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Around The Rings, the news site and information service that concentrates on the Olympic Games and the Olympic movement, has begun to carry the newsleter that I write about Sochi. I am glad for the association and look forward to working with Around The Rings on other projects as the Olympics approach.
We have been hosting parties at Gossip Cafe in central Sochi, owned by Martial and Bastien Simonneau. The parties are attracting an ever larger and more international crowd. This last Saturday, we had guests from Belgium, France, Germany, Greece, the netherlands, Serbia, Russia, Turkey, the United Kingdom (Scottish guest) and the United States. More than 100 people have joined the group from the nations above, as well as Canada, Lativa, Finland, Italy, Spain and Switzerland.
Find the Sochi Expats Club on Facebook and feel free to join our parites when you are in Sochi. I expect to host a reggae-themed pool party for the Club in the near future.
Pavel Lesnevesky filmed and edited the video shown below for SochiChannel.com. Please have a look:
Sochi, on the placid eastern shores of the Black Sea, is not a place one would expect to find a devoted surfer. But it is even more unexpected that this surfer would be a strikingly attractive Russian girl born in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan and raised in cold and remote Siberia.
Larisa Aleksandrova, the middle of three children, was born during the dying years of the Soviet Union in the Central Asian city of Bishkek. She moved with her family to a small city in Siberia's Altai Region, then to Penza (southeast of Moscow) and on to Novokuznetsk in southwest Siberia, where she completed her university education in psychology. When I asked Larisa what was the genesis of her passion for surfing, she surprised me with her answer. At fifteen, she was given a disc of the American film "Point Break". It changed the direction of her life. She loved the reverence for the ocean's power and the shared sense of community in the surfing world. She laughs about it now, considering the film middling, but the lifestyle depicted in the film attracted her to the ocean. She spent the rest of her teen years dreaming about traveling to exotic locales to surf, but held out little hope that this would be her reality. Also, she watched everything about surfing that she could find in Siberia. I asked which surf film is her favorite now and she immediately replied "Endless Summer", widely considered to be a classic of the genre.
Surfing was "only a dream" for her for a long time. Then in 2008, Larisa moved to Sochi because she wanted to live near the water. She took a job with Yota, the Russian internet provider, and realized that she could travel and try surfing. In 2010, she went to France and hired an instructor. She was hooked. The next year she journeyed to Bilbao, Spain and again learned with an instructor. Larisa says that Bilbao is her favorite city. She loves the delicious Spanish food, Bilbao's night life and the frequent surf opportunities.
Late last year, Larisa and a friend from Sochi, Anna Alexeeva, went to Morocco and 3 months later she flew to Portugal, both times to surf. When in Morocco, she was exposed to an international group of surfers and met new friends from all over the world. Flashing a ready smile and with a hearty laugh and a thick mane of curly hair, Larisa makes friends quickly. She said that the surfing community is kind and friendly and that, regardless to nationality, surfers share the "language of the ocean". Larisa said that when she is surfing there is only her and the wave- she forgets all else.
Larisa bought a board in Portugal. Although there is rarely surf in Sochi, in her spare time she is often in the sea practicing her paddling, balance and board skills. When not in the water, she said the waves are constantly on her mind. She told me she is already planning her surfing future, so I asked where she would like to go. Larisa mentioned Australia, South Africa, Peru and Chile as well as California, Tahiti and Hawaii. She said she hoped to go to Hawaii within 2 years and I told her that with her easy-going manner and love of the ocean, she would be a natural fit there.
Larisa is very satisfied with her work as an HR manager for Yota. She spoke in almost the same tones about it as she does surfing. Larisa said that "Yota is one of the best companies in Russia" and that she "could not imagine working for another." What language did Larisa tell me about herself in? English. In between her travels in search of surf and for her work (she soon will fly to Khabarovsk and Vladivostok- about 4,500 miles east of Sochi!), Sochi's surfer chick takes English lessons... and occasionally rests.
If you want to catch up to Larisa, she can often be found at the Sochi Expats Club parties, telling us about her latest travels.
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The rental process for workforce accommodation in Sochi is not simple and should not be undertaken without consulting and having legal support from a qualified attorney. There are cautionary tales...
This week we have been working on an accommodation contract for a western company relocating a number of employees to Sochi through the Games. We are offering our "homefinding services" which include preliminary discussions on price, location and desired features, preselection, advice, showing apartments, negotiation of price and lease terms, as well as preparation of the lease and visa registration.
We showed a number of apartments through real estate agents to employees. A preliminary agreement was reached on Tuesday for a new apartment on Kirova street. All appeared to be on track and we forwarded the lease to the agent. At the meeting to sign the lease, the employee and his wife expressed concern about the water, which they had heard could be shut off for extended periods and that the cable television was not working, despite being told by the agent it would. The leasing agent, who represents a number of owners in this building, suggested angrily that they could look elsewhere.
Then she retutrned the lease with the passages relating to protections on rental increases and time frame crossed out, saying that the owner could increase the rental price at any time. This was a surprise and our attorney pointed out that employees were given a fixed rental budget. Since the price agreed upon was slightly above market, it was good for the owner, too. and the employee and his family could not afford to be tossed out if the rent demanded exceeded their budget.
It was clear that the tenant would be faced with rent increases at any time. The agent was motivated because she is paid her fee every time the apartment is rented to a new tenant. And with a tight and very uncertain market, there was no doubt of her plans.
The conclusion was a loud tirade from the agent. Word quickly spread to the other employees and we and the firm both decided to have no further dealings with this agent. And in a self-serving manner, we have subsequently realized that this particular agent is attempting to poison the water by suggesting other agents and apartment owners do not work with our client, a reputable international company that seeks binding two year leases.
The angry and unprincipled behavior shocked both Russian and our client. We have her name on file and will make sure that all of our customers are warned away from doing business with her. Fortunately, we found another suitable apartment and the employee signed the two year lease required by his company.
Incidently, a foreign employee of another firm rented a home without our services our any legal advice on the contract. This employee signed an unfavorable lease and has no protection against indiscriminate rental increases. This agreement will almost certainly not conclude well. We think that renters without good leases or protection will be forced out before the Games, assuming that rental rates rise. With housing in short supply and long, slow commute times from other areas, this will be a disaster for some.
Any foreign individual or company must have impartial advice and legal representation renting property in Sochi. legal service must be local to negotiate and conclude the lease. A long distance attorney is usually much more expensive and requires more time, with less local knowledge.
Friday, we came to an agreement with another agent. The employee knew events related to the other employee and immediately deferred all questions on the lease term, other than price to our attorney. Although he works for a foreign company, he is Russian and still felt he needed our legal support.
Today, May 9, Sochi observed Victory Day, the day of the defeat of Nazi Germany in 1945. A moment of silence was observed at the central memorial. Sochisiders spent the day in the parks, at a concert on Administration and on the streets. The cafes and restaurants have been filled all day with families and parties as people celebrated the beautiful weather and the victory won at incredible costs.
I met Sochi Mayor Anatoli Nikolayevich Pakhomov near Riviera Park at a celebration honoring some of the city's surviving veterans of what is known as the Great Patriotic War.
Sochi Mayor Anatoly Pakhomov and Veterans
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