Saiga's Notes

I was walking up the stairs in a kindergarten, watching a new collection of historic photos hanging on the wall, when this one nailed my stare. Beluga or great sturgeon, 1930s. Staggering is the fact that it was taken not somewhere in the Amazon River or other exotic places but in the middle of Europe, near the place on the link below, somewhen in 1920s or 1930s. This photo is a reminder that hydroelectricity may not be as sustainable as it's touted. "Migrating fish was suddenly meeting a concrete wall on its way and, gathering in this bag, was swarming on water surface," citing memoirs of Pavel Malenyov, a journalist and political activist, who was a teenager living in that region through the 1940s and 1950s and witnessed construction of the Gorky hydroelectric power station. According to Malenyov, three years after the dam was built, fish migration exhausted. Great sturgeons are critically endangered now and you definitely can't see them in Volga anymore. Convention...

I've got a call from Greenpeace asking to donate money on the rescue of orcas and belugas imprisoned in the Russian Far East . I transferred a moderate amount although I wasn't sure I was right. Why? I was feeling completely right when making similar donations to the AdBlock and the Guardian. I recall one of my days in school. Once another boy came to me between lessons and offered a newt. I paid, got the newt and ran home to put it in water. I was late for the next lesson and the director caught me in a hallway. I honestly told her why I was out of school. She said: "Don't you realize that this boy makes money catching animals and selling them to naive kids like you?" Thus I faced poaching for the first time in my life. The boy made buziness on freshmen and sophomores. Almost all the animals he sold eventually died in the children's hands. The pond was loosing amphibias. That's how it goes. We sympathy to animals. We buy them from poachers, to give...

 British delegation estimated the readiness of Nizhny Novgorod for the 2018 FIFA World Cup. The delegation visited the construction site of the stadium at Strelka; some of the hotels and restaurants in which the FIFA delegation and soccer fans will live. "This is my first time in Nizhny Novgorod. Surely, it's a very beautiful city with a growing and developing economy. The best impressions are related to the preparations for the World Cup next year. Professionalism, competence and, most importantly, enthusiasm can be felt. A lot depends on the draw and on the games, of course, but we will be very pleased if at least one of the British teams - Scotland, England, or Wales, or Northern Ireland - will play here," the head of the delegation, Minister Counsellor at the British Embassy in Moscow Jonathan Brenton said. He said that Nizhny Novgorod reminded him Edinburgh, and had opportunities for tourism, recreation, and sports. The Consul of Her Majesty Thomas Regan note...

Spanish documentary films director Fernando González Molina was penaltied in Nizhny Novgorod for violating the migration law, says news agency NIA Nizhny Novgorod. Molina is known for Three Steps Above Heaven (2010), Palmeras en la nieve (2015) and Tengo ganas de ti (2012). Like if you want to know more.

A restaurateur calls on President of Russia for step back on a law that slashes restaurants’ menu. Distinguished businessman Alexander Kotyusov who runs several establishments askes Vladimir Putin to soften safety standard that restricts serving of some popular traditional Russian dishes during the days of FIFA matches. He warns that international guests will be disappointed if they’re offered burgers with Pepsi instead of ethnic foods. An NPO supports the restaurateur. Opora Rossii, an association of 400,000 entrepreneurs, says that governmental ruling is not clear and needs to be improved. The organization is exploring ways to prevent reputational and financial losses of catering industry. Two Mr Kotyusov’s colleagues say that Russian sanitary norms are outdated. They find that Russian food’s safety is much higher than that of some famous European dishes. A watching dog Rospotrebnadzor (Federal Service for Supervision of Consumer Rights) argues that the norm is necessary du...

I know a very smart woman who is now considering withdrawing her saving accounts from banks to keep money in cash in stable foreign currency, because a collapse of Russian bank system has become a probable reality in 2017. She adviced me to do the same. At first I had perceived it to be a bad news. It meant that future would be worse than present, and present in Russia is not so bright, the crisis is obvious. It meant realization of the most gloomy scenario, fatal necessity to postpone many plans, dreams, hopes for quick return of growth. We kept money at home in cash in the 1990s, during the times of the worst economic situation. Do we have to go through this again? How can one feel good knowing this? That’s it: how can one feel good? I tried to answer the question, and I had found something that made me feel good again. Taking money from banks, I take them from the economy of the country. My money isn’t a part of the machine that supports the unwanted political regime. If the gove...

Sergey Popov was a DJ of Radio Randevu when I was a high-school student. That was the best time of the authentic radio stations of Nizhny Novgorod, and Randevu was the first and most popular. In late 1990s Randevu programmes were so popular that people recognised its DJs in the streets and thanked them. Now all the stations closed but Randevu, and Sergey is its CEO. And I'm, a writer, talking to a star of my nostalgic years. In 2012 Radio Randevu U-turned to 'hot AC' format, in which it was most popular during its golden era. Since then, popularity of the station had grown up. What's your audience now? Data by TNS Russia correlate with our own measures, figuring the station's main audience as adults 25+ living in Nizhny Novgorod. Our information and entertainment programmes with emphasis on local news, weather, traffic situation, lots of interactive programmes is what can't be firmly provided by radio networks. That's why the listeners value Radio Ran...

I believe that prosperity will come to Russia in 2030s. By that time, the generation born in 1970s will come to power. That people started their careers in 2000s and they got used to such things as 'training', 'coaching' or 'outsourcing'. This is the first generation of Russians who know that money and power should be shared with and delegated to employees and partners, and that trust can be more lucrative than deception as a concept.

For some years I have been living in Balakhna, a small town 30 km from Nizhny Novgorod. We moved here in the good 2012 year. So, now Russia is in crisis, and here you can read how it goes here: no statistical figures, just real-life observations. If we turn away from unemployment rates and listen to street talk, we might learn that there are two economic mainstays in the town, and one of them is on the edge of bankruptcy — I mean the Balakhna paper mill (JSC Volga), one of Russia's largest newsprint producers. Current owners found an investor who said that the deal would be made if the stuff didn't exceed 200 persons. So 850 people were fired. It happened quietly, with no signs of panic or buzz in the media. I don't know if the rumor was true. There's a news saying nothing about the acquisition of the factory and promising that people would be hired back later. The other company is a military plant. A year ago it got a significant increase in orders (it happened afte...

I had a trip to Saratov recently, so it was a good opportunity to compare it to Nizhny Novgorod from the tourist's point of view. Saratov and Nizhny have much in common. Both towns stand on the Volga, have similar climate (a bit warmer in Saratov), comparable size and age (Saratov is a little bit smaller and younger). Now about distinctions. Streets and buildings in Saratov were definitely more dirty and in worse condition. Traffic jams were a big problem of Saratov. We commuted a lot during our trip, and I can't remember us moving free for 5 minutes straight. Nizhny Novgorod hasn't solved the traffic problem completely yet, but in recent years we had seen serious improvements. Nowadays you can cross the town before you begin to hate outnumbered starts and stops. Chapaeva str. in Saratov. Having said that, in Saratov drivers are more fast and dangerous. It's a common tendency for all towns of Russia: in southern regions of the country drivers are 'hotter...

Last Saturday, I crossed the Volga and started jogging down the stream. Twice in two hours I had to pass tributaries swimming and towing my backpack as a raft (it is equipped with a waterproof covering). Then I turned back, reaching the limit of my endurance. The bank, nevertheless, was good to run much farther. The Volga banks in many territories are good for adventure races of the offroad-run-and-swim formula. Take the left shore (standing face down the stream) between from  Gorodets  to  Nizhny Novgorod , for instance: it spreads about 40 kilometres unobstacled with hedges, boat yards, settlements or private properties. Down the stream from the backwater Memory of the Paris Commune  there's even longer empty bank. May be one day I will be ready to initiate some adventure race here. I cross my fingers for saving of the virgin state of these places.

 13.04.11 Decadence Geometry How long do our footprints on Earth outlast us? To find the answer, I undertook a journey to the bogs of the Middle Volga, where a huge energy project started 90 years ago and disappeared 60 years later. In every planet's region, tourists are presented with some archeological findings, the miraculously survived witnesses of old ages. In opposition to it, ecotourists love the sight of how the omnivorous nature swallows products of human being, brakes them down, adopts the most resistant and fits them into a landscape in its own elegant manner. Middle Volga is one of the most developed and heavily populated areas in Russia. A ground traveler would remember it as a country of ubiquitous human presence - big and small towns, villages and processed fields. Seems that there's no place for mystery here, but this is a deceptive impression. The roads carefully avoid large pieces of practically impassable marshland. Crusade For Energy O...

Here I am again, after long interval. This interview should have been published long time ago, I must admit. Some things has changed, but in general Nizhny Novgorod still makes the same impression as 4 years ago. 26.08.10 Guido Sagone, the  Honorary Consul of Italy interview for Friendly Nizhny Novgorod We were talking about Nizhny Novgorod's opportunities for  foreign tourists'  winter rest and vacations. Conversation started with skiing facilities, but in a few minutes the accent moved to a broader area. Guido Sagone (GS) : It is an unusual idea. Today we mostly see opposite situation, when Russians go to Italian ski resorts. In fact, I never met any Italian who would come to Nizhny Novgorod for vacations or holidays with the entertainment purposes. There are business people, but tourists... Why? The reason is simple - no o ne knows Nizhny Novgorod. When you talk about Russia, what towns come to mind? Moscow and Saint Petersburg, no doubt. Had you ev...

For the lovers of sightseeing and fresh air, I woud advise the following: Kremlin (Кремль). First place to feel NN spirit. Besides, many of regional architecture diamonds can be seen from here. Verchne-Volzskaya Naberezhnaya (Верхне-Волжская набережная). Close to Kremlin; Nizhne-Volzhskaya Naberezhnaya (Нижне-Волжская набережная); Naberezhnaya Pheodorovskogo (Набережная Феодоровского). Yarmarka (Ярмарка, ярмарочный комплекс). If you will have possibility to get to travel more, you can visit Gorodets, Makaryevo Nunnery (Макарьевский монастырь), Diveevo Nunnery (Дивеевский монастырь), Bolshoe Boldino (Большое Болдино). These objects are outside the city, but all can be visited through guided tours.

NN is divided on two parts by the river Oka. One part is low and is called 'Zarechje' (on the left shore). Upper part is called 'Nagornaya' (on the right shore). It is situated on high-lands called 'Dyatlovy Gory' (Dyatlovy Hills'). 3 bridges connect parts, and that's our main problem - traffic through bridges. The best sight is lower shore from the opposite. The best local sightseeing is Kremlin, churches (a plenty in different parts of town), Rozhdestvenskaya str. with the houses of merchants, Bolshaya Pokrovskaya str., Verchne-Volzskaya Naberezhnaya. There are 7 districts. Nizhegorodsky - the oldest. Most sight seeing is located here. Business and administration centre of the city. Sovetsky - new district. Nearest to Nizhegorodsky. Nothing interesting. Good to live in. The same goes to Prioksky. These are three right-shore districts. Now about left shore. Kanavinsky. Second the oldest. Some good sightseeings, including ancient Fair...

Here I give two good galleries of NN: http://www.admcity.nnov.ru/references/views/index.html http://www.unn.runnet.ru/rus/volgovy...nizhnov/nn.htm

If you have been to Moscow, NN's climate is much the same, it's humid continental. The difference is that we have 1-2 weeks longer winter and a bit more snow. We've got two large rivers, the Volga and the Oka, and a large hydroelectric reservoir 50 kilometers from the town, named Gorky Sea. Climate makes possible the following outdoors: skiing (there are 3 big ski parks in the city and lots of other facilities in Nizhny Novgorod Oblast), mountain skiing (there are about 5 or 6 equipped facilities in the region), boating of all kinds, biking. Hilly right bank of Oka  makes possible mountain skiing and rocky biking just in the centre of the town. There are some large forestlands, mainly pine-trees and fur-trees.