Russia
Special Edition Interview with the Russian Ambassador in Italy H.E. S. S. Razov The Italian-Russian Chamber Of Commerce
Free Press trimestrale Agosto/Ottobre 2016
Russian Centre For Science And Culture In Rome
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Editorial by Mrs. Barbara Ganetti
The Progress Time is on line journalistic medium addressed to Italians and to the international diplomatic audience. The main purpose is to disseminate and to approach worldwide cultures, in fact, the magazine provides geo-environmental maps of micro territories in order to deepen knowledge at a macro level, whereby the contribution of different economic and commercial viewpoints. In this issue Russia Special Edition we are glad to propose an interesting article wrote by the H.E. Ambassador H.E. S. S. Razov, belonging to the Embassy of Russia in Italy . The text demonstrates the intense relationship between Russia and Italy highlighting cultural and commercial collaborations which include values exchange. Enjoy the read.
Sommary 8
Interview With The Russian Ambassador In Italy H.e. S. S. Razov
25
The Activities Of Fondazione Umberto Veronesi
13
The Italian-Russian Chamber Of Commerce
31
The Elegance In A Hand
17
Russian Centre For Science And Culture In Rome
22
Florence Memorial Ekaterina Yurevna Genieva
8
13
17
22
THE PROGRESS TIME Free Press on line trimestrale Agosto/Ottobre 2016 Aut.Trib. di Arezzo n. 4/13RS del23/07/2013 Aut. Modifiche dal Tribunale di Arezzo del 02/07/2015 EDITOR Mr. Ivan De Stefano EDITOR IN CHIEF Mrs. Barbara Ganetti GRAPHIC & WEB DESIGNER Mr. Dario Migliaccio TRASLATOR Ms. Giulia Ruzzenenti QUESTO NUMERO È STATO FINITO DI IMPAGINARE IL 2/08/2016 CONTATTI editore@theprogresstime.com - direzione@theprogresstime.com
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31
L’Ambasciata della Federazione Russa nella Repubblica Italiana
INTERVIEW WITH THE RUSSIAN AMBASSADOR IN ITALY: H.E. S. S. RAZOV by Ivan De Stefano
H.E., how long have you been working in Italy? Do you like our country?
Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Russian Federation in Italy, Mr. Sergei RAZOV.
My mission in Italy started in 2013, until then I had been representing Russian interests in China – I have dedicated 12 years of my life to that country – as well as in Mongolia and in Poland. As my transfer from Beijing to Rome was quite on a tight timetable, I for a joke summarize my last 10 years of diplomatic activity in one geographical term “Citalia”. As for my attitude to your country, I like anyone who is perceptive to the global culture have yielded to the Italian charm, as beyond its numerous and praised climatic and culinary qualities Italy is the successor of the great Roman Empire, the concentration of remarkable cultural and civil heritage. It is a pleasure to admit that many of my compatriots share my feelings toward your country, among them, I can mention, without any particular effort, the writers N. Gogol, M. Gorkij and P. Muratov. I would like to quote a passage of the Russian Philosopher N. Berdjaev, from his work “The Sentiment of Italy”: “… the Russian nostalgia for Italy is a creative one, a nostalgia for the free abundance of strength, a nostalgia for the sunny happiness, for the precious beauty. And Italy has to become an eternal part of the Russian soul. With Italy we heal the sufferings of our soul, defaced by the Russian sick conscience, eternal sense of responsibility for the world destinies, for everyone and for everything”. Which are the initiatives organized by the embassy for the year 2016-2017 in the cultural and touristic field? As before, culture remains one of the priorities of the Russian-Italian cooperation. The museums exchanges are dynamically developing. Recently, in the Venaria Palace near Turin, the exhibit “La grandezza della corte. I Romanov e il palazzo imperiale di Peterhof” has been inaugurated; to present unique masterpieces coming from Russian museum’s collections for the first time in Italy. In September, in the A.S. Pushkin State Museum of
In July, Italian spectators and people from all over the world admired,at the “Festival dei due mondi” in Spoleto, some exhibitions by the State Academic Theater E.B. Vakhtangov. I think the names of illustrious personalities from the Russian art such as V.A. Gergiev, JU. KH. Temirkhanov, JU. A. Bashmet, S.JU. Zakhavova, that often perform in Italy, will help to convince your readers to our desire to bring to Italy only our best. Which are the structural reforms that the Russian government is realizing in order to relaunch the economic growth?
Fine Arts will be inaugurated an exposition of Raffaello’s works, dedicated to the 500th anniversary from the death of the Renaissance great master. In 2017 a V.V. Kandinskij exposition is planned in the Museum of Cultures in Milan, where there are works from the collections of the State Tretjakov Gallery, the State Hermitage Museum and the Russian Museum. We cannot forget the modern art. In particular, next October in Rome, the “Outdoor Festival” will allow the public to see works from young painters of the Saint Petersburg Street Art Museum. In June, the Bolshoj and La Scala theaters signed an important agreement providing tours in Russia and in Italy.
In the background of a global economic and financial stagnation, an adverse conjunction of the energetic markets and some sectorial limitations caused by the penalties inflicted to our country, we are able to proceed with our economic development. The government dynamic activity allows to avoid a critical worsening of the socio-economic situation, to attenuate the effects of a sharp and temporary growth of the interest rates for the most vulnerable sectors of the Russian economy, to sustain high technologies exportation projects and import substitution and, regarding the social policy, to concentrate the resources on the support of the most vulnerable group of the society. Action plan was ratified last March; it is intended to guarantee a stable socio-economic development
Sanpietroburgo
INNOPROM-2016 International Industrial Trade Fair
of the country in 2016. Simultaneously with a concrete anti-crisis reaction, the plan provides the realization of structural measures in order to diversify the economy and the creation of conditions necessary to trace the path for a strong economic growth, in a medium-term perspective. Moreover, measures addressed to prevent the appearance of irreversible crisis have been prepared. They are for those economy sectors that have a considerable effect on the development of the activities (automobiles’ production, residential construction industry and light industry) and for those sectors that are fundamental for the food security and the social stability (agriculture and medicines’ commercialization). The instruments which are able to guarantee more favorable conditions to business, the enhancement of the regulatory environment, the support of the small and medium sized firms, the import substitution and the product exportation will be employed for a structural review of the economic development model. An ambitious aim has been set: to increase the Russian non-energy products exportation rate on at least 6% per year. To this purpose, an expansion of the instruments to support the non-oil companies on the global markets has been planned. A fundamental element of the anti-crisis policy is the incentive to the investments in favor of the technological modernization, the industry relaunch and the stable improvement of the investments’ climate. In my opinion, Italian entrepreneurs should draw an easy conclusion from the abovementioned Russian government priorities: it is necessary to orient the production localization to Russia, it is necessary to pass from the “Made in Italy” to the “Made with Italy”. The
production costs and the capital funds in euros are at their lowest level ever and the economy as well as the market will grow consequently. This is the most favorable moment for the investments and we have to take advantage. How does the Russian government want to attract foreign investments? Firstly, through the expansion of the access to favorable investments toward the introduction of a project financing mechanism, especially in the industry sector. This mechanism assumes the long-term resources concession, in addition to flexible conditions for the achievement of credits, not too onerous for the investor. Secondly, creating a positive environment in order to help the birth of new firms that start from zero. Tax reliefs will be guaranteed to the so-called “Greenfield”, within the limits of their investments amount. Thirdly, increasing the capitalization of Russian banking and financial institutions systemically relevant, thanks to the conversion of credits subjected of preferential shares. This operation will permit to banks the expansion of the economy financing opportunities and it will make the credit less expensive. Lastly, simplifying the selection of the investments projects process and the concession of state guarantees procedure. It is not insignificant that we have taxes among the lowest in Europe as well as quality and times for state services and legal proceedings are constantly improving. In my opinion, these elements, combined with our low production costs, show that we have a really attractive and promising profile for foreign investments.
The Russian culture has several centuries - old traditions and for many it is synonymous with the mastery of highest degree. How much does your country invest in higher education system and scientific research? Education is one of the fundamental priorities of the Russian policy. In 2015, the cost of this entry in the balance sheet was about 3 trillion rubles. A medium-term program for the construction of schools, kindergartens and buildings for cadets is implemented. A specific attention is dedicated to human resources, including the teachers’ qualifications. One of the main objectives is the higher education support: in this sector we foresee that at least five Russian universities could be among the 100 best universities of the world, within 2020. As for the scientific research, today I can say the Russian research centers are actively collaborating with foreign partners and several projects are realized with Italy. For example, mentioned could be the project of “Ignitor”, a nuclear reactor, the cooperation in the space research and much more. Which mid-term and long-term projects are under realization in Russia concerning high technologies and renewable energies?
Almost a half of the energy consumed by our country is produced from gas, about another third from hydroelectric plants and nuclear stations. In fact, as our country has a leading role in the world for its reserves and extractions from any type of traditional power source, we do not have a strong economic and environmental need of “green-energy”, as for example Italy. Nevertheless, Russia has a high potentiality for alternative sources development. According to our data, in Russia the resource amount in this sector represents at least24 billion tons of equivalent combustible. During the realization of promising projects, the single characteristics of every region are taken into account. For example, the sun-powered heating is widely spread in the Krasnodar and Buriatia region: in the Russian Far East, the construction of 178 solar and wind plants with a power of 146 MW is foreseen. In the years 2013-2015, 187 billion rubles have been invested in developing the generation of alternative sources of energy process, 155 of those in solar energy. Russia pays specific attention to international collaboration in sectors like research and innovation. Today, some projects for the building of combined nuclear power stations are being realized in India, Vietnam, Brazil and Argentina.
MORO REAL ESTATE 02/58328574 WWW.MOROREALESTATE.COM INFO@MOROREALESTATE.COM VIA LAMARMORA 4, 20122 MILANO (ITALIA)
INTERVIEW WITH THE PRESIDENT OF THE ITALIAN-RUSSIAN CHAMBER OF COMMERCE (CCIR), MR. ROSARIO ALESSANDRELLO by Barbara Ganetti
Dear President, how long have you been holding this position at the Italian-Russian Chamber of Commerce?
President of CCIR, Rosario Alessandrello.
I have been President of CCIR for 25 years, but I want to clarify that trade exchange between the two Countries dates back to Tsars’ time. For instance in the 19th century, during Tsarina Caterina reign, a farming community from Sicily, Apulia, Liguria moved to Crimea to plant citruses, olive trees and vineyards. In fact Crimea, the peninsula on the Black Sea, was suitable to this type of plantation having climatic conditions similar to the temperatures of the Southern part of Italy. From the beginning of the 20th century up to now trade exchange between the two countries has largely increased, which gave birth to CCIR. When was CCIR founded? Can You explain us its purpose? CCIR was founded in 1964 under the name of Italian-Soviet Chamber of Commerce (Camera di Commercio Italo-Sovietica). For half a century it has been an active witness of the evolution of institutional, economical, commercial and cultural relationships between Italy and USSR firstly and Russian Federation later. Its steady support to entrepreneurs and its provision of services to the economic players of Italy and Russia still make it an important point of reference to those who operate in the markets of both Countries. What are the opportunities for Italian investments in Russia today and in which areas? In the last 15 years the Russian Federation has adopted a strategy of economic and political steadiness:
lian enterprises have begun to search for Russian partners and started to invest, trying to maintain the previous export volume, (taking advantage of lower Russian tax rates as well as energy costs). Therefore we may say that the presence of Italian companies in Russia did not decrease much in the last period. In the economic and industrial fields, how is Italy perceived by Russia for short -and longterm investments at the moment? In the middle, the President of the Chamber and his staff
Putin’s government renationalized and reorganized the whole segment of raw materials of that country (gas, oil, gold, copper, nickel, etc…), renegotiating trade exchange with private Russian agents (who, between 1991 and 2000, owned about the 80% of industrial goods of the Country). This process led to wage stability and a growth rate of the country up to 7% per year between 2000 and 2010. Now, through economic sanctions, the government wants to boost manufacturing, totally or partially on the Russian territory, of many raw materials imported also from Italy. It’s clear that in this situation Ita-
Despite the 2008 global crisis, commercial exchanges between the two Countries kept increasing until 2013. After the “Sanctions” trade exchange collapsed more than 50% from 2013 to June 2016. In the Russian market the most appealing Italian companies are those working in the mechanic industry, selling pharmaceutical active principles, fashion, furnishings and agribusiness commodities. Made-in-Italy mechanics together with semi-finished products represent more than 50% of whole Italian export towards Russia, not to mention the strong request for Italian know-how in high-precision mechanical manufacturing. In which specific direction is headed Your association?
CCIR Shareholders’ meeting – 31st of May, 2016, Moscow, headquarter of Russian Federation’s TPP
From left to right: Italian Ambassador in Moscow C. Ragaglini, President of TPP of Russian Federation S. Katyrin, Russian Foreign Minister S. Lavrov, CCIR’s President R. Alessandrello and Russian Foreign Deputy Minister A. Meshkov. - © Foreign Ministry of Russian Federation CCIR is validated by both Italian and Russian governments, its support activity is based on constant and close relationships with Embassies, Ministries and other Institutions of the two Countries building concrete business synergies, in particular organizing and coordinating various B2B meetings both in Russia and in Italy, encouraging dialogue and subscriptions of cooperation agreements. As a demonstration, the first Economical and Commercial Counsellor of Italian Embassy in Moscow and the President of Commercial Representation at Russian Federation Embassy in Rome are Members of the Board of Directors of CCIR. Which are the advantages that an Italian company could have joining the Italian-Russian Chamber?
CCIR offers services to the companies that want to develop their business on the Italian and Russian markets. The range of services, mostly provided to the Members of the Chamber, is the following: organization of business visits and events (workshops, conventions and seminars, training meetings, tastings and show-cookings, fashion shows, etc…); logistic support to entrepreneurs in visiting fairs and exhibitions and selection of buyers for the exhibition companies; market surveys and potential business partner research; legal, tax, customs, EurAsEc certifications and declarations of conformity consulting; business visa support; company registration certificates and balancesheet; technical and logistical support on site, promotional activity via Chamber’s website (www.ccir.it) and monthly newsletter.
The Italian Premier Matteo Renzi visiting the International Economic Forum of Saint Petersburg 2016
CENTRO RUSSO DI SCIENZA E CULTURA ITALIA
RUSSIAN CENTRE FOR SCIENCE AND CULTURE IN ROME An interview with representative Mr.Oleg Ossipov by Ivan De Stefano
Distinguished Mr. Ossipov, cultural bonds between Russia and Italy date back over 500 years ago, what intercultural projects stand as basis to the connection Russia/Italy nowadays?
Representative, Mr.Oleg Ossipov.
The connections’ history between Russia and the Country of the Apennines’ peninsula is an ancient and eventful one. During the 12th century zar Aleksej Michajlovic sent in Venice the first Russian ambassador, Ivan Cemodanov. But even before an envoy of venetian Doge visited Russia. Later in 15th century came in Italy from Russia iron, hemp, linen, hides, wax, furs, caviar. Merchants from Italy brought oil, silk, wool, dried fruit, lemons, chocolate but also tissues, statues, mosaics, prints. Both life and works of many exponents of Russian culture are bond to Italy. Gogol’ wrote in Rome the final chapters of “Dead Souls”. Karl Brjullov, author of “The last day of Pompeii” was acclaimed by Italians in the streets. Ivan Turgenev started in Rome the novel “A noble nest”. In Florence Dostoevskij completed the drawing up of the novel “The Idiot”. Composer Petr Cajkosvkij was inspired by Florence and Naples. Another Russian composer, Michail Glinka, had an excellent mastery of Italian tongue. The demonstration of the steadiness and solidity of cultural connections between the two Countries was the year 2011, that was declared Year of Russian culture and tongue in Italy and Year of Italian culture and tongue in Russia. Italian is studied in about a sixties schools in different Russian cities. Moreover twinnings are born between schools that communicate virtually to realize teaching programs in common. A basic support in developing bilateral relationships is given from Federal Agency Rossotrudnichestvo, from Foundation “Russkij mir” and from Italian Culture Institute in Moscow and St. Pietroburgo. In 2011 was inaugurated in Rome the Russian Culture and Science Centre. In 2010 Italy and Russia have also subscribed the Agreement of Acknowledge for attesting qualifica-
tions which, however, hasn’t been ratified from the Italian part yet. Closer interparliamentary relationships could encourage an acceleration in the ratifying process. This would mean an increase in mobility for graduates because they could continue their formation in the chosen Country freely and undertake the research course of study, the master. The students’ mobility realized during the process of Bologna should be integrated with bonds and interactions at the professors’ level, an essential thing to do to settle curricula and, then, intensify the double degrees practise. Tourism needs a special attention. Italian travellers should visit not only Moscow and St. Pietroburgo, but also other cities which can claim a rich history. This is the way to develop cultural tourism, to give the chance to know thorough the faceted history and culture of Russia. Inside the to-do matters we would have information campaigns to carry on in many Italian regions to suggest and show to Italian people some itineraries in Russia. But first of all sanctions and countersanctions should be abolished as they cause our Countries billionaire damages. I personally know some Italian tour operators that have been ruined by such a politic. I hope their misfortunes could end soon. Nowadays about 30 subjects of Russian federation have signed agreements with Italian regions. Regional administrations should implement the experience of those who
produced specialised agencies for the attraction of investments and the support of investors. Between the targets of those agencies there are: the spreading information about the attractiveness of Russian Federation’s subjects, the detection and captivation of investors, the developing favourable trends in cooperation and the formation of substructures to sustain concrete projects.
Russian Cultural Centre features a library with more than 5000 literary issues and many excellent courses such as dancing, children’s theatre, singing, acting and Russian tongue. Can you deepen about the standards of selection of teachers and about the level of preparation you do guarantee to aspirants? We enlace work relationships only with professionals, as we are first of all responsible for those who attend our courses and studies. Between our art pupils there are a lot of children and children, you know, sense falsity straight away. Besides we favour as co-operators our fellow citizens: we are a Russian Culture Centre, then also art subjects are taught in a “Russian key”. We were bound to reject proposals to start courses of Argentinean tango, Irish step and more, including the proposal of a Canadian TV journalist.
We are strongly convinced that also Russian tongue teaching requires a mother tongue, it can’t have just an excellent formation. Indeed we invited to coordinate the Russian courses Irina Dvizova, who teaches since years at the Università degli Studi in Florence. She has a structural and applied linguistic degree awarded with magna cum laude at Foreign Tongues Institutes of Minks. After she moved to Italy she accomplished the course of study in Letters at Florence’s University graduating with 110 and praise in Slavic philology. Her interests go from intercultural communication to literature’s translation. The “Orfeo” sing school is lead by Julija Zykova, graduated cum laude at Russian drama arts Academy (GITIS). Leading acting school “Actors’ Academy” is Natalia Florenskaja, graduated cum laude at Russian cinematography Public University (VGIK). Also the artistic director of the dance school “Joy” Tatiana Chuprina, Ukrainian citizen, has a degree cum laude. Creator and curator of Painting school is Daria Stepanova, designer who has studied at Moscow Design and Services Public University.
The culture of a Nation is the heritage on which is founded the spiritual and formative enrichment of future generations, may we esteem a Country’s culture as the highest economic value to invest on? I would avoid to refer to culture in terms of a potential of investments. Artworks sprout in an inspiration’s surge, they hold a supreme enlightening. In those instants the last worry of all for an authentic composer, artist or writer is the thought about his masterwork’s quotation on auction. Rather his mind is on the Beautiful Lady or inspired by his country’s army triumph on the enemy. I am leaving behind mass-culture whose meaning is, in the end, to obtain profits. About financing culture, in my opinion, the establishment should produce the habitat where talented people can realize themselves. History tells us that often masterpieces were conceived and realized in garrets or dark basements, or again in garages, and that their authors were vagabonds before being renowned. In human history there were periods of darkness
but also of enlightening, joy, happiness: just think about Renaissance or fifties-seventies years of 20th century. What is due to Neorealism in Italian cinema and the cinematographic boom in other European countries? San Remo festival’s success? The flourishing of literature, arts and design during the sixties? Reasons are that 20 years later the most bloodshed war in humanity history Europe and the whole world had recovered: hereafter a peaceful life were unravelling. Answering your question I may say that in present conditions of oppressing conscience, of disregard, of total absence of spirituality, of the poor hoax given by Internet and mass-medias, of the storming of consumer’s “culture” and insipid TV serials the new Leonardo and Puskin will struggle to be born.
How does Your Country stimulate international university formation? Russian universities admit regularly foreign students following bilateral agreements between athenaeums at favourable conditions from the point of view of courses’ expenses, of room and board. But since some years, thanks to Russian government’s decisions, there is the chance to study in Russia for free. Requiring and acceptation’s procedure is simplified by informative portal www.russia.study. Russian centres for Culture and Science have in this venture a basic role: they spread information and they enter in the applicant’s selection. In the last three years Russian federation has accepted enquiries from 15 thousands foreign citizens per year. As for formation areas it would be difficult to list them all: from engineering courses to natural sciences, from mathematic studies to philology and russistic, from medicine to culture.
Russian technology and research are world-classes, on which new projects Your Country is aiming to, for medium- and long-terms? In Russia the 8th February is Science Day. On this recurrence are remembered various savants whose science’s provision is invaluable: from Lomonosov to Lev Landau. Past Russian science’s triumphs are honoured too. Russia is the birth land of biosphere theory, here the first artificial satellite
was launched (indeed, Russian word “Sputnik” is worldwide), here the first nuclear power-plant were projected and activated. Since the scuttle in 90ies and the crisis in 2008, nowadays in Russia are refreshing industries and sciences, also high-tech. In 2000-2010 decade physics from Reunited Institute for Nuclear Research in Dubna (near Moscow) obtained 6 of the heaviest chemical elements with numbers 113-118. Two of those elements have already been named: element 114 – Flerovio, element 116 – Livermorio. On 7th June at Irkutsk was introduced the new medium-range passenger plane MS-21, that can be used in every climate area without seasonal interruptions. There have been built 2 kinds of aero-bus: the first is designed to charge from 132 to 165 passengers, while the second one can hold from 163 to 211 people. Planes’ family MS-21 is realized to replace the today pool of Tu-204, Tu-154B/M and their occidental counterparts: Boeing 737 and A320. Lately the prime minister of Russia, Dimitrij Medvedev signed the Decree about guarantees on leasing purchasing of short-track passengers’ planes
Sukhoi Superjet-100. On May the first Sukhoi Superjet-100 were delivered to Irish airline CityJet. In 2010 Siberian archaeologists, led by academic Anatolij Derevjanko, discovered, during excavations in the cave Denisova in Altaj, some remnants of an extinct human kind. Until that moment scholars knew only two kinds of superior ancient humanity: Cro-Magnon and Neanderthal man, but GNA examination of the Siberian find confirmed: 40 thousands years ago in Eurasian continent lived a third kind called, accordingly, Denisova Man. On 28th April was launched, successfully, the first spaceship from Cosmodrome “Vostocnyj”, situated in far east. This is the first Russian Cosmodrome of civil aeronautic. As before we remain leaders in military aviation and in producing helicopters, in metalworker industries for nuclear segment and in piloted spaceships. Our KAMAZ use to win Dakar’s races, rocket-launchers for antiaircraft defence Triumf have no equals for accuracy, while submariners Kilo-class are the most silent in the world.
FLORENCE MEMORIAL EKATERINA YUREVNA GENIEVA A Florentine day to honour her human commitment to dialogue among cultures: Fondazione Romualdo Del Bianco dedicates to her memory the renaissance courtyard of Palazzo Coppini by Ivan De Stefano
On June 16, in Florence took place a day of events to remember Ekaterina Yurevna Genieva, director-general of the All-Russia State Library for Foreign Literature “M. Rudomino” in Moscow and president of the Open Society - Russia (SOROS Foundation), who left us last July. The celebrations of the day were promoted by the Rudomino Library and Yegor Gaidar Foundation of Moscow, in agreement with Ekaterina Yurevna Genieva’s family and following the will of the Centro Congressi al Duomo CCAD in Florence, acting in synergy with the Fondazione Romualdo Del Bianco® – Life Beyond Tourism®, with an aim of
paying tribute to Ekaterina’s work in the name of knowledge, dialogue and respect among cultures. The Fondazione Romualdo Del Bianco® – Life Beyond Tourism® had a privilege of collaborating with Ekaterina on numerous occasions and, for this reason, proposed to the Centro Congressi al Duomo, which accepted the proposal, to dedicate to her memory the renaissance courtyard of Palazzo Coppini – International Meeting and Study Centre, headquarter of the Foundation itself. For a long time the Centro Congressi al Duomo has been dedicating its most important areas to the names of relevant personalities
who contributed significantly to the valorisation of their territories and to dialogue among cultures. One of the latest memory ceremonies was a dedication of one of the halls of Auditorium al Duomo, via de’ Cerretani 54r, to the Florentine Giuliano Borselli. The ceremony of June 16 in Palazzo Coppini was preceded by a donation of a sculpture by the Russian artist Stepan Mokrousov to the Museo Casa di Dante and by a Round Table at the Auditorium al Duomo with the participation of Russian and Italian experts on the theme of intercultural dialogue, and with a particular reference to the work of the director Ekaterina Genieva and
the recent publication of the book “World Heritage Sites for Dialogue” by the Centro Congressi al Duomo that focuses on the same theme, to which Ekaterina had largely contributed. During the Round Table, the recent editions of the historical magazine “Viestnik Evropy” were donated by the Yegor Gaidar Foundation of Moscow (of which Ekaterina Genieva was counsellor and initiator of reprinting since 1981) to the Gabinetto Scientifico LetterarioVieusseux in Florence. Lastly, a photo exhibition dedicated to Ekaterina was held in Palazzo Coppini thanks to the materials provided by the Yegor Gaidar Foundation. Among the participants of the events of the day were: vice president of Fondazione Romualdo Del Bianco® – Life Beyond Tourism®, Carlotta Del Bianco; president of Tuscany Regional Council, Eugenio Giani; president of Culture Commission of the Municipality of Florence, Maria Federica Giuliani; president of the Florentine Union Museo Casa di Dante, Silvano Fei; Ambassador of the Russian Federation to the Holy See, Alexander Avdeev; director of the Public Historic Library of Moscow, Mikhail Afanasiev; executive director of the Yegor Gaidar Foundation of Moscow, Irina Buylova; editor-in-chief of the ‘Vestnik Evropy’ magazine, Victor Yaroshenko; director of the State Institute of Arts in Moscow, Natalia Sipovskaya; director of the Russian Cultural Center in Tel-Aviv, Natalia Yakimchuk.
MORO REAL ESTATE 02/58328574 WWW.MOROREALESTATE.COM INFO@MOROREALESTATE.COM VIA LAMARMORA 4, 20122 MILANO (ITALIA)
THE ACTIVITIES OF FONDAZIONE UMBERTO VERONESI by Ivan De Stefano
Since its establishment, the ultimate goal of Fondazione Veronesi has been the promotion of scientific progress, as an asset for the well-being of individuals as well as the ethical, civil and social growth of the community. “Science must always be beneficial for human beings and work alongside them” - says its founder Umberto Veronesi - “We are therefore called to protect the central role of individuals and search for solutions and strategies to improve our lives, offering new hopes for the present and to our future generations.” Founder, Umberto Veronesi.
At the heart of the Foundation’s hard work is scientific research, free from barriers or constraints. We invest in talented young researchers from all over the world who search for new answers to the latest scientific challenges by means of innovative and high profile projects. These research projects focuses is on prevention and detection of cancer and modern diseases, in the pursuit of increasingly effective treatments using cutting-edge techniques for the benefit of the whole community. With its unique background, Fondazione Umberto Veronesi has ventured well beyond the scientific laboratories and has chosen to promote the social and educational role of science. Professor Veronesi adds, “Scientific thinking has an ethical value and must contribute to the moral, human and civil growth of mankind and of Earth, participating in the debates on the protection of basic human rights and joining forces for the universal good, which refers to the common good and the domain of relationships among people.” As a young, determined and dynamic entity, Fondazione Umberto Veronesi relies on a number of high-profile figures so as to broaden the goals, achievements and prospects of science. From No-
bel Prize laureates to social, political, scientific and socio-economic personalities, from committees to official bodies and institutions, the partners of Fondazione Umberto Veronesi help us spread our message, which says that scientific progress is an expression of the constant improvement and evolution of knowledge, aimed at building constructive dialogue and communication to stifle non-scientific prejudices. Fondazione Veronesi is an outstanding reality, thanks to its emphasis on a human-oriented science and its extraordinary founder. Its actions focus on strengthening international scientific cooperation, promoting innovation in technology and raising awareness on the benefits of research and science as future prerequisites in every human activity.
THE 2016 GRANTS RESEARCH IS KEY FOR PROGRESS: INVESTING IN THE FUTURE Grants are allocated to young researchers working on ground-breaking projects in the areas of oncology, chronic and cardiovascular diseases, neuroscience, prevention and nutrigenomics.
THE NUMBERS OF RESEARCH: PROJECTS SPONSORED IN 2016 Milan, 27 April 2016 – 130 research grants assigned to post-doctoral researchers, 17 to PhD students at the European School of Molecular Medicine (SEMM), 16 clinical training and specialization scholarships, and 2 Together for Peace international cooperation projects. In 2016, Fondazione Umberto Veronesi will sponsor 165 Italian and foreign doctors and researchers. In addition, Fondazione Veronesi continues to support 6 multi-year research projects started in 2014. “From oncology to bioethics, from neuroscience to cardiology, from nutrigenomics to prevention, the areas in which our researchers work and study reflect today’s reference framework for the international scientific community. Our outlook remains focused on the future, as we strive to find new solutions to the challenges posed by a society whose lifespan is constantly increasing. And we pursue our goal by resorting especially to the revolutions brought about by precision medicine based on DNA information,” says Professor Umberto Veronesi, founder of the Foundation. Indeed, the recipients of Fondazione Umberto Veronesi grants work in relevant areas for biomedical research: 121 post-doctoral researchers, PhD students and post-graduate students are involved in oncology,
with 35 of them working on breast cancer; 7 study cardiovascular and chronic diseases, 22 focus on neuroscience, 11 on nutrigenomics and prevention. Finally, 4 PhD students from the European School of Molecular Medicine study bioethics and its application to the treatment and management of cancer patients.
OUR RESEARCHERS Young, innovators and, for the most part, female: 125 of our 165 grants recipients in 2016 are women. On average, our post-doctoral researchers are 34 years old, while our PhD students from the European School of Molecular Medicine are aged 26 to 34. Not only do the grants allocated by Fondazione Umberto Veronesi contribute to keeping Italian researchers in Italy, but they also attract foreign researchers. In 2016, 27 researchers (16% of the total) are foreigners who have chosen to carry out their work at an Italian research institute. Our researchers come from all over the world: Afghanistan, Argentina, Canada, France, Greece, Iran, India, Ireland, Lithuania, Madagascar, Poland, Dominican Republic, Republic of Guinea, Russia, United States, Spain, Serbia and Montenegro, Ukraine and Venezuela.
THE LOCATIONS OF RESEARCH Fondazione Umberto Veronesi aims to support advanced scientific research carried out by Italian and foreign researchers at the most prestigious institutes and universities across Italy. In 2016, our researchers will be based at 30 different cities from North to South: Ancona, Bari, Brescia, Bologna, Chieti, Candiolo (Turin province), Florence, Genoa, Lecce, Milan, Messina, Modena, Naples, Perugia, Padua, Palermo, Parma, Pisa, Pozzilli (Isernia province), Pietra Ligure (Savona province), Reggio Emilia, Rome, Rozzano (Milan province), Sesto San Giovanni (Milan), Salerno, Turin, Trento, Trieste, Urbino and Verona. In addition, Fondazione Umberto Veronesi will support ten Italian researchers undertaking a six-month research period abroad, so as to foster the professional and cultural training of our talents and built transferable know-how. The list of the prestigious foreign institutes that will host our researchers in 2016 includes: the Institute for Research on Cancer and Aging of Nice and the Robert DebrĂŠ Hospital of Paris in France; the University of California (UCLA) in Los Angeles, the Harvard Medical School of Boston and the Medical Univer-
sity of South Carolina in Charleston in the United States; the University Hospital Basel in Switzerland; the University of Oxford and the University of Cambridge in the United Kingdom; the Instituto de Neurociencias of Alicante in Spain; the Max Planck Institute in Germany.
THE NUMBERS OF RESEARCH FROM 2003 TO DATE Since its establishment in 2003, Fondazione Umberto Veronesi has sponsored 997 researchers and more than 90 research projects.
OUR SELECTION PROCESS The selection of post-doctoral researchers sponsored by Fondazione Umberto Veronesi is carried out through a public tender published online. All the applications are examined by a Scientific Evaluation Committee, which prepares a shortlist according to the type of project submitted and the professional and scientific curriculum of the candidate, focusing on the number and quality of published papers. The minimum requisite is to have already had at least two works (including one as main author) published on peer-reviewed international scientific journals. In particular the research projects are evaluated according to: • their intrinsic quality; • the soundness and feasibility of the experimental planning; • their translational power, that is, the possibility to quickly transfer the results from the laboratory to the patients. In 2016, for the 2016 grants were received 595 applications.
FONDAZIONE VERONESI RESEARCH BURSARIES STUDY AREAS ONCOLOGY Tumours are a set of very complex diseases characterised by irregular cell proliferation. This is caused by DNA mutation making cancer cells resistant to control. Over time, cells may fall off the control of our immunity system and migrate to
other tissues, developing metastasis and drugs resistance. To understand the molecular mechanisms of cancer is fundamental to develop new, more effective therapies. In 2016, 91 post-doctoral grants will be funded in addition to PhDs at the SEMM and clinical training and specialization scholarships, as well as 5 research projects: The post-doctoral grants are divided as follows: 12 general oncology 21 breast cancer 3 ovarian cancer 16 leukaemia and blood cancers 5 lung cancer 4 bowel cancer 1 liver cancer 2 pancreatic cancer 7 nervous system cancers 5 melanomas and skin cancers 7 prostate cancer 1 thyroid cancer 3 bladder cancer 3 bone and soft tissue cancers 1 testicle cancer CARDIOVASCULAR AND CHRONIC DISEASES Cardiovascular diseases affect the heart and blood vessels. The main causes include atherosclerosis, which is the narrowing of blood vessels due to occlusions caused by cholesterol accrual, inflammation and wall thickening. They may result in infarction, stroke and vascular symptoms. Cardiovascular diseases also include congenital heart defects, rheumatic and chronic diseases, heart failure and insufficiency. They are very widespread in Western countries, mostly due to bad lifestyle choices and lack of prevention. 7 post-doctoral grants will be financed in this area. NEUROSCIENCE Neuroscience is still a largely unexplored discipline, requiring increasingly multi-disciplinary methods and the development of advanced technologies. Research focuses on the identification of early diagnosis tools, reliable markers and molecular studies to identify effective prevention strategies and develop even more targeted treatments. In addition, in recent years, research has studied the biological mechanisms underlying psychiatric and brain development disorders, such as autistic spectrum disorders.
21 post-doctoral grants will be financed in this area. The studied diseases include: Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, autistic spectrum disorders, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), and bulbar spinal atrophy.
rebrovascular diseases and cancer, which cause the vast majority of deaths in the world. A healthy lifestyle is our first weapon to fight most diseases. 11 post-doctoral grants and 1 research project will be financed in this area.
NUTRIGENOMICS AND DISEASE PREVENTION
Fondazione Umberto Veronesi Press Office Elisa Invernizzi elisa.invernizzi@fondazioneveronesi.it Tel. 02 76018187
Nutrigenomics studies the links between the genome and food, that is, how the molecules introduced with food affect our genes and our health. Nutrigenomics goes hand in hand with prevention, especially of chronic cardiovascular diseases, ce-
www.fondazioneveronesi.it
Mr. Umberto Veronesi e Mrs. Rita Levi Montalcini
THE ELEGANCE IN A HAND di Ivan De Stefano
The first signs of tennis in Russia appeared in the 1860s, when the Saint Petersburg Cricket Club saw the light. Soon after, the lawn tennis game was introduced; some references of this game are verifiable in the work by Lev Tolstoj,“Anna Karenina”, published periodically between 1873 and 1877. The great novelist was an appreciator of this elegant sport, to the point of build a lawn tennis court in his Jasnaja Poljana estate. Introduced by diplomats and British students, the tennis was immediately appreciated among the Russian, because it matched some elegant movements and, at the same time, it encouraged also the competitive temperament of the people who played it. The first Tennis Club were founded in Saint Petersburg, in 1888: the “Lawn Tennis Club”. At the end of the 19th century, the lawn tennis spread in different Russian cities; from Moscow to Kiev, from Odessa to Taganrog. In the first half of the 20th century, tennis schools were born in the Europe-
an continent, except in Great Britain; furthermore, tennis schools were institutional realized in France, thanks to the “Divina” Suzanne Lenglen, that was the founder of this avant-garde initiative. Therefore, tennis, played in ancient times by gentlemen and gentlewomen with not very efficient rackets, was widely appreciated around the world. Today, innovation and technology are offering tools and equipment, concerning also this sport, that could help at different levelsman and his learning ability, both the amateur and the agonistic; for this reason I wanted to meet Mr. Daniele Berardi, in order to ask him some questions at his showroom in Milan, “Doctor Tennis”, where it is possible to find items for who plays this wonderful sport and where they realize the stringing and the maintenance of every type of racket in commerce; Daniele is not only specialized in the stringing of rackets but, he also commercializes tennis equipment and clothing for 19
years, with some brands among the most important in this sector.
Daniele, how has the tennis world changed in the latest years? The main evolution was about the materials employed for the rackets that today permit a smaller effort to the pro players and they givehigher speed to the ball whereas, for the amateurs, these new materials allow a lower effort of the arm and they increase the fun. Every year the manufacturers create new and better frames, but the difficulty is when I have to sell only foreign brands of rackets, because we do not have an Italian brand: this is a pity for our Made in Italy.
From your experience in the stringing of rackets, which is the material that make the difference?
Previously there was the gut string or the synthetic one. Today, the selection is certainly bigger and the monofilament patronizes. It is a string more responsive and it permits better performances to a recreational player because it accelerates the output rate of the ball. However, this kind of strings needs more replacement, they have an average duration of 15 hours of game; anyway, they are one of the best strings for resistance and performance.
What does the service “Doctor Tennis at home” offer? The service “Doctor Tennis at home” was born because of a practical need, in order to help our customers in the stringing of rackets, an activity that in a frenetic city like Milan could be difficult, because of the distance, the travel time and the cost; therefore, if a customer need to stringing his racket, he can call us, one of our appointees picks the racket up direct-
ly at home and within 24 hours the racket will return to the customer. The additional cost of this service is only € 5 and we are the first one in Italy with this service that completely satisfies the expectations.
Is there any new product for the season 2016/2017? There will be four new models of rackets presented by the brands in September and, such as every year, we will surely organize some demonstration day in the tennis clubs assv ociated with us, where people can try free our new rackets; moreover, the latest news for the amateurs will be the “Padel” racket that we have already started to commercialize. This racket is like a pan and, for the moment, it is only employed for doubles matches, a game mode that has already a huge success in Spain because it involves and amuses a public of all ages, from the children to the elderly; I believe this game will be the future of the amuse-
ment in tennis and until today I can say to be the first shop in Milan that sells the “Padel”, a good product with an affordable price. For more information, visit our website: www.doctortennis.it