Saiga's Notes

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...