02 RUSSIA BEYOND THE HEADLINESA global media project, sponsored by Rossiyskaya Gazeta (Russia)

asia.rbth.comNews

IN BRIEF

A money-scented fra-grance is being launched in the ancient Russian town of Suzdal, a tradi-tional tourist destination in the Vladimir Region. One person behind the idea, Mikhail Samoylov, told media that “the scent was meant to conjure up images understood by any–one who has ever been to Suzdal: mead, cucumbers, hay and the smell of money.”

“Those who have been here know that taking a holiday does not come cheap,” said Samoylov. The scent of ancient Suzdal will be targeted at both men and women.

Money-scented

perfume

A special forum titled ‘Thailand and Russia - Bi-lateral cooperat ion through the lens of Thai business” will be held in Bangkok on November 3, 2015. Russian Ambassador Kirill Barsky will open the forum with a speech on bi-lateral trade between the countries. Other speakers at the event include Nut-thakrit Sivasri, chairman, CP Group of Companies, and Yuthasak Supasorn, Governor of the Tourism Authority of Thailand. The forum, which is being or-ganised by the Thai-Rus-sian Chamber of Com-merce, will also have a session dedicated to media ties between the countries. Speakers at the media ses-sion include Pana Janvi-roj, Nation News Network and Eugene Abov, Russia Beyond the Headlines.

Bangkok to

host a Thai-

Russia forum

Russia ready to cooperate with Malaysia

Consumers cut spending

Relics in Thailand

Russian-tourist numbers fall

FLIGHT MH17

ECONOMIC CRISIS

RELIGION

TOURISM

Russia is committed to working with Malaysia to catch the culprits behind the July 2014 shooting down of Malaysia Airlines MH17, Russian Ambassa-dor to Malaysia Valery Ye-rmolov said at a press con-ference in Kuala Lumpur on October 15.

Flight MH17 was brought down on July 17, 2014 over eastern Ukraine while en route from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur, killing all 298 passengers and crew, most of whom were from the Netherlands, Malaysia and Australia. Dutch spe-

Russians have had to ad-just their consumer behav-iour to the ongoing econom-ic crisis.

Some 62 per cent of them have switched to buying cheaper food and goods (against 58 per cent in Jan-uary), the Russian Public Opinion Study Center (VT-sIOM) said.

The number of people buying fewer goods and spending less on their en-tertainment has grown (from 21 per cent in Janu-ary to 37 per cent in Sep-tember), VTsIOM said, when

The Russian Orthodox Church in Thailand has ar-ranged a major event for local Christians. From Oc-tober 21 to November 9, 2015, reliquaries with frag-ments of the relics of Saint Nicholas and Saint Panta-leon will be brought to Thai-land. Believers will be able to see the relics in Russian Orthodox churches in Bangkok, Pattaya and Phuket. For the numerous miracles he performed, Saint Nicholas, the Bishop of Myra, is also known as Nicholas the Wonderwork-er. He is revered by Ortho-dox Christians, Catholics, Anglicans and Lutherans. Saint Pantaleon, a martyr and healer, too was known for his many miracles: peo-ple turn to him in grief and other serious worries, main-

During the economic boom of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s fi rst two terms, which had long pe-riods of double-digit growth, Russian visitors were a familiar sight in many parts of Europe. But some destinations were more popular than others.

For the Russian elite, Lon-don and the Côte D’Azur reigned supreme. The mid-dle class preferred more af-fordable resorts in Spain and Turkey. The Russian shops in Cannes are perhaps the best barometer of the re-sort’s popularity. A Russian store in the French Californ-ie district is so authentic that it could be mistaken for one in Krasnodar. Owner Mar-cel admits business is down.

cialists said the plane was hit by a Russian-made BUK 9M38M1 missile.

Yerlomov said Moscow has appealed to the Inter-national Civil Aviation Or-ganisation for a new probe into the shooting, as it be-lieved the Dutch report to be biased. Yeromov added that Russia no longer owned such missiles and that the warhead was de-commissioned in 2011. He said that the missile men-tioned in the report by Dutch investigators was de-veloped in 1986 and had a warranty period of 25 years.

“In 2011, these missiles were decommissioned by the Russian army, but we know exactly that the Ukrainian army owns 520 missiles until now,” Yerlo-mov said. He said many for-mer Soviet countries as well as some Nato members like Greece still had such mis-siles. The ambassador said the missiles owned by the Russian armed forces no longer contained the shrap-nel in shape of butterfl ies that were found on the fu-selage of MH17.Yermolov added that Russia was not granted access to all the in-vestigation materials by the Dutch authorities. “It is our understanding that the re-port on the crash by the ex-perts from Almaz-Antey, the main developer of BUK missile launchers, has also been ignored,” he added. Ye-rmolov called on Malaysian leaders to stop pointing fi n-gers at Russia.

it presented the results of a poll of 1,600 individuals, which was conducted in 130 localities across 46 regions this September.

Another 20 per cent said they had been acting in that manner for the past six months, and 7 per cent began to spend less on food, goods or entertainment or stopped making some pur-chases in the past month (23 per cent in January).

The percentage of re-spondents who set no lim-its to their consumption of goods and services has been

ly to do with bodily and mental ailments and gen-eral lack of well-being in life. The relics will be on display at the St Nicholas Orthodox Cathedral in Bangkok from October 21, at the All Saints Church in Pattaya on October 27, at the Holy Protection Church in Pattaya from October 28 and at Trinity Church in Phuket from November 2.

“Sochi. They are mostly in Sochi. After all, this is what Putin wants,” he says. It’s not just the prosperous south of France that’s suffering: Rus-sian trips to Turkey are down from 2 million to 1.4 mil-lion; visits to Germany have fallen by 30 per cent; and Greek holidays have slumped by 54 per cent. Even cheap Bulgaria has seen numbers drop by 36 per cent. Further afi eld, in plac-es such as Vietnam and Azer-baijan, there are reports of masses of empty hotel rooms formerly occupied by Rus-sians. Turkey’s fi gures are es-pecially interesting. The 600,000 decline in Russian visitors has been partly off-set by a 200,000 rise in Ger-mans.

stable, 34 per cent both in January and in September.

About 38 per cent of Rus-sians have food reserves, and 36 per cent grow more vegetables and fruit in their vegetable gardens and make their own jams and preserves.

About a third (31 per cent) are spending their savings on daily needs, 24 per cent borrow money from banks, 26 per cent borrow from their ac-quaintances and 23 per cent accept gratis aid from their families.

Tourists at the Black Sea resort of Adler, in southern Russia.

NIKOLAY KOROLYOV

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03RUSSIA BEYOND THE HEADLINESA global media project, sponsored by Rossiyskaya Gazeta (Russia)asia.rbth.com Politics

Thailand seeking to increase trade with Russia

INTERVIEW DR ITTI DITBANJONG

THAILAND’S AMBASSADOR TO RUSSIA SPOKE

ABOUT THE GROWING BUSINESS, EDUCATIONAL

AND CULTURAL TIES BETWEEN THE COUNTRIES

How would you describe the

state of bilateral relations be-

tween Russia and Thailand at

the moment?

I think they are excellent. We have a 118-year long base for our relations. And recently, our two countries have come much closer be-cause our policies have been coinciding. Russia is giving much more attention to the East and we are looking forward to having good re-lations with the West.

The visit of Russian Prime Minister Medvedev [in April 2015] after the meeting with Thai Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-Cha in Nay Pyi Taw last year really boosts our rela-tions and the cooperation between the two countries. During that visit, I was in the entourage of the prime minister. I have the feeling that the prime ministers of our countries understand each other very well and they see eye to eye on how we could promote closer re-lations in all spheres, but particularly in economic terms.

Recently Vietnam signed a

free-trade agreement with

the Eurasian Economic Union.

Would Thailand be interested

in a similar arrangement?

The offer was made to us during the visit of Prime Minister Medvedev, and after that when we attend-ed the 6th joint commission that we had with Russia here in Moscow. We agreed to look very closely at this. We see its usefulness. But for us, we need to study fur-ther on the question.

What are other ways to im-

prove economic relations be-

tween Thailand and Russia?

We have good tourist, cul-tural, political and econom-ic relations, but we see room for improvement. During the visit of Prime Minister Medvedev, we agreed to double our trade volume. We signed 10 agreements − 5 inter-governmental agree-ments and 5 by the private sector. We can see that there is a boost in investment from Thailand to Russia with over $1 billion invest-ment from Thailand.

We’ve also invested in a sugar-refi ning plant in the Khabarovsk Territory. The agreement worth around $250 million was signed in Vladivostok recently. It is a joint venture between a pri-

ON DUTY:

FEB 2012 - SEPT 2015

Dr Itti Ditbanjong’s stint as Thailand’s ambassador to Russia has seen bilater-al trade and economic ties show a positive dynamic of growth. In 2013, according to UN da-ta, Russia was Thailand’s 18th largest source of imports and its 30th largest destination for exports, with total trade at $4.7 billion. According to Thai trade statistics, the vol-ume of bilateral trade with Russia in 2014 amounted to $4.913 billion. The goal is to double bilateral trade to $10 billion by 2016.

BIO BOXvate Thai enterprise and the local government. It is a very important step and we can see more Thai investors going to the Russian Far East, because it is a very exciting area for coopera-tion.

Do Thai businesses see Russia

as a safe and lucrative destina-

tion for investment?

We have investments in a pork farm, in animal feeds and chicken farms. We be-lieve that the potential of the Russian domestic mar-ket is feasible. I know that Thai enterprises are plan-ning to invest more. Now, Russia is inviting us to in-vest more in the service sec-tor, such as hotels. We have recently established the Thai Pattra Centre, which is totally Thai-owned and has a spa, restaurant and a shop that sells food, includ-ing fresh fruits and vegeta-bles.

Has there been a significant

rise in food exports from Thai-

land to Russia, in the wake of

Russian sanctions on western

countries?

The increase in Russian im-ports of Thai food products began earlier than that. It’s

not because of the sanctions. We intend to provide food security to Russia, and in re-turn, Russia provides ener-gy security for Thailand. This was stated during the meeting between our prime minister and Russian Pres-ident Vladimir Putin during the 2012 APEC Summit in Vladivostok.

Of course, the decision of the Russian government to diversify the sources of food imports has accelerated trade, particularly the ex-ports of food from Thailand to Russia. But we still im-port a lot of energy from Russia and have a trade def-icit. We’re hoping to reduce the defi cit with more food exports.

In what ways, can Russia and

ASEAN increase cooperation?

Within ASEAN, we will be-come a community this year. Many foreign inves-tors see ASEAN as a huge market with 600 million people. Each country will have its plan of how to use the opportunity of the opening up of ASEAN.

I am sure that Russia will find opportunities in ASEAN. Russia has invest-ed a lot in Vietnam, which

is a part of ASEAN. They could expand their invest-ments to Thailand. We are talking about trucks or other machines that could be produced in Thailand.

My personal task is to promote Russian investment in Thailand. I am sure that tourists, some of whom are businesspeople are looking for opportunities. We have the feeling that Russia was more Euro-centric in the past but the trend is differ-ent now. Sometimes Rus-sians don’t invest abroad since they don’t know the region, but now with tour-ism and more contact be-tween our two countries, there are opportunities.

Investment from Russia is now minimal but we are looking to have more in-vestment from Russia.

You are due to go back to Thai-

land soon. Did you enjoy your

time in Russia?

Yes, very much. I had a very happy three years and eight months in Russia. I will carry with me, not only fond memories of this big, great country, but post-retire-ment, I will continue to pro-mote the between the two countries.

Scan the code to read the full version of the interview

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PETE

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PAVEL KOSHKINRUSSIA DIRECT

Despite not being at the

centre of the Syrian refugee

crisis, Russia has been

chosen by many as a

stopover on their road to

Europe.

War-weary Syrians seek refugeRefugee crisis How Moscow is responding to the Syrian refugees who have travelled overland to Russia

Before the start of Syria’s civil war in 2011, Ahmad, a stout and robust-looking Syrian and Shi’ite Muslim, lived in a town called al-Malihah, six kilometres from Damascus.

Now Ahmad, 40, and his wife and two children live in a cosy apartment in southwest Moscow. When he saw bombs fl ying over his head and over the homes and schools of al-Malihah, and witnessed peaceful ci-vilians being killed, he de-cided to leave Syria with his family.

“I didn’t care about my-self, but I did care about my family and wanted to fi nd them a safe place,” he said in an interview. “So we came to Moscow and ap-plied to the United Nations and they gave us letters of recommendation.”

Before the civil war, Ahmad had been working

in different businesses and his wife was a teacher in Damascus.

In the bombings and shootings which started in 2011 as the political situa-tion became unstable, his poultry shop was destroyed and his property confi scat-ed by radicals who viewed him as an infi del.

The family moved to Da-mascus, but then Damas-cus started being bombed as well. In 2013, they fl ed to Russia on tourist visas and were granted tempo-rary asylum, which allowed Ahmad to work. He was lucky enough to pick up a job in a Moscow restaurant. But last year, Russia’s Fed-eral Migration Service re-fused to renew Ahmad’s temporary asylum status. This may have been infl u-enced by Russia having to deal with a huge infl ux of refugees from eastern Ukraine at the time.

Ahmad is still living le-gally in Russia and is await-ing a court decision about his refugee status.

Adjusting to life in Mos-cow has been relatively smooth for Ahmad and his family. While he said that

he and his wife didn’t speak Russian well, in two years his children had become fl uent and had made a lot of friends at school and in their neighbourhood.

“I respect Russians very much,” Ahmad said. “They are nice and friendly peo-ple.”

Ahmad’s main concern with life in Russia is not having his documents in order.

Because his refugee sta-tus is in limbo, most of his official documents can’t be completed. This means that his movement is restricted and he can’t work.

The Moscow office of the United Nations High Com-mission for Refugees (UNHCR) has warned Ahmad against doing any business in Russia without proper documentation. It said the risk of being ar-rested would be high.

“My documents are a problem for me,” he said. “I want to get all my papers in order to be independent and to be able to live here like a normal person.

“I need stability. I want to do business here and pro-vide safety and a decent fu-ture for my children. But without my documents being in order, there is no certainty at all. I can’t even access medical services if I have problems with my health.”

Ahmad admits the lack of certainty around these issues has been a psycho-logical strain. If he could get asylum in Europe, or elsewhere, he would hap-pily leave Russia.

At the same time, he wor-ries about being deported from Russia and the effect

that would have on his chil-dren, who are well settled into their new environment.

There are almost 4.1 mil-lion Syrian refugees around the world today, with about 430,000 applications for refugee status submitted in Europe between 2011 and 2015.

According to the UNHCR forecasts, in the next two years the number of Syrian refugees in Europe will double to about 850,000. Most of them will settle in Germany.

According to Russia’s Federal Migration Service, 12,000 people have arrived in Russia from Syria since 2011, but only 2,000 of them have been successful in gaining temporary asylum.

This number is small compared to the number of Syrian refugees in other Eu-ropean countries. For ex-ample, the number of Syr-ians who applied for refugee status from April 2011 to August 2015 in the following countries were: Germany, more than 100,000; Sweden, about 65,000; Hungary, about 54,000; Denmark, more than 12,000; UK, more than 7,000; France, about 7,000.

In an interview with Rus-sia Direct, Elena Burtina, deputy head of the Civil As-sistance Committee on Ref-ugees, said that current Russian legislation was fa-vourable to refugees. It pro-vides scope for them to apply for asylum for a wide range of reasons. These in-clude domestic and inter-national confl icts, famines, epidemics, human-made catastrophes or any threat to their health, she said.

Despite this legislation, many refugees to Russia are not being granted tempo-rary asylum or refugee sta-tus. Burtina said this per-ceived reluctance to take refugees was a result of how policies were being imple-mented and not about the law. However, a proposed new law on refugees which is in the early stages of de-velopment and discussion may seriously change things.

Ahmad fl ed to Russia on a tourist visa and was gran-ted temporary asylum, which let him work last year.

The trip via Russia

may seem longer,

but it is safer for a

number of reasons.

Despite the steepest drop in incomes since 1998, Russians remain highly optimistic, and Russian President Vladimir Putin’s approval ratings have skyrocketed. As the “fat 2000s” have given way to the current economic downturn, Russian society has somehow swung from protest to civic apathy. Can this all be explained by domestic propaganda and the authorities’ grip on public debate? If not, then what?

Decoding social transformations in Russia

September Monthly Report

An analytical publication that focuses exclusively on the

complex challenges and opportunities shaping the US-Russia

relationship

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12,000According to Russia’s Federal Migration Service, 12,000 people have arrived in Russia from Syria since 2011.

2,000Only 2000 of them have officially been granted temporary asylum – far fewer than in other European countries.

NUMBERS

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05RUSSIA BEYOND THE HEADLINESA global media project, sponsored by Rossiyskaya Gazeta (Russia)asia.rbth.com Business

Bilateral FTA can play big role in boosting trade

QUESTIONS & ANSWERS

In an exclusive interview with RBTH, Ivan Polyakov, head of the Russia-Thai Business Council, talks about business opportuni-ties and the major chal-lenges to growth in bilat-eral trade.

What are the main areas of

Thai-Russian bilateral trade?

Thailand is Russia’s major trading partner in South-east Asia. According to Thai trade statistics, the volume of bilateral trade with Rus-sia in 2014 amounted to $4.9 billion. Russian ex-ports fi gures are estimated at $3.7 billion, whereas Russian imports are at $1.2 billion.

When it comes to Rus-sian exports to Thailand, crude oil and other raw en-ergy resources account for a lion’s share of supplies besides metals and metal parts, fertilisers and jew-ellery. As for Russian im-ports, they are primary auto parts, precious stones, pol-ymers, preserved fruit, rub-ber, machinery products and their components, elec-trical equipment and parts, canned fish and seafood. Since late last year, the im-ports of Thai rice and pork started to grow.

Russia is interested in di-versifying its exports with emphasis on high value products. In terms of im-ports, taking into consid-eration the sanctions intro-

lateral cooperation in sci-ence and technology will be given a boost by Thailand’s Minister of Science and Technology Pichet Durong-kaveroj visiting Moscow’s Forum and Technology Show - Open Innovations – 2015. The main item of his agenda is discussing the possibility of establishing joint ventures — specifi cal-ly, joint scientifi c laborato-ries in Thai science parks and technological cities. And tourism should not be forgotten. With 1.6 million Russian tourists visiting Thailand annually, Russian-businessmen have already invested big money in tour-ism infrastructure and ser-vices in Pattaya and Phuket.

As well, our two govern-ments are supportive of pri-oritising energy and tour-ism. These sectors will be discussed this November in Bangkok.

Interview byGleb Fedorov,

Ajay Kamalakaran

support to our giant ma-chine-building company UralVagonZavod project, which could supply tracks, freight rolling stock and track-laying equipment to Thailand.

I would also like to draw your attention to the bright prospects of mutually ben-efi cial cooperation between Russian and Thai science parks and science cities in areas like alternative ener-gy, space research and tech-nology, nanotechnology, me-trology, optics, electronics, biotechnology, biochemis-try, medicine, infectious dis-eases control, and environ-mental protection.

Recently the Russian Technopark - Skolkovo re-vealed interest in establish-ing cooperation with the Thailand Science Park. At present these technoparks are at the stage of initiat-ing direct contacts and dis-cussing areas of potential cooperation.

The development of bi-

duced against Russia we are interested in supplies of microelectronics and ag-ricultural products such as pork, beef, fi sh and seafood, tropical fruit and rubber.

What are the bigges chal-

lenges to increasing trade

between the two countries?

The fi rst challenge is the lack of awareness among businessmen on both sides about the markets and op-portunities for trade be-tween our countries. But at the moment the situation is changing for the better. The new Board of the Rus-sian-Thai Business Coun-cil (RTBC) was elected at the end of September 2015, and when its membership was also updated.

The RTBC plans to or-ganise a business mission to Thailand in November to strengthen contacts and exchange information be-tween the business associ-ations of Russia and Thai-land.

The second obstacle is the defi cit of appropriate fi nancial mechanisms that facilitate bilateral trade and investments. To bridge this gap at the 6th session of the Joint Russian-Thai commission on bilateral co-operation held in Moscow on July 15, 2015 the sides reached an agreement to set up a working group on banking and fi nancial co-operation.

Russian state agencies and banking structures, in-cluding the Central Bank of Russia and a number of private banks, welcome the establishment of partner relationships between banking institutions in both countries, the open-ing of branches of Thai banks in Moscow and other Russian cities, and the transition to a new system of transactions in national currencies, swap arrange-ments etc.

Another challenge we observe is the absence of a free trade agreement (FTA) between Russia and Thai-land. I believe that such an agreement could play a constructive role in the fur-ther enhancement of bilat-eral trade and economic ties. At the meeting with his Thai counterpart Gen-eral Prayut Chan-o-cha during the official visit to Thailand last April, Rus-sian Prime Minister Dmit-ry Medvedev underlined that if Thai authorities show an interest in con-cluding an FTA, Russia will be ready to initiate the ne-gotiation process. As a member of the Eurasian Economic Union, Russia-has already successfully signed an FTA with Viet-nam - that was in May 2015. Why can’t Russia do the same with Thailand? It we did, it would be a win-win outcome.

How do you think Russian in-

vestment can be increased in

Thailand in sectors other than

real estate?

Nowadays in the fi eld of in-vestment cooperation with “the Land of Smiles” Rus-sia gives priority to infra-structure, energy genera-tion, transport, high technologies (IT, bio- and nanotechnologies), agricul-ture and real estate.

As Thailand is planning to build new coal-fired power stations and is in-vesting in the Sekong-5 hy-dropower plant in Laos, Russia is looking into the possibility of selling Rus-sian-made energy and pow-er-engineering equipment to Thailand.

As far as transport infra-structure is concerned, Rus-sia is interested in being participating as a co-inves-tor or contractor in large-scale infrastructure pro-jects, which are being carried out in Thailand. Russian authorities give full

Ivan Polyakov, right, is the head of the Russia-Thai Business Council.

Read the full version

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asia.rbth.comBusiness

KSENYA BOBKOVARBC

Chinese smartphones are

making major inroads in

the Russian market,

because buyers of

smartphones are choosing

inexpensive models.

Chinese brands gain popularitySmarphones Chinese brands get a larger share of Russian phone market

ket was Lenovo, which had a 7.7 per cent share. In sec-ond place was ZTE (3.1 per cent).

Beeline’s major rivals, MTS and Megafon are also reporting similar data.

An MTS spokesman says there is a decline in the pop-ularity of brands such as SonyEricsson, Nokia and HTC, while Lenovo, Hua-wei and other Chinese brands are showing con-stant growth.

MTS says that by the end of the third quarter in 2014, 24 per cent of its smart-phone customers were using Chinese devices, compared to 14 per cent in 2013.

Megafon’s representative also notes that smartphone producers, such as the Chi-nese ZTE and Lenovo, are becoming popular in Rus-sia.

According to Beeline mo-bile company, in August 2015, more than 30 per cent of its smartphone owners in Russia used Chinese models.

In Moscow, iPhones were the most popular devices (23 per cent), but trends showed that the Chinese de-vices were catching up. Their share has reached 20 per cent.

According to the IDC an-alytical company, in the fi rst half of 2015, the most pop-ular Chinese telephone brand on the Russian mar-

People are not ready to pay up to 20,000 rubles for their fi rst smartphone, since ordinary phones only cost a few thousand rubles, says Maria Zaikina, spokeswom-an for Svyaznoi, a handset retailer. This is leading to many customers opting for inexpensive smartphones, she adds.

According to Svyaznoi, the share of budget phones sold in Russia in the fi rst half of 2015 was over 50 per cent, up from 43 per cent in the same period a year ago.

When choosing a budget smartphone model, many customers usually pick Chi-nese companies. People no longer see Chinese products as something that will break down in a couple of days, Beeline spokesperson told media.

Market share

of brands

KIRA EGOROVARBTH

Yotaphone, the Russian

dual-screen smartphone, is

adopting its pricing

strategy for China and is

relocating its production.

Yotaphone tries its chances in China market

Tech What are Yotaphone’s chances?

m a t e p r i c e f o r t h e consumer,” a Yota Devices spokesperson told RBTH.

Prior to the change, the phone has been selling for $600. Cutting the price can be seen as part of the com-pany’s long-term plans: Yota Devices had already said it was seeking to lower the price to below $450.

However, the firm had been unable to reach the relevant agreement with the previous manufacturer, the Singaporean plant Hi-P, the company explained. Under the new deal, ZTE will as-sist with developing a pro-totype device, and then begin mass production and distribution.

“After the phone was pre-sented to China’s President Xi Jinping, Chinese distrib-utors of portable electronic devices began to show a lively interest in Yotaphone,” says Vitaly Polekhin, co-owner and managing part-

This September, Yota De-vices announced that it would relocate its manu-facturing operations from Singapore to China and team up with ZTE, the sec-ond-biggest manufacturer of telecom equipment and mobile phones in China.

The company expects the relocation of production will allow it to cut the cost of Yotaphone by more than 30 per cent.

“We have managed to come to an agreement with the new manufacturer about the level of produc-tion costs for the phones comparable with our com-petitors, which is a key fac-tor in arriving at the ulti-

School of Management Skolkovo.

But Yota Devices will need to spend money to make money, experts warned.

“To reach a serious level of sales, considerable invest-ment is required,” points out Polekhin, noting that the leader in China’s smart-phone market, Xiaomi, in-vests enormous sums in de-velopment to maintain its position. “For example, in December 2014, having evaluated itself at $45 bil-lion, Xiaomi carried out an investment round, raising $1.1 billion and is now rais-ing even more,” Polekhin said.

Yet the task of promoting Yotaphone in China has al-ready received a consider-able boost from free politi-cal publicity, said Vladimir Korovkin, head of Innova-tions and Digital Research Lab in Moscow School of Management Skolkovo.

“Chinese customers like to be part of some ‘big’ pro-cess. In that sense Yotaphone started going to China with a very good PR move — when Russian President Vladimir Putin presented Yotaphone to President Xi Jinping during the Apec summit,” Korovkin said.

Chinese customers admire both Putin and Xi that is why having a “presidential” mobile phone will surely stimulate sales, he said.

per cent), Lenovo (9.5 per cent), and Samsung (7.9 per cent). Given how competi-tive this market is, Yota-phone can perhaps expect to gain only a small share of it.

The kicker, though is that a small share Chinese mo-bile phone market accounts for 980 million mobile users with total annual value around 425 billion yuan ($66.7 billion).

“To get a small piece of that huge pie would be a big achievement for the Russian company,” says Oleg Remyga, head of China Studies Lab in Moscow

Russian present Vladimir Putin gives Chinese president, Xi Jinping, a Yotaphone.

ner of the Venture Angels investment fund, a member of the board of QUMO, a manufacturer of portable digital devices.

The latest reports about the relocation of production and Yotaphone’s coopera-tion with ZTE indicate that the issue of cutting the cost

of production is a priority, he said.

“Of course, ZTE is not Foxconn, where production volumes start at 1 million items, but still, it will be able to ensure the necessary production rate and low costs while retaining a de-cent quality, which, by all means, will boost sales both in Russia and China,” Pole-khin said.

Promotion in ChinaAccording to IDC fi gures, in 2014 the leaders in the Chinese market were Xiao-mi (13.7 per cent), Apple (12.3 per cent), Huawei (11

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IN BRIEF

CULTURETHE 9TH KRASNOYARSK FAIR OF BOOK CULTURE

NATURAL DISASTER BUILDING EARLY WARNING SYSTEM FOR MYANMAR

The 9th Krasnoyarsk Fair of Book Culture is to be held in the Siberian city of Krasnoyarsk from October 28 to November 1. The Kras-noyarsk Fair is a full-scale international project of the Mikhail Prokhorov Fund, a charitable foundation for cultural initiatives, aimed at uniting writers, publishers, and the cultural community from central regions of Rus-sia and cities of Far East, Siberia and Ural. The key topic of the Kasnoyarsk Fair 2015 is “Homeland’s map: the artistic development of space”. The Kasnoyarsk Fair is aimed at showing dif-ferenet ways of investiga-

The Russian Emergencies Ministry will help Myanmar build an early warning sys-tem for natural calamities and supply it with equip-ment needed for clean-up operations, Vasily Pospelov, Russia’s ambassador to My-anmar told Sputnik News.“Myanmar’s government is interested in building a na-tionwide emergency re-sponse system. We are discussing deliveries of equipment and communica-tion systems,” Pospelov told the news agency. “There is potential for developing co-operation on early warning and response to natural dis-asters.”

Monsoon floods in the South-east Asian nation this year have claimed more than 100 lives.The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humani-tarian Affairs said more than 1 million people were “criti-cally affected” by the flood-ing.On October 13, Russian Emer-gencies Ministry aircraft de-livered 40 tonnes of humani-tarian aid, including food, blankets, tents and inflatable boats, to the city of Man-dalay.Russia is also providing My-anmar’s neighbour, India, technical help in setting up a central crisis management centre to effectively meet the challenges from natural and manmade disasters.Russia has a state-of-the-art National Crisis Management Centre.

tion into the proper country and at demonstrating the fact that the shaping of collec-tive and individual identity comes through the interactive creation of the local cultural ethos that, as a whole, cre-ates an image of the home-land. The mounts of publish-ing houses will traditionally be located in the Interna-tional Business Center “Sibe-ria” where over 20 round ta-ble and discussions will take place. The programme will be supported by the release of new books from authors and publishing houses.

IRINA VINOKUROVA RBTH

Russian ballet, opera and

classical music

performances at the 17th

Bangkok International

Festival of Dance and Music

drew loud applause.

Russian artists hold audiences spellbound

Festival The 17th Bangkok International Festival of Dance and Music

Russian programmes at the festival began with a per-formance of Pyotr Tchaik-ovsky ballet Swan Lake by the Novosibirsk Opera and Ballet Theatre. The perfor-mance was attended by Thailand’s Deputy Prime Minister Tanasak Pati-mapragorn and his wife.

Tanasak said he hoped that Russian ballet troupes would now become fre-quent guests to Thailand. As deputy prime minister in charge of cultural ties with foreign countries, Tan-asak expressed readiness to step up cultural coopera-tion between Russia and Thailand. Russia’s Ambas-sador to Thailand Kirill Barsky congratulated the artistic director of the No-vosibirsk theatre, Igor Ze-lensky, and the dancers on a successful performance and presented fl owers to the soloists and the conductor.

On September 28, Her Royal Highness Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn attended another perfor-mance of the Novosibirsk theatre, the classical ballet La Bayadere. After the show the princess briefl y met the soloists and expressed her admiration for the dancers’ talent and skills.

The Russian ballet pro-gramme at the festival also attracted the attention of the professional dancing

community in Thailand. “Beautiful set design, beau-tiful lighting, beautiful music, stunning jumps, leaps and turns,” said Mom Luang Preeyapun Srid-havat, the owner, director and principal of the Chi-

ang Mai Ballet Academy. “The ballet dancers are smart and quickl and well- controlled to accomplish their achievements,” she told RBTH during an in-terval at one of the perfor-mances.

Thai opera lovers also en-joyed two spectacular pro-ductions of the Samara

Opera and Ballet Theatre: Prince Igor by Alexander Borodin and Tosca by Gi-acomo Puccini. Russian performers and theatre managers were grateful not only for the rave receptions they received from the au-dience but also for how well the festival was organised.

“We are deeply impressed by the reception we were given in Bangkok, said Na-talya Glukhova, head of the Samara theatre. “To begin with, all the technical and administrative staff mem-bers on the Thai side are top-class professionals. We brought two large produc-tions with original sets and there was a lot of work to be done. Our technicians were instantly impressed by the attention and precision with which their Thai col-leagues worked.”

On October 6, the Rus-

sian section of the festival ended with a concert by the symphony orchestra of the Samara Opera and Ballet Theatre headed by conduc-tor Alexander Anisimov.

“Russian productions have been a major part of Bangkok’s International Festival of Dance & Music over the past 17 years,” JS Uberoi, chairman of the fes-tival, said. “The total audi-ence for the Russian per-formances this year was in excess of 9,500.” Uberoi added the audiences “were ecstatic at the quality of the performances, the grandi-ose sets and the sheer scale of the productions”.

The organisers have not yet revealed which Russian performers will take part next year, but the audienc-es are already looking for-ward to a new ‘Russian sea-son’ in Bangkok.

Her Royal Highness Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn arrives for the festival perfomance.

Beautiful set design, beautiful lighting, beautiful music, stunning jumps, leaps and turns

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GLEB FEDOROVRBTH

The Lomonosov Moscow

State University (MSU) was

ranked 161 out of 800 in the

Times Higher Education

(THE) World University

Rankings 2015-16.

RUSSIAN UNIS START TO MAKE GLOBAL MARK

EFFORTS BY RUSSIA’S LEADING UNIVERSITIES AND

INSTITUTES OF HIGHER EDUCATION HAVE BEEN RE-

WARDED WITH INTERNATIONAL RECOGNITION

HIGHER EDUCATION TRENDS

Last year, MSU was ranked 196 out of 400 (the list was expanded to 800 universi-ties this year). The only other Russian university that was in the list last year was the Novosibirsk State University, ranked in the range of 301-350. This year, it fell in the rankings to 401-500.

Novosibirsk State Uni-versity (NSU) Rector Mi-chael Fedoruk said his uni-versity has been rising in

the ranking by subject cat-egory because of the qual-ity of fundamental research work it carried out. He at-tributed the fall in the gen-eral ranking of the univer-sity to a slight change in methodology. In the 2015-16 rankings, the Russian top 5 also included the Peter the Great St Peters-burg Polytechnic Universi-ty (201-250), the Tomsk Pol-ytechnic Univers i ty (251-300), the Kazan Fed-eral University (301-350) and the National Research Nuclear University MePhi (301-350).

“It’s great that Russia has 13 institutions in this list, with fi ve of its universities sitting within the top 400,” says Phil Baty, Editor, Times

Higher Education World University Rankings.

“Russia has made huge efforts to improve its high-er education system in re-cent years, including the launch of its Project 5-100 initiative,” Baty told RBTH. He added that Russia would have to continue to work hard to ensure it can com-pete with China and other global rivals.

An obstacle that comes in the way of Russian spe-cialised universities, like NSU and MIPT, climbing quicker in the general rank-ings is the limited number of humanitarian courses they offer.

“We only have three spe-cialisations in our institute: physics, mathematics and

informatics,” Kudryavtsev told RBTH. “It’s very hard for us to deliver a better re-sult in the general rank-ings.” He added that the institute’s ambition is to get to the top 25 of the physics ranking. Last year’s THE

Physical Sciences Ranking included MSU (56), NSU (85) and National Research Nuclear University MePhi (95).

A major factor that con-tributed to the success of Russian universities this

ALEXEI STROGANOVSPECIAL TO RBTH

Reforms in school funding

in Moscow, which aim to

more evenly distribute

resources to students, have

been unpopular with

parents.

Moscow school mergers meet parent protests

Schools Increasing demand stretches education resources

When it was announced in 2012 that School 122 in cen-tral Moscow would be merged with another school, parents were up in arms.

The school, which is the

home of the Moscow Boys Cappella and requires all students to take choir, is one of the few places out-side of conservatories where students can do coursework for a special diploma in music. Parents were afraid that the merg-er would not only result in the loss of the special music curriculum, but that it would “destroy the school’s unique culture”, in the words of one parent, whose

daughter was then in the second grade.

The school was slated for consolidation under a con-troversial reform that began in 2010 and involves merg-ing small or underperform-ing schools with larger schools, primarily to more evenly distribute fi nancial

and administrative resourc-es. Under the reforms, fund-ing for schools is being dis-tributed on a per capita basis — a move officials said was necessary to accommo-date an increase in demand.

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MSU is the highest-ranked

Russian university in all

major international rankings.


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09RUSSIA BEYOND THE HEADLINESA global media project, sponsored by Rossiyskaya Gazeta (Russia)asia.rbth.com Special

DENISE ROZASPECIAL TO RBTH

When I came to Russia 26

years ago in 1989, people

with disabilities were

totally invisible. It was as if

there were no people with

disabilities in Russia.

More inclusiveness helping those with special needs

Accessibility Doors open for students with disabilities

In 1989 the majority of chil-dren with disabilities were educated in segregated spe-cial schools, residential ins-titutions or in homeschool programmes, often not lea-ving their homes for months due to accessibility challen-ges. Children with intellec-tual disabilities were still considered uneducable – a term that was shocking to me – and were receiving no education at all. Orphana-ges also did not provide any education for their resi-dents with disabilities.

Some of the people I met during my work with Per-spektiva, a non-governmen-tal organisation that pro-motes improved quality of life for people with disabil-ities, stand out as examples of the challenges children with disabilities face get-ting an education in Rus-sia.

Once, a young man named Alexander who had cerebral palsy and had grown up in an orphanage came to us for a job, but he was illiterate. So instead of fi nding him a job, we found him a Russian teacher.

I remember Natasha, a young wheelchair user from the Komi Republic, who had studied in a home-school programme. She never got her degree be-cause she was unable to take some of her courses as there was no teacher avail-able to visit her home.

Then there was Kirill, also a wheelchair user, who studied at a mainstream school in the early grades. When he entered middle school, however, he was supposed to transfer to a homeschool programme since all the classes for the upper grades were on the third or fourth fl oor of the building, and the school had no elevator.

Perspektiva was able to secure a chairlift for Kirill, so he could continue to at-tend the same school. We

were also able to help a par-ent of a child with Down Syndrome win a court case to allow her daughter to study at a local kindergar-ten. There have been many positive changes over the past 10 years to support in-clusive education in Rus-sian schools, in which chil-dren with disabilities study in ordinary schools. The big-

gest changes have taken place over the past three years. In May 2012, Russia ratifi ed the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and the situation for people with disabilities began to im-prove at a much quicker pace. Russian cities are slowly becoming more ac-cessible thanks to federal

and local funding, and a new law on education that went into force on Septem-ber 1, 2013, guarantees in-clusive education for chil-dren with disabilities and special education needs.

Attitudes towards people with disabilities are chang-ing as they become more visible, and Perspektiva is playing a role in that.

In 2003, Perspektiva began promoting inclusive education, developing and supporting pilot pro-grammes and raising awareness about the ben-efi ts of such education in its campaign “Children should go to school togeth-er.” Perspektiva was the fi rst disability NGO to do this, and this campaign was the fi rst one to raise awareness about inclusive education and its benefi ts. Today, this campaign is widely recog-nised, and our disability awareness trainings and other inclusive programmes are in high demand not only from schools, but by the Ministry of Education.

Ten years later, in 2013, Perspektiva launched a na-tional competition for Rus-sia’s “Best Inclusive School”. We received 100 applica-tions that first year and more than 400 in 2015.

The majority of children with disabilities were educated in special schools

Attitudes towards people with disabilities changes as they become more visible

year was their cooperation with both international and Russian companies like Boeing, Siemens and Ural-wagonzavod. Victor Kok-sharov, Rector of the Ural Federal University says such cooperation plays a

major role in the develop-ment of the regional econ-omy.

Peter the Great St Peters-burg Polytechnic Universi-ty, which built the best uni-versity engineering centre in Russia, cooperates with

companies like Porsche. “Our research in the fi eld of innovation is used in shipbuilding, aircraft build-ing, aviation and transport systems,” the university’s rector Andrei Rudskoy told RBTH.

The economics of education

Moscow Deputy Mayor Leonid Pechatnikov told Russian daily Kommersantthat if the parents wanted to keep that level of staffing in schools, they would have to pay for additional salaries themselves. “We cannot afford to allocate 378,000 rubles ($5,640) per student. Two students for one teacher is, in fact, a system of tutoring. We have a law on universal education, but we do not have the law on universal tutoring,” Pechatnikov said.The average amount spent per student in Moscow schools today is 63,000 rubles ($940).

QS university

rankings

Academic

cooperation

The QS World University Rankings 2015 contains 21 Russian and 8 Thai universities. The Lomonosov Moscow State University and the Saint-Petersburg State University are in 114th and 233rd places, while Chulalongkorn University and Mahidol University are ranked 253 and 295 respectively among more than 700 institutions. In the QS Asia 2015 Ranking, Thailand is represented by 11 educational institutes. The National University of Singapore took 1st place. Mahidol and Chulalongkorn universities were ranked 53rd and 44th in the QS Asia.

About 15-20 scholarships are awarded each year to students from Thailand by the Russian government.About 10 Thai students under the the government’s campaign “Scholarship for Local Development” are studying in Russia.

TEST YOUR RUSSIAN! In order to complete the test correctly, we recom-mend you first check whether you know all these words, what part of speech they belong to, and how the possible answers differ from each other.

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ARE RUSSIA AND THE US ON THE BRINK OF A PROXY WAR IN SYRIA?

Chinese official sta-tistics reveal that its bilateral trade with Russia in 2014

was $95 billion, raising hopes that the countries could breach the $200 bil-lion mark this year. How-ever, due to the fall in en-ergy pr ices and the 50-per-cent devaluation of the ruble in the fi rst half of 2015, trade volumes de-creased by 30 per cent.

But calculation of bilat-eral trade fi gures in dol-lars presents a distorted picture. Since 2008, Rus-sia and China have been working to establish pay-ments in national curren-cies. Frontier trade in the Far East has almost com-pletely changed to mutual payments in ruble-yuan

If anyone had any hopes that Russian-American relations would some-how improve after Rus-

sian President Vladimir Pu-tin’s recent meeting with his US counterpart Barack Obama in New York, it is safe to say that now they can be forgotten. And even if Moscow’s military inter-vention in Syria did slight-

ly change the agenda with Washington toward a de-crease of toxicity concern-ing Ukraine, it still has not helped to build cooperation – even when it comes to the crucial issue of fi ghting ter-rorism represented by the Islamic State (ISIS) radical militant group. The disa-greements between Russia and the US over Syria’s fu-ture have turned out to be too great.

Washington has per-ceived Moscow’s actions in the fight against various terrorist and Islamist groups in Syria not only as excessive autonomy, but also as a challenge to US policy in the region. And all this despite the fact that not only has the broad inter-national coalition’s months-

and oil and gas contracts between Gazprom, Rosneft and Sinopec are already stipulated in national cur-rencies. The volume of VTB Bank’s yuan settlements in the Far East in the fi rst half of 2015 reached 150.38 mil-

lion yuan, which is almost twice as much as the indi-cators from the same pe-riod in 2014.

Secondly, with a 34-per-cent overall reduction in Russia’s foreign trade, the 30-per-cent fall with its southern neighbour means that China’s relative share in Russia’s foreign trade in

the fi rst half of 2015 basi-cally grew. In comparison, Russia’s trade with the EU declined by 36 per cent.

When it comes to Sino-Russian trade, not all sec-tors have been affected by slow economic growth and turbulence in fi nancial mar-kets. On the contrary, many areas of cooperation re-ceived additional stimulus for development.

Russia’s agricultural pro-duce and bottled water, constitute a good source for growth and expansion of exports to China. The Nar-zan mineral water produc-er plans to export 100 mil-lion bottles to China annually. Miratorg [a Rus-sian food company, which runs a chain of supermar-kets - RBTH], intends to ex-port pork to China this year with estimated volumes of 2,000 tonnes per month. These are just a handful of

examples. There is also a lot of potential for the export of natural gas and other green energy resources to China, since the Chinese government is focused on cleaning the air in the coun-try and reducing depend-ence on dirty energy sourc-es such as coal.

Although there has been a reduction in the overall trade volumes, the electron-ic commerce sector is grow-ing. Yandex, Russia’s larg-est IT company opened an office in Shanghai and the Yandex.Kassa payment ser-vice’s Chinese turnover has increased seven fold in the last year.

Moreover, in September the Chinese TradeEase on-line platform began oper-ating in Russia, helping people buy Chinese goods online.

There is also potential to increase trade turnover within the high-tech sec-tors of the economy. China is interested in Russian ice-breaker technology, and Chinese investors are look-ing at Russian aircraft manufacturing. In the be-ginning of September, Ji-angsu Baoli International Investment and Xi’an Air-craft Industrial Corpora-tion signed an agreement with the Ministry for De-velopment of the Russian Far East to assemble MA-600 turboprop aircraft in the Komsomolsk-na-Amure territory of accel-erated development.

Even if bilateral trade fi gures don’t touch $200 bil-lion by 2020, a new, im-proved and diversified structure of economic in-teraction will most likely be in place by then.

Oleg Remyga is director of the China Laboratory at the Skolkovo Business School.

long bombardment of ISIS forces not achieved any se-rious results, but on the contrary, the group has in-creased the territory under its control. Mass media have begun saying that Obama has handed the advantage to Putin, something that ob-viously has only worsened the emotional background for improving dialogue, es-pecially since personal re-lations between the two presidents have never been marked by amicability.

If in the fi rst days of the Russian bombardments in Syria the US administra-tion was still making state-ments that could have been interpreted as relatively positive, now it is only voic-ing criticism and condem-nation: The Russians are bombing the wrong groups, they’re playing their own game in Syria and their main objective is not fi ght-ing ISIS but helping the re-gime of Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad. There is no more discourse about how Assad could play a role in the transition of power. The US refuses to have any consultations with Russia.

Georgy Bovt is a member of the Council on Foreign and Defence Policy, an inde-pendent Moscow-based think tank.

‘The Russians are bombing the wrong groups, they’re playing their own game’

Not all sectors of Sino-Russian trade have been affected by slow economic growth


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Georgy BovtANALYST

Oleg RemygaANALYST

TRADE WITH CHINA FULL OF POTENTIAL

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RUSSIA BEYOND THE HEADLINESA global media project, sponsored by Rossiyskaya Gazeta (Russia)asia.rbth.com

11

Defence

DENIS KUNGUROVSPECIAL TO RBTH

Russian experts say the

Sukhoi Su-34 fighter jet,

which has been deployed

for the first time in Syria,

has some export potential.

A fighter-bomber’s baptism of fireAviation The Syrian campaign has become a showcase for the new Russian-made fighter jet Su-34

The Su-34 fi ghter-bomber, a substantial modernisation of the Su-27, is a genera-tion 4+ aircraft, and is de-signed to destroy ground and naval forces as well as air defence systems. It can perform these tasks in all weather conditions, at any time of day or night. Some of the advantages of the Su-34 are the considerable amount of fuel it can carry, its ability to refuel in the air, and its highly efficient engines.

Currently, the Su-34 is used solely by the Ministry of Defence of Russia, which plans to receive 124 units of the Su-34 by 2020. How-ever, with its deployment in the Syrian conflict, thus demonstrating its perfor-mance under combat con-ditions, it is very likely that international buyers will now show interest in this aircraft.

“Among the Middle East-ern countries, likely cus-tomers are Iran and Alge-ria. Iran is also interested in obtaining a contract to manufacture these aircraft locally. However, creating a technological production chain would take quite a long time. Algeria and Latin American countries may be more likely to purchase small batches of these air-

craft – up to 10 combat jets. For countries witha small air force, a better fi t are the more versatile Su-30 jets. The Su-34 is primarily re-quired by large air forces,” independent aviation ana-lyst Vladimir Karnozov told RBTH.

The Su-34’s on-board ra-dar-based security systems also allow them to conduct bombing operations in Syria, without any threat of being shot down by ground-based air defence weapons.

“The Syrian campaign

provides a testing ground for the new Su-34, opera-ted by the Russian Air Force. It is being tested in real combat conditions, and is not just a demonstration of the aircraft to seek pos-sible buyers,” RBTH was told by independent mili-tary expert Oleg Zheltono-zhko.

“The export of these jets is unlikely these days, given that the market for such specialised aircraft of this class is much smaller, for example, than for univer-sal fighter jets, while the

The first

Sukhoi air-

craft was

built in 1933.

Pavel Sukhoi

(right) led

the compa-

ny till his

death in

1975.

ALEXANDER VERSHININSPECIAL TO RBTH

The name Sukhoi summons

the roar of some of the

world’s most fearsome

fighting planes, both past

and present.

A name that is now synonymous with fighter jets

Pavel Sukhoi, the man who founded the company that became one of the world’s best-known manufactur-ers of fi ghter jets, took his fi rst steps in aircraft build-ing in the 1930s in a coun-try still ravaged by civil

war. His fi rst planes orig-inated in a simple two-sto-rey building where the de-signers worked upstairs and the workshops were laid out below. In the late 1930s, still under Sukhoi’s leadership, the “I” series fi ghter planes took fl ight, as well as the DB long-range bomber and the RD long-distance aircraft in which the Soviet pilots performed a record-break-ing flight of 10,000km (6,200 miles) in 62 hours without landing. In 1940, the Su-2 light bomber went into mass production, a seemingly unexceptional short-range aircraft but with some crucial advan-tages over rival models: The cockpit’s design offered a wider fi eld of vision to the pilot, while the location of the bomb load helped to increase speed. More than 900 units were built, which led to the workshop receiv-ing the status of an indi-vidual production unit. The armoured Su-6 and Su-8 were built on the basis of the Su-2, as well as the Su-1 high-altitude fi ghter.


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Russian Air Force has a great need for these Su-34’s, given the size of our coun-try and the growing obso-lescence of the Su-24’s,” be-lieves the expert.

Each aircraft costs $30

to $50 million.

in the Armed by Russia Special Section

rbth.com/armed_by_russia

M A K E I T PA R T O F Y O U R S T R AT E G Y

Russia’s air defence systems: Keeping aerial foes in check since 1955

From fi ghter bombers to artifi cial hearts: The achievements of Sukhoi

Out of invaders’ reach: Uralvagonzavod, heart of Russia’s tank industry

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asia.rbth.comScience&Tech12

VICTORIA ZAVYALOVA, SPECIAL TO RBTH

In recent years, dozens of

new dangerous viruses

have been discovered in

Russia’s North and Siberia.

One of them was frozen for

30,000 years.

Frozen for 30,000 years and now alive

Research New viruses are in some ways like ‘slow-motion time-bombs’

Mollivirus sibericum is enormous by the standards of the virus world. At 0.6 microns in length, it can be observed under a normal optical microscope, which is quite unusual for virus-es. Scientists from Russia’s Institute of Physico-Chem-ical and Biological Prob-lems in Soil Science discov-ered Mollivirus sibericum,

and they are trying to re-vive the virus in collabora-tion with France’s Nation-al Centre for Scientific Research.

Since DNA samples of Mollivirus sibericum have been preserved, it has been able to infect several amoe-bas. In 2013, the same Rus-sian-French team discov-ered another giant virus, Pithovirus sibericum.

“The study of these new viruses will enable scien-tists to take control of the situation,” said the leading Russian virologist, Mikhail Schelkanov. “The irrevers-ible warming in the Arctic will sooner or later lead to

Arctic islands and coasts, in the Barents Sea and the Pacifi c Ocean. Schelkanov said they are in some ways like slow-motion time-bombs.

“Today, infectious agents that were isolated in Sovi-et times are being studied actively,” Schelkanov ex-plained. “At that time, there was no effective method for studying them and so they were simply preserved at low temperatures in the state’s virus collection.”

For now it is not clear how dangerous the newly-discovered viruses are for humans. Mollivirus siberi-cum has more than 500 genes, which is far more than the Infl uenza A virus’s 11, but much less than the Pandoravirus that has 2,500. Experts say that the number of genes, however, is not an indicator of po-tency.

“Viruses are intra-cellu-lar parasites and they are more effective when they have a small number of working genes,” said Schel-kanov. Elizaveta Rivkina, head of the lab that discov-ered Mollivirus, noted that the majority of viruses found in the permafrost are not dangerous to humans. She pointed out that, every year tonnes of frozen rocks fall into Siberian rivers, such as Kolyma, but a Hol-lywood-style “virus Apoc-alypse” is nowhere near. “All mammoths found in the permafrost must pass virus control before scientists can start working with them. Until now, no viruses dan-gerous to humans have been discovered. I do not think this would lead to a spread of lethal diseases,” Rivkina said.

Bacteria may

increase

lifespan

A recently-discovered species of the bacteria Bacillus F (Frost) could extend the average human life span to 140 years, and enhance immunity and fertility. This bacterial fountain of youth was discovered by Russian scientist Anatoly Brushkov, who voluntarily became a guinea pig in the project.

NUMBERS

100 trillion bac-terial cells are in each

human body. They outnum-ber human cells 10:1 and ac-count for 99.9% of the genes.

DINARA MAMEDOVA SPECIAL TO RBTH

Founded in 2012, the

Russian-American start-up

company, Kuznech, has won

10 international IT awards. In

2014, its revenues reached

$700,000.

Visual search firm sets its sights on global markets

Tech Kuznech banks on technology

The name, Kuznech’s, de-rives from the Russian word for grasshopper and the technology Kuznech uses truly has much in common with the green in-sect. Grasshoppers have multiple eyes and they see the world as a picture con-sisting of numerous dots. “Our technology is pow-ered by neural networks that represent simplifi ed models of the nervous sys-tem of living organisms,” said company co-founder, Michael Pogrebnyak.

“In other words, the prin-ciples that our technology is based on are very similar to the processes that take place during visual recog-nition in the human brain: learning, generalisation, ab-straction.”

The idea behind the tech-nology belongs to one of the company’s co-founders, Al-exander Valencia Campo.

He was developing com-puter games and constant-ly came up against the prob-lem of searching for similar images of illustrations. Ini-tial investment in the pro-ject was $500,000, with a further $750,000 invested in

2011-12 by the Skolkovo Foundation.

Kuznech currently offers eight products, and with the most popular being visual search and recognition for images and videos, and mo-bile recognition. The com-pany holds four patents; one in Russia and three in the US.

Kuznech’s main clients are news agencies, online stores, and social networks. The company’s development centre is based in St Peters-burg, and the big names on Kuznech’s client list include Mail.ru Group (Russia), and PartsTown (USA).

There are different ways the technology for various products can be acquired. Purchase of annual non-ex-clusive licences is the most common.

On the world market, es-pecially in North America, many competitors offer sim-ilar technology. According to Pogrebnyak, the advan-tage of Kuznech’s technol-ogy is that it’s universal.

Pogrebnyak is convinced that this technology has huge potential in analysing medical images. “We are try-ing to detect melanomas and other skin growths, and we plan to set up a melanoma cell detector for doctors,” added Pogrebnyak. “How-ever, things have been rath-er slow as investors like the idea but are in no hurry to put money into it.”

undesired consequences and it’s better to understand them beforehand.”

In the last several years about two dozen new vi-ruses have been discovered in Russia’s Far North and Siberia. Almost half are lo-cated in high latitudes - on

Mollivirus has more genes, than the Influenza A, but less than the Pandora virus.

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RUSSIA BEYOND THE HEADLINESA global media project, sponsored by Rossiyskaya Gazeta (Russia)asia.rbth.com Fashion

13

ANNA LOZINSKAYAGAZETA.RU

Russia’s models have taken

the fashion business by

storm over the last decade,

signing contracts with

some of the biggest

names in the industry.

The magnificent sevenBeauty Who are the best of the best in the Russian modelling business?

1. Natalia VodianovaA mother of four, Natalia Vodianova is not just the most famous Russian model, but also a prominent philanthropist, advocating for the rights of children with special needs. She is married to Antoine Arnault, son of fashion label LMVH founder Bernard Arnault. Neither her status as a mother, nor her charity work, interfere with the model’s successful career: she became the face of Cal-

vin Klein’s Euphoria in 2015 – 10 years after sign-ing her fi rst contract with the brand.

2. Anne VyalitsynaBorn in 1986 in the city of Nizhny Novgorod, Anne Vy-alitsyna began her career at the age of 15, signing a contract with IMG Models and moving to New York. She has appeared on the covers of Vogue, Elle and Glamour, and has worked for numerous fashion hous-es, including Shiatzy Chen, Chanel, Prada, Louis Vuit-ton and Dolce&Gabbana.

3. Sasha PivovarovaA history student at the Russian State University for Humanities, Sasha be-came a model by chance after her friend and future

husband Igor Vishnyakov sent some photos of her to IMG Models in 2005.

After her debut runway show, which was for Prada, Sasha signed a three-year contract with the fashion house. She is also partici-pating in various advertis-ing campaigns from Gior-gio Armani to Chanel.

4. Irina KulikovaA favourite of designers Marc Jacobs and John Gal-liano, Irina Kulikova was born in 1991 in the town of Slobodskoy, Kirov region. She became a professional model in 2007.

After signing with IMG Models, she moved to New York. Her fi rst shows were for Prada and Calvin Klein. She has collaborated with some of the most famous

American designers and be-came the face of Marc Jacobs’ fragrance Daisy.

5. Natasha PolyBorn Natalya Polevshchik-ova in Perm in 1985, she made her debut in 2004 walking for Emanuel Un-garo. Natasha is one of the most famous models in the world, and her Instagram has over 400,000 followers.

Throughout the years, she has worked as the face of many brands, including Lanvin, Fendi, Marc Jacobs, Michael Kors, H&M and others.

6. Sasha LussAlexandra “Sasha” Luss made her debut in 2008, w a l k i n g f o r A l e n a Akhmadulina during Mos-cow Fashion Week. Signing

a contract with DNA, she moved to New York, but be-fore long, she came back to Russia. Luss took part in 58 runway shows in the au-tumn/winter 2013 season, signed advertising con-tracts with Carolina Her-rera, Max Mara, Valentino and Tommy Hilfi ger.

7. Kate GrigorievaEkaterina “Kate” Grigo-rieva was born in 1989. She graduated from the Mur-mansk State Technical uni-versity, majoring in market-ing. She has competed for the title of Miss Russia twice, but did not do par-ticularly well. However, she later managed to become the runner-up at the Rus-sia’s Next Top Model TV show. Soon after, she signed a contract with a major agency, moving to New York.

Russia’s

leading

lights of the

catwalk:

(1) Natalia

Vodianova,

(2) Anne

Vyalitsyna,

(3) Sasha

Pivovarova,

(4) Irina

Kulikova,

(5) Natasha

Poly,

(6) Alexan-

dra “Sasha“

Luss,

(7) Ekateri-

na “Kate“

Grigorieva.

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asia.rbth.comHistory14

Ballet The history of Katya and the Prince of Siam performance

ALEXANDER KORABLINOVRBTH

Over the last 17 years,

Bangkok’s International

Festival of Dance and Music

has featured performances

from famous Russian

cultural institutions.

How this story of love came to life as a brilliant ballet

However the festival’s or-ganisers say one perfor-mance stands out among the lot – the 2003 staging of the ballet Katya and the Prince of Siam based on the book by the same name, written by Eileen Hunter with MR Narissa Chakra-bongse.

Russian composer Pavel Ovsyannikov was commis-sioned to write the music for the ballet. Ovsyannikov was at that time the artis-tic director and chief con-ductor of the President’s Orchestra of the Russian Federation. Andrey Petrov, artistic director of the Kremlin Ballet was asked

to produce and choreograph the ballet, while Olga Pol-yanskaya designed the cos-tumes and Vladimir Arefi ev, chief designer of the Stan-islavsky Theatre, created the sets and decorations. The team visited Bangkok several times absorbing Thai culture, visiting tem-ples, museums and attend-ing Thai classical music concerts to understand the mood to be conveyed.

The ballet by the Krem-lin Ballet Theatre with the Presidential Orchestra of Russia saw its world pre-miere in Bangkok to criti-cal acclaim under the baton of conductor Robert Luther. The premiere was attended by Her Royal Highness Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn and Princess Galyani Vadhana.

Petrov said he found the experience “very creatively absorbing”. He had fi rst en-countered Thai culture when the Kremlin Ballet Theatre was invited to take part in Bangkok’s 4th In-ternational Festival of Dance and Music. It was at that time that JS Uberoi, chairman of the festival committee, mentioned the tale of Katya and the Prince of Siam to Petrov .

The artistic director of the Kremlin Ballet then be-lieved that there was a story waiting to be told. The col-ours, culture and history of Thailand had left a lasting impression on him and all of that was distilled into Petrov’s vision of the love story, which is not a histor-ical or biographical ac-count. “As the story of the ballet moves in the second part to Siam, Pavel had to study Thai music and adapt it to a classical symphony orchestra,” says Uberoi, who is also the chairman of the Media Transasia Group. “Even the costumes go from European in the fi rst act to ‘Thai- inspired’ in the sec-ond. Not easy to do but Olga Polyanskaya, the bal-let’s costume designer did a brilliant job.” He adds that some elements of Thai dance were also incorpo-rated into the second act.

The ballet now has a new interpretation that was pro-duced and staged by The Yekaterinburg Ballet The-atre. It has been staged over 15 times in the past two years, and may be a part of the celebration of 120 years of Russian-Thai diplomat-ic relations in 2017 in Bang-kok.

The Russian girl Katya Desnitskaya and Prince Chakrabon.

AJAY KAMALAKARANRBTH

Hidden among a multitude

of colonial treasures on

Shanghai’s Bund is a

four-floor mansion that has

housed the Russian

consulate since 1896.

Russian émigrés in Shanghai — life in the 1930s

Life Russian community in Shanghai

If the walls inside the her-itage structure could talk, there would be many an in-teresting story. The build-ing is a reminder of a time when Shanghai was a free port that was dominated by foreigners and had a Rus-sian community that num-bered 25,000 at its peak.

The first Russians to move to Shanghai were the wealth-seeking tea mer-chants who boarded the fer-ries from Vladivostok to the Chinese metropolis, which had a large international settlement, set up after the Qing Dynasty lost the First Opium War to the British Empire. The Russian com-munity in Shanghai began to grow from 300 in 1906 to more than 10,000 with-in a decade, as revolution-ary winds swept across Rus-sia. In her book, “Shanghai. The Rise and Fall of a Dec-adent City”, Stella Dong de-scribes the metropolis at that time as the most “pleas-ure-mad, rapacious, cor-rupt, strife-ridden, licen-tious, squalid and decadent city in the world.” Here the Russian diaspora belonged to all rungs of society.

Before the Bolshevik Rev-olution, Russians had ex-tra-territorial protection, but the turn of events back home proved detrimental

to the diaspora. It’s also after the revolution that many Russians, both exiled White Russians and eco-nomic migrants, came in droves to the city.

The wealthier Russians opened restaurants, started businesses and became mu-sicians. Margot Fonteyn, the famous English ballerina of the Royal Ballet studied dance under various Rus-sian masters in Shanghai, including Georgy Gon-charov, a White Russian who danced at the Bolshoi before the revolution.

It was more difficult for those without specifi c skills. Many soldiers would join a White Russian battalion, while others joined the po-lice.

The Chinese metropolis had a thriving Russian community

in the 1920s and 30s.

Bridge between

two countries

In 2015, there is a new and growing Russian community in Shanghai, which is now one of the powerhouses of the global economy. This community comprises mainly of businessmen, professionals and students.

Scan the co-de to read the full arti-cle online

Or use this link

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RUSSIA BEYOND THE HEADLINESA global media project, sponsored by Rossiyskaya Gazeta (Russia)asia.rbth.com Travel

15

AJAY KAMALAKARANRBTH

The Russian Far East is a

vast land stretching from

eastern Siberia to the

Pacific Ocean. RBTH has

selected five of the most

unique natural attractions.

Unwinding in the Russian Far EastEcotourism Get off the beaten track and explore some of Russia’s unique natural treasures

Moneron Island (Sakhalin Region)This 30-square kilometre island is Russia’s fi rst ma-rine national park and boasts pristine and un-spoiled nature. French ex-plorer La Perouse named the island after Paul Mer-ault Moneron, the chief en-gineer of his expedition to the Russian Far East.

Located off Sakhalin, Moneron is blessed with the warm Tsusima Stream and is an ideal spot for snorke-ling and scuba diving in au-tumn. The island also has an abundance of fl ora and fauna, including seals, sea lions and colonies of migra-tory sea birds.

Shantar Archipelago (Khabarovsk Territory)The isolated Shantar Archi-pelago is a group of 15 is-lands in the Sea of Okhotsk, which are only accessible in the non-winter months.

The islands are famous for their rocky cliffs and spruce forests. You can spot bearded seals, bowhead whales and the endangere western grey whales. Bears are also plentiful in the is-lands.

Every summer there are reports of camper fatalities,

which wildlife experts often attribute to reckless behav-iour on the part of tourists from the city around these creatures.

The islands are accessi-ble by helicopter from Khabarovsk, as well as via fi shing trawlers that make the most of the four months a year they have for fi shing before the ice fl ows merge the archipelago with the mainland.

Lena Pillars (Yakutia)The spectacular Lena Pil-lars are a natural rock for-mation along the banks of the Lena River in the Sakha Republic (also known as Ya-kutia). The rock pillars, which reach a height of around 100 metres, were added to the Unesco World Heritage List in 2012. The pillars contain alternating layers of limestone, dolomi-te, marlstones and slate and

are the result of the extre-me weather in Yakutia, where temperatures vary from minus 60 degrees Cel-sius in the winter to 40 de-grees above zero in the sum-mer.

Plosky Tolbachik Volcano (Kamchatka Region)Tolbachik, a volcano formed by two overlapping cones, is one of the most isolated and hauntingly beautiful places on the Kamchatka Peninsula.

The cone of the “Plosky” Tolbachik Volcano features a three-kilometre crater and is surrounded by dead forests that were killed by a series of eruptions.

The surroundings of the still-active volcano offer a good idea of what the land-scape of the moon might look like. The USSR tested its moonwalker vehicle in

the area before sending it into outer space.

Mount Heksir (Khabarovsk Territory)Although hiking to the top of this mountain at just 970 metres above sea level may not seem like a daunting task, Heksir offers its fair share of challenges. The for-ests surrounding the moun-tain are home to the world’s largest cat, the Amur tiger, two species of bears and the endangered Amur leopards.

If you manage to dodge these wild beasts on the way to the top, you can get a glimpse of the Russia-China natural border. The last stretch of Russian ter-ritory is at the intersection of the Amur and the Ussuri rivers. All you can see of China is forests, as the near-est human settlements are located many miles from the border.

Scuba and

snorkel at

Moneron Is-

land in

Sakhalin Re-

gion.

Get close to

nature on

the Shantar

Archipelago

in

Khabarovsk

Territory.

View the

rock won-

ders that

are the Lena

Pillars in Ya-

kutia, in

wild north-

eastern Si-

beria.

See the af-

termath of

Plosky Tol-

bachik vol-

cano in the

Kamchatka

Region.

Hike Mount

Heksir in the

Khabarovsk

Territory

and the nat-

ural border

between

Russia and

China.

TRAVEL BEYOND YOUR IMAGINATION

travel.rbth.com

Gems:

• Kostroma: the home of Russia’s Snegurochka, the snow maiden

• Yakutia’s frozen heart: mammoths, chilled vodka and the lord of cold: Paris, Berlin, Leipzig and other

• Russian villages

Capitals:

• Moscow by tram: see the city from a

diff erent point of view

• A holiday in St. Petersburg: get the most

out of winter in Russia’s cultural capital

• What to see in the Metro, Moscow’s

cheapest and most incredible museum

Destinations:• Five unbeatable locations to watch the sunset on Lake Baikal

• Siberia’s northern desert: hot sands, taiga and mosquitoes

• Russia’s most spectacular ski resorts

Tours:• Five unusual Moscow tours you can’t miss• Best winter package tours to Russia

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asia.rbth.comTravel16

NIKOLAY KOROLEV RBTH

Autumn is one of the most

beautiful seasons in

Moscow, and RBTH offers

up ideas for things to do in

Russia’s capital at this time

of year.

Five things to do in Moscow in autumn

Moscow Taste medovukha and take autumn selfies

1. Enjoy autumn coloursMoscow’s parks and estates are ideal places for those looking for inspiration, wanting to see nature un-dergo its seasonal transfor-mation and catch summer’s last smile. Hurry to Gorky Park for the best selfi e, go to the red and white Tsarit-syno Museum and Park for a photo session and if you feel like some thoughtful contemplation – head to the Japanese Garden.

2. Have a picnicAnother outdoor option is

to celebrate the change of seasons with an outdoor barbecue or a simple picnic in the park. Take bread, cheese and a blanket, pick a spot in one of Moscow’s parks and enjoy the soft au-tumn sunshine.

3. Dance on the embankmentEvery evening people from all over Moscow gather on the embankment in Gorky Park to dance waltz, tango, the hustle and other moves. Anyone can join in the fun and even take a free danc-ing class. But don’t hesitate – with the fi rst frosts these gatherings end and you will have to wait until next spring.

4. Drink medovukhaTaste seasonal farmers’ products at the honey fair

held in Kolomenskoye Park in autumn.

Medovukha is an old Rus-sian light alcohol drink pre-pared from honey. People love it for its sweetness and light fl avour and it is often spiced with juniper, ginger, cinnamon, cloves and chili pepper. The alcohol content of medovukha varies from 5 to 16 per cent.

5. Take a riverboatThe rivers are open for boats in Moscow until the end of October. Get on a riverboat and set off on a voyage along the Moscow River. The boarding area is at the pier near Novspassky Bridge and the boat sets out in the di-rection of Kievsky railway station. On the way you will see such iconic Moscow sights as the Kremlin, the Cathedral of Christ the

Saint Basil’s Ca-

thedral (1);

picnicking in a

city park (2);

the embankment

at Gorky Park

(3)

selfies with au-

tumn-leaf

crowns (4).

Scan the code see in pictures other ways to spend your time in Moscow

Or use this link

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1 2

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4

T RAV E L 2 MO S COW. COMМoscow on two wheels

The city’s bike rental system has 300 stations and 2,700 bicycles

How to rent a bike

Register by- Logging on to www.velobike.ru- Use the mobile app- Sign up at the bike rental terminal station

Victory Park

MuseonKrymsky

Embankment

Gorky ParkPushkinskaya Embankment

Neskuchny Garden

Pushkinskaya Embankment

Sparrow HillsAndreevskaya Embankment

Luzhniki Bridge

7 bike paths

The longest one is 16 km and runs from Muzeon

to Victory Park

42cycling routes

The most scenic route is through the city centre

along the river (5 km)

The city’s biggest cycling event is the Moscow Veloparade. More than 20,000 people participated in this year’s event, held in August.

For nature lovers, there are bike paths in 50 city parks.

For those who love speed, there is a cycling track in Krylatskoye Hills.

For a romantic getaway, ride around the territory of Moscow State University and get a view of the city from the observa-tion deck.

For every taste

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Savior, Krasny Oktyabr (a former chocolate factory that has been refashioned as an art and design space) and more.

russian universities reach for the stars

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