the_perm_days-6

The Perm region government recently presented a very ambi-tious project to the public, the construc-tion of a new, world class Museum. The building is to become the new home of the Perm state art gallery collection.

Currently, the gal-lery is situated in the Cathedral located at the base of Kom-somolskiy Avenue, which is to be given back to the Church soon. The Perm gal-lery houses one of the largest art collections

in Russia with more than 47,000 exhibits.

Perm is the first Russian city where a museum is to become the symbol of the city; a tourist destina-tion in its own right such as the Guggen-heim museum is to Bilbao or the Modern Arts Museum is to Cincinnati.

The new museum will be constructed in the park zone at the high bank of Kama River, only a 15-min-utes walk from the city center.

The concept for

the new museum was developed for Perm by Dieter Bogner (Austria), perhaps the most famous museum ideologist of this gen-eration.

Since the new building is to become outstanding architec-tural masterpiece and at the same time the most contemporary museum in Russia, the Moscow Centre of Modern Archi-tecture and Russian Union of Architects have offered to help. They have organized an open architec-tural contest and have helped to form an Advisory Committee to oversea the project contest and subse-quent development.

The contest is to be carried out in two rounds. The first one is a “portfolio”, i.e. a selection of those architects who will actually design the project. Most people would assume that foreign architects will come to Rus-sian provinces only for high wages. Well, that’s not true. The offered design award of $100,000 is not trivial but nor does it necessarily command the attention of the top architects around the world.

The committee has been pleasantly sur-prised that over 320 architectural firms from 50 different countries have sent requests to partici-pate in the contest.

While the number of architectural firms expressing interest in of its self has been a surprise, it is the quality and prestige of the firms that has been particularly gratifying. Nobody expected such enthu-siasm from the world-famous “stars” of architecture. Such has been worldwide inter-est in the project that if the portfolios were chosen by the simple

criteria of fame, there would be only these “stars” in the finals.

That’s why the advisory committee, headed by Euro-pean classicist Peter Zumthor, divided the second round of submissions into 4 groups, representing the chosen 25 finalists for the contest. Of the 25 available places, only 7 were given to “the stars”, including Hani Rashid, Wolf-gang Prix, Eric Owen Moss, Hans Hol-lein, Lars Spuybroek, Odille Decq and Zaha Hadid. The rest was divided among well-known architects (but perhaps not having “star” status), lesser know Russian archi-tects and talented youth. This is a result of Zumthor’s belief in providing opportu-nity for young or not widely known talents based solely on the quality of their initial submissions.

The second round, a full development of each finalist’s con-cept for the project, will last until the middle of November. The winner is to be announced on Decem-ber, 6th 2007.

As of today, the projected date for the opening of the new museum is Septem-ber, 16th 2009. And, if all goes well, on that date the citizens of Perm will have a new symbol for the region as it moves forward into the 21st century.

Our partners:

Architects struggle for Perm

NewsOleg Chirkunov: Construction of the new residences required for resettlement has already been started

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1–15 September 2007

“ T h e P e r m D a y s ” i s t h e n e w s p a p e r f o r f o r e i g n g u e s t s o f P e r m r e g i o n a n d e n g l i s h - s p e a k i n g P e r m a n d P e r m r e g i o n c i t i z e n s

BusiNessIndustrial portrait of Prikamye

Page 3

Tourism

The Museum of political repressions’ history“Perm-36”

Page 6-7

The best architects from around the world are competing for the opportunity to work in Perm. If everything goes well, the Perm region will soon become home to one of the main Russian

architectural attractions

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real esTaTe

Everything about market of the Perm country real estate

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Perm state art gallery

1-15 September 20072 PAGE

P e r m r e g i o n n e w s p a p e r

News

Address of the newspaper: Russia, Perm, Karpinskogo 97/a-208, e-mail: [email protected], tel. 8 912 98 362 79. Establisher and publisher: The Bureau of translators, interpreters and guides-followers “The Perm interpreters”,

Establisher and publisher: The Bureau of translators, interpreters and guides-followers “The Perm interpreters”, Director Aljona Mouse ([email protected]). The chief executive “PERM INTERMEDIA GROUP“: Oksana

Nikiforova ([email protected]). Editor-in-chief: Larissa Azanova ([email protected]). Art-director: Roman Gaydamanchuk. Authors: Arina Medvedeva, Hellen Makhles, Karina Dubrovskaya, Larissa Azanova, Nadezhda

Proskurina, Olga Rayngardt. Translators: Yakov Farbrerov. Sociologists: Olga Rayngardt, Yegor Neustroyev. The editors do not share the responsibility for the maintenance of the promotional and advertising material.

No part of these materials may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means without the prior permission of the editorial board. The editors may not share the authors’ point of view. The editors reserve the

right to themselves for reduction of publications texts without change of their sense, and also for placing of promotional materials at own discretion if another situation is not stipulated by the contract.

Newspaper’s periodicity is 2 numbers per month. Circulation is 3000 copies (àfter the official registration the circulation of “The Perm Days” will be increased to 50000 copies)

Press: Advertising agency “Poli-graf”, phone 2601602

New symbolof Perm

August, 31st was the last day of metal park sculpture contest, held in Perm.

Sculptors from Perm, Izhevsk, Hizhniy Tagil and Tobolsk participated in the competi-tion. The craftsmen were given with the common topic “Symbol of Perm”. The result was the six sculptures made of black metal and scrap metal.

Sculptors had only ten days to create their masterpieces, with height no less than 1.5 m., which were supposed to become decora-tions of the city streets.

New symbol of Perm was called the “An-gel of Kama”, an angel, made of metal off-cuts and armature. The statue was created by Dmitriy Postnikov from Izhevsk. He was awarded with the winner diploma and prize money. In the nearest future the sculptures will be placed at the central streets of Perm.

Astor hotel received 3Star status by the decision of certifying commission on August, 23rd 2007.

The “ASTOR” hotel has become the first certified 3 Star hotel in Perm and the first 3 Star mini-hotel in the Perm region. The certification was based on Rostour-ism’s Hotel Grading System procedure.

At the same time “PLAZA OLYMPIA” hotel officially received 4 Star status, becoming the first 4 Star hotel in the Perm region, certi-fied by new state hotel grading system.

The Ministry of Commerce of the

Perm region recently organized a confer-ence with represen-tatives of small and medium-scale busi-nesses in Prikamye such as nonprofit or-ganizations, municipal funds, as well as with representatives of the region administration.

The conference was devoted to a discussion of the procedural is-sues related to working

out the concept and program for regional business development.

The conference participants concluded that the concept and the program should be aimed not just at a single entrepreneur, but directed at specific locations within the Perm region. Taking national and regional projects as an exam-ple, each municipality would establish their own, unique business development priorities.

The program is planned to be com-plete by the end of October. On Novem-ber 1st, the plan will be presented to the governor, and, if suc-cessful, will be sent to the Legislative Assembly by Novem-ber, 20th. In order to meet this aggressive schedule, all inter-ested parties were encouraged to send their comments about the concept by e-mail as soon as possible.

Business development

Berezniki:We’ll settle everybody!

On August, 28th Oleg Chirku-

nov, the Perm region governor, took part in a conference of the state committee. The conference was to address the solving the housing problems caused by the last year’s flood of the “Uralkaliy” mine in Berezniki. Scientists, investigating the effects of the flood-ing, have forecast that potential soil subsidence, or set-tling, could impact 29 houses located in the critical zone as well as some 6 km of rail-road in another criti-cal zone. As a result, the government has decided to relocate the effected residents.

Construction of a new railroad bypass

around the 6 km sec-tion of rail at risk was begun on September 1st, 2007 and is to be completed by the end of the year.

Governor Chirkunov told the committee members that con-struction of the new housing required for the resettlement, had already been started. By December 1st, 2007, 47 thousand sq. m. of new living space will be avail-able. By January 1st,

2008, that number will increase by 5 thousand sq. m, with a further 8 thousand available by March 30th, 2008. The first new low-story house was actually completed in Berezniki the day before the conference.

Chirkunov went on to say that the new housing cur-rently planned will be enough to resettle all citizens from the zone deemed to be the most at risk for subsidence. Because scientists can-not “guarantee” the subsidence will not happen until the new housing is completed, the Governor said the effected Berezniki citizens are currently being relocated into apartments purchased on the used residence market.

Lufthansa new rates During the period

from September 18th until December 17th, flights from Perm to Frankfurt, Berlin, Munich, Dusseldorf, Hanover, Hamburg, London and Prague will cost only 12 215 rubles. Prices for a ticket to Amsterdam, Brussels, Paris, Milan, Rome and Venice will start at 13 265 rubles.

Also Lufthansa, together with United Airlines, their Star Alliance partner, have also developed a special offer for those desiring travel to the United States. There are 100 direc-tions (from Boston to Honolulu, from Miami to Portland, etc.) available at special low prices exclusively

to Lufthansa passen-gers originating in many Russian cit-ies, including direct flights from Perm. The complete list of destinations is shown on the Lufthansa web-site www.lufthansa.com in the “Top Of-fers” section. Passen-gers may also make reservations and book flights on the website.

Starsfor hotels

Perm Commercial Houseof Real Estate

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Charming view to beauti-ful Kama river and ancient temple of St. Peter and Paul is opening from the spacious terrace nearby.

Hatched and secured ter-ritory, children playground, tennis court.

It is ideal for accommoda-tion of your business partners and guests, visiting Perm.

For more detailed informa-tion, please visit or call us:

Address: Perm, 19 Sovetskaya str.; phone: +7 (342) 2-103-777

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� PAGE1-15 September 2007


Business

The Engine manufacturing en-terprises of the Perm region

again took part in the international air-space salon (IASS-MAKS), held recently in the Moscow region.

In conjunction with the MAKS-2007 show, Valeriy Zheglov, the director general of “Perm engines”, announced the company has signed several contracts for the supply of aircraft engines with a total value of 4.5 billion rubles.

The largest single contract is for $150 million with the “Iliushin Finance Co.” for supplies of PS-90A1 and PS-90A2 aircraft engines. In addition, the company will provide 15 PS-90A1 engines for “Aeroflot Cargo” and 12 PS-90A2 engines for the Tu-204 air liners of the “Iran Air” company. Aleksandr Rubtsov, the director general of the “Iliushin Fi-nance Co.”, stated that his company has been working on the contract for a year and a half.

“Perm engines” also signed a contract with the Azerbaijan Com-pany “Silk Way Airlines” for supply of 5 PS-90A-76 engines and another contract with “Vladivostok Avia” for supply of a single reserve PS-90A engine for a Tu-204 aircraft.

According to Valeriy Zhiglov, the director general of the management company for “Perm engines Con-struction Industry”, it is difficult to underestimate significance of the contracts. “I suppose that it is like a fresh breath for our engines con-struction industry. The signing of these contracts has come at a very opportune time and we could not be happier”.

“Perm engines” presented its new PS-90A1 aircraft engine at the MAKS-2007 show, but the most at-tention was given not to the new engine. The Perm Company also displayed its latest development — a perspective gas generator for the new generation of passenger and transport aircraft engines. At the present time, there are no other similar products available to the modern aircraft construction indus-try. Engines, based on the new gas generator, will be able to solve many of the problems for the industry. Such engines could be used for con-struction of not only short distance planes, but, because of its universal design, can also be utilized in the construction of future middle and long-distance aircraft as well.

By Olga Rayngardt

The leading chemical industry within the Perm region is in the produc-tion of mineral fertiliz-ers. The greatest deposit of potassium salts in the world is situated in Verhnekamskoie within the Perm region. Both ore mining and potassium fertilizer production is carried out in Berezniki (“Uralkaliy”) and So-likamsk (“Silvinit”). The Uralkaliy and Silvinit companies are on the list of the world’s great producers and exporters of potassium fertilizers. The Perm region also fig-ures prominently in the production of nitrogen fertilizers both in Perm (“Mineral Fertilizers”) and in Berezniki (“Azot”).

Petrochemical enter-prises in the Perm region generally perform refine-ment of the raw materi-als. First-rate representa-tives of this industry are “SIBUR-Khimprom” (Perm), “Metafraks” (Gu-bakha) and “Uralorgsyn-thez” (Chaikovskiy).

Perm city also has enterprises produc-ing activated charcoal (“Sorbent”), detergents (“Henkel-Pemos”), halogen-based chemicals (“Halogen”) and phthalic anhydride (“Kamteks-Khimprom”). There is also a coke processing plant in Gubakha (“Gu-bakhinskiy koks”).

These plants would seem to be evidence of a rather high development rate for chemical industry in the Perm region. But while the chemical in-dustry has held a leading positions within the Perm region for a long time, its growth rate is actually lower than the average national indexes.

It might seem as if there is a huge potential for growth in the Perm chemical industry, given its natural resource abun-dance but that potential is not being realized for several reasons.

First, the region’s chemical industry output is typically not a fin-ished product, but an intermediate or “precur-sor” product which is dependent of the growth of “customer” industries. It is the lack of growth in these industries within the Perm region which is restraining the growth of the more “basic” chemical industries which dominate the region

And while the Perm region territory is rich in natural resources, the region suffers from disadvantages, principally with difficulties associ-ated with entry into more lucrative foreign markets. This is due to its some-what “remote” location within central Russia as well as shortcomings in the regional transporta-tion infrastructure. Trans-portation infrastructure development requires considerable “lead time” as well as substantial government investment.

But the region’s rela-tively remote location is not the only problem impacting local growth of the industry. Many chemical industry experts note that there is an ap-proximate 10-year delay between the Russian and western technolo-gies used in the industry. Worse, the “technology gap” situation shows no sign of improving. New production lines are generally not being de-veloped, due to the slow growth prospects. Even

when plants do invest in new processes and equipment, it is gener-ally not accompanied by comprehensive produc-tion changes and overall productivity continues to lag with no obvious ben-efits in throughput.

Another problem is the entrenched attitudes and practices within the local chemical indus-try. One example, for instance, is there are a lot of industrial by-prod-ucts, considered to be waste in Russia, but are considered important commercial “products” abroad and represent an important revenue stream for foreign competitors.

It is not a secret that development and mod-ernization are highly dependent on so called investments “flows” and the Perm region is not developed enough in that perspective. The enter-prises have to survive with only their own or “expensive” borrowed means. Lately an op-portunity to use newly created grant financing system appeared, but the city still has not yet taken advantage of it in any significant way.

As a result of all these factors, great expansion in the local chemical industry is not expected soon. There are no new required materials, little research and development of new products or de-velopment of innovative technologies. All of that is a real threat to the further

market development and the world wide competi-tiveness of products from the Perm region.

There is a hope for the local chemical industry, however. In spite of the problems cited above, output of the Perm region chemical industry is slow-ly beginning to find its way into lucrative foreign markets and forms the basis of the Perm region export sector. The higher level of the whole set of indexes is typical exactly for the export-oriented industries. Today approx-imately 50,000 people work in chemical indus-try in the Perm region, with an average wage of about 13,000 rubles. The industry is profitable and competitive.

The Perm region share of potassium fertilizers, produced in Russia, is 100%. In addition, Perm region chemical plants also produce such export-ori-ented advanced technol-ogy products as metha-nol and products of its refinement, ammonia and nitrogen fertilizers, unique refrigerants and fluoropol-ymers, flocculating agents and activated charcoal.

The only Russian plant for titanium ore processing is located in the region. Perm region enterprises also dominate magnesium production within Russia.

While future growth may not be assured and may even be dependent on assistance from out-side the region, such as government investment in the transportation infra-structure, it is equally ob-vious the industry is here to stay and will continue to be the dominant indus-try in the Perm region for many years to come. As Russia continues to play an ever increasing role on the world’s economic stage, the Perm chemical industrial base remains poised to meet a future of unlimited opportunity if certain key challenges can be overcome.

Industrial portrait of PrikamyePerm region is known all over Russia and the world for its natural resources potential. The region’s

economics basis is its highly developed industrial facilities. The dominant branches are oil, chemical, petrochemical, ferrous and non-ferrous metallurgy, machinery construction and timber industries. The region is endowed with vast natural resources, including oil, gas, coal, minerals, gold, diamonds, chromite ores and iron-ore, peat, limestone, semiprecious stones as well as basic construction materials. Annually, some 10 mil-lions barrels of oil is extracted from the Perm region.

This article is the first in a series which will focus on Perm’s leading industries; beginning this week with a detail review of the region’s Chemical industry, which has become a major player on the international market.

Chemical IndustryLeader of the Perm region industry

“Perm engines”

The results of MAKS-2007

1-15 September 2007� PAGE


Real estate

Houses outside the city are

more common for the inhabitants of Euro-pean capitals. They get tired of constantly being in the epicenter of tourist’s routes. After a working day, the real European moves to a quiet, cozy and pictorial suburb. This same situation is now becoming more and more common in Perm.

Geographyof “migration”.Retrospective review

The first wave of many wealthy citizens towards the suburbs all around Russia is now referred to as “New Russian” period. The “New Russian” period began in the mid 90’s when a small entrepreneurial class appeared. This group began to have money and expressed their new found status and wealth through the “conspicuous con-sumption” of goods such as expensive cars and apartments. More importantly for “geo-social” trends in Russia, this new found status also found expression in the purchase and develop-ment of out-of-town houses.

It was in this “New Russian” period that the Russian real-estate operators introduced various forms of ex-clusive habitation such as “elite cottages” and “red-brick castles”.

It has only been in the last 3-4 years that developers began to pay attention to the building of suburban villages within the Perm Kray, recogniz-ing both the growing financial potential within the region as well as the growing interest in this kind of housing. These houses typically consist of a large single family unit built on a small (400 to 800 m2) parcel of land and grouped together within a gated community or “village”.

In the Perm Kray, the suburb “Verhnaya Kurya” has become both the favorite and

most expensive of these villages with prices now comparable to equivalent hous-ing in the Moscow suburbs.

It is clear that the Perm suburban real estate market is hot right now. During the past year, the number of housing units being offered for sale in the suburban market has tripled along with the demand for them. The high demand for these units was illustrated in recent surveys by the “Perspectiva” Corpo-ration. These surveys reveal that units on offer remain on the market for only a few days or even hours be-fore being sold, a clear indicator of a “hot” market.

There is a number of factors which contrib-ute to this startling growth in the sub-urban market place.

Local consumers have reached an economic maturity which allows for the acquisition and maintenance of more exclusive and expen-sive housing. Moreo-ver, analysis indicates the growth may be also related to a short-age of “high end” apartments within the urban Perm region. By their very nature, large apartment com-plexes have a longer “lead time” and are slower to respond to increased market demand. Both of these trends seem likely to continue, resulting in the continued expan-sion of the suburban segment of the market and the opening of more and more new suburban areas for development.

New influencesThe simple acquisi-

tion of a piece of land

is not enough to build a suburban village. Experts advise it is important to create a concept for the village and maintain this con-cept through the end of the construction.

In creating this con-cept, it is first neces-sary to determine the target market segment of the future village (elite-class, business-class and economy-class). This, in turn, will dictate the size of the houses and indi-vidual land sectors.

The concept must also plan all the common or shared areas in the develop-ment, including future entrances, engineer-ing communications, public places and places designated for social objects (shops, playgrounds etc.). After that, the plan for enclosing and protect-ing the territory of

the village must be addressed.

In the current vil-lage concept, all the houses in the village should be created in the same style, with maximum 3-5 variants, and built with the use of the same materials. It is necessary for the concept to address all of these elements in order to create a comfortable and ar-chitecturally harmo-nious environment for “suburban” living which will appeal to the market.

Townhouses — the trendy innovation

Very recently, there has been a new trend in the suburban real estate market. Not yet widely known in Perm, the customer is now being given the choice of a “Townhouse” real

estate development as an alternative to the single unit housing described above.

“Townhouses” are connected houses-each with private entries and small parcels of land which provide many of the advantages of single unit housing while benefiting from the economics inherent in multiple unit housing structures

Potential customers in the Perm region, while used to living in large multi-unit, urban apartment buildings have shown a certain reticence in entering into this new market, primarily because townhouses are still uncommon in the lo-cal real estate market. On the one hand, the townhouse is not an apartment; but neither is it a single suburban house.

But this unfamiliar-ity with the townhouse concept seems certain to change in the Perm Region. According to results of a survey conducted by the research center IRN (www.irn.ru) on the townhouse market in Moscow and its suburbs, this market grew by 65.2% in the last year represent-ing 67 new multi-unit structures. This rapid growth demonstrates that the townhouse market is poised to become an independ-ent segment, and not merely a niche within the conventional cot-tage village market place. A progressive and rational builder is certain to construct townhouses in land ar-eas where it’s impossi-ble to build a high-rise habitation or it’s not profitable to create an expensive cottage vil-lage. More than that, the building of town-houses eliminates the possible problem of a lack of land: providing a rational alternative utilization of limited territorial resources.

It seems highly likely Perm will again follow the Moscow model of develop-ment and townhouse villages in Perm will soon become a much more common invest-ment option for those

Out-of-Town Escape

Average and limit prices of individual construction objects (cottages) according to their location(The data is given by Analysis and Forecast Laboratory of Perm Commercial House of Real Estate)

ZoneOffer price per 1 sq.m. thousands rubles.

Limit Average

City boundaries and the closest districts.

6,26-76,92 37,57

Rather remote districts 2,17-80,0 25,28

Remote districts 2,10-42,81 11,11

� PAGE1-15 September 2007


Real estate Author’s column

Nadezhda Proskurinapractising psychologis

Where and how peoplelive in Russia

Working with Russian partners you will soon become aware that the problem of finding decent housing is one of the most relevant and difficult in Russia. The “housing problem” had great influence on archetype of a Russian, deformed it, and demolished traditional moral values, injured lives and mental health of several generations. The strife for square meters, for the possession rights (especially in the larger cities) was so vehement, that people sometimes were driven to using all available means regardless of law or morality.

Russian pecuniary culture and way of lifeRussian private housing had different forms in different time

periods. During 30-50’s of the mid-20th century, the main dwelling form in the country was “Kommunalka” (communal flat). That was, at the time, a new habitation type with its own rules and management principles based on communal, socialist principles.

In a typical Kommunalka, there would be only one kitchen, one bath and lavatory for as many as 5 or 6 families, lived in the apartment simultaneously.

It is not hard to imagine the kind of battles families had in order to get to the shower when one needed it, but were not on the “schedule”! The arrangements were difficult not only because of little space, but also because people were forced to live with other “unsuitable” people. But, over time, people learned to be patient, merciful and attentive to each other’s troubles. The people of a “Kommunalka” together celebrated holidays and funerals, sent future soldiers to serve in army, raised children, took part in each other’s life.

“Khrushchevki”, standard cheap 5-stories houses, appeared in Russia in the end of the 1950’s. It was the “khrushchevki” that is credited with a Russian cultural phenomenon, called “Moscow kitchens”, where, having only poor snacks, people gathered for sincere conversations and free-thinking.

That what the housing problem was like until the very 90’s. That is the time when the large-scale housing constructions started. The definition of “housing market”, itself, came to Russian mentality only about 10 years ago. Residential real estate is one of the fastest growing market segments in the Russian economy.

A lot of advanced housing, well-furnished apartments and even whole housing complexes have appeared recently. While every building aims to protect its residents, the buildings vary according to the financial means of the residents. The most expensive and prestigious residential areas are separated from the others with solid fences and private security.

Among wealthier business people, cottages or townhouses have become popular. Many Russian people are not fond of these cottages, since they are convinced that it is impossible to earn the required amounts of money conducting business honestly and fairly. Perhaps this explains why the residents of such houses live by the principle of a Russian proverb “My home is my fortress”, i.e. with security, dogs and high fences.

From the first sight a foreigner may compare many Russian houses to fortresses, besieged by enemy; the first (and some-times second ones) floors’ windows, protected with bars, heavy armored doors of apartments and porches, crafty code-locks and door intercommunication system, concierges. All of those are just silent signs of the citizens’ aspiration to protect them-selves from a robbery.

Convenience of houses and apartment interior are totally de-pendant on the owners. But such factors as dirty porches, stairs and elevators can’t always be controlled. It’s wrong to make sweeping generalization that all Russians do not want to live in a clean environment. The majority of the former soviet country population lost its sense of being a habitation owner who was responsible for the building. Currently, this concept is returning and the situation is gradually getting better, stairwells of many houses are clean; there are rugs and flowers in common areas.

Still a “home”, as the citizens’ majority see it, is certainly an apartment. But this topic is to be covered in the next issue of the newspaper.

Timur Sharipov, the di-rector of “Perm Estima-tion Centre”, responds to questions from “The Perm Days”— Is there, as you think, urgency for elite country hous-ing at the Perm real-estate market? — First of all, let’s make it clear what we consider to be the “elite country housing” and if we can use this term in Perm. In Moscow there are such kind of villages, which are considered to have hous-es with area from 400 to 1000 sq. m., parcel with area from 3000-5000 sq.m., landscape design, secured territory of the whole village, complete infrastructure, proximity to the city and other “little cozy details”. The indispensable condition of such villages is that all the neighbors should be of the same “social” circle. Hence, I suggest that yet there are no such villages in Perm, but projects like that could be realized in the very near future. There are going to be only 2 or 3 really elite villages, but no more.

Igor Ostapenko, execu-tive director of the Rus-sian Guild of Realtors, responds to questions from “The Perm Days”— What are your thoughts on real estate competition in the Perm countryside?— It’s too early to talk aboutIt’s too early to talk about competition in this field of real estate, because the very market does not yet exist. First of all, the villages out-side of Perm can not be clear-ly defined by class — elite, premium, standard, economy and so on. Secondly, indi-vidual housing construction is not organized yet because land is not privately owned, but is joint property. Finally, there is a lack of real estate companies that specialize in this — there is not one single company that deals exclusively with real estate outside of the city. In large companies there may be one sub-department or in smaller companies there may be just one specialist agent.In other words, it is still early days for countryside real estate in the Perm region.

Vadim Sidorov, general director of management company “Emperor”, responds to questions from “The Perm Days”— Could you give us a fore-cast on the future develop-ment of real estate in the Perm countryside?— We are expecting a rapid increase in individual hous-ing construction. However, there are two problems with this development. Firstly I can foresee difficulties in getting mortgages for a properties which are situated outside village boundar-ies, and secondly, there is a presence of real-estate amateurs on the market, who sell land without any housing construction. This causes housing construc-tion to be more expensive as it is a completely separate endeavor.

seeking housing alterna-tives within the region.

The Price calculation 1. Cost of land

It doesn’t matter if it is an already built house or just a parcel of land, being bought, the price depends on its location, distance from the city, and popularity. At the present time the most expensive housing and land in Perm are in the area adjoining the Kama, Sylva and Chosovaya riv-

ers within an hour’s drive from the city. There are also country houses near Polazna, village of the Dobrianskiy district, and also in Zhabrei, Troitsa, Sylva, Starie Liady and Novie Liady of the Permskiy district. By the end of the first quarter of 2007, the prices for houses in these districts ranged from 5000 to 30000 thousands rubles per square meter. 2. Cost of a house or its construction

On one hand, the price of a complete house is

mostly influenced by its area (sq. meters), the number of stories and rooms as well as the gen-eral architectural design. On the other hand, the cost of construction is also a function of the quality standards and the time of construction, in addition to the basic cost of building materi-als, design and finishing works. 3. Infrastructure

First of all, the parcel should be easily acces-sible. Why would you need a house that you can’t get to? Secondly, the price is impacted by the presence (or lack!) of gas or water-supply and security. Another price factor is the “social infrastructure”; i.e. the presence of stores, gas-stations, hospitals, fitness centers. 4. Environment conditions

The proximity of plants and other ecologically dangerous enterprises is also a significant price factor. Definitely, a house in a calm, picturesque place with good environ-ment will be the most expensive.

Shares of cottages demand accordingto its location



In order to rememberThe Memorial Museum of political repressions’ history and totalitarianism “Perm-36”

One and a half hours car ride

away from Perm and you find yourself on the territory of one the most famous Soviet prison camps for po-litical prisoners. You will also see incredibly beautiful landscapes around it. The jail-house for dissidents it-self is situated on Tch-usovaya river’s bank. But the prisoners of “Perm‑36” had no idea about the splendor of nature that sur-rounded them. They did not even know the name of the prison or in what part of the country it was located. That’s how thoroughly these “public enemies” were concealed from people.

One camp’s history

This camp was cre-ated in Stalin’s epoch, in the middle of the 20th century. Initially it was a typical forest camp just like many other camps in the country. After Stalin’s death the functions of the camp and its “clientele” changed. High ranking law enforcement au-thorities convicted of various crimes were kept there. As these prisoners were typi-cally well aware of the camp’s security system and location and could make use of this to arrange an escape, the camp’s both the secu-rity system and guard staffing was increased.

In 1972 the prison camp population changed again. The convicted law en-forcement authori-ties were replaced by

those political prison-ers who were deemed to be especially dangerous by Soviet government. These were people who had criticized or violated the established order including leaders of national movements and the more famous human right activ-ists. The government was determined to hide those people from Soviet society, the further — the better; they were to be locked up in a secure, remote place. Therefore, “Perm-36”, located in the one of the most “closed” and guarded zones of the country was transformed into what was to become the most horrifying prison camp of USSR and remained so until glasnost and the im-minent collapse of

the soviet system led to it’s closing in 1988.

During this time, “Perm-36” was the only “special regime” (re: extremely severe) political prison in the USSR. Only people who previously had served time for “anti-Soviet agitprop” but, kept fighting intel-lectually against the regime and its ideol-ogy were sent there. It was the goal of the authorities to mentally and physically break these hard-core politi-cal “recidivists”.

What was this “spe-cial regime” like? The prisoners were kept in large barracks where they both lived and work there. Occasion-ally the prisoners were allowed to stroll in the “exercise yard” adja-cent to the barracks. But even this small space was like being

in a well, enclosed by walls topped with barbed wire. A pris-oner lifting his head would only see the sky and guards’ faces through the criss-crossed bars.

The typical daily schedule for a po-litical prisoner of the special regime section in the early 80’s was designed to be end-less and unchanging. Wake at 6, breakfast, 2-hours wait in cells, work from 8 till noon in a room opposite the cell, break from noon till 2 p.m. and then work again till 6 p.m.

At first sight it doesn’t seem to be that awful. After all, no one died of hunger. But there was a more sinister and oppressive aspect to the tedious daily regiment. An “Enemy of the So-viet Government” was forbidden to speak out loud and or even look at anyone except for his cellmate (that was his workmate at the same time). The prisoners were always in sight of the guards with absolutely no pri-vacy. Eventually, some prisoners just quit talking. Even now, all that most of the ex-prisoners remember of their time at “Perm-36”, was the endless, infinite silence.

Thanksto enthusiasm.Once again

The museum “Perm-36” is also unique just for one more reason — it exists. Almost all of thousands of other prison camps that formed the Soviet GULAG system have disappeared. Partly it was for reason that GULAG’s prison camps were made of cheap, live, off-grade wood that lead to its fast destruction. Many of the camps, how-ever, were destroyed deliberately. That is what could happen to “Perm-36”. To be more precise, it did happen.

In 1989 Ukrain-ian and Estonian TV camera crews carried out newsreel cover-age of the abandoned camp. People from all over the country came in flocks — “Perm-36” was becoming a place of pilgrimage. Needless to say that KGB and Ministry of Internal Affairs were not fond of it at all, and the camp was destroyed. And that is where the history of the museum “Perm-36” actually begins.

The Perm branch of the “Memorial” society started re-construction of the prison camp. It was the reconstruction of

a tragic page of the country history, in the middle 90’s, in the times of economic collapse and society crisis, in total apa-thy, when, at its best, nobody cared for the shadows of the past.

Nobody supported them, no one paid any attention to them and it seemed not a soul was interested in what they had been doing. But their toil paid eventually paid off. By the late 90’s the mu-seum began to attract the foreign funding And most recently, even the local admin-istration has begun supporting their work.

The prison camp was turned into the museum as a reminder of the millions who suf-fered and died in GUL-AGs across the former Soviet Union. The great value of the museum lies in providing a unique opportunity to perform enlightening and educating func-tions in the field of Russian political history of the last century, and demonstrating the negative experience of totalitarianism in a bright and convincing way. Exhibition pieces of “Perm-36” now tour through world’s exposi-tions.

Presently, “Perm-36” is on the list of the 100 most impor-

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� PAGE1-15 September 200�


Perm. The streets

Komsomolskiy avenue,the Perm’s favorite

By Hellen Makhles

Recently during the excavation

for a large commer-cial development project in the Perm city center, work-ers discovered ’s the remains of an ancient building along with a number of obviously old artifacts. Arche-ologists identified the remains and artifacts as belonging to Perm townspeople from as early as the 18th and 19th centuries Based on these discoveries, it was determined that the street level in this part of Perm has risen by 2,5 meters over the last 220 years. It is clear that the area of Komsomolskiy Avenue has been the hub of Perm life for a long time.

The architects and the builders have changed the shape of Perm many times over the years. The last major change of the center area began in 1946 with the general reconstruction of the Komsomolskiy avenue, the main highway, crossing the Lenina street. Wartime emer-gency houses were de-molished and replaced by large blocks. Gardening zones were created, and a new tram transport system was organized.

Today Komsomol-skiy Avenue is one of the most beautiful streets in Perm. It’s decorated with build-ings, constructed in 1950’s and later years such as the “Permen-ergo” building with it’s square angu-lar tower and large distinctive pilasters; the “House of the Scientists” adorned with stucco moldings, parapets and compli-cated cornices and the large Perm Technical University building fronted with a large piazza.

The southern part of the avenue was com-pleted with the build-ing of a regional UVD (Agency of Domestic Affairs) headquarters, topped with a spiked

43-meter tower in the Classic Post-war Soviet style of architecture. In the Soviet years, it became a feared sym-bol of state power with legends whispered about secret cellars to a depth of 4 floors. Even today, Perm citi-zens refer to it as “The Tower of Death”.

At the northern end, Komsomolskiy avenue runs from the high Kama bank near the Cathedral of Spaso-Preobrazhen-skiy monastery and its bell-tower. The bell-tower, highlight-ed in the evening has become a symbol of the city. Built from 1798 to 1832, the building is currently the home of the Perm Art Gallery.

On December, 29th 1965, the largest department store of it’s time (with room for 230 shops) was opened at the in-tersection of Lenina street and Komso-molskiy avenue. The “Zum” department store is still a major commercial center for the city. Across the street from Zum is another building from this period, the Ural Hotel also still thriving. On the 280th birthday, a great clock weighing over 2 tons

with 2 meters hands and a huge clock-face was established on the Ural Hotel build-ing pediment. Before this, the only building Clock in the city was on the Perm II Train Station building. More recently in October 2003, yet another Clock was erected in the city located on the main building of the Perm State University.

During its history, the avenue had differ-ent names. From 18th to the first half of the 19th century, it was called a Wide Lane, its width designed to provide a fire break in the middle of the city. For the next 50 years or so, the avenue was named Kungur av-enue. For a time after the 1917 revolution, it was called the Krasniy or Red Avenue. Final-ly, in1928 it was given the name for which it has been known ever since, Komsomolskiy Avenue.

The avenue is and always has been a favorite place for the residents of Perm to relax and stroll, all year round. So take a walk down “Kompros” Avenue, as it called locally, and know that you are walking on a major piece of Perm’s history.

tant monuments of the world that require special attention in their preservation. This list was intro-duced by the fund “World Monuments’ Supervision”. Along with “Perm-36” you can find on this list such famous monu-ments as the Great Chinese Wall, and an architect heritage of the Indian tribes of North America.

Prisonersof “Perm-36”Vasil Stoos

A Ukrainian poet and freedom fighter, in 1972 he was convicted for the publication of his poems abroad. In 1985, during his imprisonment, he was nominated for the No-bel Prize in literature. He should have been awarded on the 24th of October. On the night of the 4th of Septem-

ber, however, Vasil Stoos died under sus-picious circumstances in a punishment cell of the special regime section. In 2005 the president of Ukraine, Viktor Jushenko, awarded Vasil Stoos the title of Hero of Ukraine posthumously.

Sergey Kovalyov

In 1968 he created “Spearhead for human rights protection in USSR” together with his friends. Begin-ning in 1971 he had been the editor of the human rights bulletin “The Chronicles of the Current Events” that was also published in other countries, including the USA.

At the present time he is a deputy of the State Duma of RF, the Head of the Hu-man Rights Institute. Kovalyov made a great contribution in the making-out of the second chapter of the current Constitution

of RF — “Rights and liberties of man and citizen”, and other federal laws concern-ing human rights. He’s a winner of more than 10 international prizes, receiving honorable Doctor of Science degrees from several European Universities. In 1995 and 1996 he was a candidate for the prestigious World Nobel Prize.

Lyevko Lukyianenko

He was one of the first to set out the basic regulations on human rights national policy. After he was released, he became the Chairman of Republican Party of Ukraine, the Extraor-dinary and Plenipo-tentiary Ambassador of Ukraine in Canada, the deputy of the Ukrainian Parliament. He is the author of the Declaration of inde-pendence of Ukraine.

Performing arts festivalat the Perm-36 Museum

The “Perm-36” Museum was the site for “Frame Saw-2007”, an

international performing arts festival and symposium which took

place this year on July 27th-29th.

The prison was transformed into a festival complete with music,

plays and a public forum. Many of the festival attendees stayed at

a tent camp set up near the Perm-36 museum or at the Chusovoy

city hotel, not far from the museum.

The festival began with ballads sung by a number of well-known

singers. Performing on a stage where political prisoners once

worked long and brutal hours made the performances all the more

poignant.

Aleksandr Filippenko, a Russian national artist, then presented

his mono-play, based on GULAG stories of Solzhenitsyn. This was

followed by sketches performed by the Vologda chamber theatre.

Films of “Stalker” International cinema-festival were also screened

at the forum. The fest was concluded with a lively discussion about

the role of art in formation of civil liability, which was conducted

by Vladimir Lukin, the human rights plenipotentiary of the Russian

president.

Tatiana Kursina, the executive director of the memorial museum

“Perm-36” underlines that “the purpose of the festival is to once

again attract attention to this historic place of our region. It is the

mission of the museum to cultivate a new public spirit of human

rights in the next generation”. She went on to stress the impor-

tance of corporate support without whom the festival could not be

held. In particular, she credited the generous support of Lukoil-

Perm as well as the Perm branch of Renova companies group.

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The lasT page High life

Fashionable September nightFashion show of “Ermenegildo Zegna” and “Max Mara” collections for the 2007-2008 season

The fashion show for the “Ermenegildo Zegna” and “Max Mara” collections was held in the Op-era and Ballet theatre for the fifth consecu-tive year. In what has already become a local tradition, many of Perm’s most in-fluential fans of the famous brands came to the performance.

Without realizing it, the guests were actually taking part in unusual “play”. The whole party was

designed as a staging of a great shopping tour, as if people were inside a huge imaginary boutique, located at the both stories of the theatre. At the first floor was a red carpet, where the celebrities were welcomed by numer-ous camera flashes. At the second floor there was a buffet tables, designed as a boutique and man-nequins. Here the “boutique” guests could taste exclusive

mixes of modern Italian cuisine, while waiting for the main event. The “Play” was continued di-rectly with the fash-ion show inside the theatre auditorium. “Ermenegildo Zegna”

and “Max Mara” once again justified hopes of their fans, definetely succesful and self-confident people. Applauses didn’t stop during the whole show.

The organizers had great success in cre-ating an unusual and memorable atmos-phere. The many high society and other eminent guests were obviously pleased with the show.

Speaking of fashion boutiques, it was an-

nounced at the show that “Ermenegildo Zegna” has invited one of its talented Italian tailors to spend three days in Perm beginning on September 18th. He will assist consumers in choosing fabrics and creating their own individual but appropriate style. For those desiring to at the height of fashion for the upcoming winter social season, this opportunity is not to be missed!

The free access places of“The Perm days” newspaper

The Perm region administration (foyer)Fitness-center (“Colliseum” Mall)Gravitsapa (“Colliseum” Mall)Restaurants: “Big Ben”, “Avgus-tin”, “Khromaia Loshad”, “Ernest”, “Stariy Koovshin”, “Vertel”, “Green Duck”, “Ma Do”, “Mandarin”, “Fusion Hall”, “Zapravka”, “Zhili Bili”, “Khutorok”, “Greece under-ground”, “Sabantui”, “Elba”.Cafes: “Kexx”, “Coffee-city”, “Eshche by”, “Telega”, “Hochu”, “Glamour”, “Chocalate”.Pubs: “Gvozd”, “Vov”, “Pinta”, “Prazhskiy dvor”Hotels: “Zhemchuzhina”, “Olimpia-Plaza”, “Mikos”, “Sport”, “Amaks”, “Eva-hotel”, “Prikamye”, “Ural”, “Eurotel”, “Astor”, “New Star”, “Siberia”.Entertainment centers: “Amaks”.

The newspaper is also distrib-uted in Moscow, St. Petersburg, Yekaterinburg, Cheliabinsk and several foreign countries.

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