Year: 2009

Hello,

I was drinking my morning cup of coffee and thinking back to the start of Windows to Russia! It was brought on by the fact that I have well exceeded 1600 posts and really did not realize that we had.

The road has been long and not always very fun…

When I first started this blog I had a very strong group against us that was anti Russian and Anti Windows to Russia! I was attacked by multiples of Russian hate blogs, forums and sites and that has never ended but almost has stopped. What has definitely ended is that they all realize that Svetlana and I are not going away.

So many Russian blogs and Russian websites looked down their noses at us and we ignored them and kept going. Now we sit and watch these Russian blogs and Russian websites disappear one by one or slow their posting to a trickle.

We believe in what we are doing and will always strive to do better. Windows to Russia is a constant evolving process that never stops and never rests. If you read this you will be one of thousands that do. That is what we am proud of and hope one day that you will be one of ten thousands reading every day!

It was even important enough to us to set the blogs back a year by changing domains. In fact the move was much more successful than we could have imagined and in less than a month we have started back on the road to new territory.

The domain is easy now – just remember www.windowstorussia.com

Were else can you go and find such a conglomeration of blogs with Russian facts, news, photos, videos and everyday life in Russia under one roof? (so to speak)

I mean one thing that I have said many times: “My goal is to change one persons attitude at a time, about Russia!”

I have the rest of my life here to do that. 🙂

Windows to Russia!
comments always welcome.

PS: I want to thank all of our readers and hope that you spread the word and get new people wondering – What is going on in Russia?

As you all know I have followed this poor freighter from the beginning and now we seem to have at least a light at the end of the tunnel. It looks like the men can come home finally, that have been imprisoned (so to speak) on the vessel for a long time. Russia has lifted all restrictions on the vessel which is allowing it to port at Malta. (Which is the flag it sails under by the way!)

Tidbit of information:

MOSCOW, October 29 (Itar-Tass) -A group of Maltese experts of the Civil Defense Department who tested the Arctic Sea freight ship for radioactivity and presence of hazardous chemical particles have found nothing unusual, the Fairplay Maritime information provider reported with reference to a source in the Malta government.

Is this the end of the tale of a hijacked freighter called the “Arctic Sea”?

Windows to Russia!
comments always welcome.

For a few days all you heard was positive about Russia and Iran. The sweet sticky bull came from the Western press and it did nothing but make Russia and Iran realize the folly of America.

I then watched a Western press that slid into their old habits, they started to degrade Russia and Iran because Iran was not giving answers fast enough. I watched articles from Big Western Media change their tone. The fact that Iran hesitated on an answer became an issue that Iran was reneging on the deal and that there was a power struggle in Iran that could destroy the regime. I read articles that said Russia does not deserve any more favors from America like dropping the missile shield or lets reinstate the missile shied, because they did not help the USA with Iran more… (Like that was really a favor…)

Then a couple of days ago Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin had warned Western powers that they will gain nothing by trying to push and intimidate Tehran, and Russian officials have refused to publicly back the United States in threatening tougher sanctions against Iran. 🙂

This caused a complete reversal in Western press attitude. At that point out came the same ol – same ol that earmarks the Big Western Media!

Then after the West showed their true colors, Iran answered the questions. Everything is and was cool! Iran will do it and Russia knew this…

Remember the Kremlin always plays chess – Washington DC always plays checkers!

Windows to Russia!
comments always welcome.

These tanks were hand built from spare parts (don’t ask what parts) and were very underpowered. They are not real tanks, not even of correct size and no real guns, but they function like a tank. These tanks won the race as all the other 4×4’s were buried in up to a meter of snow. The tanks just kept on going. A young man in video said it was all good and everyone had fun!

From what I understand about this event, the regional officials kinda gave the man who built them the third degree. For the tanks are not registered for the road. As he says he has no plan to register them because they are not going to be used on the roads.

Looks like he does not need roads… 🙂

Windows to Russia!
comments always welcome.

Here in Russia the rumors of Wal-Mart breaking into the Russian market always float around. But the truth is: Russia has a fantastic retail giant called Auchan. I have been a Auchan fan since moving to Russia. It has the feel of Wal-Mart back when Sam Walton was still alive. A company that put people first…

Privately held French big-box chain Auchan is growing fast in China, Russia, and elsewhere as it challenges Wal-Mart, Carrefour, and Tesco.

Quick, what’s France’s answer to Wal-Mart? Until now, it has been Paris-based Carrefour, the global No. 2 retail chain. But increasingly, another French retailer, Auchan, is giving both Carrefour and Wal-Mart a run for their money.

Over the past decade, Auchan (pronounced oh-shon) has expanded rapidly into China, Russia, and Eastern Europe. Based near the northern French city of Lille, the privately held company is now the world’s 14th-biggest retailer, with 1,200 stores in 12 countries and annual sales of $59 billion. (Link)

Just a few weeks ago Carrefour pulled out of Russia after a short try at going head to head with Auchan. Carrefour found that Auchan was a powerhouse in Russia just like they are finding the same in China. The picture above is from our collection of photos and believe me – This is what a Auchan looks like all the time when open.

Auchan reports that they have received a slight drop in sales but have maintained growth. This is a fact because Svet and I are avid Auchan fans. As of this writing I would say that Auchan has started a new growth period, because the stores are busier than I have ever seen them.

One thing that makes Auchan a favorite for me is that they have bought the home-improvement chain Leroy Merlin and I am here to tell you Leroy Merlin has it all for home improvement. Home Depot lovers would turn their heads and look twice.

What does Wal-Mart have in competition if they try to break into Russia? They might find the same thing that happened in Germany where Wal-Mart failed… (Russians like their Auchan)

Windows to Russia!
comments always welcome.

Georgia is really in a tissy over this one. South Ossetia caught 16 Georgians cutting lumber on their territory and the Russians have them in custody. Georgia is demanding immediate release of the woodcutters. Now what Tbilisi is not expressing very loudly is that they caused the problem.

As is known in this part of the world, Georgia regards the border with South Ossetia to be administrative only and considers any and all the natural resources of South Ossetia to be its own. The land in the frontier zone have many times been the reason for armed conflict situations.

So Georgia has been announcing that:

“Any Georgian has got the right to cross the border now as it had been before last August when the Akhalgori region was under control of the Georgian authorities and was part of the Mtskheta-Mtianeti region.” (Link)

This in effect caused a confusion to the woodcutters. They really think that they have a right to go to South Ossetia and cut all the wood they want.

Well maybe not – but it sounds good!

So Russia needs to let the guys go home and Georgia needs to quit playing games with South Ossetia – before someone gets hurt – again…

Windows to Russia!
comments always welcome.

Update:

16 detained Georgians chopped woods illegally:

This is an interesting video. It shows a Russian Military robot that is under development. In some ways it is very neat but in other it seems to be a little bit out dated. It seems I can remember some much more advanced models made by Japan.

Maybe that is because it is just a prototype. It seems to me that it has advanced technology on a weak frame and system.

It also seem top heavy with the armament. I think that they are on the right track and I would rather see one of these blown up than a human any day…

Windows to Russia!
comments always welcome.

A Ukrainian deputy prime minister expressed confidence on Tuesday that there would be no new end-of-year dispute with Russia over gas supplies, but conceded that meeting monthly bills was not easy.

Remember these words as we approach the end of the year and lets really hope that Ukraine means it.

The deal is that Ukraine is in an election for her president time! (Funny how that makes things work better.)

I lay the odds that there will not be a problem this year with gas supplies to Europe…

Windows to Russia!
comments always welcome.

Svet and I had a good visa trip as I expressed in Part 1. We had gotten our visa in record time and the cost was almost cut in half. Svet and I looked at each other and said at the same time, “We could go home right now!” We laughed and decided to go to our hotel that we had reserved and regroup. This is where a bump in the road happened…

Svet and I went to the hotel and the hotel did not have our reservation. They also said that they had no rooms except for the most expensive rooms. Now I have been coming to this hotel for over three years now. I have watched a transformation of a good inexpensive hotel into a poor service expensive hotel. They have been remodeling rooms for years now and they have succeeded in removing all decent priced rooms from their roster. They simply want the high dollar people… (Keep in mind that I have literally been here every three months for three years and at some points have stayed a month at a time.)

I told Svet – lets go and search for a new hotel – And that is what we did.

Svet and I found a hotel called Tourist and it was next to a metro station. It cost the same as the other hotel’s economy rooms and all the rooms have been refurbished. It had a fantastic breakfast included in the room price. To say the least we were very happy with the new accommodations.

So Svet and I have found a new place to stay in Kiev and it very conveniently located to public transport of all types.

Now after that escapade with hotels. Svet and I needed something to do. So we just got on the metro and I just picked a station to get off and we were going to walk the city. I happened to pick a familiar station with out realizing it. It was the station that lead to the Cave Monastery.

Now this is a cool monastery and I remembered that they had a great place to eat there. So we walked to the monastery and moseyed around for a few hours. We found the cafe that is run by the monastery and enjoyed a good home cooked meal. Svet and I also visited a WWII park near the monastery and got to see about a dozen weddings. Seems that everyone wanted to get married that day.

As we ended our day and trip in Kiev we got to see thousands and thousands of people marching in the streets. (We heard later it was 200,000 thousand.) After asking what was happening, we found out that Yulia Tymoshenko the Ukraine Prime Minister was speaking downtown Kiev that day. (We will tell you that she has a lot of supporters who talk very very highly of her.)

We had a blast in Kiev…

Windows to Russia!
comments always welcome.