After German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Italian Prime Minister Romano Prodi, President of Armenia Robert Kocharian met today with Vladimir Putin in Sochi. They discussed Russian investments in Armenian economy and new ways of economic cooperation, in areas such as nuclear energy, exploration of uranium fields in Armenia, oil refining, modernization of industrial enterprises in Armenia, construction of new railways.

Ski lifts operated by “Alpika Service” in Krasnaya Polyana resort restarted their operations, though many cafés, restaurants, and rental shops on the resort were still closed. Meanwhile this interruption had cost a lot to everyone – tourists, travel agencies, businesses in Krasnaya Polyana, and Russia’s Olympic bid. The latter even irritated President Putin, who’s currently working in Sochi. It was definitely bad time, but on the other hand it was probably the best time for “Alpika” to bring the issue out to the public. Weather it will help them or ruin it for them is still a question.

The biggest news of the day yesterday, and it was a bad one, was that the only winter resort in Krasnaya Polyana, operated by “Alpika Service”, has stopped its operations by the court order. Yesterday morning all lifts were stopped, cafés and restaurants closed. Why? Official reasons – violations of health and fire safety rules. But according to general manager of “Alpika Service”, Petr Fedin, regional administration has put a lot of pressure on them and wants to take the land away. According to Mr. Fedin, pressure on “Alpika” has increased after administration changed in Krasnodar Krai, and after Sochi had become an Olympic candidate city. Numerous fire, health, tech, ecology, and financial inspections occur a lot more often now then usual. Fedin says “Alpika” recently had 24 inspections in 10 days :-O Apparently all this pressure come over land dispute, between “Alpika-Service” and “Ecotur” – company headed by Krasnodar Krai governor’s assistant. The topic of the dispute is 10 hectares of land next to the downhill ski trails.

All this smells dirty, as it most likely is. Meanwhile weather in Krasnaya Polyana is perfect for skiing/snowboarding, lots of fresh snow, yet many tourists have to leave since no lifts are operational. The lifts are still not working, though the resort is expected to resume its operations tomorrow, Jan 24th.

Starting February 7, Aeroflot Russian International Airlines opens regular direct flights between Sochi and Frankfurt, Germany.

Flights on the route will be performed once per week on Wednesdays:
– flight SU103 Sochi (Adler) – Frankfurt – departure from Adler at 11:50 a.m., arrival at Frankfurt am Main at 01:35 p.m.;
– flight SU104 Frankfurt – Sochi (Adler) – departure from Frankfurt at 03:00 p.m., arrival at Adler at 08:35 p.m. (local time).

Opening of the regular air communication between Sochi and Frankfurt will make it possible to connect the actively developing resort with the largest transportation hub of Europe, which will imply the increase of tourist traffic to the Black Sea coast of the country, secure the growth of investments into this region, and enhance the Europeans’ interest in the South of Russia.

From official Aeroflot press release.

Travel.ru reports that Austrian Airlines are looking to add new routs from Vienna to Russia. Volgograd, Nizhny Novgorod, Voronezh, and Sochi are the destination cities that are being considered.

Organizers of the Moscow International independent film festival “Supernova” are planning to move the festival, which takes place during summer, to Sochi. Sochi is already a home to one of the Russia’s biggest film festivals – “Kinotavr”.

A little addition to my previous “High-level talks in Sochi” post: the Chancellor of Germany Angela Merkel will visit Sochi for talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin tomorrow, January 21. Main topic of discussion will apparently be energy security and EU-Russia partnership agreement. You can read more on this on your favourite news portals. Here are a couple of links: Merkel and Putin will spend a weekend in Sochi (RIA “Novosti”), Energy but No Chemistry for Merkel’s Visit (The Moscow Times).

Prime Minister of Italy Romano Prodi will visit Sochi for talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin on January 23rd. Main topic of their discussion will be bilateral economic relations, including energy.

Sochi has always hosted presidential “summer residence”, however only with President Putin our city became more then President’s “dacha“, and now, at times, looking like a center of world politics. Read the rest of this entry »

In December 2006 some Sochi residents rallied against holding the Olympic Games in Sochi. The major concerns that they brought up were dense building constructions, ecological impact of the rapid development, and already overloaded transportation infrastructure, writes “Novaya Gazeta Kubani” newspaper.

December is not today, but this is recent, and still is of current importance. Read the rest of this entry »

Starting January 15, “Aeroflot-Don” airline opens new destinations flights: Sochi – Istanbul (Turkey) and Sochi – Dubai (UAE).

Flights to Istanbul are scheduled twice a week, on Mondays (morning round-trip flight) and on Wednesdays (afternoon round-trip flight). Flights to Dubai are scheduled once a week on Tuesdays. Source: Travel.ru

“Volnaya Kuban” newspaper quotes Viktor Kolodyazhny, Sochi mayor, saying that 800,000 foreign guests had visited Sochi in 2006.

That’s pretty good! Im guessing this includes visitors from CIS countries as well.

According to the governor of Krasnodar Territory (where Sochi is located) Alexandr Tkachev, federal government is planning to invest 195 billion rubles (7.4 billion US dollars) in Sochi for preparation for the Olympics. Also, private business will invest around 120 billion rubles (4.7 billion US dollas) in Sochi.

There are also heavy investments planned for special economic zones on the Black Sea cost, recently setup by federal government – 29 billion rubles (1.1 billion US dollars) by government and around 150 billion rubles (5.7 billion US dollars) by Business. However, I don’t know if Sochi is part of any economic zones.

It was announced today that Sochi International airport will be connected with Adler district by railroad track. And, possibly in the future, to the Krasnaya Polyana resort.

Today, Adler station is as far south you can go by train. Further is Abkhazia (which one still can go to by suburban train). Airport isn’t far from the Adler station, and there’s a highway connecting them. Without a traffic, its maybe 10 minutes drive. Im guessing this could be beneficial to people flying in, but have plans/reservations to spend their time in Lazarevky district of Sochi (which is quite far from the airport) or even Central district. And, of course, this will become invaluable in the event of the Olympics, if the track will continue to Krasnaya Polyana. Read the rest of this entry »

On September 27, 2006, the governments of member-countries of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation organization (BSЕC) signed the Memorandum Of Understanding concerning the Highway Ring Project “Black Sea Ring” (HWBSR). Lets talk about how this can affect Sochi…

Read the rest of this entry »

The making of the artificial islands in the Black Sea in Sochi area, similar to the islands made in Dubai, UAE – is  one issue in development of Sochi I strongly oppose. I first heard of the idea a few years back, when mayor of Moscow, Yuri Luzhkov, visited Sochi and voiced this idea. And recently this was brought up in public again by the former mayor of Sochi Leonid Mostovoy.

Why do they think it’s a good idea to build artificial islands in a city that, lets be straight, is not yet developed to its full potential? Well, there are a few reasons. Read the rest of this entry »