Red Rocks Festival In Sochi

This Saturday, February 18, the Red Rocks Music Festival will be held in Krasnaya Polyana.  The Scissor Sisters wil be headlining the event.  Other performers will include White LIes and Royksopp.  The Kills headlined the Festival last year.  Despite the fact that Sochi is a beach resort and sea level city, Red Rocks will be held at an altitude of 1,500 meters (4,921 feet) at the Gornaya Karusel Ski Area.

Follow the Facebook page for more information on the festival.  Also, to my ex-pat friends and readers in Krasnodar, pass the word along and come down to Sochi!

We will be attending, so look for pictures here next week.  

Affliction Grand Opening

The new franchise of the clothing retailer Affliction, celebrated its Grand Opening in Soch, January 28.  Fedor Emilianenko, the Russian mixed martial arts champion, was on hand and signed photographs and took pictures with shoppers and fans for the well-publicized event.  Mr. Emilianenko is a popular in Russia and drew a large crowd.  

I spoke to one of the franchise owners.  He mentioned that it is the 6th franchise of Affliction that they have opened in Russia, where the brand is appealing to the growing middle class. 

Fedor Emilianenko

Office Space- January 2012

Office prices in Sochi and Adler seem to be holding steady, with a few premium listings commanding higher prices.  Most offices in Adler run in the 500-800 rubles per square meter ($1.50 -$2.50 square foot), although a two-story office in central Adler with 1,800 square meters (about 19,400 square feet) is listed at 1,500 rubles per square meter (about $4.50 per square foot).  Sochi prices in the center start at about 800 rubles per square meter ($2.50 per square foot), with several offices on the centrally-located, but traffic-prone, Vinogradnaya Ulitsa.  Ulitsa Roz (very center of Sochi) has an office listed at 1,125 rubles per square meter for 40 square meters (about $3.40 per square foot for about 430 square feet).  One larger office on Voikova Ulitsa is listed at 202,000 rubles for 135 square meters.  That is a price of about $6,500 per month for a total of 1,452 square feet or about $4.50 per square foot.  A 250 square meter office with parking and ideally located near the Sochi City Administration, Melodiya Shopping Center and seaport, is renting at 3,000 rubles per square meter.  That is a total price of about $24,000 per month for 2,700 square feet, which correlates to a per square foot price of $9.00.  This is high for Sochi, but the location, parking availability and size of the space are unusual.  

Google's Sochi Problem

Google has a problem in Sochi.  Actually, Google has several problems.  Sochisider Pavel Lesnevsky pointed this out to me.  He asked if I would write about it and try to get some attention brought on the problem, so that Google would make the changes necessary to fix it.

A use of Google's search engine at google.ru using the following words: ночная жизнь сочи - which means Sochi nightlife in Cyrillic (Russian characters)- will see these search results:

Notice that the first page is dominated by domains devoted to websites about Miami, Florida.  The same thing happens when a user searches культурная жизнь Сочи- cultural life Sochi.  The search results point the user towards sites about Miami.

Also, a user who uses Google's online translator and types in сочи , which is the spelling for Sochi, will get the result: Miami.

Everyone in Russia understands that Miami is a popular and fun place.  Many Russians have visited or would like to visit.  However, this mistake is not good for anyone.  Users do not find the information they need, it damages local businesses in Sochi and hurts Google's image.

Can we get some help here?  This is surprising that no one has taken care of this problem.  I think Sergei Brin is from Moscow....

January 19, Epiphany in Sochi

Last night in Sochi, the beaches were full of bathers at midnight, despite the cold and damp evening.  The occasion was the celebration of Epiphany, which is celebrated in the Orthodox Christian Church as the day that Jesus was baptized in the Jordan River and one of only two times when all three Persons of the Holy Trinity manifested themselves to humanity.  In colder areas of Russia, those observing will cut a hole in the ice (often in the shape of a cross) and immerse themselves in the water, sometimes 3 times.  In Sochi, thousands of people come to the beaches and plunged into the Black Sea at midnight.  Last night, I was there for a brief and chilly swim.  The water temperature was about +8 to 10 Celsius ( 46- 50 Fahrenheit).