Saiga's Notes

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 Two Mr Kotyusov’s colleagues say that Russian sanitary norms are outdated.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...