.

19 August, 1936: The Moscow Trials begin As his paranoia increased, Joseph Stalin began to move against other Party leaders whom he saw as a threat to his power. Accused of collusion in a Western, capitalist conspiracy to assassinate Stalin and destroy the Soviet Union, such prominent figures of the October Revolution as Grigory Zinoviev, Lev Kamenev and 16 others were tried and executed. The verdicts were publicly justified by coerced confessions and used as pro-Stalin propaganda. More arrests, trials, and executions followed, marking the early stages of what would become known as the Great Purges. It was not until Nikita Khrushchev’s de-Stalinization in the 1950s that the Moscow Trials were finally acknowledged publically as show trials.

31 August, 1935: Alexei Stakhanov mines 102 tons of coal Alexei Stakhanov became a national hero and a champion of socialist labour in the Soviet Union after mining 102 tons of coal, 14 times his quota, in one shift. His achievement led to the Stakhanovite Movement and a new era of communist labour competition. As part of the Second Five-Year Plan in 1935, Stakhanovism spread to other industries. Workers, who achieved Stakonovite feats, were honoured with medals in recognition of their service to the Party and their contributions to the building of communism. During the first years of the Stakhanovite Movement, Soviet authorities claimed significant increases in industrial productivity.

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№7(07) 28 July - 10 August 2011

Russian in Detail

Famous Russians born in August Ivan IV

Leon Theremin

Ivan IV Vasilyevich known as Ivan the Terrible was Grand Prince of Moscow from 1533 until his death. His long reign saw the conquest of the Khanates of Kazan, Astrakhan, and Siberia, transforming Russia into a multiethnic and multi-confessional state spanning almost one billion acres. Ivan managed countless changes in the progression from a medieval nation state to an Empire and emerging regional power, and became the first ruler to be crowned as Tsar of All Russia.

Leon Theremin was a Russian and Soviet inventor. He is famous for his invention of the Theremin, one of the first electronic musical instruments. He is also the inventor of Interlace, a technique of improving the picture quality of a video signal, widely used in video and television technology.

His invention of "The Thing", an espionage tool, is considered a predecessor of RFID (radio frequency identification) technology.

Nikolay Bogolyubov

Naum Gabo

Nikolay Bogolyubov was a Russian and Ukrainian Soviet mathematician and theoretical physicist known for a significant contribution to quantum field theory, classical and quantum statistical mechanics and to the theory of dynamical systems; a recipient of the Dirac Prize (1992).

Naum Gabo KBE, born Naum Neemia Pevsner was a prominent Russian sculptor in the Constructivism movement and a pioneer of Kinetic Art.

Tsar of Russia 25 August 1530 (died 1584)

Inventor 27 August 1896 (died 1993)

Mathematician 21 August 1909 (died 1992)

Anatoly Sobchak Politician 10 August 1937 (died 2000)

Sculptor 5 August 1890 (died 1977)

Oleg Tabakov Actor 17 August 1935

Nikolay Valuev Boxer 21 August 1973

Oleg Tabakov is a Soviet and Russian actor and the artistic director of the Moscow Art Theatre.

Anatoly Sobchak was a Russian politician, a co-author of the Constitution of the Russian Federation, the first democratically elected mayor of St Petersburg, and a mentor and teacher to both Vladimir Putin and Dmitry Medvedev. â„–7(07) 28 July - 10 August 2011

Nikolai Valuev is a professional boxer and former two-time WBA heavyweight champion. In his most recent fight (on November 7, 2009); he lost his title to David Haye after a 12-round majority decision.

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Photo blog

Lazy, Crazy Days of Summer

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Photo blog

â„–7(07) 28 July - 10 August 2011

19

Fashion

Fashion Fate

Sergey Voronov

Tsvetnoy Central Market

Ekaterina PETUKHOVA Sergey Voronov is a renowned men’s fashion market connoisseur in Russia. He used to assist in bringing mass market brands to Russia and later went on to work with one of the first men’s multi-brand luxury stores St. James.

Despite having left the fashion business now to lead one of the biggest publishing houses in Russia, he must be the only person knowing virtually all menswear brands and in a position to judge the success of any menswear store in Russia.

R

ussian men are trivial and easy in their outlooks. Men in Russia are guided by two major principles when choosing apparel, and that is “comfortable” and “decent”.

Any lifestyle occasion can be referred to one of these definitions. Specials occasions and celebrations rank as “the most decent possible”. Jeans and sports aesthetics which are dear to most 20

Russian men irrespective of their income, give a unique chance to look both “decent” and “comfortable” at the same time. Consequently, come the festiveweekend Adidas, fake Adidas – even more often – for the mass-market, Fred Perry and CP Company for those into sports etc. By the way, Burberry used to come across as a problem for sports fans’ brand perception in various countries including Russia several years ago.

But if you look closer you might notice a tremendous shift in social behaviour of male consumers and in their psychology. There are visual signs of a lot of new projects aimed at men who are specifically niche-focused but nevertheless intriguing. Just to name a few – a concept store 3,14 devoted to Japanese designers, and FOTT having grown from a small online project to a store in the centre of Moscow.

There are new print and online editions for men – German Max is now coming out in Russian and lookatme. ru has its own men’s project, Furfur.

Retail has witnessed changes too.

Moscow’s map of menswear stores has been changed completely by a floor in Tsvetnoy Central Market hosting all the most acute and interesting menswear brands. And starting from

September 11, 2011 Moscow will host a new concept store Belief with Japanese brands, most of which will be exclusively represented in Russia for the first time. Belief is a story of a marriage between modern art and fashion deeply rooted in philosophy and lifestyle. RussianMind will write more on the event soon. Another project worth attention is a men’s shirts brand, Dictatura Aestetica having arisen from a hobby to a business led by two top-managers – a banker and a lawyer. The idea of the brand is to inspire creativity in the corporate world.

The show-room of the brand allows ordering a tailored shirt with any image you want, the artist will put your idea into a print which will be transferred to fabric for your shirt. And when you see the shirts already tailored, you realise businessmen do stick out with their originality and creativity. The one I love most is a print with condensed milk tins!

When you look at those brightly painted tins, apparently reminding someone of childhood, you feel there is something human about all this new money and concrete-glass offices. And then you suddenly realize that Russian fashion choice is all about ideas, with something beautiful but totally irrelevant.

Sergey Voronov speaks out:

What would you call Russian men’s style features?

SV: The main feature is that there is no style as it is. Most men in Russia still take buying clothing as an unpleasant necessity. Shopping is a kind of punishment, mostly done under pressure and in company, as a couple. This is certainly true for a mass-market consumer.

In middle market, however, there is an understanding for the need to dress according to the time and place. Still only a handful can distinguish between models, styles and key details.

The premium market is easier and better – all the “headache” of how to make an outfit is borne by designers, №7(07) 28 July - 10 August 2011

Moscow store FOTT

therefore, Russian men use clothing as a defensive tool, and literally so!

You have expertise in both middle (Gant) and luxury segments (St. James).

What would you say unites Russian men from various segments? Do they have something in common despite varied incomes?

buyers and merchandisers, it’s just all about having money to buy it. At this level age features are clearly visible – men get “too old” for experiments and are experienced and educated enough with a style already known. Therefore they simply slot into niches – office clothing, vacation clothing, sports clothing etc.

In luxury, men mostly seek status and prestige sometimes out of all cultural codes inherent in a certain brand or model, without any notion of what is acceptable and what is not, or any idea of whether the clothes fits at all.

On the whole all segments and slices of income show a major feature of the way Russian men dress, and it is absence of any education and culture of dressing or looking good. Most of them, especially №7(07) 28 July - 10 August 2011

residents of the Russian regions believe men should not be interested in outfits and it is almost shameful. Everyone seeks masculine status confirmation, consequently they are afraid to experiment, afraid of being different.

Finally, Soviet stereotypes have had a stake – sandals with socks, suits two sizes too big, not to be too fitting and

SV: Cultural mentality. It is directly related to the cultural level, irrespective of the segment, the difference is well-to-do people travel more, they look around and see what it is like abroad, how people dress, therefore they feel more confident and are not afraid to experiment.

What would never sell in Russia? What is the most unfortunate brand for the Russian market?

SV: Anything can sell in this country, depends on the turnover. Especially in big cities which account for

80% of sales and depending on the segment, Moscow, St. Petersburg in particular.

Consumers there are sophisticated enough and ready to experiment. I think the crucial factor is the Russian climate, for instance Crocs in Russia, to my mind, won’t have that much success as they have internationally because the period for wearing them is too short. Another issue is pricing policy. The smart apparel and footwear market in Russia is only in the preliminary stages, medium incomes in the mass market are lower than in Europe and even more so, the USA, so the niche between premium and mass-market is virtually empty.

What menswear stores would you name among the most interesting in Russia, and why?

SV: Quality stores are the most interesting ones. In any segment, from department stores – such as Tsvetnoy Central Market – to small multibrands – such as Finamore in Malaya Bronnaya. You always feel when people are in fashion; they have a sincere interest and care about what they do. 3,14 in Petrovka is an interesting project, if we speak of alternative designers – the Japanese ones. It is all about feeling the trend and offering acute merchandise which is good value for money.

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Blog

And How Was It For You....?

British Men and Russian Women

Richard BLOSS Looks at relationships.

I am walking down Kreschatik: it has enormous wide pavements curving away from the rich end at Beserabska and down to Independence Square.

The Dynpro hotel stands opposite, with their severe guys on the door: they were obviously away the day they did "customer service" at hotel school.

A girl bumps into me as I'm walking, "I'm really sorry", I say, in my best Russian and move over. The girl, who can hardly be more than 16 years old, blocks my path.

This is clearly no accident.

"Are you from England?" she asks. Now, it's true, I don't look Russian. I don't wear a black leather jacket and I don't look miserable. I also don't have a Union Jack tied around my head! I am dressed in a Ted Baker beige suit and polo shirt. So...she says - it is a statement, not a question "Shall we go for a coffee?"

I have frankly nothing better to do, I had finished my meetings 22

earlier... So a few minutes later, we are seated at the Galleria and I say to the girl behind the coffee bar that I would like a cappuccino and a tea. The bar girl has that ‘Latvian Starbucks’ level of boredom that you see in Victoria Street (London).

"Green or black?" she asks. Now, I don’t have clue. All I want is something brown with a couple of sugars and some milk. This is clearly too much for the bar girl and I end up with something black with no milk.

The Girl then engages in conversation, in English. But this is a prelude, an hors d'oeuvre before the main event. "Shall we go shopping now?" she says.

My female friend insists that I say absolutely NOTHING on the bus out of town. She does not want people in her village to know she is bringing home a "foreigner". She also calls her father and insists under pain of death that he does NOT wear his awful white cotton vest that he usually has on when people come round. This time it has to

be a decent shirt. I have been invited to meet her parents.

I have serious misgivings about this, as it can only get worse. The parents are truly lovely people and are thrilled when I accept their offer of raw fish and vareniky for breakfast.

But somehow we sort of communicate and ok, Chelsea's defensive strategy it might not be, but Dad and I get along talking football, and her Mother is determined to give me all the fruit she can from her little garden, for my journey home. I don't have the heart to say that even on British Airways they give you free food, even a gin tonic!

The girl is beaming with smiles.

With the exception of the woman who kick-starts the 737s in the morning at Borispyl airport, who must be at least a size 28, Russian and Ukrainian women are absolutely the most beautiful in the world. If you had to sum up most British men's fantasy, every Russian woman would come pretty close. Their photos in small swimsuits, is everything that the average Brit does not get at home, and the global Internet phenomenon makes out that every British guy is successful, has a bigger car, is sophisticated, friendly..

This illusion is fostered and encouraged by the ever growing number of Russian girls who go online looking for "Western Husbands". In short, its a sort of mutual Stepford Wives, each party believing in an image of the other that when you get beneath the surface, does not stand up to reality.

Clearly we are talking here about Russian women who still live in Russia etc - the situation with №7(07) 28 July - 10 August 2011

Blog

those Russian girls and British guys who live and have relationships in the UK is completely different, and I will get around to that.

My fascination is why does it go so terribly wrong for most anglo-russo long distance relationships?

Because "going wrong" alas it does.

It's for the best of reasons.

Firstly, any long distance relationship is in trouble even before it begins. K T Tunstall sings about it in "other side of the world". But it goes much deeper than that and it is to do with the misunderstanding of what we mean by those same words.

When both parties talk about "family life", what the British guy does not â„–7(07) 28 July - 10 August 2011

realise is that he is not just getting involved with a girl, he is also taking on her mother, father, cousins, uncle and grandma - all of whom will expect to jump on the gravy train and move to UK. When the girl asks for "security", she is obviously asking that her man looks after her financially: but don't ask her to stay if he loses his job, or has to work late every evening and gets home long after the kids have gone to bed, when she is desperate for attention and communication, in a country where she does not feel at home.

Now clearly there are exceptions to this, but let me leave you with one parting image....

A girl is waving goodbye to her boyfriend at the airport.... They had been earlier to the UK Embassy for her to get a Visa. But it's complicated. He lives life in the fast lane, and wants her to share his life: he comes to see her whenever he can. They smile, exchange a small kiss, and she is gone before he even reaches the check in.

I sit next to the boyfriend on the plane. They have been dating for six months, he says. But she just doesn't understand his lifestyle. There is no longer the confident smile that I witnessed just an hour earlier.

As they say... "You can take a girl out of Russia.... But you cannot take Russia out of the girl."

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Utrish

Anapa’s Cooler

Market

The Market

Ecaterina KILIAN Anapa is a mega polis of 60 000 people on the coast of the Black Sea in Russia. I have witnessed many of its facets.

Starting with the fact that I used to lived there and have been going there almost every year, until three years ago.

Any Anapian will tell you that Anapa is better and cooler than anywhere else in the world.

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Rule number one in Anapa – never go to the central beach.

Rule number two – always buy things at the market. Rule number three – eat meat.

The central market in the middle of the city is the best place to get food – fruit, vegetables, meat, dairy, it is all fresh and good quality. You have to be wise. The market is not like any other shopping experience, you have got to have a mouth on you and be able to haggle. If you behave arrogantly, they will at first get tense, than once you push, the price will go down and the best products will come out. Never forget that Anapa is a seasonal city, they make their money during the three months of summer. The market is also where you can find out all the gossip, all news and anything and everything you knew and didn’t about yourself. When I was a kid, I lived in Anapa. When

I was six and seven, I used to ask my parents why they fight with all the salespeople. The answer was easy: ‘Katya, do you like sweet peaches? Well, that’s how you going to get them”. Last time I went there I was 21, and I would argue with all of them, it’s fun and productive.

The Promenade The promenade is the long strip along the sea with entertainment. During the day there are few people as they are all on the beach and it is way too hot to be walking

around. In the evening, on the other side, this is the place where everybody comes to, with restaurants, cafes, attractions for the kids and for adults, bars and clubs, Anapa has it all. The restaurants are mostly all meat restaurants owned by the Caucasian people, that means that any kind of Shashlik (grilled meat on skewers) you get will be delicious. The attractions do look and feel a bit old, but that adds adrenaline to the ride.

The bars and clubs are all open air, and in 2005 when I went to Anapa with a Belgian friend №7(07) 28 July - 10 August 2011

CIS Travel Guide

Anapa’s Promenade

of mine they were playing old music and the DJ was working on something that even from space didn’t resemble music decks. In 2008, nonetheless, a new club ‘Pirate’, had good equipment and good music, they had frequent foam parties and a swimming pool at the club, this was a very special night. I was covered in foam, then walked out, slipped and fell into the pool, and finally when I tried to get out, found a couple doing things that they should not be doing in a public pool! Who needs Ibiza when you got Anapa?

Beaches Anapa has several types of beaches, see above for rule one. The central beach is a trap, this is where old animals go to die. The amount of people leaves no air, no space

and no time. The two closest good beaches are the sandy beach by the Anapka River where all the locals go, and the rocky beach at the end of the promenade where all the rich people go, as this beach is clean and beautiful you have to pay. The Pionerskyi Prospekt (Pioneer Boulevard) is filled with children’s summer camps, they have the best beaches and as no tourist knows about it, the locals go to Anapka, it is often deserted. The water is clean and so is the beach.

Anapa Aquapark

Entertainment The water park in the centre of the city is a lot of fun, it has a good selection of slides and the swimming pools are good too. During July it gets particularly busy. If you travel with children, go there during the day. We went after dark with friends, the park was almost empty and with the lights it was very pretty.

On the outskirts of Anapa, you will find two amazing places – Utrish and Sukko.

Utrish is mostly known for the Dolphin shows. It is the biggest in Russia. They are not only famous for the professionalism of their dolphins but also that all the dolphins are rescued Anapa’s Central Beach

and adopted, they are kept in a semi free environment and none of the dolphins are caged if they want to leave.

Sukko is famous for having three climates all at once. With the sea, the mountains and the desert this place is mostly visited for picnics, hikes and romantic walks.

Anapa is very close to my heart, the many memories I have, bring me back to this place. When I was a kid, we lived in a flat there, our building and the one in front of us was very close which meant all the kids would play together. We were always rescuing cats and found homes for the kittens. This is Sukko

№7(07) 28 July - 10 August 2011

the city where I learned basic English, and this is where I was introduced to London. The school still exists and it is still one of the best in the private sector in Anapa. My recent memories are about coming back here for holidays with the atrocious behaviour of the Russian people, their rudeness and many other things that I love and that no one but a Russian would understand. In 2005 I brought a friend from Europe with me, Anapa was surprised to see someone different come to visit, as was my friend. Everything is so different now. Who is to decide what is normal and what is not anyway?

Review

Tiny Mexico in Moscow

Anastasia GRISHCHENKO Do you want to feel like you are in Mexico when in Moscow? To eat well cooked fajitas and quesadilla; cactus burrito and nachos with guacamole; drink margaritas or shots of tequila; listen to the sweet sounds of guitar and dance to crazy Latin rhythms? In the centre of Moscow there is “Don Burrito”, a Mexican restaurant recently opened by the actor Sergei Gazarov. It is the Caribbean in miniature. Great Mexican food is accompanied by live music, melodies from Central and Latin America and…jazz.

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On the walls hand painted from floor to ceiling are palm trees, men with moustaches smoking cigars, beautiful girls in gigantic cocktail glasses (reminds me of Dita Von Teese).

There are hanging sombreros in leather, velvet, multicoloured and decorated with paillettes.

Also garlands, baseball helmets with bats, flags, colourful t-shirts and posters. This is all very organically arranged, so that you’ll want to say “where am I?!” It doesn’t seem like vain Moscow at all, but rather like somewhere far away in Central America, at a house party.

Immanuel Kant once said “that every man prefers a good meal without music over music without a good meal”. Here you will not have to choose between the two as the restaurant has already acquired itself a reputation as a versatile “Don Burrito”

music place with all kinds of genuine music of the Americas: bossa-nova, Latin, rumba, jazz, reggae and others. By the way, should you happen to start dancing with the Hispanic rhythms, you will definitely be appreciated! The relaxing atmosphere of the restaurant welcomes you; it works better than any resort. It’s a fact! You can’t refrain from moving to the music and shouldn’t! “Don Burrito” hosts Latin, hustle and salsa dance parties, where the tables are rearranged and the Moscow restaurant resembles the beach at Copacabana at its best, having attracted world celebrities, it became home to many writers, artists and musicians.

The recipe of adding a bit of music to everything goes hand-to-hand with the Mexicans – the life there has

been surrounded by music and dance for centuries, long before the Spanish came.

Now Moscow residents can appreciate this simple but no less excellent formula, in which music is an ingredient of special importance. The owners try to make their “musical menu” as rich as possible with Cuban music, moving and sad Mariachi songs of unaccomplished love, bright samba and romantic Dominican bachata.

It is all about Jazz Jazz is also played here.

Recently, the owner’s son Pyotr Gazarov – a saxophonist and a graduate of the prestigious New School University in New York, plays his shows here.

Such a family concept of a business (his elder brother Nikita does web support) is not very common in Russia, as it is in Europe. Because of this and having attended one of his concerts, I couldn’t help asking him to tell me more about the business. This young man does not only play his instrument brilliantly but also actively participates in the family business.

Pyotr, your place looks great. As you come in you feel you’re inside a rainbow of colours. Beautiful authentic decorations, different items of the Mexican lifestyle - many of those are handmade. Where are they from?

PG: Almost all of them my father and I brought over from New York and Los Angeles or asked friends to do so for us. I also ordered items from

№7(07) 28 July - 10 August 2011

Pyotr Gazarov

specialist companies selling imported Mexican gifts. Imagine how much luggage we had!

In general, who is responsible for the idea and concept of this place? Who created the design and everything?

PG: Well, my father had most of the ideas, just like he does with all of his restaurants and has done really well. His wife Elena helped a lot in bringing those ideas to life. It was, for instance, when creating his other restaurant “Silk Rice” he went to Uzbekistan several times, ordered china and items of décor, even found a chef there and brought the guy back with him to Moscow. To my mind, the design of that restaurant is outstanding, Central Asian style merged with contemporary fusion – it’s a unique thing in Moscow.

Great interior is definitely important. But, as you know, a restaurant starts with the cuisine…

PG: My father made sure that what is being served on the guest’s plate is always of very good quality. He consistently plays a leading role in making decisions over the contents of the menu and sometimes even creates dishes himself.

He simply enjoys it. There are very few places around in the

price range of “Don Burrito” that are, so to speak, made with love. Mostly those are multibranch places which focus on promotion and advertising, but often serve absolute rubbish.

Father’s audience is not as large, however these people come back again not because it’s convenient or a good “saver deal” to dine in Moscow for 600 roubles, but because it’s exclusive.

Tell me what is happening in the restaurant musically?

PG: At the moment there is live music three to five nights a week. We have different genre or event-oriented parties. Live bands perform, as well as DJs and even dancers, all kinds of groups go onstage, they play

mostly music from around the Caribbean and Latin America.

When I come back from New York, I perform here - I invite the best jazz musicians around, among the young generation, then we have a slightly different audience. In September when people come back from vacation we plan to have something special every night and make it a regular event so that people know what we "serve" on a given night of the week.

You went all the way to New York by yourself and graduated from a renowned jazz college there. How was this experience for you?

PG: I came to witness what jazz is - so to say, the fountainhead for it. I was

Tiny Mexico

№7(07) 28 July - 10 August 2011

looking to experience the people, conditions, language and notions of the culture and environment where this music came from. It was such a big learning curve for me. Life in New York itself affected me greatly! When there's so much you want to see and at the same time - when you don't know which concert to attend on any given night because you want to check out five different groups… It makes you want to work throughout the day in order to play along-side these great musicians!

Tell me which of the contemporary directions in jazz do you relate to most?

PG: I love the situation when improvised music is merged with written music. This is the big trend now. I still like this despite the fact these things more often than not are not so interesting or successful.

But you know, the style of music is not a turning point in collaborations with musicians for me, styles can be learnt.

I know great performers working in distant and foreign musical cultures from the ones I do, such as Indian classical music, but I still want to play with them, even if learning their "language" will take me many years.

27

Street Chic

Young and Bright Who is the most popular Russian person?

Katy Brown, 27 years, online fashion editor from primarktoprada.com, gilet homemade, playsuit Urban Outfitters, necklace Chanel, watch Michael Kors, shoes Topshop, bag Tkmaxx.

Georgia, 27 years, lawyer, dress Miss Selfridge, bag and shoes Topshop, hat handmade.

Abramovich

Joey Bambi Haines, 30 years, Producer on ITV, T-shirt Birmingham, leggings Topshop, shoes Brick Lane, bag Balenciaga.

No idea

28

Laura, 21 years, student, jacket Caran, shoes DM, leggings Basso & Brooke, top Urban Outfitters, bag Ebay.

Arshavin

No idea

Soraya, 23 years, waitress, dress – Bershka, bag Clarks, shoes My Cool Way.

Putin

Ben, 34 years, piercer, trousers Topman, shirt Mesh, hoodie Urban Outfitters, belt Alexander McQueen.

Medvedev

â„–7(07) 28 July - 10 August 2011

Photographer: Anton Phatianov

www.onanton.co.uk

Edward Campbell, 23 years, strategic planner/digital communicator, shoes Timberland, trousers st Augustine Academy, shirt Loft Design By.

Putin

Cee Cee O’Neal, 23 years, runway coach/ stylist, bag Vivienne Westwood, t-shirt Desu Lui, trousers H&M, shoes Jerry Williamson.

Medvedev

№7(07) 28 July - 10 August 2011

Mary Ocher, 24 years, musician from Berlin, shoes Tel Aviv, socks market in Berlin, top H&M, skirt from a squat Zurich, leggings – from an early childhood collection.

Hannah Greenock, 20 years, fashion intern, scarf/dress/bag – vintage, skirt H&M.

Ian Carlyle, 41 years, singer/actor, jeans and boots – All saints, t-shirt Topman.

Faten Alhaddad, 26 years, lawyer, dress Miss Selfridges, flip-flop Primark, bag/cardigan Topshop.

Gorbachev

Gorbachev

Arshavin

Arshavin

29

Sport

Poker of Wing Peelers European 7’s Champions Trophy was held in Moscow on the 2-3 of July. Russian team "VVAPodmoskovie" for the fourth time won in the final in a match with their compatriots from "Imperia" (Penza) with the score 28:21.

“Yug” player Alexey Lizogub scores a try

“VVA-Podmoskovie” Capitain Dmitry Perov holds the Trophy Pursuit, pursuit, pursuit..."Denis Trotskanov (“Imperia”, Penza) tries to catch up with Alexey Andreyev (with a ball) from "VVA-Podmoskovie"

Emotional outburst. Alexey Alexeyenko, Krasnodar "Yug" Head coach (in the photo at left) demonstrates his disagreement with the referee’s decision

"VVA-Podmoskovie", winners of the European 7’s Champions Trophy

Finnish club "Helsinki" finished at the bottom of the tournament list and got a wooden spoon as a memorial gift

30

№7(07) 28 July - 10 August 2011

"VVA-Podmoskovie" Head coach Michail Cherkovsky

Referee is relentless – yellow cards and misconduct penalty for two minutes

Silver champions "Imperia" (Penza)

The player from Lithuanian "Vairas" flies over his opponent from Ukrainian "Kredo-63"

Swiss "Lausanne" came in 9th place and got a Bowl

Yury Gostyuzhev and his team had to shed sweat and blood for victory

The players of Latvian "Miesnieki" prepare for the game

Moments before the finals. Captains of "VVA-Podmoskovie" Dmitry Perov (left) and "Imperia" Sergey Yanyushkin shake hands

European 7’s Champions Trophy Final. "VVAPodmoskove" – "Imperia", 28:21. Sergey Nozhkin (with the ball) tackled Yury Gostyuzhev from VVA (on the left) and Alexander Zorin in a struggle for the ball

31

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