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PRESS CONFERENCE WITH KALININGRADSKAYA OBLAST GOVERNOR GEORGY
BOOS INTERFAX, 13:10, FEBRUARY 3, 2006
(Federal News Service (Russia) Via Thomson Dialog NewsEdge)
Moderator: Good day. Welcome to an Interfax press conference
with Kaliningrad Oblast governor Georgy Boos. The topic of the press
conference, as we put it, is "Kaliningrad Oblast is opening up". As
you understand, Georgy Boos will tell you about the future social
and economic development of the region.
We have decided to save time by skipping his opening remarks
and he is ready to take your questions right away.
Q: Don't you think that Kaliningrad Oblast may become the first
pilot project in our relations with the European Union and
particularly in terms of introducing a visa-free travel regime?
Boos: I think, and over our President, Vladimir
Vladimirovich, thinks so to, and as you know, he offered to our
European partner to make Kaliningrad Oblast a pilot project and test
all mechanisms of cooperation between EU countries and Russia there.
The proposal was supported by the EU leadership, and relevant
amendments were made to the special economic zone law when it was
being drafted. Visa regulations have already been eased up for
foreigners wishing to enter Kaliningrad Oblast as well as to get a
job there.
Of course, this is only the first step, and we must work
further to make sure these mechanisms start working. We will live
and see the effects of this step and, based on that, we may take
further steps. But testing a mechanism of visa-free travel regime
may become a strategic objective. I think that in the future visa-
free travel will become a norm for all countries.
Q: The European Union didn't like the prosecution of the press
that began after your election governor. Journalists had never been
searched or arrested or required to pledge in writing not to leave
the region in Kaliningrad Oblast, where I worked for many years,
before. All this started to happen in the last few months after your
arrival there. Criminal proceedings were instituted against Arseny
Makhlov, newspaper Dvornik, criminal proceedings were initiated
against Mr. Berezovsky, newspaper Novye Kolesa, a criminal case was
opened against former director general of the television and radio
company Kaskad, Igor Rostov, he is here with me, the Kaskad creative
director, office was searched during the night from 7 p.m. to 8
a.m. by eight policemen, an investigator from the regional
prosecutor's office who also used a dog. All this is happening now.
We will certainly make these facts known to the European Union, to
the European Court to make them aware how open Kaliningrad Oblast
really is.
How can you account for the fact that your aide Sveta
Obolentseva and your spokesman Sergei Bodanov interfered in the
creative policy of the Kaskad television company and demanded that
its news programs should be looked at before they go on air. After
that the management changed and criminal prosecution began. What is
your position on this conflict? You can't say that you are not
related to this because those were your aides.
Boos: Thank you. First of all, I want to say that there is this
type, I identified it for myself just recently and called it a
tragic revolutionary. These are people who care not so much about
the outcome of this struggle as about the very fact of struggle.
It's struggle for the sake of struggle. Likewise, some questions are
asked not in order to get an answer but just in order to ask them.
You asked your question not in order to hear my answer but in
order to ask your question. You asked it, and everybody heard it.
All those who are interested in my attitude toward the press and my
relations with the press, I will say that first of all I have no
relation to those searches or criminal cases. Secondly, my personnel
and members of my team and people who are close to me like Sveta
Obolentseva and Sergei Bodanov have no relation to this either. As
for everything else, I understand and hope that the Public Chamber
has noticed us that it will come and see everything with its own
eyes. I do hope it will and over I invite it to come over to our
region.
Q: I have two questions. (Inaudible) ... Defense Minister
Ivanov that the problem of military transit has so far not been
resolved. How could you comment on that? And the volume of
(inaudible)... military haulage and an effective solution to that.
And second, if you don't mind, do you know of the Russian military
leadership's opinion about building Europe's largest (inaudible)
terminal in Chernyakhovsk and closing the existing military base
there?
Boos: Information does get around quickly. First about military
transit. Such a problem exists. In my view, it must be solved by
international rules. And they exist, including for NATO, too. There
are rules for military transit through Russia in the interests of
NATO, and these rules are based on modern, verified and generally
recognized international norms. I believe that similar norms and
regulations must apply to Russian military transit through NATO
member countries, including Lithuania. But these are issues of
interstate relations that are outside of Kaliningrad Oblast's
jurisdiction. I was simply telling you my personal opinion.
As for our investment plans to build a large cargo air terminal
at one of our airfields in Chernyakhovsk, you are right, we do have
such a project, and we started negotiations on it in November. I
have already held preliminary discussions with the Ministry of
Economic Development and Trade. We will have to travel over there to
study the situation on the ground and see how the investors who are
going to do it in our region do it elsewhere. There will be a
consortium. For the time being, I will not name the participants. I
think in the middle of this year, we will be able to start
serious talks on the issue. So far, we have only held preliminary
talks. I think it would be premature to present them.
Another project in Chernyakhovsk is by far interesting
today. It has been presented by the German concern Thyssen Krupp.
The concern produces steel and plans building, in collaboration with
a Russian partner, a high-alloy steel factory in the region. We have
proposed building it in Chernyakhovsk. The German side has announced
the project already. Therefore, I can speak about it today.
Q: I have two questions to ask you. First, the situation with
cargo transit from Russia to Lithuania and back. What is the
situation with passenger transit in connection with the fact that
Poland ... (inaudible) ... If the situation is grave, what measures
will be taken to facilitate the regime? Second, a question about
biometric passports. In the middle of February, as it has been
announced, you will start issuing those passports. How many do you
intend to issue? How much will that cost? Are you ready to issue
those passports?
Boos: Thank you. As for transit, there have been certain
problems with passenger transit in connection with the Schengen
zone. But our partners and colleagues have promised that there will
be no special problems. Still, we have problems with transit across
Lithuania, from one Russian region, from the Kaliningrad oblast, to
other regions of Russia.
This facilitated procedure does not fall under the Schengen
zone regulations. Russia has raised those issues. This has been done
by the Foreign Ministry, the Russian President's special
representative for relations with the EU and Kaliningrad-related
problems, Sergei Yastrzhembsky. Those problems are now being
discussed with the EU in the bilateral negotiations mode.
Today we have understanding of the need to retain the regime.
Lithuania has stated its readiness to retain the existing regime,
readiness, at least declaration of readiness by EU member countries
to facilitate transit across Lithuania for citizens moving from one
Russian region to other Russian regions. But negotiations and
consultations continue in an attempt to find technical solutions.
So, I am not ready to say now what this may eventually lead to,
especially as we still have time to find those solutions.
As for cargo transit, there are certain problems, even though,
again, there is readiness to deal with those problems. Next week a
big delegation of the Kaliningrad Oblast will go to Lithuania. Plans
call for meeting with the country's president, prime minister,
leading politicians and with all key ministers of Lithuania. Talks
are to be held on transit, cargo transit, on a wide range of
problems. Naturally, after than we will initiate support by the
Foreign Ministry and Transport Ministry of the Russian Federation so
the results of our preliminary negotiations to be fixed in
interstate accords.
As for your second question, on passports, there is no talk on
mandatory introduction of biometric passports. For the time being,
this is to be done on a voluntary basis. Those willing to exchange
passports may come and replace their passports with biometric
passports. I have to note that the whole world is shifting to new
passports and they will gradually stop letting into EU member
countries, the United States, Canada and other without passports
with biometric data.
What is the point of that data? It contains your image in
digital form. As a result, your photographic image should correspond
to you digital image. Naturally, when passports of that kind cross
border posts, they see your digital image contained in the passport.
This is what biometric passports mean. They will contain no data
based on one's retina or fingerprints or blood group or gene code or
anything. I passed the registration procedure for such a passport
and I can tell you responsibly that it includes nothing but usual
photography and coding of that photographic image.
In the region, we have deployed 18 stations of this king where
on a voluntary basis people can start getting new passports. There
has been no rush for the time being. There have not been any special
problems in this connection, especially given that the federal
authorities have made a decision on our region that those passports
will be issued free of charge. So, people can get new passports free
of charge, while paying no state duty.
Q: (Off mike)... The oblast is known as one of bases for the
manufacture, assembly of electronic devices, audio, video and
household appliances. Two questions in this connection. First, in
what way does the regional government plan to support the sector?
What strategies and programs are there in your region? Second, it is
an open secret that sometimes manufacture just means semi knock down
assembly. Components and units are imported, they are assembled and
then supplied to other Russian regions. This is just a logistic
scheme. What are you going to do about that?
Boos: All logistic schemes of that sort -- SKD schemes -- used
to be based on one simple thing: no customs tariffs used to be
charged for imports of various goods into Kaliningrad. This made it
possible to simulate manufacture of some goods on the region's
territory and supply them to the Russian market. In fact, the
logistic business is quite normal and my attitude is good to it, but
it should have a real market. Such a market where you move
components from east to west, assemble them in the west and then
move to the east to market goods there -- naturally, this logistic
scheme is just absurd. It can only function in conditions when there
are distorted preferences granted to those western areas. There used
to be such preferences in place. The old law on the special economic
zone granted particularly those preferences. The new law does not
give such preferences. It offers preferences for investment. That
is, if you really build certain production capacities, produce real
goods, and if you invest at least 150 million rubles over three
years, you can get tax breaks for the profits tax and the property
tax. But you do not get customs preferences. Why do we offer
benefits for investment? This makes it possible to reduce the
investment payback period.
The rules for imports of goods into the domestic market are now
the same for residents of the special economic zone and the rest of
t he Russian Federation. As a result, logistic schemes of that kind
ceased to exist. In principle, by supporting transition to the
investment regime in the new special economic zone, we want
investors to really create production capacities to produce goods in
the region, and this is fully in line with the new law. The new law
gives us opportunities to pursue our policy.
As for existing capacities, certainly we cannot shut them down
immediately. We have to offer them incentives, encourage high added
value production capacities so producers would shift from SKD
assembly to real manufacture of units and components. Otherwise, in
the near future, when we join the WTO, they will find themselves
without those preferences. In fact, it will be possible to import a
ready TV set produced in China or in Korea, elsewhere, into any
Russian region, especially given that labor is cheaper in China and
production is streamlined there. And customs tariffs will have to be
paid for that. This regime will exist in any other region, not just
in the Kaliningrad region.
Those enterprises will n o longer have those preferences in two
or three years after Russia joins WTO. I have discussed those issues
with the business community regularly and I have explained it all to
them, in principle, the have understanding and readiness to engage
in high added value production to replace imports. And we have
started moving in this direction.
Q: Quite many ethnic Azeris live in the Kaliningrad oblast.
What are their relations with the authorities, with the local
population? How many of them are there in Kaliningrad?
Boos: In fact, we have quite many ethnic communities. By the
way the Azeri community is one of the smallest among them. We have a
big German community. The biggest community is the Byelorussian
community. The second biggest ethnic community is Ukrainians. They
are all citizens of the Russian Federation. I am speaking about
ethnic communities. We have a big Armenian community, a smaller
Georgian community, we have ethnic Kazakhs, Tatars, Azeris. The
number of ethnic Azeris is slightly than 2,000, which is a
relatively small community. Just compare: we an Armenian community
around 10,000.
In principle, we have normal relationships. I met with the
leaders of those ethnic communities recently. They have their public
organizations. We discussed an interesting idea. I find it very
interesting. It calls for the construction of something like a house
of friendship, where all ethnic communities could have a common
floor. Russia is a multiethnic country, a multiconfessional country,
and Kaliningrad is not an exception.
Q: According to the Audit Chamber, 80 percent of poultry meat
marketed in Russia has been imported via the Kaliningrad oblast.
Inspections have shown that one of every six chickens does not meet
sanitary and epidemic control requirements. Inspections were
conducted at the Kaliningrad Foodstuffs joint stock company. Do you
know the situation? What measures are planned? What is your attitude
to the Audit Chamber's proposal to limit imports of poultry meat
beyond quotas?
Boos: First, I do not know that data of the Audit Chamber about
80 percent. I do not know where that data comes from. The Audit
Chamber has not invited us to discuss this problem. Related
contracts have been made by Mr. Lisovsky, who naturally regards
Kaliningrad poultry breeders as his rivals, because he launched a
poultry breeding project in the Moscow region five or six years ago.
His project has not been too successful so far.
Mr. Lisovsky realizes that it is necessary to shift from
poultry breeding to poultry processing. Naturally, he would then
directly compete with poultry processing in Kaliningrad, because it
was launched here earlier, and he is lagging behind. In competitive
conditions, starting earlier means having a competitive edge.
Besides, poultry is now imported into Kaliningrad without
customs tariffs. This is another competitive advantage of
Kaliningrad poultry breeders, poultry processors.
This explains why this unfair competition scheme has been used.
It is typical lobbying in an attempt to improve his position. I have
met with Mr. Lisovsky recently, when he visited Kaliningrad. In
fact, he made no attempt to conceal this. Equally, he made no
attempts to conceal his plans to move from poultry breeding to
poultry processing. He finds this important.
In terms of figures, I am not ready to say what share
Kaliningrad poultry processing has in Russia's processing volumes. I
think the share is much less than 80 percent. I believe that it
ranges somewhere between 20 and 25 percent, perhaps, 30 percent.
Naturally, I am concerned about the problem of shadow imports
of poultry meat, when that poultry gets injections of some liquids,
salt, pepper, when they cut it in halves and present it as new
products.
I cannot treat this as production proper. I am concerned about
this situation.
As for producers having really arranged normal operation,
including foodstuffs production, we have many such producers in
Kaliningrad. I visited that company, I could see their production
facilities. In December, they launched yet another factory. They are
now launching yet another project in one of our districts. It will
provide 3,000 jobs. It is a big project calling for the construction
of yet another factory. I have supported and will support this kind
of production. I have encouraged them to engage in poultry breeding.
They understand this, and they are ready to do it. And I can say
that things start moving in our region.
As for sanitary norms, I have read some insinuations in
different digests and specially asked our Chief Sanitary Doctor
Onishchenko, and he explained to me that the poultry met all
requirements, and if there had been any deviations, the farm that
grows this poultry or its import would have been closed. So, this is
just unfair information that was used. In principle, I found this
reply quite agreeable and think that there is no threat to our
health. As I said, I will fight for all bona fide taxpayers who pay
taxes and don't break the law. I will defend their interests.
Q: What is the status of the project to build an oil refinery
in the region? And what benefits could be offered to its
participants?
Boos: This project is going through the stage of discussions
and consultations. There are a number of players who would like to
participate in this project. And this team of players is not limited
only to Russian companies because there are potential foreign
investors who would like to build the refinery. However, there are
also those who object to its construction, mainly because of
differing interests. As you understand, the appearance of a large
oil refinery in the center of Europe, which will get crude at
internal Russian prices, will lead to the appearance of a big
Russian player in the petrol market in the center of Europe. As you
know, there are a number of players in Europe who have such
refineries in other countries and play in petrol markets through
them. The appearance of a big Russian player in this market would
increase competition for them. This is why not all of them want such
a refinery to be built.
But I have discussed this issue with Vladimir Putin and Dmitry
Medvedev, and I met their understanding. So, consultations and
negotiations will continue. Environmental issues will be an
unconditional criterion because one of our priorities in the region
is the development of tourism. The final decision on the
construction of the oil refinery will be adopted on the basis of
these criteria.
Q: How relevant is (inaudible)... separatist calls for
separation from Russia? Several years ago informal movements started
to appear in Russia, Germany and Kaliningrad Oblast (inaudible)...
Boos: As far as separatist feelings are concerned, I must say I
don't see any now. I think these feelings are history now, if they
ever existed. The public attitude has changed dramatically since the
celebrations marking the 750th anniversary of Kaliningrad, after
Vladimir Putin's visit to Kaliningrad and after federal authorities
had paid so much attention to Kaliningrad and Kaliningrad Oblast. I
think the public attitude now is that we are part of Russia, we are
citizens of Russia, and so on. I think these factors are or
less stable, and there are no big reasons to get alarmed.
As for different NGOs, they exist, they work, they try to
participate in elections, they finance some people, they participate
in humanitarian projects, and this worries me because they use
seemingly holy words and mottos to pursue a not very healthy policy.
I have received an intelligence report from the security service
saying that work has begun to finance a number of children's homes
on certain conditions. And those conditions are: Don't read Russian
newspapers, and so on. And this worries me. We have run some checks
and we will strengthen controls to ensure that no unlawful
restrictions on such organizations are introduced in Russia.
over, we have launched a program called We Are Russians,
which was developed on instructions from the president. It was
developed by the regional government in a short time, and we are
implementing it now at our own expense. Under this program
schoolchildren and students will visit and study different
historical places and regions in Russia, Moscow, St. Petersburg,
Golden Ring cities, and so on. They will study the history of those
places in advance through lectures, contests, seminars, and quizzes.
And those will be followed by the trip itself. After that they will
have to firm up their knowledge.
The first pilot trip took place in January. A group of
than 2,500 children traveled to Moscow during the New Year
vacations. The next groups will travel during the spring vacations.
We plan to work in two directions, Moscow and St. Petersburg. In
summer, groups will be sent to other regions of Russia. We will
also receive children from other regions. The purpose is to give
children a broader outlook and better knowledge of our history,
traditions and culture, as well as to allow them to make friends
with their peers in other parts of Russia.
The fact that our region is an enclave creates certain cultural
and ethnic problems because 60 percent of young people in our region
have never been to the rest of Russia. Never. But they have been to
Poland and Lithuania, and many have traveled to Germany. As a
result, they are torn away from their ethnic, cultural, language and
other roots.
Therefore, those problems worry me a lot, and we will deal with
those problems.
Q: When you spoke about NGOs, did you mean Russian
organizations, joint or foreign organizations?
Boos: Foreign ones.
But we have not struggled against those NGOs. We want
legislation to be observed, rather than fight NGOs. We want us to
understand each other properly.
Q: Under the law which is still in effect in the Kaliningrad
oblast, Lukoil enjoys exports benefits. But no such benefits are
stipulated by the law. Still, a ten-year transition period is
planned. Has Lukoil retained those breaks for export tariffs?
Second, the man in charge of taxes in the region has been
replaced. The new law grants residents tax breaks. Do you have any
fears about tax administration as the new law takes effect? What
hopes are you pinning on the new tax chief?
Boos: As for Lukoil and taxes and customs tariffs, I would take
time out now, because the new law will take effect on April 1. The
list restrictions has yet to be drawn up, and the final list will
emerge somewhat later. Consultations are under way. I would rather
not jump to conclusions now.
As for the fact that the head of the regional tax agency has
been replaced, really, the head of the tax department has submitted
resignation. This was quite unexpected. He explained it to me. He
said he was worn out and needed to deal with health problems. He has
the right to that. As far as I know, he explained the reasons to his
leaders in Moscow as well.
We have agreed that after he has paid enough attention to his
health, as he plans staying in the region and working there, he
would meet with me to discuss his future job. He is certainly decent
individual, a professional one, a skilled manager, and I have to say
that over the three months of our joint activities, it was due to
his efforts, along with other reasons, that revenues have grown
substantially and we were able to increase budgetary expenditures
and provide financing for our social programs.
The 2006 budget will be 52 percent bigger than last year's
budget, and in January we outperformed the budget. The regional
budget surplus amounted to 130 million rubles in January, and this
happened despite the fact that January is traditionally a very hard
month. Naturally, we have to praise Alexander Shturbabin, the head
of the Kaliningrad regional department of the Federal Tax Service,
for that. I am grateful to him, and I have conveyed this to the
government, to the leaders of the Federal Tax Service. We have not
bid farewell. We thanked Shturbabin during a government meeting, and
we have parted for some time.
As for the new leader who has arrived to replace him, I know
him quite well. He joined tax agencies at the end of 1998, and he
started as a unit head to grow to the head of department. He worked
with me when I led that service. He is a professional, and he used
to work for an audit company before the appointment. He has both
engineering and economic skills. He is an energetic individual with
good organizational skills and knowledge of modern technologies. I
am confident that he will cope with his duties.
We have discussed the list of tasks he faces, including
priorities. He understands them quite well. We discussed ways to
approach those issues. When I recently received an inquiry form the
central office, I agreed to his appointment. As far as I understand,
he will start work in his new job soon and will work hard.
I think this will not lead to substantial changes in the
activities of the tax authority, and will keep the dynamics of the
past three months. I hope we will be able to confidently perform the
budget. I think in the coming several years we will be able to fully
legalize the economy and our budget will be absolutely realistic.
Social commitments will be increased accordingly. We will help
people , develop infrastructure, including engineering, road and
social infrastructure energetically.
Q: Have your expectations been justified in connection with
personnel cuts you made some time ago? Second, does the region have
a program ... (inaudible) ... with the Defense Ministry? When I
visited the region three years ago, the military base was in a
catastrophic state. ... (inaudible)...
Boos: Yes, my hopes have been justified. Today we have about
680 staff. It used to be slightly less than 1,400, 1,387, if I am
not mistaken. Naturally, the wage fund has not changed, despite
those cuts. We have not even adjusted it to inflation. It remained
unchanged. Naturally, as the budget has grown substantially, our
spending on the staff has gone down, the share of that spending. But
as the wage fund has not changed, pay rates have grown. For you to
understand, real remuneration for young specialists coming to work
after they graduated from higher educational institutions may reach
15,000 to 17,000 rubles. Those salary rates are adequate to the
market. As a result, we have made labor relationships clear,
transparent and market-based. And now I can demand proper response
from government officials. If they don't do their job well, I can
dismiss them and hire specialists in the market. Current salaries
allow me to do this. The smaller government is efficient than
the previous big one. Only a blind person can't see this today or a
person who doesn't want to see it. So, I am quite satisfied from
this point of view.
But I am not satisfied with the results of work. I always see
what has yet to be done. Any result, even if it's positive, I
consider it as an interim result, as a temporary result, and it
doesn't give me full satisfaction because I am always concerned
about something or dissatisfied about something.
On your second question about the development of Baltiisk, we
have already made some arrangements with the Defense Ministry and
the Baltic Fleet Command. We have discussed this issue with Sergei
Ivanov and several times with Yuri Baluyevsky of the General Staff.
We met full understanding on their part, both regarding the
development of Baltiisk in general how civilian and military
interests can best be balanced, and the development of the military
base to solve social problems facing the military, including flats
and social infrastructure like kindergartens, schools, healthcare,
and sport facilities.
I have visited Baltiisk twice to study its problems on the
ground. We have added new programs and sites to our plans. I think
that we will be able to solve these problems within two to three
years. The Defense Ministry has been very helpful. Sergei Ivanov
raised the question of housing for the military with the president,
and the measures taken by the president will give us additional
guarantees that these problems can be solved in two or three years.
So, the program is there and we have started implementing it. We
know what is to be done, and we are actually doing it.
Q: What are your plans for the Royal Castle? How much money
will you need and how much money will you request from the federal
budget?
Boos: There are plans to rebuild the Royal Castle because its
foundation is strong enough. The Royal Castle lay in ruins for quite
a long time and was blown up in Soviet times. The House of Soviets
was built in its place on its foundation. The place on the high bank
of the Pregol is beautiful. But in order to make the restoration of
the castle possible, it will be necessary to demolish the House of
Soviets because even if the distance between them is 20 meters, they
can't stand next to each other. The House of Soviets is a cubic sort
of structure -- tastes differ, of course, but I have no much liking
for such architecture especially since it will dominate the area
because it's huge compared to the Royal Castle. It will simply block
the castle, it will kill it.
This issue has not been considered in-depth yet, and I am not
prepared to say what the prospects are. If someone shows a real
interest in the project, we can discuss it with real investors. But
at any rate, the decision will have to be made by the whole city, by
its citizens. But before such decision is made, we will have to ask
the people because it's too serious a decision, too big a project.
It's a historical and cultural project that will entail big
expenditures but not from the budget. There can be no question of
spending budget money.
Q: The first question is about electronics and household
appliances. How can Kaliningrad Oblast (inaudible) ... And second.
Our radio company broadcasts to 136 countries, and our radio
listeners (inaudible)...
Boos: I must say that the previous governments, the previous
administrations did a lot of preparatory work in the region for it
to be able now to make a leap with the adoption of the new law. Many
problems were solved, something was put on hold, everybody had his
own mission to carry out, each generation of authorities. And each
of them carried out its mission in a dignified fashion and achieved
the set goals. This makes a good start. I am saying all this because
the best investment today, and I can say this with confidence
because I know a thing or two about business and the economy, so the
best investment today is an investment in Kaliningrad Oblast. The
price of property and fixed assets in Kaliningrad Oblast will be
dozens of times higher than it is today. You can imagine how
capitalization will grow.
So, the region could be of big interest to economically active
investors who are looking for places where their money can be
committed. And we are also interesting from the cultural point of
view because our history, the history of different places in our
region like Teutonic Order castles is several centuries old. The
Teutonic Order first appeared in the region in the 13th century and
build a large number of castles there. Some of them have survived to
date, even though half ruined, and some are in pretty good shape. We
are drafting a special program for them. For example, there is one
14th-century castle, which is in good shape and which houses a
prison now. Maybe that's why it has survived so well. It wasn't
ruined during the war.
If we were to speak about the Great Patriotic War, we would
have to say that Kaliningrad took most of the destruction, but
eastern parts of the region were not damaged so much and sometimes
were not touched at all. For example, the Georgenburg Castle is used
now as a hostel, but we plan to convert it into a hotel and a
restaurant. Nearby are beautiful 19th-century stables and a
racecourse for horses. But most importantly, there are people, real
enthusiasts who want to do this. They have money, and they are
willing to invest their money in this.
So, our region is already interesting from the cultural and
tourist points of view for anyone who likes history. But this is an
old history, it dates back to the times of Teutonic Order and
Medieval times. If we take later times, that would be Napoleonic
wars, and so on. There may be up to ten settlements in the region
that have no traces of Napoleon. All other places do bear some
evidence of his presence, houses where he spent the nights or where
his troops were staying and so on. Everything is permeated with the
spirit of war, Napoleon's wars with the participation of Russian
troops, of course.
As you probably remember, the Russian, the Prussian and the
Austrian armies fought Napoleon. And there are also earlier
evidence. For example, a little known fact that Emmanuel Kant, the
famous German philosopher, was a citizen of the Russian Empire. And
not only was but still is. The region was part of the Russian empire
under Empress Yelizaveta Petrovna for four years. It was put under
Prussian control only in 1762. Emmanuel Kant refused to recognize
Prussian control or to take Prussian citizenship saying that an oath
is taken only once in a lifetime. I took it and I will remain a
citizen of the Russian Empire, he said, and he remained a citizen of
the Russian Empire.
There are many stories about our region, and there are very
many interesting things about it. There will be a place or activity
of interest to anyone who wants to know .
Moderator: Thank you. We will end our press conference on this
optimistic note.
Boos: Thank you.
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