From September 18 to 21, 2008, took place the VII International
Investment Forum “Sochi-2008”. The participants included members of the
Russian Government and of the Federal Assembly of the Russian
Federation, leaders of the 58 regions of the Russian Federation,
ministers, diplomats, and business representatives from over 40
countries. 4740 participants registered for the Forum. Within the
limits of a forum 112 agreements on 504 billion roubles (13,8 billion
euro) are signed. 11 Russian regions have signed 64 agreements on 305
billion roubles (8,4 billion euro). The Governor of Krasnodar region
has signed 35 agreements on 165 billion roubles (4,4 billion euro). At
the International Investment Forum "Sochi-2008" Krasnodar region has
presented 1, 5 thousand investment projects for a total sum of 27
billion euro.
The Belgian delegation counting 60 people was headed by Yves Leterme, Prime Minister,
Bertrand de Crombrugghe, Ambassador of Belgium in Russia, and Werner Cautreels, President of the Belgian Luxembourg Chamber of Commerce for Russia & Belarus.
The Belgian Luxembourg Chamber of Commerce for Russia and Belarus, organizer of the Economic Mission, presented a program for the Belgian delegation. The program was developed in compliance with the main purpose of the Forum, which is to create an international communication center for the most respected business representatives from Russia and other countries, academic circles and state institutions. This center would work with issues concerning the modernization and investment development of the Russian economy. The program was also developed in compliance with one of the Forum’s principal tasks of discussing issues of Russian and foreign companies’ participation in implementing investment projects for the preparation of the Olympics Sochi, the Krasnodar and other regions of the Russian Federation.
The Belgian delegation began its work at 12 pm on September 18, before the official opening of the Forum. First item on the agenda was becoming acquainted with the Priority Projects of the Russian regions (www.minregion.ru), afterwards, a meeting with the South Yakutia development corporation took place. Ivan Nesterov, Project Manager, presented a diversified industrial district based on the natural resources potential of the South Yakutia and on developing the transport and electric grid infrastructure of the district (www.sy-corp.ru).
Next on the agenda was the meeting with Igor Mazurok, Vice Director of the Architecture and City Planning Department of the Krasnodar region (www.arhikub.ru), who spoke about the plans and the progress of construction work in the Krasnodar region, about the Olympic facilities, and presented also projects of the “Basic Element" company.
At the meeting with Gabibulla Khasaev, Vice President of the Samara Region government and Samara region Minister for Economic development, investments, and trade, and with Sergei Subbotin, Director of Samara region department for export, the economic potential of the region was presented, and possible projects for mutual cooperation were discussed. (www.adm.samara.ru)
After the official opening of the Forum, Yves Leterme, the representatives of the Belgian government and of the Embassy of Belgium in Russia had a working meeting with the members of the Belgian delegation. This meeting concluded the first day’s program.
II
On September 19th, the Belgian delegation attended one of the Forum’s principal events, the Plenary Session “Russian economy: where to invest?”; the attendees were welcomed by Elvira Nabiullina, the Minister for Economic development of the RF (www.economy.gov.ru), Dmitry Kozak, the Minister for Regional development of the RF (www.minregion.ru), and by Alexander Tkachev, the Governor of the Krasnodar region, (www.admkrai.kuban.ru) the co-chairs of the “Sochi 2008” Forum’s organizing committee.
Andrey Sharonov, Managing Director of the Troika-Dialog. (www.troika.ru), moderated the meeting; he gave the floor to Alexander Zhukov, Vice Chairman of the Government of the RF, to Arkady Dvorkovich, Assistant to the President of the RF, Mikhail Prokhorov, President of the Onexim Group (www.onexim.org), Vladimir Dmitriev, VEB Chairman (www.veb.ru), Alexander Tkachev, the Governor of the Krasnodar region and other participants. Speech of Vladimir Putin, Prime-Minister of the RF, concluded the Plenary Session.
After this Plenary Session, Yves Leterme presented the Belgian delegation, the stand and a unique exhibit, the First Olympic Flag from the Sportimonium Museum, to Vladimir Putin and to the members of the Government of the Russian Federation. Vladimir Putin autographed the “The Belgian Days in Russia, 2008” catalog.
The Belgian delegation attended the “Sochi 2014; Business Opportunities” conference presided over by Dmitry Chernyshenko, the President of the “Sochi 2014 Organizing Committee” (www.sochi2014.com).
The day’s program also included a working meeting with Alexander Tkachev, the Governor of the Krasnodar region (www.admkrai.kuban.ru).
After the negotiations were completed, Yves Leterme and Vladimir Putin, the Prime Ministers of Belgium and Russia, held an official meeting. They discussed the issues of economic cooperation and the participation of Belgian companies in constructing Olympic facilities at the Russian Black Sea resort. However, big politics issues were also involved, the parties discussed the situation around Georgia, Abkhazia and South Ossetia.
Concurrently with the official meeting of the leaders of Belgium and Russia, the Belgian-Russian Briefing “On Respective Opportunities” took place. Talks at the briefing were given by Werner Cautreels, CEO of Solvay Pharma and President of the Belgian Luxembourg Chamber of Commerce for Russia & Belarus; Jean-François Heris, President & CEO, AGC Flat-Glass Europe; Nathalie Chestakova, General manager, Daikin Europe; Peter Demuynck, General Manager Agoria/ International Business, Bulat Subaev, Managing Director Lukoil Belgium.
On behalf of Yves Leterme, Ivan Korsak, Economic & Commercial Attaché for the Brussels-Capital &Walloon Regions at the Belgian Embassy in Russia, delivered concluding remarks.
The day’s program was concluded by the reception held on behalf of Yves Leterme and attended by several guests of honor, including Rustam Minnikhanov, the Prime Minster of the Republic of Tatarstan, (www.tatar.ru), Vagit Alikperov, the President of the Lukoil company (www.lukoil.ru), Vasily Bochkarev, the Governor of the Penza region (www.penza.ru), Sergei Vakhrukov, theGovernor of the Yaroslavl’ region (www.adm.yar.ru), leaders of the delegations from Ulyanovsk (www.ulgov.ru/), Tver (www.region.tver.ru/), Rostov on Don (www.donland.ru) and Saratov (www.saratov.gov.ru), and business representatives of the Russian Federation.
The day was completed with the reception held on behalf of Alexander Tkachev, the Governor of the Krasnodar region, followed by a Rod Stewart’s concert.
III
In the morning of September 20, Yves Leterme attended a business breakfast with a group of Belgian businessmen, and then the appointed meeting with Victor Kolodyazhny, the President of the SC Olimpstroy followed (www.sc-olympstroy.ru). At the meeting, the attendees discussed the issues of cooperation in various projects planned for hosting the Olympic Games in Sochi. The Belgian delegation was invited to the briefing the SC Olimpstroy’s president Victor Kolodyazhny held for representatives of the diplomatic and trade missions and the media.
The Ministry for Regional Development of the Russian Federation (www.minregion.ru) reports that preparations for organizing and hosting the Winter Olympic Games in Sochi in 2014 continue according to the schedule of planning and constructing Olympic facilities
Currently, building and construction work is conducted on 19 sites. 10 projects specified in the Construction Program are completed. 10 more projects are in the implementation stage and their completion is planned for the end of the year 2008.
Among the most significant facilities under construction are:
• skiing center (18 thousand seats);
• road stretch between the Alpica-Service and Sulimovsky stream (lower sports facility), 1,8 km;
• creating a cargo district in the Sochi seaport with the land infrastructure in the deltas of the rivers Mzymta and Psou;
• airfield in the airport and the passenger terminal in Sochi;
• constructing an airway service between Psou and Poselkovaya electric power substation;
• the second phase of the Sochi thermal power plant, Vereshchaginskaya and Rodnikovaya power substations;
• a hospital for 150 patients with an outpatient clinic in the Krasnaya Polyana township;
• hotels and a hotel complex with nearly 1500 rooms, and two resorts;
The 2008-2011 budget allocates 403,4 billion rubles for constructing Olympic facilities and developing the city of Sochi as an alpine climatic resort; this financing includes a carryover from the year 2007 of the SC Olimpstroy in the amount of 17,1 billion rubles.
The total area space of the land slots necessary for the Olympic facilities is preliminarily estimated at 4156 hectares (1579 hectares for area facilities, 2577 hectares for linear facilities), among them:
- 917 hectares in the seaside cluster;
- 2151 hectares in the mountain cluster;
- 1088 hectares in the city cluster;
It is necessary to mention that 41 item on the Construction program already have land slots which had been provided to the investors who subsequently became accountable contractors under the Construction program.
Final approval of the documents regarding area development of separately located facilities on the Construction program is planned to be completed by the end of November, 2008.
The Construction program for the Olympic facilities and for the development of the city of Sochi as an alpine climatic resort includes an implementation of 37 projects and the construction or reconstruction of 181 facilities, 14 of which are Olympic sports facilities and 22 are those necessary for their maintenance. The remaining 147 facilities are designed for developing Sochi as an alpine climatic resort.
The Belgian delegation’s program continued with the “Investment Projects of the Russian regions as the motive power of the local economies’ development” conference and with meetings with the leaders of the Russian regions.
Belgian delegation headed by Bertrand de Crombrugghe, the Ambassador of Belgium in Russia, Arkady Arianoff, General Manager of the CCBLR, and Dimitri de Heering, Administrator of the CCBLR, held productive individual meetings with the Governors and business delegations from the Stavropol, Ulyanovsk, Volgograd, and Yaroslavl regions. The Governor Anatoly Artamonov and Vice-Governor Maksim Akimov presented the economic potential of the Kaluga region; the avenues of mutual cooperation were also discussed at that meeting. (www.admoblkaluga.ru)
The day’s program was concluded with a reception held by the Mayor of Sochi.
Within the educational programs of the Forum, Irina Karapetyants, Vice-Rector of the RSUH (www.rsuh.ru) presented the project
“The Olympic movement. Relay-Race of Countries and Generations”
And the concept of the Belgian Center in Moscow which already served as a basis for signing a Cooperation Agreement with the University of Ghent.
The cultural program of the Forum included concerts by Vladimir Spivakov, Rod Stewart, and other events. Marina Shtager, Art Director of the Slavinsky Gallery (www.ivan-slavinsky.com), a participant of the Forum’s cultural program, presented the painting “Sports Victory” by Ivan Slavinsky painted specifically as a mark of respect for Belgium.
The Belgian delegation was accompanied by a group of Russian and Belgian journalists. There was a coverage on every major Belgian and Russian TV channels and in major newspapers, including Belga, Trends, VRT, Standaard, VTM, RTL and Russian Channel One, NTV, VESTI, regional TV channels of the Krasnodar regions and Sochi, ITAR-TASS, RIA-Novosti and others. 1061 journalists were accredited at the Forum.
Thanks to the efforts of Pascal Buffin, Economic Counsellor, Embassy of Belgium in Russia, and the Embassy of Belgium in Russia, a four-page newspaper spread about Belgium was published in Russian and distributed by the Forum’s press center. The «Belgian Days in Russia, 2008» catalog complemented the information and was also distributed among the Forum’s participants.
In the morning of September 21, Arkady Arianoff, Director General of the CCBLR, held concluding meetings with the members of the Belgian delegation concerning the results of their work at the Forum. The evaluation was generally positive and included appreciation of the good arrangements, well-developed concept and program, introduction to the most important projects, and to regional leaders and representatives of the business elite of the Russian Federation.
The members of the delegation established the necessary contacts in order that their companies could successfully develop their business in Russia.
CCBLR laid the groundwork for a long-term program of presenting Russian regions and their priority projects in Belgium, and also concentrated its attention on the program of presenting Belgium’s investment potential to the political and business elites of the Russian Federation.
It is important to notice with particular appreciation and deep gratitude that this project was carried out with the sponsor supports of «AGC Flat-Glass Europe», «Daikin Europe» and «Solvay».
The Belgian participants would like to express a special gratitude to the Governor and the Government of the Krasnodar Region, to the directors and staff of various departments who provided excellent support, help, and kind assistance at every stage of the year-long preparation and implementation of this project.
The success of the Belgian Economic Mission at the “Sochi 2008” Forum is based on the close and well-organized cooperation between the Belgian Luxembourg Chamber of Commerce for Russia & Belarus, the Embassy of Belgium in Russia, the Brussels-Capital, Flemish, Walloon regions, the Belgian Ministry for Foreign Affairs, the Cabinet of the Prime Minister of Belgium, and on the understanding of the needs and interests of Belgian companies.
The report is compiled by Olga Iakovlevskaya,
Project Manager,
Belgian Days in Russia 2008
References
To: Arkady Arianoff
Subject: SOCHI FORUM
Dear Arkady,
I would like to thank you on behalf of Daikin for an excellent organisation of the visit of the Belgian delegation to Sochi Forum. Only those who work in Russia 'physically' can understand that organising such an event takes probably 20 times more efforts than in any other country.
Very special thanks to Olga Yakovlevskaya, as a project manager she did really a great job and even the Russian PM Putin couldn't resist her charm ;).. Please pass our gratitude to all other CCBLR colleagues.
A very high status of our delegation headed by PM Yves Leterme and with participation of HE Ambassador Bertrand de Crombrugghe contributed a lot in opening to us the most locked doors of the highest officials in the Krasnodar region. We had an opportunity to make very important contacts and our challenge now is to follow up, maintain and develop those connections to grow into real business.
On behalf of my Daikin colleagues, I wish you lots of success in the future and I hope Sochi-2008 will not stay long a unique project where we worked together!
Yours sincerely,
Natalia Chestakova
DAIKIN EUROPE N.V. Moscow Office
107045 Moscow, Russia
http://www.daikin.ru____________________________________________________________________________
From: Parviz Ziai
Subject: RE: SOCHI FORUM
Dear Arkady,
We should thank Natalya who took the initiative to express in writing what we had already said among ourselves during the event. It was simply a great success.
Concerning Olga Bogdanova, I am sure Natalya meant to write that her support can not be UNDERESTIMATED.
I wish you all the success for future events.
Looking forward to see you all again,
Parviz Ziai
ASTRON BUILDINGS
From: DE BRUYN Michel
Subject: RE: SOCHI FORUM
Dear Nathalia and Arkady,
I can only confirm the very nice and complete mail of Nathalia : this mission was a great success and THANK YOU !
The Chamber has done a great (and difficult) job !
The local presence of our Prime Minister, our Ambassador, the Regions and Agoria are surely also part of the successful contacts we had.
MANY THANKS as well to the SPONSORS: without them this successful mission was not possible !
Looking forward to other successful missions and the follow up of this one by all of us,
Best regards,
Michel DE BRUYN
CMO
Central and Eastern Europe Regional Director
Schréder s.a.
From: Bulat Subaev
Subject: RE: SOCHI FORUM
Dear Arkady,
Thank you and your team again for the invitation, organization of the visit to the Forum
and all efforts you are doing to build constructive and productive relations between Belgium and Russia.
Regards,
Bulat Subaev
Managing Director LUKOIL Belgium
From: Sjoerd De Clerck
Subject: RE: SOCHI FORUM
Dear Arkadi,
When All is said nothing can be added, but the power of repetivity is to Reinforce the message and therefore I gladly add my sincere thanks and congratulations for an excellent mission!
'Preparation is half the work' it is often said and I am sure it felt like more to you and your Team, but the result has made it worthwhile.
And last but not least, Teamwork and Cooperation is what turns 1+1 into 3, seeing such an extraordinary cooperation between Government, Diplomacy, Federation and Chamber sets an example for all of us.
The doors have been opened, it is now up to us to follow through and turn opportunity into success. It will be a pleasure to stay in close touch and on keeping you abreast of our concrete results,
Sincerely,
Sjoerd De Clerck
Sr. Director Europe
BarcoN.V.
From: Valentin Voloshchenko
Subject: RE: SOCHI FORUM
Dear Arkady,
Many thanks for a high level organisation of our participation in a Sochi Forum. In the attached files a few additional photos.
Best regards,
Valentin Voloshchenko
Marketing Planning Department Executive
DAIKIN EUROPE N.V. Moscow Office
http://www.daikin.ru
From: Jurgen Schroyen
Subject: RE: SOCHI FORUM
Dear all, Dear Arkady, Dear Peter,
I can only confirm what is stated below by Natalia.
It was a big success.
Thanks and best regards,
Jurgen Schroyen
European Sales Director
Betafence nv
Deerlijkstraat 58A
B-8550 Zwevegem
www.betafence.com
From: Jean-Philippe Mergen
Subject: RE: SOCHI FORUM
Je ne peux dire que BRAVO !
Jean-Philippe Mergen
Director International Department
BECI
BRUSSELS ENTERPRISES COMMERCE AND INDUSTRY www.beci.be
From: Pascal Buffin
Subject: RE: SOCHI FORUM
Chère Olga, cher Arkady,
Merci encore à tous les deux pour votre contribution au succès de la mission à Sotchi !!!
Pascal
Ambassade de Belgique MOSCOU
From: Ivan Korsak
Subject: RE: SOCHI FORUM
Bonjour Arkady,
C'était une bonne mission et les entreprises sont très positives, ce qui me réjouis.
Je félicite chaleureusement Olga et toi même pour votre engagement et l'exécution de ce projet difficile.
Avec mes amitiés,
Ivan Korsak BruWal
From: Irina Karapetiants
Subject: RE: SOCHI FORUM
Monsieur Arianoff,
Permettez-moi de vous dire ma reconnaissance pour l’invitation au VII International Investment Forum SOCHI-2008. La délégation officielle de Belgique, avec le Premier-Ministre à sa tête, m’a fait l’honneur de me mettre au nombre de ses membres. Au cours de ce Forum j’ai réçu une riche expérience indispensable pour la réalisation de nouveaux projets communs dont l’ouverture du Centre d’études et de recherche russo-belge. Je tiens à vous faire savoir que le 24 septembre, j’ai eu une rencontre avec Monsieur Heering au cours de laquelle on a discuté la possibilité d’ouvrir le bureau de CCBLR sur la base du futur Centre.
Espérant que vous voudrez bien continuer notre collaboration, je vous pris de croire, Monsieur Arianoff, à l’expression cordiale de mes sentiments les plus distingués.
Irina Karapetiants
Vice Rector University RGGU Moscow
« Back to overview
The Belgian delegation counting 60 people was headed by Yves Leterme, Prime Minister,
Bertrand de Crombrugghe, Ambassador of Belgium in Russia, and Werner Cautreels, President of the Belgian Luxembourg Chamber of Commerce for Russia & Belarus.
The Belgian Luxembourg Chamber of Commerce for Russia and Belarus, organizer of the Economic Mission, presented a program for the Belgian delegation. The program was developed in compliance with the main purpose of the Forum, which is to create an international communication center for the most respected business representatives from Russia and other countries, academic circles and state institutions. This center would work with issues concerning the modernization and investment development of the Russian economy. The program was also developed in compliance with one of the Forum’s principal tasks of discussing issues of Russian and foreign companies’ participation in implementing investment projects for the preparation of the Olympics Sochi, the Krasnodar and other regions of the Russian Federation.
The Belgian delegation began its work at 12 pm on September 18, before the official opening of the Forum. First item on the agenda was becoming acquainted with the Priority Projects of the Russian regions (www.minregion.ru), afterwards, a meeting with the South Yakutia development corporation took place. Ivan Nesterov, Project Manager, presented a diversified industrial district based on the natural resources potential of the South Yakutia and on developing the transport and electric grid infrastructure of the district (www.sy-corp.ru).
Next on the agenda was the meeting with Igor Mazurok, Vice Director of the Architecture and City Planning Department of the Krasnodar region (www.arhikub.ru), who spoke about the plans and the progress of construction work in the Krasnodar region, about the Olympic facilities, and presented also projects of the “Basic Element" company.
At the meeting with Gabibulla Khasaev, Vice President of the Samara Region government and Samara region Minister for Economic development, investments, and trade, and with Sergei Subbotin, Director of Samara region department for export, the economic potential of the region was presented, and possible projects for mutual cooperation were discussed. (www.adm.samara.ru)
After the official opening of the Forum, Yves Leterme, the representatives of the Belgian government and of the Embassy of Belgium in Russia had a working meeting with the members of the Belgian delegation. This meeting concluded the first day’s program.
II
On September 19th, the Belgian delegation attended one of the Forum’s principal events, the Plenary Session “Russian economy: where to invest?”; the attendees were welcomed by Elvira Nabiullina, the Minister for Economic development of the RF (www.economy.gov.ru), Dmitry Kozak, the Minister for Regional development of the RF (www.minregion.ru), and by Alexander Tkachev, the Governor of the Krasnodar region, (www.admkrai.kuban.ru) the co-chairs of the “Sochi 2008” Forum’s organizing committee.
Andrey Sharonov, Managing Director of the Troika-Dialog. (www.troika.ru), moderated the meeting; he gave the floor to Alexander Zhukov, Vice Chairman of the Government of the RF, to Arkady Dvorkovich, Assistant to the President of the RF, Mikhail Prokhorov, President of the Onexim Group (www.onexim.org), Vladimir Dmitriev, VEB Chairman (www.veb.ru), Alexander Tkachev, the Governor of the Krasnodar region and other participants. Speech of Vladimir Putin, Prime-Minister of the RF, concluded the Plenary Session.
After this Plenary Session, Yves Leterme presented the Belgian delegation, the stand and a unique exhibit, the First Olympic Flag from the Sportimonium Museum, to Vladimir Putin and to the members of the Government of the Russian Federation. Vladimir Putin autographed the “The Belgian Days in Russia, 2008” catalog.
The Belgian delegation attended the “Sochi 2014; Business Opportunities” conference presided over by Dmitry Chernyshenko, the President of the “Sochi 2014 Organizing Committee” (www.sochi2014.com).
The day’s program also included a working meeting with Alexander Tkachev, the Governor of the Krasnodar region (www.admkrai.kuban.ru).
After the negotiations were completed, Yves Leterme and Vladimir Putin, the Prime Ministers of Belgium and Russia, held an official meeting. They discussed the issues of economic cooperation and the participation of Belgian companies in constructing Olympic facilities at the Russian Black Sea resort. However, big politics issues were also involved, the parties discussed the situation around Georgia, Abkhazia and South Ossetia.
Concurrently with the official meeting of the leaders of Belgium and Russia, the Belgian-Russian Briefing “On Respective Opportunities” took place. Talks at the briefing were given by Werner Cautreels, CEO of Solvay Pharma and President of the Belgian Luxembourg Chamber of Commerce for Russia & Belarus; Jean-François Heris, President & CEO, AGC Flat-Glass Europe; Nathalie Chestakova, General manager, Daikin Europe; Peter Demuynck, General Manager Agoria/ International Business, Bulat Subaev, Managing Director Lukoil Belgium.
On behalf of Yves Leterme, Ivan Korsak, Economic & Commercial Attaché for the Brussels-Capital &Walloon Regions at the Belgian Embassy in Russia, delivered concluding remarks.
The day’s program was concluded by the reception held on behalf of Yves Leterme and attended by several guests of honor, including Rustam Minnikhanov, the Prime Minster of the Republic of Tatarstan, (www.tatar.ru), Vagit Alikperov, the President of the Lukoil company (www.lukoil.ru), Vasily Bochkarev, the Governor of the Penza region (www.penza.ru), Sergei Vakhrukov, theGovernor of the Yaroslavl’ region (www.adm.yar.ru), leaders of the delegations from Ulyanovsk (www.ulgov.ru/), Tver (www.region.tver.ru/), Rostov on Don (www.donland.ru) and Saratov (www.saratov.gov.ru), and business representatives of the Russian Federation.
The day was completed with the reception held on behalf of Alexander Tkachev, the Governor of the Krasnodar region, followed by a Rod Stewart’s concert.
III
In the morning of September 20, Yves Leterme attended a business breakfast with a group of Belgian businessmen, and then the appointed meeting with Victor Kolodyazhny, the President of the SC Olimpstroy followed (www.sc-olympstroy.ru). At the meeting, the attendees discussed the issues of cooperation in various projects planned for hosting the Olympic Games in Sochi. The Belgian delegation was invited to the briefing the SC Olimpstroy’s president Victor Kolodyazhny held for representatives of the diplomatic and trade missions and the media.
The Ministry for Regional Development of the Russian Federation (www.minregion.ru) reports that preparations for organizing and hosting the Winter Olympic Games in Sochi in 2014 continue according to the schedule of planning and constructing Olympic facilities
Currently, building and construction work is conducted on 19 sites. 10 projects specified in the Construction Program are completed. 10 more projects are in the implementation stage and their completion is planned for the end of the year 2008.
Among the most significant facilities under construction are:
• skiing center (18 thousand seats);
• road stretch between the Alpica-Service and Sulimovsky stream (lower sports facility), 1,8 km;
• creating a cargo district in the Sochi seaport with the land infrastructure in the deltas of the rivers Mzymta and Psou;
• airfield in the airport and the passenger terminal in Sochi;
• constructing an airway service between Psou and Poselkovaya electric power substation;
• the second phase of the Sochi thermal power plant, Vereshchaginskaya and Rodnikovaya power substations;
• a hospital for 150 patients with an outpatient clinic in the Krasnaya Polyana township;
• hotels and a hotel complex with nearly 1500 rooms, and two resorts;
The 2008-2011 budget allocates 403,4 billion rubles for constructing Olympic facilities and developing the city of Sochi as an alpine climatic resort; this financing includes a carryover from the year 2007 of the SC Olimpstroy in the amount of 17,1 billion rubles.
The total area space of the land slots necessary for the Olympic facilities is preliminarily estimated at 4156 hectares (1579 hectares for area facilities, 2577 hectares for linear facilities), among them:
- 917 hectares in the seaside cluster;
- 2151 hectares in the mountain cluster;
- 1088 hectares in the city cluster;
It is necessary to mention that 41 item on the Construction program already have land slots which had been provided to the investors who subsequently became accountable contractors under the Construction program.
Final approval of the documents regarding area development of separately located facilities on the Construction program is planned to be completed by the end of November, 2008.
The Construction program for the Olympic facilities and for the development of the city of Sochi as an alpine climatic resort includes an implementation of 37 projects and the construction or reconstruction of 181 facilities, 14 of which are Olympic sports facilities and 22 are those necessary for their maintenance. The remaining 147 facilities are designed for developing Sochi as an alpine climatic resort.
The Belgian delegation’s program continued with the “Investment Projects of the Russian regions as the motive power of the local economies’ development” conference and with meetings with the leaders of the Russian regions.
Belgian delegation headed by Bertrand de Crombrugghe, the Ambassador of Belgium in Russia, Arkady Arianoff, General Manager of the CCBLR, and Dimitri de Heering, Administrator of the CCBLR, held productive individual meetings with the Governors and business delegations from the Stavropol, Ulyanovsk, Volgograd, and Yaroslavl regions. The Governor Anatoly Artamonov and Vice-Governor Maksim Akimov presented the economic potential of the Kaluga region; the avenues of mutual cooperation were also discussed at that meeting. (www.admoblkaluga.ru)
The day’s program was concluded with a reception held by the Mayor of Sochi.
Within the educational programs of the Forum, Irina Karapetyants, Vice-Rector of the RSUH (www.rsuh.ru) presented the project
“The Olympic movement. Relay-Race of Countries and Generations”
And the concept of the Belgian Center in Moscow which already served as a basis for signing a Cooperation Agreement with the University of Ghent.
The cultural program of the Forum included concerts by Vladimir Spivakov, Rod Stewart, and other events. Marina Shtager, Art Director of the Slavinsky Gallery (www.ivan-slavinsky.com), a participant of the Forum’s cultural program, presented the painting “Sports Victory” by Ivan Slavinsky painted specifically as a mark of respect for Belgium.
The Belgian delegation was accompanied by a group of Russian and Belgian journalists. There was a coverage on every major Belgian and Russian TV channels and in major newspapers, including Belga, Trends, VRT, Standaard, VTM, RTL and Russian Channel One, NTV, VESTI, regional TV channels of the Krasnodar regions and Sochi, ITAR-TASS, RIA-Novosti and others. 1061 journalists were accredited at the Forum.
Thanks to the efforts of Pascal Buffin, Economic Counsellor, Embassy of Belgium in Russia, and the Embassy of Belgium in Russia, a four-page newspaper spread about Belgium was published in Russian and distributed by the Forum’s press center. The «Belgian Days in Russia, 2008» catalog complemented the information and was also distributed among the Forum’s participants.
In the morning of September 21, Arkady Arianoff, Director General of the CCBLR, held concluding meetings with the members of the Belgian delegation concerning the results of their work at the Forum. The evaluation was generally positive and included appreciation of the good arrangements, well-developed concept and program, introduction to the most important projects, and to regional leaders and representatives of the business elite of the Russian Federation.
The members of the delegation established the necessary contacts in order that their companies could successfully develop their business in Russia.
CCBLR laid the groundwork for a long-term program of presenting Russian regions and their priority projects in Belgium, and also concentrated its attention on the program of presenting Belgium’s investment potential to the political and business elites of the Russian Federation.
It is important to notice with particular appreciation and deep gratitude that this project was carried out with the sponsor supports of «AGC Flat-Glass Europe», «Daikin Europe» and «Solvay».
The Belgian participants would like to express a special gratitude to the Governor and the Government of the Krasnodar Region, to the directors and staff of various departments who provided excellent support, help, and kind assistance at every stage of the year-long preparation and implementation of this project.
The success of the Belgian Economic Mission at the “Sochi 2008” Forum is based on the close and well-organized cooperation between the Belgian Luxembourg Chamber of Commerce for Russia & Belarus, the Embassy of Belgium in Russia, the Brussels-Capital, Flemish, Walloon regions, the Belgian Ministry for Foreign Affairs, the Cabinet of the Prime Minister of Belgium, and on the understanding of the needs and interests of Belgian companies.
The report is compiled by Olga Iakovlevskaya,
Project Manager,
Belgian Days in Russia 2008
References
To: Arkady Arianoff
Subject: SOCHI FORUM
Dear Arkady,
I would like to thank you on behalf of Daikin for an excellent organisation of the visit of the Belgian delegation to Sochi Forum. Only those who work in Russia 'physically' can understand that organising such an event takes probably 20 times more efforts than in any other country.
Very special thanks to Olga Yakovlevskaya, as a project manager she did really a great job and even the Russian PM Putin couldn't resist her charm ;).. Please pass our gratitude to all other CCBLR colleagues.
A very high status of our delegation headed by PM Yves Leterme and with participation of HE Ambassador Bertrand de Crombrugghe contributed a lot in opening to us the most locked doors of the highest officials in the Krasnodar region. We had an opportunity to make very important contacts and our challenge now is to follow up, maintain and develop those connections to grow into real business.
On behalf of my Daikin colleagues, I wish you lots of success in the future and I hope Sochi-2008 will not stay long a unique project where we worked together!
Yours sincerely,
Natalia Chestakova
DAIKIN EUROPE N.V. Moscow Office
107045 Moscow, Russia
http://www.daikin.ru____________________________________________________________________________
From: Parviz Ziai
Subject: RE: SOCHI FORUM
Dear Arkady,
We should thank Natalya who took the initiative to express in writing what we had already said among ourselves during the event. It was simply a great success.
Concerning Olga Bogdanova, I am sure Natalya meant to write that her support can not be UNDERESTIMATED.
I wish you all the success for future events.
Looking forward to see you all again,
Parviz Ziai
ASTRON BUILDINGS
From: DE BRUYN Michel
Subject: RE: SOCHI FORUM
Dear Nathalia and Arkady,
I can only confirm the very nice and complete mail of Nathalia : this mission was a great success and THANK YOU !
The Chamber has done a great (and difficult) job !
The local presence of our Prime Minister, our Ambassador, the Regions and Agoria are surely also part of the successful contacts we had.
MANY THANKS as well to the SPONSORS: without them this successful mission was not possible !
Looking forward to other successful missions and the follow up of this one by all of us,
Best regards,
Michel DE BRUYN
CMO
Central and Eastern Europe Regional Director
Schréder s.a.
From: Bulat Subaev
Subject: RE: SOCHI FORUM
Dear Arkady,
Thank you and your team again for the invitation, organization of the visit to the Forum
and all efforts you are doing to build constructive and productive relations between Belgium and Russia.
Regards,
Bulat Subaev
Managing Director LUKOIL Belgium
From: Sjoerd De Clerck
Subject: RE: SOCHI FORUM
Dear Arkadi,
When All is said nothing can be added, but the power of repetivity is to Reinforce the message and therefore I gladly add my sincere thanks and congratulations for an excellent mission!
'Preparation is half the work' it is often said and I am sure it felt like more to you and your Team, but the result has made it worthwhile.
And last but not least, Teamwork and Cooperation is what turns 1+1 into 3, seeing such an extraordinary cooperation between Government, Diplomacy, Federation and Chamber sets an example for all of us.
The doors have been opened, it is now up to us to follow through and turn opportunity into success. It will be a pleasure to stay in close touch and on keeping you abreast of our concrete results,
Sincerely,
Sjoerd De Clerck
Sr. Director Europe
BarcoN.V.
From: Valentin Voloshchenko
Subject: RE: SOCHI FORUM
Dear Arkady,
Many thanks for a high level organisation of our participation in a Sochi Forum. In the attached files a few additional photos.
Best regards,
Valentin Voloshchenko
Marketing Planning Department Executive
DAIKIN EUROPE N.V. Moscow Office
http://www.daikin.ru
From: Jurgen Schroyen
Subject: RE: SOCHI FORUM
Dear all, Dear Arkady, Dear Peter,
I can only confirm what is stated below by Natalia.
It was a big success.
Thanks and best regards,
Jurgen Schroyen
European Sales Director
Betafence nv
Deerlijkstraat 58A
B-8550 Zwevegem
www.betafence.com
From: Jean-Philippe Mergen
Subject: RE: SOCHI FORUM
Je ne peux dire que BRAVO !
Jean-Philippe Mergen
Director International Department
BECI
BRUSSELS ENTERPRISES COMMERCE AND INDUSTRY www.beci.be
From: Pascal Buffin
Subject: RE: SOCHI FORUM
Chère Olga, cher Arkady,
Merci encore à tous les deux pour votre contribution au succès de la mission à Sotchi !!!
Pascal
Ambassade de Belgique MOSCOU
From: Ivan Korsak
Subject: RE: SOCHI FORUM
Bonjour Arkady,
C'était une bonne mission et les entreprises sont très positives, ce qui me réjouis.
Je félicite chaleureusement Olga et toi même pour votre engagement et l'exécution de ce projet difficile.
Avec mes amitiés,
Ivan Korsak BruWal
From: Irina Karapetiants
Subject: RE: SOCHI FORUM
Monsieur Arianoff,
Permettez-moi de vous dire ma reconnaissance pour l’invitation au VII International Investment Forum SOCHI-2008. La délégation officielle de Belgique, avec le Premier-Ministre à sa tête, m’a fait l’honneur de me mettre au nombre de ses membres. Au cours de ce Forum j’ai réçu une riche expérience indispensable pour la réalisation de nouveaux projets communs dont l’ouverture du Centre d’études et de recherche russo-belge. Je tiens à vous faire savoir que le 24 septembre, j’ai eu une rencontre avec Monsieur Heering au cours de laquelle on a discuté la possibilité d’ouvrir le bureau de CCBLR sur la base du futur Centre.
Espérant que vous voudrez bien continuer notre collaboration, je vous pris de croire, Monsieur Arianoff, à l’expression cordiale de mes sentiments les plus distingués.
Irina Karapetiants
Vice Rector University RGGU Moscow
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