Tehmasib
FULL MEMBER
- Joined
- Dec 15, 2010
- Messages
- 1,056
- Reaction score
- 1
- Country
- Location
---------- Post added at 10:18 PM ---------- Previous post was at 10:15 PM ----------
Russian SU-27 jets, with a kite in the foreground, perform at the MAKS 2011 airshow in the town of Zhukovsky, Moscow region, Russia, August 19, 2011.Russia showcases its latest achievements in the aviation industry at this week’s MAKS airshow outside Moscow, but most of the $10 billion deals sealed are between state-run organizations, while visitors to the airshow are reminded of Russia’s lack of organization.
The Kremlin has over the past decade funneled some of the country’s huge oil windfall into the country’s aircraft industry as it hopes to diversify its economy away from oil into high-technology industries and project Russian power on the world stage.
On Wednesday, Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin inspected Russia’s latest advances such as the T-50 fifth-generation fighter jet and Superjet 100 regional jet at the high-profile MAKS airshow.
Ironically, the airshow has become a reminder of how history seems to repeat itself. It highlighted a clear image of Mr. Putin’s preferred economic model during his 10-year hold on power: huge state corporations absorbing smaller players, crushing competition and enhancing inefficiency.
Moments after Mr. Putin had praised the great advances in Russia’s aviation industry, a MIG-29 fighter jet was forced to abort its display flight due to a technical malfunction. Less than 24 hours later, the country’s space agency, Roskosmos, said it had lost contact with a major new telecommunications satellite, the Express-AM4, just hours after launch.
For the public, the airshow has become a reminder of Russia’s underdeveloped infrastructure and general lack of organization. The just 35-kilometer distance from the Moscow city centre takes around two and a half hours by public transport.
Getting there by car is no better. The Moscow traffic police shine in their bright white uniforms, but forget to actually do their job and guide the traffic, which leads to massive jams. This year, however, the organizers had anticipated the lack of parking spaces, but instead of actually adding more, they decided to solve the problem by charging 2700 rubles–the equivalent of $93–for a space.
Finding the way around the twelve huge pavilions with hundreds of company exhibitions proves an equal challenge. Organizers provided no information about where each company is located, and when asking at the information stand, an uninformed girl suggested buying the airshow program for 700 rubles ($24).
And then of course there is the ever-relevant issue in Russia: they forgot the toilets! None of the area maps at the airshow shows any, and after a 20-minute search, a single portable toilet finally appeared–without toilet paper, of course.
Maybe some of the billions of dollars they put into state corporations to develop high-technology aircraft could also be used to provide the public with ordinary every-day services like public transport, decent roads, parking spaces and toilets.
