Profit comes through more skillful management: use your brain when you work - STRATEGIES FOR BUSINESS - MOS.RU
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S T R A T E G I E S F O R B U S I N E S S I N M O S C O W
Profit comes through more skillful management:
use your brain when you work
Henry Ford
A PROPOS
“Digital” is probably the most popular buzzword in today’s need to worry about robots eventually taking over people’s
world. A digital transformation is underway across just jobs. The consensus is that the use of robots will lead to
about every aspect of modern life — business, transport, the emergence of new professions. The issue will be whether
residential construction, education, healthcare, and even or not people will be able to quickly re-train and master
art! Have you heard of digital poetry yet? Supposedly, it has these new skills.
a special kind of rhythm and energy. In my opinion, digital
A digital transformation is not only about robots. For
poetry is just a confusing set of numbers. I don’t think that
millions of people, it’s first and foremost about the electronic
the poetry of Alexander Pushkin or Robert Burns, William
services that people have access to now. In Moscow, people
Shakespeare’s sonnets, or Lope de Vega’s plays need to be
can now transfer money, buy groceries, order a taxi, pay
translated into the language of numbers. Seems like overkill,
bills, or make doctor’s appointments without leaving the
right? But that’s not the point.
house. Over the past nine years, the capital has established
The point is that, whether or not we want to, we’re a developed IT infrastructure that allows the city to
already living in a digital world. This same point was implement the most advanced IT solutions and services
made by everyone who spoke during the annual business across different spheres of Moscow’s economy. The range
and investment conference of the American Chamber of of electronic services is becoming increasingly more diverse.
Commerce in Russia, which took place in Moscow in mid- 99 percent of the city’s territory now has 4G coverage, while
September. The main topic of the conference was mobile internet costs in the Russian capital are three to five
“The Digital World Is Here: Are You Ready?”. By the way, times lower than in London or New York, for example.
the list of speakers, which included the US ambassador,
a minister of the Russian government, and prominent Digital technology is clearly improving people’s quality of
economists and politicians, also featured a robot named life, and people definitely like this change. According to
Thespian. And although his presentation made the crowd data from public opinion polls, 92 percent of Muscovites
laugh, robots are becoming increasingly more integrated support the implementation of modern tech solutions.
into our lives: things that were considered mere fantasy Three years ago, Moscow become one of the world’s
yesterday are the reality of today. Last year, for example, leaders in the implementation of a concept known as Data
Cherkizovo, one of Russia’s biggest manufacturers of Driven City — the use of information technologies that
meat products, opened a fully automated plant outside of make city management more efficient. According to PwC
Moscow that’s run almost entirely by robots! The plant has ratings, Moscow’s accomplishments in the application of
already been dubbed “the first early bird of Russia’s digital information technologies are truly colossal. It should come
economy.” And the number of digitalization examples in as no surprise that last year the UN ranked Moscow first in
the capital keeps growing. According to experts, there is no terms integrating IT solutions into the urban environment.
Sergo Kukhianidze
Editor in Chief
sergomrk@mail.ru
CAPITAL IDEAS
Founder: Department for Foreign Economic
Moscow official
and International Relations of the Government of Moscow
Address: 125009, Moscow, Voznesensky Pereylok, 22
Ph: +7 (495) 633-68-66, Fax: +7 (495) 633-68-65 Moscow and Ljubljana sign
E-mail: dvms@mos.ru
https://www.mos.ru/dvms
a cooperation program
Mayor of Moscow Sergey Sobyanin and the Mayor of
Publisher: National Review Ltd Ljubljana Zoran Janković signed a cooperation program
CEO – Sergei Oposhnyanskiy between the two cities for 2019-2021.
Phone.: +7 (495) 784-69-71
E-mail: nr@eurasmet.ru 6-8
CAPITAL IDEAS
S T R A T E G I E S F O R B U S I N E S S I N M O S C O W
Editorial staff:
Editor-in-chief – Sergo Kukhianidze
Entrepreneurship and trade
Production crew of the edition: Elena Egorova (deputy editor-in-chief), between Moscow and the
Vladimir Dolmatov, Anton Halizov, Dmitry Nazarov, Marina Ogorodnikova,
Anastasia Paloni, Anna Sirotina, Vladimir Smelov, Anna Vavilina Greater Paris metropolis
Consulting – Evgeny Khokhlov Mayor of Moscow Sergey Sobyanin and president of
Design – Robert Saifulin the Greater Paris metropolis Patrick Ollier signed a
Photo editor – Victoriya Oposhnyanskaya cooperation program for 2019-2021. The ceremony took
Page layout – Alexander Saifulin place during the Moscow Urban Forum.
Assistant – Nadezhda Ratanova
9
Editorial contacts
web: capitalideas.moscow
e-mail: capital.ideas.editor@gmail.com Mayors Summit on Living
f: capital.ideas.moscow Together in Düsseldorf
With assistance of Moscow Center for International Cooperation This year, the main topics of the conference were
Address: 105005, 68/8, build.1, Baumanskaya str., Moscow, Russia communication between city residents and the authorities,
Phone/fax +7 (499) 267-46-56, http://www.mcms.ru/ healthcare initiatives, the stable development of a city
Distribution – "Trans-Media" Ltd that’s convenient to live in, and the implementation of
Acknowledgements to: smart technologies in city management.
PHOTO – www.mos.ru, www.dvms.mos.ru, www.stroi.mos.ru, www.kremlin.ru, http:// 10
council.gov.ru, http://eawfpress.ru, ITAR TASS Agency, RIA-Novosti, Getty Images Russia,
companies and organizations, represented in the issue.
If you wish to get new issues of Capital Ideas, please, apply to: editor@mcms.ru. Days of Moscow in the Baltic
The magazine is registered at the Federal Authority of Legislative Control
in Mass Media and Cultural Heritage Protection. Media registration certificate
States
ФС77-53716, issued April 26, 2013. Business and cultural Days of Moscow events in Baltic
All reproduction permitted only with the Editor’s permission and reference to countries took place in Tallinn, Riga, and Daugavpils in
‘Capital Ideas’. September.
Distributed free of charge
11
Published with support from the Department for External Economic
and International Relations of the Government of Moscow
Circulation : 7000
Signed into print 30. 09. 2019
Face To Face
Marat Kabaev:
Moscow turns 872 The Islamic World wants to be
On September 7-8, the Russian capital celebrated City Day. Over
7.4 million people attended the holiday events. The theme was the friends with Russia
anniversary of VDNKh, which turned 80 this year.
In the beginning of October, Russia held the World Halal Day for the
12-15 first time. It took place on the banks of the Volga River, in Samara,
alongside the international Volga Investment Summit. Over 200
The World Cup is over. experts from 20 countries took part in the events — Persian Gulf
states, Southeast Asian and African countries, and EU countries.
What’s next? The International Association of Islamic Business was one of the co-
organizers for the forum. The association’s president Marat Kabaev
Department of Foreign Economic and International Relations. talked to Editor-in-Chief of Capital Ideas about the IAIB’s goals.
16-18 32-34
…And the winner is Moscow!
Just ten years ago, the capital of Russia didn’t have much to brag
about. But over the past few years, the city has transformed so
much that it’s claiming awards left and right.
21
Cover Story
A digital transformation is key to
any city’s development
Two years ago, Moscow launched the Digital Business Space —
a multi-purpose platform for entrepreneurs engaged in the
development of digital technologies. The emergence of this center
in a city that often implements new technologies and IT solutions
is, of course, no accident. A digital revolution has long been
underway in Moscow, and it has impacted all new spheres of the
Russian capital’s life.
22-30
October-December 2019 CAPITAL IDEAS 3
Nothing Ventured Nothing Ventured
Elena Rassudimova: Giulio Zompi:
We are looking to the Doing business in Russia
future with optimism isn’t harder than at
Moscow in numbers “In Guardian, we share the vision - to create value
for our customers and society. And this is not just
home
36-37 about what we do, but also how and why we do He came to Moscow in the early 2000s to be
it. Glass production is not just our business, but in the computer business, but his love for food
What’s New
also our passion, our commitment to constantly and the desire to introduce people in Moscow
38-45 innovate to improve the value we create”, said Elena to Italian cuisine and food culture helped him
Rassudimova, General Manager of Guardian Glass in establish a successful business with a lot of
Moscow in words Russia & CIS in an interview with Capital Ideas. potential in the capital.
46-47 50-51 58-61
Nothing Ventured Nothing Ventured Nothing Ventured
Do you need “It’s not easy to throw us Alexis Rodzianko:
a bodygard? off balance” If it weren’t for polo,
Not anymore! The German economy believes in Russia, but… This
“but” was the main focal point of the meeting with
I would have been
There are still businessmen abroad who
are convinced that doing business in
journalists held by the leadership of the German- unemployed long ago!
Russian Chamber of Commerce. The meeting
Russia is dangerous because anarchy and Twice a week, President of the American
covered another survey regarding the business
lawlessness reign here. Some of them Chamber of Commerce in Russia Alexis
climate in Russia in the second half of 2019.
even think that the first thing a foreign Rodzianko drops everything and travels from
businessman has to do after coming to 52-53 Moscow to the village of Tseleevo, located 60
Russia is hire a bodyguard… kilometers outside of the capital. There, he
Nothing Ventured trades in his suit for a polo uniform and mounts
48-49 a horse to spend a couple of hours playing with
Lorenz Widmer: Swiss friends and colleagues.
business is actively entering 62-64
the Russian market
Swiss Business Hub Russia is an official branch of
the Swiss embassy. It’s responsible for supporting
Swiss exporters in Russia, as well as helping
Russian companies register and start operating
in Switzerland. SBH maintains close ties with key
public and private entities in both Switzerland and
Russia. Head of the Swiss Business Hub Russia
Lorenz Widmer talked about what the hub does in
an interview with Capital Ideas.
54-57
4 CAPITAL IDEAS October-December 2019
Travel&Leisure
City street festivals
Moscow, the capital of Russia, is the most
Nothing Ventured populated city in Europe. Over 12.5 million
people live here, and about 22 million tourists
Where business is Calendar come every year to see a city where history
is being made. In 2018, Moscow received the
headed Specialized exhibitions, prestigious international award in the sphere
of festival organization. The International
In spite of the sanctions and challenges in
the political and economic climate, foreign
congresses, and Festival and Event Association ranked the
Russian capital as one of the best cities in the
investors are interested in Russia forums world for festivals and public events.
65 72-77 86-89
Interview This&That Moscow Vocabulary
Július Hudáček: MOSCOW: Stress and 90-91
I really like taking the the City Food&Drink
metro in Moscow A city or a village? The majority of people Andrea Galli:
in the world definitely prefer living in a
In Moscow, there are a lot of expats working city. According to some assessments, two A plate needs to be
in just about any field. Many of them are
professional athletes, and today we’d like
thirds of the planet’s population will be
living in cities by 2050. Because of this, minimalist: elegant,
to introduce one of them. In this exclusive
interview with Capital Ideas, HC Spartak
humanity will go through radical social and
environmental changes. After all, life in a
beautiful, neat
Moscow’s goaltender Július Hudáček talked city means everyday stress that is difficult Andrea Galli was born in 1970, near the port
to us about how he spent his first year in to manage. city of Ancona, Italy. He graduated from
Moscow, his favorite places in the capital, why IPSAR A. Panzini. Throughout his career, he
he likes taking the metro and the MCC, and 78-79 has managed to work in some of Italy’s best
much more. restaurants — in Milan and on the Ligurian
Life&Culture
coast, the Bahamas, Switzerland, Denmark,
66-69
Smart money
Time to break records: New York, San Francisco, Germany. In
Moscow, he’s been in charge of the kitchen at
shooting stars in restaurants like Peperoni, Cherry Mio, etc.
An end of the free autumn 92-96
money era? This fall promises to set a new record in
New Moscow is in the lead in Russia. These terms of the number of big international
are the results of the first few months of the stars coming to Moscow for concerts. It’s
switch to a new escrow financing model. an especially pleasant surprise for their fans
in the city.
70
80-85
October-December 2019 CAPITAL IDEAS 5
MOSCOW OFFICIAL
Mayor of Moscow Sergey Sobyanin and Mayor of Ljubljana Zoran Janković
Moscow and Ljubljana sign
a cooperation program
Mayor of Moscow Sergey Sobyanin and the Mayor of Ljubljana Zoran
Janković signed a cooperation program between the two cities for
2019-2021. Prime Minister of the Russian Federation Dmitry Medvedev
and Prime Minister of the Republic of Slovenia Marjan Sarec, who was
in Moscow for an official visit, attended the ceremony.
“T
he purpose of my visit to Moscow is to ment interesting projects. Among them is the expan-
maintain good relations, strengthen our sion of the Forum of Slavic Cultures in Ljubljana,” the
mutual dialogue and, of course, search Prime Minister said.
for other possible ways to broaden bi-
lateral cooperation. Russia and Slovenia are friendly The Government of Moscow and the Ljubljana City
countries with good trade and relations. The Rus- Hall will cooperate in various fields, including such
sian Federation ranks 10th in the number of visits by as urban planning and construction, development of
Russian tourists to our country. We hope that this urban infrastructure, improvement of urban trans-
visit and the documents that were signed today will port systems, improvement of social services, envi-
strengthen our legal framework for cooperation,” ronmental protection, science and entrepreneurship,
Marjan Sarec said. education, culture and art, sports and tourism, and
social welfare.
According to Dmitry Medvedev, the signed agreement
is a complete roadmap. “Based on this document, the “Trade volumes for the first half of this year increased
relevant departments and organizations will imple- by 36 percent. I hope that this cooperation will in-
crease and expand, because today I am accompanied Poklonnaya Hill. It is dedicated to the Slovenes who
by representatives of business circles and enterprises died in Russia country during WWI and WWII. A sim-
that are already on the market in Russia and in the ilar monument to the sons of Russia and the Soviet
world. They have a very good reputation, very good Union who died on Slovenian soil was erected in Lju-
authority. They work in the field of energy, informa- bljana in July 2016.
tion technology, as well as in energy efficiency,” Mar-
jan Sarec said. “Mr. Medvedev and I will be attending the opening of
the monument dedicated to the Slovenes who per-
Plans include school exchanges and contacts between ished during the First and Second World Wars on Rus-
educational institutions, an exchange of experience sian soil. It’s located at Poklonnaya Hill in the Victory
on integrating IT technologies in education, as well as Park. We’ll open the monument and thereby preserve
the exchange of information between research and them in our memory. This is very important to us,
design organizations. In addition, the capitals will co- since both Russia and Slovenia lost a lot of people to
operate under the Moscow Longevity program, hold these wars. The world must know about these sacri-
meetings between the national teams of Moscow and fices. It is a message that sends a warning: this must
Ljubljana in various sports, exchange experience, and never happen again,” Marjan Sarec said.
train municipal employees of the two cities.
Dmitry Medvedev noted that relations between
“Our cooperation is also developing in the spheres of Russia and Slovenia are built on trust and have a lot
culture, education, science, sports and youth policy,” of potential. He expressed hope that the discussion
Dmitry Medvedev said. of relevant issues will help strengthen ties between
countries and people that are united by a common
Days of Ljubljana will be an important event in Mos- history.
cow. They are scheduled to take place in May 2020.
‘We honor and value this history. This is exactly why,
Bilateral relations between Moscow and Ljubljana right after our negotiations, we are opening a monu-
are built on the basis of the protocol of friendship and ment to Slovenes who perished on Russian soil during
cooperation. The previous cooperation program for WWI and WWII at Poklonnaya Hill inside the Victory
three years was also signed by the heads of the two Park,” he said.
capitals in Moscow on June 9, 2015. The program was
successfully implemented, and in the fall of 2016 Mos- In addition, in November 2017, the World War II Inter-
cow Days were held in Ljubljana. national Research Center opened in the Slovenian city
of Maribor with the support from the Moscow Gov-
During the visit, the Slovenian delegation took part ernment. The center offers a class on Russian history,
in the opening of the monument in Victory Park on which is taught in Russian.
Monument to Slovenes who perished on Russian soil during WWI
and WWII October-December 2019 CAPITAL IDEAS 7
MOSCOW OFFICIAL
Meeting
between Dmitry
Medvedev and
Prime Minister of
Slovenia Marjan
Sarec
Investment and trade the intergovernmental commission. I hope that these
trends will continue,” Dmitry Medvedev said.
According to data from January 1, 2019, Slovenian in-
vestment volumes into the Moscow economy cur- The volume of bilateral trade between Moscow and
rently amount to $11 million, which means Slovenia Slovenia amounted to $345.3 million. Exports from
ranks 77th among foreign countries. There are a total Moscow accounted for $1.1 million, and imports
of 15 enterprises with Slovenian capital registered in from Slovenia accounted to $344.2 million of the to-
the Russian capital, and Slovenia ranks 54th among all tal volume.
foreign countries in this respect.
“Of course we want investment volumes to grow as
“Both Russia and Slovenia intend to strengthen coop- much as possible. We support projects by Slovenian
eration and economic ties. Overall, they are develop- companies that localize the production of medicine,
ing. I’ve already said this to my colleagues, and I want paint, and telecommunications equipment,” Dmitry
to say it again: trade turnover increased again last Medvedev said.
year, after experiencing a drop due to the negative
trends we’re all aware of. In many ways, this is the According to official FSB data, 8,500 Slovenes entered
result of the work done by our colleagues, including Russian through Moscow airports last year. ■
The signing of the cooperation program between the Government of Moscow and the Government of Ljubljana for 2019-2021Entrepreneurship
and trade between
Moscow and the Greater
Paris metropolis
Mayor of Moscow Sergey Sobyanin and president of the Greater Paris
metropolis Patrick Ollier signed a cooperation program for 2019-2021.
The ceremony took place during the Moscow Urban Forum.
T
he program entails the exchange of experi- French network of high-speed electric trains. In addi-
ence, knowledge, and information across key tion, improving the energy efficiency of buildings un-
areas of urban development. This includes der construction and renovating the existing housing
entrepreneurship and trade, urban develop- stock is a priority for Greater Paris.
ment, the environment, culture and cultural heritage,
the “Smart City” concept, information technologies, The metropolitan area currently produces about 25%
sports, as well as improvements to technology parks. of France’s gross domestic product.
The Greater Paris metropolis is a new administrative In 2018, the turnover between organizations registered
unit formed on January 1, 2016. The agglomeration in- in Moscow and French partners amounted to $ 5.6 bil-
cludes the city of Paris and its entire periphery — 131 lion. And in the first quarter of 2019, this figure rose to
communes of the departments of Saint-Saint-Denis, $ 1.1 billion. France ranks fifth in terms of bilateral trade
Saint-et-Marne, O-de-Seine, Val-de-Marne, Val- among foreign partners of the Russian capital.
d’Oise, Essonne and Yvelines. The population of the
metropolis is 7.2 million people. About 170 companies with French capital are reg-
istered in Moscow. As of October 1, 2018, France’s
One of the priorities of Greater Paris is the establish- accumulated investment in the Moscow economy
ment of a transport system that will connect the sub- amounted to almost $ 3.9 billion.
urbs with each other and with Charles de Gaulle Air-
port without a transfer in the city center. To this end, According to the Border Service of the FSB of Russia,
new metro lines, including automated ones, are being last year the flow of tourists from France increased
actively built on the territory of the metropolitan area. by 9.8 percent compared to 2017 and amounted to
They will be integrated with the TGV railway — the 148,800 people. ■
October-December 2019 CAPITAL IDEAS 9Mayors Summit
on Living
Together
in Düsseldorf
Minister of the Moscow Government and Head of the Moscow Department of Foreign
Economic and International Relations Sergey Cheremin took part in the second Mayors
Summit on Living Together in Dusseldorf. The first summit, held in 2015, took place in
Montreal, Canada.
T
his year, the main topics of the conference, along with the “My Street” improvement project. Ac-
which brought together 57 representatives cording to Sergey Cheremin, the goal of these initia-
from 28 countries, were communication be- tives is to make the lives of Moscow residents more
tween city residents and the authorities, comfortable and convenient.
healthcare initiatives, the stable development of a city
that’s convenient to live in, and the implementation of The Russian capital uses IT solutions in the spheres
smart technologies in city management. of transportation, healthcare, and education. Moscow
is the world’s leading city in terms of the number of
During his speech, Sergey Cheremin pointed out that government services residents can access online. “We
the Russian capital is one of the most advanced cities in currently have 26o e-services, and we’re not stopping
the world — a fact that has been confirmed by a number here,” the minister said.
of international ratings. For example, Moscow is in first
place on the UN’s e-government development index. Conference participants included representatives from
The Financial Times included Moscow in the top-5 Eu- New York, Dhaka, Vienna, Calcutta, Arnhem, Hamburg,
ropean cities for investors, and the international creator Warsaw, Izmir, Montreal, and other cities. Summing up
of navigation technology TomTom ranked Moscow first the conference, the Mayor of Dusseldorf Thomas Geisel
on its Traffic Index for the city’s parking system. noted that it does not matter where the city is locat-
ed — in Europe, Asia, Africa or America, the important
The Minister also said that major city projects have thing is that we can learn from each other.
received international recognition as well. The Luzh-
niki sports arena and Zaryadye Park received awards Additionally, as part of a trip to Düsseldorf, Head of Mos-
at an international architecture festival, and Zaryadye cow’s Foreign Economic and International Relations
Park received a special prize at the MIPIM Awards. Sergey Cheremin held talks with Thomas Geisel. The
Island of Dreams, the world’s largest indoor amuse- parties discussed current issues of cooperation between
ment park, is getting ready to open its doors as well. the Russian capital and the capital of North Rhine-
Westphalia, as well as the implementation of ongoing
The reconstruction and renovation of the city’s build- projects, including the preparations for Dusseldorf Days,
ings, public spaces, and industrial areas are underway, which will take place in Moscow on October 10-12. ■Days of Moscow
in the Baltic States
Business and cultural Days of Moscow events in Baltic countries took
place in Tallinn, Riga, and Daugavpils on September 17-10. The cities were
visited by a delegation from the Russian capital, headed by Minister of the
Moscow Government and Head of the Moscow Department of Foreign
Economic and International Relations Sergey Cheremin.
A
series of meetings in the Tallinn City Hall in Moscow’s projects includes Germany, France, Italy,
kicked off the official program of the Days of Switzerland, Austria, and other European states. Ac-
Moscow in Baltic countries. Sergey Cheremin cording to Mr. Cheremin, the volume of direct foreign
first talked to Mayor Mihhail Kõlvart, and then investments into Moscow’s economy has reached
Deputy Mayor Vadim Belobrovtsev. $250 billion, while trade turnover between organiza-
tions in Moscow and their foreign partners has ex-
The two sides agreed that both cities are interested ceeded $300 billion. When it comes to Baltic coun-
in re-establishing cultural and business ties, and ex- tries, the figures are less optimistic.
change of experience in city management, coopera-
tion in the sphere of cultural heritage preservation, “Unfortunately, we’ve seen a negative trend late-
and the establishment and maintenance of favorable ly: trade turnover volumes with Baltic states have
environmental conditions. The last time Days of Mos- dropped. We would like to turn this around,” Sergey
cow were held in Tallinn was in 2010. Cheremin said, “For example, the numbers from Tal-
linn are disappointing — trade turnover there has de-
Sergey Cheremin noted that the two cities play a key clined by 15-18% annually. This also worries our part-
role in the establishment of their respective coun- ners in Estonia.”
tries’ socio-economic potential. He said that Moscow
is ready to move quickly and effectively in terms of Business forum participants also talked about trade
cooperation with Tallinn, supporting all of the city’s and economic cooperation between the capitals of
initiatives. In turn, Vadim Belobrovtsev pointed out Russia and Estonia, Moscow’s investment potential,
that tourist flows between the two cities have been and problems that prevent people in both countries
constant, and expressed interest in holding a festival from developing their business. ■
of Estonian culture in the Russian capital, as well as
in bilateral exchange of information and technologies.
“We have things to learn from Moscow, and Moscow
has a lot to offer,” Mr. Belobrovtsev said.
The business program continued with the round table
“Moscow in the Global Digital Space. Priorities, Pros-
pects, Key Projects.” Participants discussed the nuanc-
es of implementing modern IT solutions in the social
sphere, the legal aspects of ensuring cybersecurity,
and innovative solutions in the sphere of transport
accessibility. Special attention was paid to the digita-
lization of the education process.
During the business forum in Riga, which also took
place within the scope of the Days of Moscow in Bal-
tic countries, head of the Moscow Department of
Foreign Economic and International Relations Sergey
Cheremin said that, in spite of the sanctions, EU coun-
Minister of the Moscow Government and Head of the Moscow Department of
tries have remained the Russian capital’s main eco- Foreign Economic and International Relations Sergey Cheremin and Deputy Mayor
nomic partners. The list of key countries that invest of Tallinn Vadim Belobrovtsev
October-December 2019 CAPITAL IDEAS 11MOSCOW OFFICIAL
On September 7-8, the Russian
capital celebrated City Day.
Over 7.4 million people attended
the holiday events. The theme was
the anniversary of VDNKh, which
turned 80 this year. President
Vladimir Putin and Mayor of
Moscow Sergey Sobyanin took part
in the opening ceremony
held at VDNKh.
Moscow turns
12 CAPITAL IDEAS October-December 2019T
he President of Russia wished city residents and
guests a happy holiday and pointed out that
Moscow plays a key role in shaping the country’s
history. “Today, Moscow is more than a modern
metropolis. It’s also Russia’s heritage — a unique
reflection of all its eras, of the generous and vast Russian
soul,” he said, “It’s a city that has earned the respect of our
country’s citizens with its beauty and accomplishments.
We see how the capital has transformed over the past few
years — it’s an obvious fact. So much has been done to
create a comfortable business environment, good social,
transport, and digital infrastructure, and improvements to
public spaces.”
According to Vladimir Putin, the work that has been done
to revive the All-Russian Exhibition Center (VDNKh),
which is celebrating its 80th anniversary this year, is
particularly noteworthy. “A major reconstruction project
is underway here: we can see how the prominent, eas-
ily recognizable image of VDNKh has re-emerged, how
the exhibition’s architecture and art masterpieces have
872
been restored diligently and with historical accuracy,”
October-December 2019 CAPITAL IDEAS 13MOSCOW OFFICIAL
the President of Russia said, “VDNKh is starting to serve “And of course, you need leadership to do a lot more than to
its original purpose, becoming a major exposition, mu- simply call themselves leaders. Leadership is needed so that
seum, cultural, educational, and public space. It reaffirms the two million children living in Moscow get a quality educa-
Moscow’s enduring purpose as a creative and unifying tion and a chance to succeed in life. So that the three and a half
center.” million senior citizens have a reliable social safety net. So that
every Moscow resident can have a decent job with a decent
Sergey Sobyanin also wished Muscovites a happy City Day, salary. And we need it so that Moscow remains the driver of
thanking Vladimir Putin, the Russian government, and the modern economic growth,” Sergey Sobyanin said.
Parliament for giving the capital a lot of attention. Accord-
ing to the mayor, the decision to transfer VDNKh back to During the first day of the holiday, 1.2 million guests visited
this city, which was made a few years ago, played a key role the parks in Moscow and over half a million people came
in the capital’s development. “Today, we can safely say that to VDNKh. The next day, there were 2.2 million people in
we’ve fulfilled your assignment to revive VDNKh. And today, parks and another half a million at VDNKh. Over 200,000
on VDNKh’s 80th anniversary, we can say that this unique people attended the “Nashi v Gorode” rock festival over the
complex has been reborn, that it has become the most weekend, and the “Flower Jam” landscape design festival
popular spot among the city’s guests and residents alike,” attracted over 800,000 guests. Over 900,000 Muscovites
Sergey Sobyanin said. visited holiday venues near their homes.
The Mayor of Moscow noted that, in spite of these ac- Almost 3 million people celebrated Moscow’s 872nd birth-
complishments, the capital plans to continue devel- day on Tverskaya. The street hosted four holiday platforms
opment work. “Moscow has to become a global leader dedicated to VDNKh’s symbols and history. Guests visited
among cities in the sphere of public transportation by hundreds of workshops, gym classes, tours, lectures, plays,
doubling the size of the metro, building the Large Circle and concerts. There were also productions by participants
Line, creating the Moscow Central Diameters, and estab- of the “Golden Mask” special programs, as well as plays or-
lishing convenient above-ground transportation,” Sergey ganized by Moscow’s theatres.
Sobyanin added, “We have to create the best school sys-
tem in the world, to develop all skills taught in school and The most popular athletic classes were rock climbing, ziplining,
the Moscow Electronic School, and to launch career prep standup paddle boarding, and master classes on pump tracks
classes in all schools.” and skate parks. The sports, entertainment, and music venues
at Luzhniki were visited by 160,000 people. Over 40 athletic
Another important area of development is the city’s health- fields, 20 active leisure areas, and dozens of food courts were
care system. “Of course, we have to make sure that Mos- open here on City Day. There were also talk shows with fa-
cow is an Urban Health leader, that the healthcare system mous athletes and a big concert. Russia’s national figure skat-
is high quality and that people have options to stay active,” ing team held a pre-season show as well.
the Mayor of Moscow said. According to Sergey Sobyanin,
the results of all this work will be in high demand among The holiday ended with a fireworks show. There were over
millions of the city’s residents. 70,000 shots fired from 32 venues throughout the city. ■
14 CAPITAL IDEAS October-December 2019CITY DAY FACTS:
● 2 00 tours, 96 concerts and plays, 600 workshops, and over
150 free events across 80 museums were held on City Day
● 1,500 venues operated throughout the city
● o
ver 4 million people celebrated City Day on the first day,
September 7
● 3 13 workshops, 100 open gym classes, 96 tours, 24 lectures,
and 48 plays and concerts were held on Tverskaya and
nearby streets
● G
uests visited 260 productions, 80 of which were organized
by participants of the special “Golden Mask” program
● T
verskaya hosted 4 holiday platforms with a total area of
over 40,000 square meters and a combined length of
1.5 kilometers
● 2 50+ holiday programs were organized for Muscovites across
all city districts
● A
new highline world record was set during City Day. Ger-
many’s Friede Kuhne walked across a slackline between the
OKO and Neva Towers in Moscow City, traversing 245 me-
ters at a height of 350 meters on his first attempt — almost
100 meters higher than the previous record. France’s Nathan
Paulin, Canada’s Mia Noblet, and Russia’s Maksim Kagin,
Alexander Gribanov, Gennady Skripko, and Vladimir Murzaev
joined Kuhne in setting the new world record. The new
achievement will be entered into the Guinness World Records.
A Guinness representative came to Moscow for the occasion,
and presented the new record holders with diplomas during a
special ceremony.
Photo: mos.ru, kremlin.ru
October-December 2019 CAPITAL IDEAS 15MOSCOW OFFICIAL
The world cup is over.
What’s next?
At the end of June, Moscow held a round table — “Moscow on the World’s
Tourism Map After the World Cup. The City’s Accomplishments and
Prospects.” The event took place with support from the Department
of Foreign Economic and International Relations and its business
publication, “Capital Ideas.”
H
ow the World Cup changed the capital’s beautiful, and that the prices in cafes and restaurants
image, the impetus it gave to the develop- are lower than in the West.”
ment of Moscow’s tourism infrastructure
— these were the main issues discussed by During the World Cup, a lot of people from all over
members of the round table about what the planet visited the Russian capital. Tourists were
has happened since the FIFA World Cup. surprised by their positive impression of the city, said
Andrey Shemyakin, managing partner at SEA Compa-
“Memories from the World Cup are going to stay with ny. Experts and major Western publications also had
all of us. It became yet another reason to be proud of a lot to say. Here is the leitmotif from some Ameri-
Moscow,” said Tatiana Shashavitskaya, Deputy Chair- can sources: “Russia is Defying Expectations” (Forbes),
man of the Moscow Tourism Committee, “The cham- “World’s Greatest Places 2018) (Time). According to
pionship dispelled stereotypes about the Russian CNN, Moscow is undoubtedly on the list of the top
capital. People understood that it’s safe, clean, and ten best places to visit. It’s no wonder that, accord-
ing to the numbers from the Tourism Committee, the
majority of fans at the World Cup came from non-CIS
countries — here, tourism flows increased by more
than 50%.
Analysts from Amadeus, a leader in information tech-
nologies for tourism, managed to collect some inter-
esting data. According to Leonid Marmer, the Gen-
eral Director of Amadeus Russia, most World Cup
guests came from Germany. Fans from the US were
in second place, and Israel ranked third. Foreign tour-
ists stayed in the city for 12 days. In 2018, the num-
ber of flight ticket reservations to Moscow increased
by 19%. The analysis of tourist flight data before and
after the championship is also important. In the first
6 months of 2019, the demand for tickets was abso-
lutely unreal — there was a growth of 280% in May.
“Today, Moscow is in 19th place in terms of search en-
gine popularity across the globe,” Leonid Marmer said,
“We’re already in 7th place in Europe. The World Cup
moved us up 14 spots.”
16 CAPITAL IDEAS October-December 2019Undoubtedly, the infrastructure that was built for the billion rubles, and it’s growing,” Sergey Cheremin
championship can’t exist without hosting other ath- continued.
letic events,” said Sergey Anokhin, Vice President of
the Russian Football Union and President of the Mos- The capital also holds a lot of events jointly with other
cow Football Federation, “Moscow became a sport cities, such as Italy, Israel, and Asian countries.
and football metropolis. The city definitely needs
these kinds of major events.” Tim Ettelt, Hilton Worldwide’s Area and Country Man-
ager for Russia and the CIS, pointed to the efforts of
Sergey Anokhin also invited all fans to the Beach Vol- organizers and the capital’s authorities during prepa-
leyball World Championship, which Moscow will host rations for the World Cup, especially in terms of up-
in 2021, and said that the federation plans to set a new dating the city’s infrastructure and transportatation
record — to hold football matches on all 50 fields at logistics. All of this changed foreigners’ opinions not
the Luzhniki athletic complex simultaneously. only about Moscow, but Russia as a whole. Millions
understood that Moscow is a welcoming city with
“The World Cup is not an isolated event,” said Sergey friendly residents. Moscow’s image has improved so
Cheremin, Minister of the Moscow Government and much that Hilton is starting to promote more actively
Head of the Moscow Department of Foreign Eco- Russia to its clients.
nomic and International Relations.
Olga Tkacheva, Deputy Director for Strategic Devel-
Moscow is almost constantly holding festivals and vari- opment and Marketing at Flotilla Radisson Royal in
ous public holidays in the city. The World Cup fit neatly Moscow, talked about new developments in the city’s
into a series of other events held by the Moscow govern- logistics. The successful launch of the new trams that
ment for Muscovites and the capital’s guests. The Minis- run along the Moscow River is helping relieve traffic
ter mentioned the most important ones — “Journey into by providing tourists and city residents with a new
Christmas,” “Festival of Fireworks,” “Flower Jam,” which and convenient form of transportation. The Flotilla
was visited by over 6 million people on opening day, and also holds yacht trips on the Moscow River later in the
the international festival “Circle of Light,” which made it day, including thematic dinners and literary evenings.
into the Guiness Book of World Records.
“Tourism is a business. A product that is put together
“Moscow currently holds 240 days of events through- and promoted properly will give the desired effect,”
out the year, and 70 million people are out and about Olga Tkacheva pointed out, “It’s important for busi-
the city’s picturesque streets annually. Not every big city ness and the authorities to have a dialog these days.”
would be able to sustain this,” Sergey Cheremin noted.
According to Tatiana Shashavitskaya, one of the city’s
Investments into the city’s infrastructure, especially into key tasks is the development of hotel infrastructure.
the “My Street” project, as well as into the hotel and In light of this, the participants discussed a property
transport infrastructure, helped the capital succeed. tax for hotels. The Moscow Tourism Committee re-
ports that over half of all hotels used the 7% subsi-
“All of this has a huge economic effect, the turn- dy — a major help to hoteliers. Tatiana Shashavitskaya
over of the tourism industry amounts to 860-870 assured the participants that Moscow’s government
October-December 2019 CAPITAL IDEAS 17MOSCOW OFFICIAL
remains on the side of hoteliers and works to promote The meeting also touched on issues of guide educa-
hotel development in the city in many ways. tion in Moscow.
“We decided to extend the subsidy for another five “There is no question that the tourism sector is grow-
years,” she said. ing. Guides should change along with it. The key task
and duty of a modern guide is to convey the heritage
The World Cup also unveiled a number of problems, and values of Russia and Moscow to tourists, as well as
such as the deficit of mid-range hotels in the capital. to introduce them to new developments,” said Marina
By the way, hostels in residential buildings will stop Kressova, Vice President of the Russian Association
operating starting in October 1, 2019 — there are over Of Tourist Guides And Tour Managers, “Today’s guide
500 of them throughout the city. The city govern- must not only accompany tourists to the Kremlin, but
ment’s task is to fill this niche with quality offers. The also take them to other interesting places in the capi-
initiative is supported by the company Azimut, which tal, showing them famous streets and allowing them
has a plan to fill the niche with new brand hostels. to not only get to know more about the city’s history,
but to also get acquainted with the present.”
Another problem is visas. It’s important to simplify the
visa restrictions — something that all round table par- Marina Kressova pointed to an important trend that
ticipants agreed on. As the World Cup has shown, for- continued after the World Cup. The championship
eign guests liked the FanID system, as it significantly showed Moscow in a new light, and the city now has
reduced barriers to entering the country. Simplify- a new tour that’s gaining popularity: “Moscow — the
ing the visa policy will help boost tourist volumes by capital of international football.” The epic tour covers
about 40% in the future. sports in the capital, explaining why football is very
much a Russian phenomenon, what happened on the
Yes, the World Cup dispelled a lot of myths about Mos- streets and inside stadiums during the championship,
cow and Russia, but the question of how to maintain and what’s happening today.
this positive trend among foreigners remains. Andrey
Shemyakin pointed to the importance of professional Sergo Kukhianidze, Editor-in-Chief of Capital Ideas,
press tours and conferences: “We need to work with said the following during his speech: “When we cre-
international journalists to cover key events in the ated the publication six years ago, we wanted to help
city, as well as to use all modern tools to promote foreigners understand what modern-day Moscow is
Moscow to the public.” all about. The World Cup definitely helped in this re-
gard. Because for the majority of people abroad, our
Sergey Nalobin, Deputy Director of the Information city, just like Russia, is terra incognitа – a blank space
and Press Department of the Russian Ministry of on the world map.”
Foreign Affairs, shared his positive experience with
promoting Russia on social media. In 2018, the min- “Moscow is not a blank space, but a space that’s been
istry did a lot of work to inform the citizens of foreign painted it over with black paint, and we now have to
countries about changes in Russia and Moscow. To wash it off,” Sergey Cheremin said during his closing
combat anti-Russian propaganda, for example, the remarks. He stressed that the Moscow authorities will
ministry created a special “Fake News” section on its continue to do everything in their power to turn the
website — a project that yielded great results. city into a comfortable place to live. ■
18 CAPITAL IDEAS October-December 2019useful info
Department for external economic and international relations of
the Government of Moscow
Address: 13 Tverskaya Street, Moscow, 125032
Ph: +7 (495) 633 68 66
Fax: +7 (495) 633 68 65
E-mail: dvms@mos.ru
www.mos.ru/dvms/
Department of Science, Industrial Policy
and Entrepreneurship of the Goverment of Moscow
Address: 22 Voznesensky Pereylok, Moscow, 125009
Ph: +7 (495) 777 77 77; +7 (495) 957 05 42
Fax: +7 (495) 957 05 92
E-mail: dnpp@mos.ru; dpir@mos.ru
www.mos.ru/dnpp/
Department of Economic Policy and Development
of the Government of Moscow
Address: 21 Voznesensky Pereylok, Moscow, 125032
Ph: +7 (495) 777 77 77, +7 (495) 957 72 17
Fax: +7 (495) 629 33 42
E-mail: dprm@mos.ru
www.mos.ru/depr/
Department of City Property of the Government of Moscow
Address: 20 Bakhrushina Street, Moscow, 115054
Ph:+7 (495) 777 77 77
E-mail: dgi@mos.ru
www.mos.ru/dgi/
Moscow Exchange
Address: Office 1: 125009 Moscow, Bolshoy Kislovsky per, 13
Office 2: 125009 Moscow, Vozdvizhenka Str, 4/7, Bldg. 1
Phone: +7 (495) 363 32 32, +7 (495) 232 33 63
Fax: +7 (495) 234-48-40
www.moex.com
October-December 2019 CAPITAL IDEAS 19around the world
Since the beginning of 2013 Capital Ideas has been successfully presented at
Destination Moscow roadshows held in London, Frankfurt, Tokyo, Boston,
New York and many other cities around the world
Dear Ladies and Gentlemen!
We hope that you like Capital Ideas. Please give us your feedback and send us your
comments. This will all help to make Moscow a better place to work and live.
Sergo Kukhianidze, Editor in Chief
Write to Sergo Kukhianidze at sergomrk@mail.ru
20 CAPITAL IDEAS October-December 2019MOSCOW OFFICIAL
…and the winner is Moscow!
Just ten years ago, the capital of Russia didn’t have much to brag about. But over
the past few years, the city has transformed so much that it’s claiming awards
left and right.
M
oscow’s accomplishments across various Awards, making it into the top-7 smart cities all over the
spheres — from the transport sector to monu- world.
ment restoration — have been recognized with
domestic and international awards. Moscow also received high praise for the World Cup, which
the city hosted last year. A year prior to the championship,
Every year, Moscow receives awards from in- Luzhniki stadium received the Sport Engineering AWARDS
ternational and Russian contests for urban development prize in the “Advanced sports architecture” category. And, of
(we’ll go over just a few of the international awards). Ex- course, it should come as no surprise that Russia was recog-
perts have taken note of the Moscow Central Circle, the nized as one of the best cities for holding festivals and public
city’s government e-services, and the establishment of the events by the World Festival and Event City Award 2018.
above-ground transport network “Magistral.” The capital’s
programs aimed at preserving historical monuments have The city not only gets international awards for its sports
been recognized as the most effective in the world. New city architecture, but also for the architecture of its historical
spaces have also received international awards. monuments. In 2012, Moscow won a gold medal at the Eu-
ropean exhibition DENKMAL for the authentic restoration of
The city’s competent development of the transport infra- the Triumphal Arch. In 2016, DENKMAL presented Moscow
structure has received the most recognition over the past with a special award for outstanding achievements in the
three years — Moscow has won four awards in this sphere. sphere of historical architectural monument preservation.
In 2016, Moscow claimed the ITF Transport Award “For spe-
cial achievements in the transport sector” in the “Passenger Zaryadye Park, which opened in the fall of 2017, is un-
transfers” category, and placed second in the Sustainable doubtedly one of the best projects in the city. It received
Transport Award for accomplishments in the establishment two awards in 2018. One was from the international ar-
of a comfortable transport and city environment. The inter- chitecture weblog ArchDaily, where the park became a
national Sustainable Transport Award, which was founded laureate in the “Best public spaces project” category. The
in 2005, is one of the most prestigious awards in the world. other was from InAVation Awards — the park won in the
The jury includes experts from the World Bank, the Insti- “Visitor Attraction” category. The award was presented
tute for Transportation and Development Policy in New for the park’s media equipment, as well as for its audio-
York, and representatives from expert organizations in the visual installations in the media center — the “Time Ma-
spheres of transportation and urban development. In 2018, chine” and “Flight” rides. ■
Moscow once again received the special Sustainable Trans-
port Award — a “Special achievements” prize for advances
in transport infrastructure development. In 2017, the city
claimed two prestigious awards. One was the “Honorable
mention” award for transport infrastructure development
from Global Public Transport Awards. The second was from
Traffic Index Awards “For contributions to parking space de-
velopment” (for the best organization of parking spaces).
Moscow’s achievements in transforming the capital into a
smart city have also received recognition. In 2016 the capi-
tal was a World Smart City Awards finalist in the “City” cat-
egory for the development of government e-services. Last
year, Moscow won two international awards in the “tech-
nologies” category: a special prize in the “Provision of gov-
ernment services in electronic format” nomination category
from WeGO and a prize from the Intelligent Community
October-December 2019 CAPITAL IDEAS 21A digital
COVER STORY
Two years ago, Moscow launched the Digital Business Space — a multi-
purpose platform for entrepreneurs engaged in the development of
digital technologies. The emergence of this center in a city that
often implements new technologies and IT solutions is, of course,
no accident. A digital revolution has long been underway
in Moscow, and it has impacted all new spheres of the
Russian capital’s life.
22 CAPITAL IDEAS October-December 2019transformation
is key to any city’s
development
New management model 92 percent of Muscovites support the implementation
of tech solutions. According to them, digital technolo-
The Moscow government has been working on im- gies improve people’s quality of life. Last year, Mos-
plementing the Smart City program since 2010. In cow placed first among all cities in the world on the
nine years, the capital has erected an advanced IT in- UN’s rating of e-government development levels.
frastructure that enables the implementation of high-
tech solutions and services across various spheres of A digital transformation is key to any city’s develop-
the city’s economy. E-services have become more ment. It is a must for cities that want to avoid losing
accessible. The capital’s 4G coverage area has now people, investments, and their future. This was Sergey
reached 99 percent. At the same time, mobile inter- Sobyanin’s message during the plenary session called
net costs just one third of the price tag in London and “Transformation in a quickly-changing world: states,
New York. companies, people,” which took place during this
October-December 2019 CAPITAL IDEAS 23COVER STORY
summer’s Saint Petersburg International Economic IT solutions have also been successfully implemented
Forum. in healthcare and education, making the sphere of gov-
ernment services more accessible. For example, par-
According to Sergey Sobyanin, a digital transforma- ents can sign their children up for kindergarten without
tion must cover different spheres, and information leaving the house now. Moreover, it’s become easier
technologies have to be widely used in housing and for Muscovites to schedule doctor’s appointments. For
utilities services, healthcare, education, and other as- example, people used to have to sign up 5-7 days in
pects of city life. advance for a health checkup, and the city would have
had to increase the number of hospitals by five times
“It’s impossible to focus on just one area. You either in order to reduce the number to one day. Once the
develop the city competently across all spheres, or Integrated Medical Information Analytical System was
sooner or later lopsided development will lead to seri- introduced, the wait time was reduced to one day with
ous damage,” the Mayor of Moscow said. According to the same number of doctors and clinics.
him, one great example of a successfully implemented
IT solution can already be found in the sphere of city So many people in the capital access e-services every
transport management. The capital has launched an day that they could form a line that would stretch for
intelligent transport system, which is based on arti- one thousand kilometers. “If we had not implemented
ficial intelligence, big data, and a large number of in- this, we would have a line from Moscow to Kalinin-
formation flows. Billions of dollars were spent on its grad,” Sergey Sobyanin clarified. According to Sber-
development and installation, but the results have bank’s President and Chairman of the Board Herman
shown it was worth it. This intelligent system has Gref, who took part in the same plenary session at
improved traffic in Moscow by 15 percent. For com- the Saint Petersburg International Economic Forum,
parison’s sake, if the city had decided to resolve the Moscow’s model is a completely new model of gov-
problem of traffic congestion by building new roads ernment.
and interchanges, it would have cost the city around
a trillion rubles. Information technologies help to better understand
the preferences of city residents, as well as to get sup-
The city is also building new roads, opening new met- port across a wide range of issues. According to Ser-
ro stations, constructing new railway lines, and add- gey Sobyanin, electronic democracy is a key element
ing more trains in order to improve traffic conges- of a smart city. “In a city of 12 million, asking people
tion, but there is no way around using an intelligent what they want and understanding their attitudes
transport system these days — it’s the most efficient toward specific issues and projects is almost impos-
investment. sible,” the Mayor of Moscow said.
24 CAPITAL IDEAS October-December 2019He pointed out, however, that Moscow already has all
the tools necessary to make this happen.
“This includes the ‘My City’ system, through which
around two million people report problems in the city
every day, every minute, every second. It also includes
the ‘Active Citizen’ system, which a large number of
people use to express their opinions about different
projects and let the government know what they re-
ally want,” Sergey Sobyanin added.
Among global leaders
It should come as no surprise that three years ago
Moscow became one of the global leaders in the
implementation of a concept called Data Driven City
(DDC) — the introduction of information technolo-
gies that boost the efficiency of city management.
According to the international professional service
company PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), Moscow’s
accomplishments in IT are on par with tech lead-
ers like New York, London, Barcelona, and Sydney in
terms of the nature and scale of the implemented so-
lutions. This fact is also mentioned in the “Data Driven
Cities” report, which covers DDC concept implemen-
tation across 28 of the world’s largest cities.
A Data Driven City (DDC) is the concept of using large
amounts of data for the stable development of mod-
ern cities. Thanks to advanced digital technologies, in-
formation can be processed directly in real time, with
leads to faster and better decision-making.
Experts have pointed out that Moscow is actively
implementing modern tech solutions across the ma-
jority of city government spheres. The most effec-
tive changes have been the ones implemented in the
spheres of transport, security, and healthcare man-
agement. The city also has projects that are unique in
terms of their scale — “Active Citizen,” ‘Our City,” and
the Integrated Medical Information Analytical System.
Municipal services
The data analysis projects with the most potential are
the ones implemented in the sphere of municipal ser-
vices.
Moscow is in the process of installing automatic me-
tering systems for water and electricity. For the most
part, this is happening in buildings that are currently
under construction.
Smart technologies have become an effective tool
for monitoring municipal services. The installation of
October-December 2019 CAPITAL IDEAS 25You can also read
