Sedes de los Juegos Olímpicos de Invierno de Sochi Venues Olympic Winter Games in Sochi

Sedes de los Juegos Olímpicos de Invierno de Sochi

 

[caption id="attachment_12197" align="alignnone" width="400"] (La ceremonia de apertura de los Juegos de Sochi (Rusia), en el Estadio Olímpico Fisht, el domingo el 7 de febrero de 2014 la Romana (AFP, Jonathan Nackstrand)) (The opening ceremony of the Games in Sochi (Russia), in Olympic Fisht Stadium on Sunday February 7, 2014 The Roman (AFP, Jonathan Nackstrand))[/caption]

 

(AFP)

 

Sochi — Las pruebas de los Juegos Olímpicos de Invierno de Sochi se desarrollan en dos sectores que distan unos cincuenta kilómetros: la sede de la montaña, donde se disputarán los deportes de deslizamiento y alpinos, y la sede del mar, donde se disputarán las pruebas sobre hielo.

 

Sede del mar

 

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- El Estadio Olímpico Fisht: En este recinto, con una capacidad para 40.000 espectadores, se celebró la ceremonia de apertura de los Juegos, el 7 de febrero, y tendrá lugar la ceremonia de clausura, el 23 de febrero. Tras los Juegos, el estadio acogerá partidos del Mundial de Fútbol que se organizará en Rusia en 2018.

 

- El Palacio de Hielo Bolshoi: Un pabellón grande con forma redondeada y futurista en el que se disputan los partidos de hockey sobre hielo, con una capacidad para 12.000 espectadores. Los encuentros de hockey también se juegan en otro pabellón.

 

- Shayba Arena: Segundo pabellón donde se jugará el hockey sobre hielo. Su nombre en ruso evoca el disco de caucho con el que que se juega. Con una capacidad para 7.000 personas.

 

- El Centro de Patinaje Iceberg: Un edificio al que pueden asistir 12.000 espectadores.

 

- Adler Arena: Recinto ovalado que alberga las pruebas de patinaje de velocidad, con una capacidad para 8.000 personas.

 

- El Centro de Curling Ice Cubre: Un edificio desmontable con 3.000 asientos.

 

Sede de Montaña

 

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- Centro Alpino Rosa Khutor: La estación de deportes de invierno más grande de las montañas de Krasnaia Polaina. En ella se disputan las pruebas de esquí alpino. Se pueden dar citar hasta 10.000 espectadores.

 

- Extreme Park Rosa Khutor: Centro que alberga las puebas de snowboard y freestyle, con una capacidad para 4.000 espectadores.

 

- Centro de Esquí de Fondo y Biatlón Laura: En este complejo, se disputan las pruebas de biatlón y de esquí de fondo. Puede acoger a 9.600 personas.

 

- Centro de Saltos RusSki Gorki: El nombre es un juego de palabras que se puede traducir como 'montañas rusas', donde se celebran las pruebas de salto y combinada nórdica, con capacidad también para 9.600 espectadores.

 

- Centro de Deslizamiento Sanki: El centro de deportes de deslizamiento (bobsleigh, skeleton y luge), con una capacidad para 9.000 aficionados.

 

Copyright © 2014 AFP. Todos los derechos reservados.

 

(Agence France-Presse, 9 domingo febrero 2014 la Romana)

 

 

Venues Olympic Winter Games in Sochi

 

(AFP)

 

Sochi - Tests of the Olympic Winter Games in Sochi are developed in two sectors that are approximately fifty kilometers : The headquarters of the mountain, where snow sports and alpine will be played, and the headquarters of the sea, where the tests will be played on ice.

 

Headquarters Marine

 

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- The Olympic Stadium Fisht : In this room, with a capacity for 40,000 spectators, the opening ceremony of the Games was held on February 7, and will be the closing ceremony on 23 February. After the Games, the stadium will host matches of the World Cup to be held in Russia in 2018.

 

- The Bolshoi Ice Palace : A large pavilion with rounded, futuristic where ice hockey matches, with a capacity for 12,000 spectators jostle. The hockey games are also played in another flag.

 

- Shayba Arena: Second pavilion where ice hockey is played. Its name evokes the Russian rubber disk with which it is played. With a capacity for 7,000 people.

 

- The Iceberg Skating Center : A building that can assist 12,000 spectators.

 

- Adler Arena: Oval enclosure that houses the speed skating events, with a capacity for 8,000 people.

 

- Curling Center Ice Covers: A demountable building with 3,000 seats.

 

Head Mountain

 

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- Rosa Khutor Alpine Cross: Station largest sports mountains Krasnaia Spat winter. In it the Alpine ski dispute. Quote can be given up to 10,000 spectators.

 

- Extreme Park Rosa Khutor : Center which houses those tests snowboard and freestyle, with a capacity for 4,000 spectators.

 

- Center Cross Country Skiing and Biathlon Laura : In this complex, testing biathlon and cross country skiing are held. It can accommodate 9,600 people.

 

- Diving Center Russki Gorky : The name is a play on words that can be translated as 'coasters', where the show jumping and Nordic combined held, with capacity for 9,600 spectators also.

 

- Sanki Sliding Centre : The center sliding sports (bobsleigh, luge and skeleton), with a capacity for 9,000 fans.

 

Copyright © 2014 AFP. All rights reserved.

 

(Agence France-Presse, 9 Sunday February 2014 The Roman)

(Text Translated: R.S.F. toshiki speed news press, Agence France-Presse, 10 Monday February 2014 The Roman)

 

 

First Sochi medals up for grabs after opening ceremony

First Sochi medals up for grabs after opening ceremony

 

[caption id="attachment_12087" align="alignnone" width="400"] (Norway's biathlete Ole Einar Bjoerndalen, seen during a training session at the Laura Cross Country Skiing and Biathlon Centre in Rosa Khutor, near Sochi, on 5 Wednesday February 2014 The Roman (AFP/File, Kirill Kudryavtsev))[/caption]

 

By Stuart Williams (AFP)

 

Sochi — Olympic athletes were on Saturday competing for the first medals of the Sochi Winter Games after Russia staged a thrilling opening ceremony that impressed even foreign sceptics.

 

President Vladimir Putin late Friday declared open the 22nd Winter Olympics in a ceremony that took 40,000 people in the Fisht Stadium and TV viewers around the world on a lightning tour through Russian history.

 

Thousands of fireworks exploded above the venue on the Black Sea coast in the ceremony.

 

"We missed this for so many years... a pride for our country, a feeling for her power, unity and greatness. Yesterday, we felt it," the Moskovsky Komsomolets daily said.

 

Five gold medals are up for grabs.

 

The first gold will likely come in the women's cross-country skiathlon, while Norwegian biathlete Ole Einar Bjoerndalen, 40, will become the joint highest medal winner in Winter Olympics history if he makes the podium in the sprint.

 

Women will seek gold in the spectacular moguls freestyle event, the men's snowboard slopestyle will be decided after a succession of spectacular crashes while the endurance kings of speed skating will face off in the lung-busting men's 5,000 metres.

 

The high-octane ceremony, devised by the powerful boss of Russia's Channel One television Konstantin Ernst, got off to a rocky start when one of five illuminated artificial snowflakes that were supposed to morph into the Olympic rings failed to open, leaving just four rings.

 

But organisers brushed off the mishap, admitting that they covered up the glitch on Russian state television by quickly inserting footage of the segment they had recorded days earlier.

 

"There is a saying that you have to kick out the uneven part of a perfectly polished ball to understand how perfect it is," he said.

 

The Russian team won huge cheers as they entered to the song "Nas Ne Dogonyat" ("Not Gonna Get Us") by female pop duo Tatu.

 

In towards Russia's proud sporting past, the Olympic cauldron was lit by two triple gold-winning Soviet winter sports icons -- figure skater Irina Rodnina and ice hockey legend Vladislav Tretyak.

 

The flame had been brought into the stadium by US-based Russian tennis star Maria Sharapova and the final relay included Olympic rhythmic gymnastics champion Alina Kabayeva.

 

Even the foreign press, which have been hugely critical of Russia in the days up to the Games, heaped praised on the ceremony.

 

"For Russia last night it marked its revival as a post-Soviet powerhouse, confident of its seat at the top table after two decades of doubt and despondency," Britain's Daily Mail wrote.

 

'Keep politics out of Olympics'

 

But IOC President Thomas Bach made an impassioned call for politics to stay out of sport, saying "have the courage to address your disagreements in political dialogue and not on the back of your athletes".

 

The security concerns that have shadowed these Games were underlined when a Ukrainian man attempted to hijack an airliner en route from Ukraine to Turkey and divert it to Sochi.

 

But Turkish military jets forced the plane to land in Istanbul, where security teams overpowered the man, said to be drunk.

 

The United States has already announced a temporary ban on liquids and gels in hand luggage on Russia-bound flights, following a warning that militants could stuff explosives into toothpaste.

 

Copyright © 2014 AFP. All rights reserved.

 

(Agence France -Presse, 8 Saturday February 2014 The Roman)

 

 

 

A representation of the Kremlin with balloons

A representation of the Kremlin with balloons

 

[caption id="attachment_12063" align="alignnone" width="400"] (Photo AFP - Adrian Dennis)[/caption]

 

Una representación

 

Una representación con globos del Kremlin durante la Ceremonia de Apertura de los Juegos de Invierno de Sochi, el 7 de febrero de 2014.

 

A representation

 

A representation of the Kremlin with balloons during the Opening Ceremony of the Winter Olympics in Sochi, on February 7, 2014.

 

(AFP - Adrian Dennis)

 

(Agence France-Presse, 8 Saturday February 2014 The Roman)

(Text Translated: R.S.F. toshiki speed news, Agence France -Presse, 8 Saturday February 2014 The Roman)

 

The Opening Ceremony of the Sochi Winter Olympics

The Opening Ceremony of the Sochi Winter Olympics

 

[caption id="attachment_12057" align="alignnone" width="400"] (Photo AFP - Alberto Pizzoli)[/caption]

 

Maria and flame

 

Russian tennis player and Olympic medalist Maria Sharapova runs with the Olympic torch during the Opening Ceremony of the Sochi Winter Olympics at the Fisht Olympic Stadium on February 7, 2014 in Sochi.

 

(AFP - Alberto Pizzoli)

 

(Agence France-Presse, 8 Saturday February 2014 The Roman)

 

Putin takes Olympic officials to meet Sochi leopards

Putin takes Olympic officials to meet Sochi leopards

 

[caption id="attachment_11926" align="alignnone" width="375"] (Russia’s President Vladimir Putin caresses a Persian leopard cub as he visits the Persian leopard breeding and rehabilitation centre in the National Park in the Black Sea resort of Sochi on 4 Tuesday February 2014 The Roman (AFP Photo/Alexei Nikolsky))[/caption]

 

Sochi (Russia) (AFP)

 

President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday took senior members of the IOC to meet leopards that are to be re-introduced in the Sochi region, in an attempt by Russia to show the Games are positive for the environment.

 

However one of the leopards called Grom (Thunder) took none to happily to the arrival of the large group of guests and attacked two journalists inside the cage, state Russian media said.

 

Putin took Jean Claude Killy, the French skiing legend who has been the International Olympic Committee's pointman for Sochi, and IOC Executive Director Gilbert Felli in his own jeep to the nature reserve above Sochi.

 

Russia is working to reintroduce the Persian leopard to the mountains above the city as part of measures aimed at showing that the Olympic Games will benefit and not hurt the environment.

 

"The ecological situation has improved many times over," said Putin.

 

"According to some estimates, it has improved by a factor of four."

 

"There are questions which always crop up during such huge construction but in general the situation has not worsened but improved."

 

However environmentalists scoff at such claims, saying that the Games have irreversibly damaged once virgin environments by the sea and in the mountains.

 

After six-month old Grom had lashed out at journalists, state television noted that the media left the cage and Putin went in himself to calm the animal.

 

One reporter was scratched on the hand and one lightly bitten in the knee, the RIA Novosti news agency said.

 

State television showed Putin cradling Grom on his knee with the animal now seemingly at ease.

 

"I like animals, it seems I have a feeling for them," said Putin.

 

"We liked each other."

 

Putin is well known for his meetings with wild animals which he uses to burnish his hardman image.

 

As well as leopards, in the past he has met beasts including a tiger and a polar bear.

 

Three pairs of adult leopards being kept in the big cages of the reserve have already given birth to four leopards in the last months.

 

Leopards have been extinct in this part of Russia since the 1950s.

 

To start the reintroduction programme, Russia received two male leopards as gifts from Turkmenistan and two females from Iran.

 

The first two offspring come from another leopard pair who came from Lisbon zoo.

 

But then a Turkmen-Iranian partnership then produced two more leopards.

 

(Agence France-Presse, 4 Tesday February 2014 The Roman)

The Olympic cauldron is testing

The Olympic cauldron is testing

 

[caption id="attachment_11518" align="alignnone" width="400"] (Photo AFP - Antonin Thuillier)[/caption]

 

Testing the cauldron

 

The Olympic cauldron is tested prior to the start of the Sochi Winter Olympics.

 

(AFP - Antonin Thuillier)

 

(Agence France-Presse, 29 Wednesday January 2014 The Roman)

 

Gorki Media Center Opens its Doors for Media and Broadcasters

Gorki Media Center Opens its Doors for Media and Broadcasters

 

[caption id="attachment_11387" align="alignnone" width="400"] (Gorki Media Center Opens its Doors for Media and Broadcasters, 24 Friday January 2014 The Roman (Photo Sochi 2014 Olympics Official News))[/caption]

 

In the Sochi 2014 Mountain Cluster the second key venue for media and broadcasters the Gorki Media Center has officially opened.

 

Located at an altitude of 540 m above sea level, the Media Center is set to receive around 4,000 television and radio broadcasters and 500 media representatives from around the world at the highlight of the Games time.

 

The Gorki Media Center with a total area of more than 30,000 sq. m. includes the Mountain Broadcasting Center and Gorki Press Center, and comprises everything for comfortable and effective work of journalists and broadcasters.

 

From January 24 to February 1, the Gorki Media Center operates from 8.00 to 22.00.

 

From February 2 to 24, Gorki Media Center will be open around the clock, and from February 25 to 26, it will operate from 8.00 to 22.00.

 

The media center building is located a 10-35 minute drive from the Olympic venues of the Mountain Cluster, and only 48 kilometers away from the Main Media Center and Olympic venues in the Coastal Cluster.

 

The Gorki Media Center serves as a transport hub for representatives of the press, television and radio broadcasters in the Mountain Cluster, from where buses will take reporters to all sports venues in the mountains, to the Olympic Park and Main Media Center, and also to media hotels.

 

It takes less than an hour to get from the Gorki Media Center to the Main Media Center by shuttle.

 

At the transport information desk, media can receive information on the provision of transport services in the Mountain Cluster.

 

The Gorki Media Center is located in close proximity to media hotels with total capacity of 1,736 beds and it takes media representatives only 10-15 minutes to get to work.

 

On the roof of the Gorki Media Center there are 4 studios and 6 positions for live broadcasts with a stunning view of the Krasnaya Polyana and snow-capped mountains.

 

The Gorki Media Center offers a food court, a coffee shop and vending machines with food and beverages.

 

In the common area, along so-called "Main Street" one can find a post office, a pharmacy, a laundry, a supermarket, a "Sochi 2014" official outlet and a relaxation room with massage chairs.

 

http://www.sochi2014.com/

 

(Sochi 2014 Olympics Official News, 24 Friday January 2014 The Roman)

 

 

The Roman Empire The Commonwealth The British SACRA The Kingdom of Nihon The Commonwealth The British The Self-Government The Independent SACRA The Kingdom of Ryukyu Ryukyu Palace Official Bulletin : Let us eat ApplePie !

The Roman Empire The Commonwealth The British SACRA The Kingdom of Nihon The Commonwealth The British The Self-Government The Independent SACRA The Kingdom of Ryukyu Ryukyu Palace Official Bulletin :

 

Let us eat ApplePie !

 

We are too busy, but we do not forget 18 Wednesday December 2013 The Roman is the birthday of Your Imperial Highness The Queen Miki Chichibu of The Roman Empire The Commonwealth The British SACRA The Kingdom of Nihon The Commonwealth The British The Self-Government The Independent SACRA The Kingdom of Ryukyu.

 

We will have holiday on 23 Monday December 2013 The Roman for the birthday for Your Imperial Highness The Queen Miki Chichibu of The Roman Empire The Commonwealth The British SACRA The Kingdom of Nihon The Commonwealth The British The Self-Government The Independent SACRA The Kingdom of Ryukyu.

 

Let us eat ApplePie !

 

23 Monday December 2013 The Roman is National Holiday for The Birthday of His Majesty The King Akihito.

 

We are building Agence France-Presse Yokohama.

 

We will publish news paper with Agence France-Presse.

 

We will go to Sochi 2014 Winter Olympic Games as the press.

 

Your Imperial Highness The Queen Miki Chichibu of The Roman Empire The Commonwealth The British SACRA The Kingdom of Nihon The Commonwealth The British The Self-Government The Independent SACRA The Kingdom of Ryukyu invited us to Vancouver Winter Olympic Games, but passport trouble to us happened, we could not go to Vancouver Winter Olympic Games.

 

This passport trouble for the press is the famous, this happened to Mr. Robert Capa too.

 

We don’t know what happen in the future.

 

We may go to Sochi 2014 Winter Olympic Games as the press, perhaps.

 

 

We are living in Myth.

 

Every things are straightly Myth.

 

 

We are living in The Roman Empire.

 

 

Happy birthday !

 

 

The Roman Empire The Commonwealth The British SACRA The Kingdom of Nihon The Commonwealth The British The Self-Government The Independent SACRA The Kingdom of Ryukyu Palace

 

Grigol Vashadze: After that, the greatest threat is not against Ukraine, but against Georgia.

Grigol Vashadze: After that, the greatest threat is not against Ukraine, but against Georgia.

 

Tbilisi 20:46 - 22.11.13 «GHN»

 

GHN had the interview with the former minister of foreign affairs of Georgia_ Mr.Grigol Vashadze on the situation in Ukraine about signing the Association Agreement with EU and the possible threats for Georgia.

 

[caption id="attachment_10648" align="alignnone" width="320"] (Photo Georgia News Agency)[/caption]

 

-Mr. Grigol, it is clear, that the political leadership of Ukraine is under the heaviest pressure. After German Chancellor, Angela Merkel declared and addressed Russia to refrain from pressuring against Ukraine, Georgia and Moldova the situation became more complicated. How do you see the existing situation and can we consider Ukraine's refusal as Putin's victory and the failure of EU neighborhood policy?

 

-I can say clearly, that the decision of Ukraine about the termination or suspension of the signing process of the Agreement, I do not know what kind of formulation it has, is the defeat of EU neighborhood policy. This decision made by Ukraine government would threat the future of future generation and country's future development in general. Of course, it can be considered as the victory of Russia, because it is absolutely unacceptable for Russia not only NATO, but the enlargement of European Union as well. I do not like this word, but, enlargement of EU towards the post-Soviet direction. Russia has reached its aim.

 

I would also like to say, that in this situation both sides - Ukraine and the European Union have revealed extremely rigid and politically unprepared positions.

 

-If everything goes OK - I mean, initial and following procedures, it's very much probable that we would find ourselves in the position Ukraine is today It's obvious that the next year Russia will make pressure on Georgia...

 

Russia has successfully resolved its foreign policy objectives with respect to Ukraine. Let's recall that the current administration of Ukraine from the very beginning declared the decision that Ukraine would never join any military or political blocs and organizations.

 

Thus, Russia removed the threat of NATO expansion to Ukraine. And now, by refusal of Ukraine Russia has removed another its "danger" - expansion of EU - I mean, expansion of the European family based on democratic values towards Ukraine, the family, to whom Ukraine belongs by its history, culture and genetically.

 

After that, the greatest threat is not against Ukraine any more, but against Georgia. For Russia which successfully solved the most urgent task regarding Ukraine - suspension the expansion of NATO and the European Union, the next task will be Georgia, of course. From the Vilnius Summit, to the moment when Georgia and EU should sign extremely important documents - Association Agreement and very deep and comprehensive Free Trade Agreement - there is very realistic danger for us to become the victims of a series of political intrigues and provocations from Russia.

 

And I have to say- as unpleasant may be this inflexibility- the European Union, warned us by the President of Lithuania Dalia Grybauskaitė that selective justice for European Union is unacceptable. Our political government, the political elite, should understand that, these are not just the words. As in Ukraine the fate of one person had put under the question mark the region's most important expansion of the two organizations, the same could take place in Georgia as well - to put under the question mark the signing of this document.

 

- Whether there is likelihood, that EU, taking into consideration this situation, can take an extraordinary step and sign the Association Agreement with Georgia and Moldova in Vilnius Summit and by that, in fact, prevents Russia's future behavior towards these countries?

 

- No. Let's explain once again- European Union and Brussels have declared their position. They say, for all these to happen you need more to do and achieve, than we have now. You need more international legal documents, you need more democracy, human rights, the balanced government, unprejudiced court and economic perspective - rather than the European Union. That's all we bring, but we bring these with condition, that you share our values. And if Yanukovych has not done something, why should we give more to Georgia? -So, it is absolutely impossible for that to happen.

 

- What would you suggest in this situation to Georgian government?

 

- As an ordinary citizen of this country, I urge the government to take into account the fact that we are now in critical condition. No matter how much they say we are perfect and so on, we are in an extremely serious and dangerous condition. Next year, starting from the Vilnius summit to NATO summit and to the deadline of theoretical signing up,- is going to be very difficult in terms of foreign policy for Georgia. Therefore, every statement, every trip, every decision made should be seriously reviewed, studied and analyzed in the framework of international law.

 

A person who enters in "Georgian Dream", should know, that he has no right to make comments and statements about foreign policy automatically, while it has not been agreed with professionals. Otherwise we will come over even more disastrous results.

 

GHN, Gocha Mirtskhulava

 

(Georgia News Agency, 22 Friday November 2013 The Roman)

 

British Council celebrates the twentieth anniversary of the British Council in Georgia and welcomes Michael Bird, Regional Director Wider Europe

British Council celebrates the twentieth anniversary of the British Council in Georgia and welcomes Michael Bird, Regional Director Wider Europe

 

Tbilisi 12:05 - 03.10.13 «GHN»

 



 

2013 marks the twentieth anniversary of the British Council in Georgia.

 

For twenty years we have been working to develop mutually beneficial cultural relations and to support the exchange of creative ideas between the UK and Georgia involving other countries in which the British Council operates.

 

We create international opportunities for the people of the UK and other countries and build trust between them worldwide.

 

We call this work cultural relation.

 

Our high profile work in English, arts and Education & Society helps hundreds of millions of people worldwide to learn about and experience creativity and excellence from the UK.

 

Millions of talented people of all ages, particularly younger people, engage face-to-face and online with us to learn English, develop new skills, experience life and study in the UK and earn UK qualifications; we also present the best and the most innovative of contemporary UK art.

 

The British Council Georgia office opened in 1993 and since than our work has expanded from a small library to a wide range of operations covering English, exams, arts, society work and the Teaching Centre, our latest achievement, which has already become a popular destination for learners of English of all ages.

 

On the occasion of the anniversary, Her Majesty's Ambassador Mrs Alexandra Hall Hall will be hosting a reception at the British Embassy in Tbilisi at 19:00-21:00 o'clock on 4 October 2013.

 

We will be celebrating our 20th anniversary together with Mr Michael Bird, British Council Regional Director, whose visit is a confirmation of the British Council's strong interest and support for our country and for the work carried out in partnership with our Georgian partners.

 

Michael Bird's visit will feature numerous meetings with the British Council's key contacts in the fields of education and culture, while a busy cultural programme will also constitute an integral part of his visit schedule.

 

At 18:00o'clock on 4 October, Michael Bird will attend the opening of Artisterium, International Visual Arts Festival which we have for five years.

 

At 20.00 o'clock on 5 October Michael Bird will attend The Animals And Children Took To The Streets by 1927, the show which is the Tbilisi International Festival of Theatre which is another our great partner.

 

More detailed information about Mr Michael Bird

 

Michael Bird has served as a regional director since 2009.

 

First he was appointed as the British Council's Regional Director for South East Europe and later, in early 2011, he led Wider Europe - the region Extending from the Western Balkans on the Adriatic to the Far East of Siberia and the Pacific, on the way taking in the Black, Caspian and Aral Seas, from tiny Montenegro to the vast expanse of Kazakhstan, Russia or Ukraine.

 

Michael Bird studied at Cambridge, Harvard and Voronezh Universities.

 

After joining the British Council in 1985, he was posted to Moscow at the time of glasnost and perestroika and developed new education and training programmes in 13 of the 15 then the Soviet republics.

 

In 1991 he moved to Brussels, where he advised UK universities and research organisations on EU research and mobility programmes.

 

In 1993 he set up a new British Council operation in St Peters- burg, with outreach programmes covering much of North West Russia.

 

In 1997 he moved to Kyiv, where as Director of the British Council in Ukraine he co-located the British Council with the Goethe-Institut and developed English language programmes and initiatives to support civil society.

 

He was awarded the OBE (Order of the British Empire) in the Millennium Honours List in 2000.

 

From 2001 to 2005 he was Director of the British Council in his native Scotland, where the devolved Scottish Government has created new dimensions for international cultural relations.

 

From 2005 to 2009 he was the Director British Council in Germany, where as a member of the British Council's regional management team for West Europe and North America he contributed to the creation of the British Council's current strategy for Europe.

 

Michael speaks fluent German and Russian.

 

http://eng.ghn.ge/

 

(Georgia News Agency, 6 Friday December 2013 The Roman)

 

 

Slovaks gamble for a good cause with receipt lottery

Slovaks gamble for a good cause with receipt lottery

 

[caption id="attachment_10521" align="alignnone" width="400"] (A woman holds store receipts doubling as lottery tickets on November 29, 2013 in Bratislava (AFP, Samuel Kubani))[/caption]

 

(By Tatiana Jancarikova (AFP))

 

Bratislava — Slovak electrician Michal is not the gambling type, but twice a month he holds his breath during a lottery draw in the hopes of winning thousands of euros or a new car.

 

The 34-year-old is betting on getting lucky in Slovakia's receipt lottery, a new government measure in which all store receipts double as lottery tickets.

 

The scheme -- a bid to fight tax evasion by vendors -- has taught thrifty Slovaks to gamble for a good cause and has proven to be both a hit and a cash cow for the government.

 

"I don't spend money on gambling but why wouldn't I take part in this lottery?" Michal told AFP at a grocery store in downtown Bratislava, the capital.

 

"You don't have to buy tickets, you just register online the serial numbers of receipts you would otherwise dump or leave at the store."

 

He has spent hours registering around 90 receipts -- which can be done via a special mobile application or at a betting shop -- and driving his girlfriend crazy.

 

"All of a sudden, I'm finding old receipts all over our flat, it's a mess!" said Nina, who does not share her boyfriend's latest passion.

 

Tax evasion is a constant worry for the leftist government of Prime Minister Robert Fico as it struggles to cut its budget deficit to under the EU ceiling of three percent of gross domestic product.

 

"We launched the lottery to nudge people to request a receipt for every purchase because every time vendors sell their goods without a receipt, they essentially avoid paying the VAT" sales tax, Finance Minister Peter Kazimir told AFP.

 

The eurozone member has two value-added-tax rates: a 10-percent rate applies to books and medicine, while a 20-percent rate applies to everything else.

 

The Slovak government loses around 150 million euros ($204 million), or 3.5 percent of annual revenue, in VAT each year due to the grey economy, the finance ministry estimates.

 

But the lottery, which launched in September, is going a long way towards plugging the hole.

 

'500,000 extra tax inspectors'

 

"We are seeing more customers insist upon a receipt," Maria Belanova, sales manager at the Fresh Labas grocery chain where the first lottery winner shopped, told AFP.

 

Shoppers have registered nearly 30 million receipts since the launch, or five and half times the Slovak population of 5.4 million people, thanks to the promise of free money.

 

Each month 10 lucky shoppers -- whose identities are kept secret by the lottery operator -- win cash prizes of up to 10,000 euros, while another eight score a new car.

 

Taiwan and Malta also have similar lotteries, while Georgia launched one last year but cancelled it after seven months due to poor impact on national revenue.

 

Slovakia has fared better.

 

"In September and October the state has collected an extra 130 million euros in VAT, which will help us meet this year's budget goal," Kazimir said.

 

So far tax collectors have also received more than 3,000 reports from people who did not receive a receipt from a vendor or whose receipts were rejected as fake by the lottery system.

 

Officials have inspected hundreds of businesses and even closed one restaurant and two stores run by a European discount apparel chain that had been using fake cash registers.

 

"Slovakia has found almost 500,000 extra tax inspectors in those who joined the lottery," Kazimir said wryly.

 

Slovakia has been a member of the European Union since 2004 and the eurozone since 2009.

 

Its economy -- driven by exports of cars and electronics to Europe, mostly Germany -- is expected to slow to 0.8 percent growth this year from two-percent in 2012.

 

"So far we are observing the early enthusiasm for the lottery. We will be able to quantify its effects in six months or a year after its launch," Viliam Palenik, an economist at the Slovak Academy of Sciences, told AFP.

 

"The key effect is that vendors will be more cautious and less prone to cheating not knowing which customer will report them to the tax authorities, while people will realise that paying taxes is normal."

 

Copyright © 2013 AFP. All rights reserved.

 

(Agence France-Presse, 3 Tuesday December 2013 The Roman)