Tag: Russia

Russia’s Ekaterinburg joins the final race to host EXPO 2025

In less than 50 days the EXPO-2025 Committee will name the Planet’s Exhibition host city. Among the final candidates are Russia’s Ekaterinburg, Azerbaijan’s Baku and Japan’s Osaka. While demonstration concepts of Baku and Osaka are designed to present the city innovations, the exposition of Ekaterinburg will show the best solutions and technologies of Russia as a whole.

Why does Russia need EXPO?

The choice of Russia’s candidate city Ekaterinburg is truly deliberate. Located on the crossroads of Europe and Asia, Ekaterinburg is seen as a geographical center of Russia. As Russia’s political and economic compass is set to the East, hosting the planet’s exhibition in Ekaterinburg will help Moscow strengthen its economic and trade ties with China, Japan and other global economies in the East. Moreover, Russia’s officials say they are going to keep the exposition after the Expo is over and turn Ekaterinburg into a global museum that will attract thousands of tourists. Some experts believe that Ekaterinburg has higher chances to win the Planet’s Expo as it recently showed its capacity and excellent organization to host global events during the World Cup. Due to the city’s compact and convenient infrastructure, Ekaterinburg was able to receive up to 40K tourists a day during the FIFA WC-2018.

City 4.0

The EXPO venue will host the Ural Engineering School, e.g. the innovations booths for scientific research and investigation in math, physics, biology and other sciences. “The concept of such booths is attractive both for experienced scientists and small children who are in search of their vocation”, said Ivan Burtnik, the head of the project office of the EXPO-2025 Committee. “There are 17 million people in the world today who live in contaminated areas, 2.4 million do not have access to drinking water, 800 million live in poverty and another 360 million are children who will never have chance to go to school. We must think of it and focus on decreasing these terrific numbers. Today’s global challenge is to keep pace with the industrial development and creating a new formation urban infrastructure, the cities where everyone is healthy and happy. And Ekaterinburg is going to be such model city that will continue its development and growth the World Exhibition”, he added.

September 2, 2018
Russia’s positive transformation: Japanese football fans share their outsider opinions about Yekaterinburg

It’s no secret that outsiders are best in giving independent and objective opinion on a place. This year, Russia, the host country of the World Cup 2018 has appeared on close inspection of millions of football fans from around the world.

Japanese fans who flooded Moscow, St. Petersburg and Yekaterinburg during the Japanese national football team matches were among the most emotional opinion givers on Russia’s transformation. While Moscow and St. Petersburg are well-known to international tourists and require little introduction, let’s look at viewpoints of Japanese visitors about Yekaterinburg, a city in the center of the Russia’s Ural region, a candidate of EXPO2025.

The city hosted the World Cup match between Japan and Senegal. Days and hours before the match thousands of Japanese tourists were walking around the city wearing their national clothes and singing Japanese songs. A truly unusual picture to catch in Russia’s industrial center surrounded by factories and plants.

Nevertheless, an impression of a seemingly “gloomy” and “severe” city was completely dispelled. Japanese football fan Takhenao Sudzuki mentioned the extreme cleanness and a modern infrastructure of the city streets along with friendliness of local people: “Everyone is friendly to us, ready to help. Japanese people feel very happy here”.

Among prominent guests to the city was a Japanese princess Takamado (the support of whom played the essential role in the Japan-Senegal match and did not let the Japanese team lose)/ Princess marked the dynamic development of the city and a unique combination of historic buildings and high technologies featured in Yekaterinburg.

Indeed, many Russian cities have experienced a positive transformation. Yekaterinburg is one of the top of them. According to Emmet Malone, from The Irish Times, who observed the Japan-Senegal match in Yekaterinburg, “barely 50 meters away from the waterside event was the Boris Yeltsin Centre, a lavish complex incorporating a museum, exhibition spaces, cinema/theatre and shops. It would not look remotely out of place in Moscow, Madrid or Manhattan”.

That, by no doubts, poses lots of challenges to “new” Russian cities and Yekaterinburg particularly. The city has joined the final race to host the World Expo 2025. Smart city technologies, advanced transportation and infrastructure- these are the main trumps of Yekaterinburg. With huge amount of work yet to be done, the city authorities and businesses said they would do their best to show smart city technologies of Yekaterinburg to the international Committee. The World Cup has become a perfect test for the city that proved Yekaterinburg’s capacity to host global events.

July 13, 2018
EXPO-2025 in Russia: what do international experts say?

Russia’s Ekaterinburg keeps the race for hosting EXPO-2025 getting in the top-candidate list. The city has chosen smart technologies and innovations as its main focus. Among the brightest objects of EXPO in Ekaterinburg is the monorail road project. Guests of the Forum, visiting the stand, will find themselves inside the cabin of the monorail and will have a chance to take a sightseeing tour through the territory of EXPO, as well as to experience life in the “Smart city”. Guests will also be able to enjoy a virtual tour with several stops and will experience the processes of “getting out” and “taking a walk” along the Verkh-Isetskiy promenade thanks to 3D modeling.

International experts in urban planning and development say that over just several years Ekaterinburg has become a modern international city which strikes the perfect balance- historical architecture with the 19th century buildings and smart city technologies. Stephen Roosa, PhD, an international expert on renewable energy and urban development based in Louisville, USA, a regular speaker of Russia’s biggest smart city forums, puts a special focus on Еkaterinburg’s creative infrastructure solutions, interesting architecture and modern parklands.

However, some experts say that Ekaterinburg will most likely not become the host of EXPO-2025 mainly due to political reasons. As Urso Chappell, the founder of digital ExpoMuseum, pointed out, Expo is basically a diplomatic event and the world’s political compass may not be favorable to Russia.

Nevertheless, Ekaterinburg became second to one in the race to host EXPO-2020 giving in the victory to Dubai. Considering the city’s dynamic development and solid experience in hosting large-scale international events (among them is the first BRICS summit in 2009, INNOPROM, the fastest-growing industrial exhibition that takes place in Ekaterinburg every year, and, finally, the WorldCup 2018), the city has all the facilities to accommodate international guests and to organize a warm welcome. Indeed, this time Ekaterinburg has all the trumps to become the capital of the planet’s top exhibition.

July 2, 2018
Ukraine on the brink of losing its last values

With the current political regime and the policy that contradicts to the Ukraine’s national identity the country seems to be once again on the brink of a religious war. The conflict that started last year between the Ukraine’s Institute of Church and the national Parliament, The Verkhovna Rada, is getting to the new extreme today.

A number of Ukrainian politicians representing the political party “Svoboda” along with some members of the Rada have requested the Ukraine’s Ministry of culture for religious affairs to change the official name of the Ukrainian Orthodox church for the “Russian Orthodox Church in Ukraine” claiming that Moscow had “grabbed” the Ukrainian national shrines. The move is allegedly explained by the growing Russian “aggression” in the Crimea and the Ukrainian region of Donbass.

According to experts from the Ukrainian Analytical Institute for policy management, the claims should be regarded as a typical blackmail policy aiming to undermine Russia’s credibility in Ukraine and among the Ukrainian authorities. Experts also suggest that the real reason behind these claims is to get the control over the Church and 12 million of its members to secure the victory of the ruling party in the upcoming elections. The fact that the Ukrainian Orthodox Church does not fall under the regulation of the Ukrainian Parliament by its Constitution adds even more irony to the overall situation.

However, such policy can lead to much more dramatic outcomes and destruct one of the last national values that still holds the country together – the people’s faith. Known for its deep cultural background defined by its history and religion that find its roots back in the 10th century the dominant part of the Ukrainian population is orthodox Slavic people who accurately keep their traditions and culture. Once they are destroyed the entire country might disappear from the map.

April 18, 2018
World EXPO 2025: what are the chances of Russia’s Ekaterinburg

With another milestone of the upcoming FIFA World Cup 2018 yet to be passed, Russia is heading towards the next major international event: EXPO 2025. Ekaterinburg, a Russian city that lies on the East of the Ural mountains is about to compete along with Osaka (Japan) and Baku (Azerbaijan) for hosting the prestigious exhibition. But what can a 2-million city located just on the border of Europe and Asia offer a toffee-nosed tourist?

Indeed, Ekaterinburg is not a mass tourist destination like, say, Dubai or Bangkok. However, this modern and dynamically growing city still keeps inherent constraints in its development. Its compact structure and accurate infrastructure has made the city a top destination for modern construction and architectural projects.

The winning of the contest for best architecture and urban planning concept for the EXPO Park in Ekaterinburg by the architectural firm Bechu & Associés known for designing the EXPO parks in Milan and Shanghai is just the perfect proof of that. A permanent host of the annual INNOPROM fair and Russia-China EXPO, Ekaterinburg offers an ultimate balance of culture and modernity, mainly due to the city’s history that goes deep back to the beginning of the 18^th century from the time of the first Russian industrialists, the Demidov dynasty, who set up the iron factories and literally determined the fate of the Urals, as being the central core of Russia’s industrial might. Yet, Ekaterinburg is considered a relatively young city. Founded in 1723, it offers a mix of Russian industrial production and hi-technologies, alongside a historical element from Russia’s 18^th and 19^th centuries.

Perhaps, this unique mix of the past and the future, history and high technologies win over the hearts of city visitors and international guests and residents. U.S. Consul General in Ekaterinburg, Dr. Paul M. Carter said he would be glad to see Ekaterinburg the winner of the EXPO 2025 despite the official disapproval of this idea by the U.S. government. His words were echoed by French Consul General in Ekaterinburg Eric Millet.

While many in the world consider Dubai, Singapore or even Istanbul models for “out of the box” progress, Ekaterinburg stands as a shining star in the center of the Ural mountains, dividing the continents by its Europe-Asia border. It is here that the crossroads of an ambitious new world is emerging.

April 3, 2018
Russian elections: why Putin wins

For many Russian citizens who gave their votes for the future presidential candidates on Sunday as well as for most of international audience the result of the Russian elections has come to no surprise. However, the re-election of Vladimir Putin has risen a lot of controversies in the international media. While some experts believe the elections had been fabricated, independent international observers who were monitoring the elections process say exactly the opposite.

Among the new members of the international observation delegation were the representatives from Abkhazia. They shared their fresh and unambiguous impression from the election process. According to Astamur Logua, Abkhazia’s Parliamentary Deputy, the entire election process met the international standards and was perfectly organized. He also added that voters who mostly came with their families and children were very cheerful and friendly while the atmosphere at the voting stations was quite festive. The observers from the Italian “North League” party mentioned that all international observers had been provided with all the necessary facilities required to perform their work including the free access to all the voting stations, non-stop support from the organizers etc.

But what mystifies the international community the most is perhaps the conscious vote for Putin of most of the Russian citizens. Despite the “authoritative” style of the Putin’s policy, as how most of the Western media describe it, many young Russians along with the senior citizens preferred the Putin’s candidacy to a young opposition leader Ksenia Sobchak. Why did it happen? Many Russian people still clearly remember the tough 1990s, when Boris Yeltsin came to the power and proclaimed the change. It was then when many Russian people were left jobless overnight while others got fabulously wealthy. It was also the time when most of financial and trade deals not recorded and the proclaimed legalized government still reminded a sort of anarchy. When Putin came into power things got stabilized. Russian companies and industries started to thrive again while Russian people could afford buying cars, homes and have a better standard of living.

Moreover, the example of Ukraine Revolution and the Arab Spring has taught the Russians a lesson: when it comes to the West’s interference into a sovereign government system and the West’s support of the opposition the outcome might be very disastrous for a single nation. Considering the multiple attempts of the West to destabilize the Russian legislative system including the latest case of Sergey Skripal’s poisoning the support of the Russian opposition could hardly have been massive for the Russians care about their national values, culture and traditions and remember the lessons the history has taught them.

March 21, 2018