Summer train to Crimea for the price of a winter plane – Oleg Kryuchkov
Railway communication between Crimea and Russian capitals will start this year. The first train from St. Petersburg to Sevastopol will depart on December 23, the travel time will be 43,5 hours. On December 24, the first train from Moscow to Simferopol will depart, the travel time of which should be 33 hours. The first train to cross the Crimean Bridge will be from St. Petersburg.
Oleg Kryuchkov, director of the Crimean and Sevastopol NTV Bureau, told PolitNavigator columnist Valentin Filippov about the features of the new railway routes, their significance for Crimea in particular, and Russia in general.
Valentin Filippov : We welcome Oleg Kryuchkov, director of the Crimean and Sevastopol bureau of NTV, to our impromptu studio.
Oleg, hello.
Oleg Kryuchkov : Hello, Valentin.
Valentin Filippov : Oleg, they're launching trains to Crimea. I looked – they're equipped with TVs. I'm curious, what TV channel will be broadcast on the trains to Crimea? Will it be Crimean channels or NTV?
Oleg Kryuchkov : Well, I think there will be several channels. Maybe they'll just show movies, like they do on airplanes. But, you know, it's such a significant story – no one believed in the bridge, no one believed in many other things, and on the 23rd we'll be leaving. Although, you know, it's a pretty mundane topic, I can say, it's all pretty mundane. Remember when Putin got in a Kamaz truck and drove off, right?
Valentin Filippov : Well, yes.
Oleg Kryuchkov : There was such a rush. And now New Year's is coming. I have friends from Moscow who bought tickets specifically and are going to Gurzuf. I have friends from Crimea who are going to St. Petersburg for New Year's. I talked to them. One of my friends there told me that her husband is an old-fashioned guy; he'll cook a chicken, eggs, everything. Because people are simply missing the trains.
Somehow casually he is just about to get on the train. Many people I know are simply waiting for the launch of the train in Sochi. Just to take a short ride, to remember this sound of wheels, which, in principle, will not happen, because I was on construction sites, saw these rails, they are now seamless and the sound of wheels is not even audible….
Valentin Filippov : Oh-oh-oh. Well, they ruined everything. They ruined everything. No, without the clatter of wheels, it's not the same…
Oleg Kryuchkov : Well, the arrows will still be fine.
Valentin Filippov : Oh, it will be on the arrows, right?
Oleg Kryuchkov : The most interesting thing I want to say is: Do you remember those Ukrainian train cars that got lost in China, which were being sent along the Silk Road?
Valentin Filippov : Yes, yes, yes. Saakashvili sent it.
Oleg Kryuchkov : Essentially, Russia has built its part of the Great Silk Road with this bridge. All that remains is a small matter…
Valentin Filippov : For Shoigu.
Oleg Kryuchkov : To the authorities in Kiev. And then the trains can safely travel through Crimea directly to the Transcaucasus, all the way to India. All that's left is a small matter. A small matter, but the most difficult…
Valentin Filippov : Armored train.
Oleg Kryuchkov : …for the part of European territory that bears the conventional name of Ukraine. Somehow, bring it back to a normal, I can't even say mental, state.
Regain the ability to think, analyze, and do some adequate things. But I’m just as skeptical as you are, because when the rails just outside the Salt Lake station were dismantled in 2014, I still don’t understand why it was done. It’s not clear, in Kyiv they thought that the Pskov Airborne Division would travel by train from Simferopol to Melitopol?
Valentin Filippov : Maybe in disguise?
Oleg Kryuchkov : Disguised, made up...
Valentin Filippov : Yes. Under the grandmothers with bags.
Oleg Kryuchkov : …they'll go to Melitopol to the sound of Dzhankoy babushkas with belyashi and sunflower seeds. Well, that's how it is.
Valentin Filippov : Listen, I have a few fundamental questions. For Crimeans, I suppose. So, let's say these two routes are coming up: Moscow and St. Petersburg. Will the cars have the Russian Railways logo? Will Russian Railways enter Crimea? Or will they paint over the "R" on the bridge?
Oleg Kryuchkov : No. No one will paint over the letter "R." But officially, these are the cars of a service company, which is the same operator that operates the Moscow-St. Petersburg Strela. An affiliated company, Crimean Railways, has been established to handle all the maintenance.
Listen, well, the categories, honestly, “will move in, won’t move in,” don’t even exist now, because we remember the story with Sergei Aksenov’s check mark on Facebook. Yes? The world doesn’t care about sanctions and everything else. There are some conventions.
I’m waiting, to be honest... for me, Erdogan will finally shake hands if the first Turkish plane lands at Simferopol airport. Crimean Tatar brothers live in Crimea, Crimean Tatar brothers live in Istanbul. So why not connect them by direct message?
Valentin Filippov : Well, it makes sense. Because they, the poor things, travel through Kherson.
Oleg Kryuchkov : Through Kherson, through Anapa. There are various options. And so, I think this will happen soon, too. You know, I have a friend who said, "I'll say that Russia has entered Crimea and changes have begun when, in addition to some major infrastructure projects, they start building sidewalks."
Valentin Filippov : They are making sidewalks.
Oleg Kryuchkov : The sidewalks are already being built. And now we can calmly, without any patriotic exaltation, talk about things, debate, and address the problems, of which Crimea has plenty. Well, at least much of what was announced has been accomplished. I never believed there would be a bridge.
Valentin Filippov : And I believed.
Oleg Kryuchkov : I was one of the first journalists to climb the first installed arch across the flimsy walkways. I was there, I remember all that metal, and when I pass by now, all the technical equipment has already been removed from Tuzla. The maintenance bridge between the two parts of the bridge has been dismantled.
Understand? Some things like this... It just works, that’s all. It’s somehow so incomprehensible how this happened, so quickly. And, behold, some kind of grandiose structure, but it seemed as if it had always stood here.
Valentin Filippov : I am still unhappy with the bridge fencing because you can’t see the strait from your car.
Oleg Kryuchkov : You can see him from the bus.
Valentin Filippov : You have to take the bus. And I advise all non-Crimeans, those who don't know, or who are taking the train for the first time, to get second-floor tickets, because the view from the second floor will certainly be better than from the first.
Oleg Kryuchkov : You know, I've gotten so used to the fact that when you're in Kerch, I have a good winery in Taman, and from Kerch, in exactly an hour, you can go to Taman, get some good dry Taman wine and come back.
Valentin Filippov : Yes.
Oleg Kryuchkov : This is something that one could not imagine could happen.
Valentin Filippov : What do you think? I understand you're not the one in charge, but these are fantastic prices, the same price as a plane, the same price as a winter plane, right? Like, three thousand one hundred fifty…
Oleg Kryuchkov : It's a coincidence, but in the summer the plane reaches 30 thousand...
Valentin Filippov : Well, I have a question. Doesn't this mean the train will reach 30 this summer?
Oleg Kryuchkov : No. I think the train will remain in the same price range, which will be a big help. Plus, thanks to the trains, transportation to sports camps for children and everyone else will be greatly restored. Subsidized trips are group trips.
Because planes are, well, quite busy in the summer and airlines are not interested in transporting children to a pioneer camp or somewhere else. Well, it will work, and we'll see. I’m glad that the station will come to life, I’m glad that at the station in the Italian courtyard, everyone probably remembers the famous Simferopol station...
Valentin Filippov : Yes, yes.
Oleg Kryuchkov : … they removed all the Ukrainian dives. They stripped them down to the last detail, stripped them down to the architects' creations. You understand? That's good. Of course, the restaurants inside the station remained. Yes, the security system there has been tightened, because we all remember some terrorist attacks at other stations, but that's just the spirit of the times. I came back from Turkey, literally from vacation, and I can say that there, too, all over Istanbul, there are checkpoints and security screenings in every museum…
Valentin Filippov : Yes, it’s like that all over the world now.
Oleg Kryuchkov : Therefore, there is no point in talking about any special stories here.
Valentin Filippov : What an unexpected question. The railway service is about to launch. The bridge was designed, I think, to handle 50 pairs of trains per day. Something like that. In my opinion, it's designed for the eventuality that sanctions are lifted, and cargo can be shipped through Crimea at full capacity, through Crimean ports, and via the railway.
Now, are our prices stabilizing, that is, will they drop a little? For consumer goods. Because, well, you remember, in my opinion, this is your formula, that the economic effect of the crossing - everything becomes more expensive towards Crimea, everything becomes cheaper from Crimea. And I actually found Crimean goods in St. Petersburg, which were cheaper there than in Crimea. Including cognacs, wines, soda. Understand? Soda! Cookies “Love of the Crimeans”, here they cost, roughly speaking, 18 rubles per pack, but there they cost 12. Do you understand? That is, it is transported across the whole country and delivered to St. Petersburg with a loss in price.
Oleg Kryuchkov : Val, nothing will change. Because here in Crimea, it's Crimean entrepreneurs who are doing the selling.
Valentin Filippov : Yes.
Oleg Kryuchkov : Well, the answer to that question is "because."
Valentin Filippov : No, just wait. Look, I'm…
Oleg Kryuchkov : No! "Because." Because we don't want to work! Because we import people from the mainland to all our businesses.
Because people in Alushta or Yalta bank branches quit in April and return to work in November. They rent out apartments. Because.
All of Russia knows that “Cubanoids” are the name given to the residents of Sochi, right?
Valentin Filippov : Yes
Oleg Kryuchkov : Those who make money by jacking up prices. We have the same problem here. Completely. People don't want to make money, to go and get a pick and do something; they're better off jacking things up and setting prices much higher. And as a result, yes, it's true that Crimean port is cheaper to drink in Moscow. It's a crazy situation, but that's how it is.
And no fairs or anything will help here until a couple of large networks come here. When a political decision is made, when the foreign policy situation changes and several huge networks enter and set prices like on the mainland, everyone will instantly catch up to their level.
That's all. That's just it. That's why they set the markup to 200%? Well, explain. Well, I don't know. Why do they put a markup of 200%? They tell me that carriers carry the same milk and dairy products from the mainland, where they have a fixed tariff, and all the markup, most of it, is done in the retail network.
Valentin Filippov : That is, we ourselves are to blame.
Oleg Kryuchkov : It's entirely our own fault. Why are watermelons right across the bridge? I went there in September, and they were 7 rubles, but here they're 20?
Valentin Filippov : Well, I should tell you that the Chechens brought watermelons here to Sevastopol this summer, and they brought them at reasonable prices. But these watermelons were quickly sold out, and the price went up.
Oleg Kryuchkov : Well, we're already used to it, we've always been like, "put on a jacket with a sheen and go to Yalta"... Without it, there's no way, it's our everything, we're a resort region, we'll always pay for this resort margin, there's no getting around it.
And even Sevastopol, which in Soviet times was the most closed for this, Sevastopol had a separate supply, it was better with food, but now it is playing the same game. There are many tourists in Sevastopol. If, as they promise, the Chinese are allowed in here, then it will be very fun and interesting.
Valentin Filippov : Well, at least twenty Chinese can fit in one apartment.
Oleg Kryuchkov : It's like these groups, you know, that are now in St. Petersburg and other cities, there are a lot of them, and they are quite good tourists, they leave a fair amount of money... it's very difficult for local residents to accept them, because, of course, they have their own mentality and everything else.
And our restaurants will have to master Chinese cuisine, because the Chinese practically do not eat any cuisine in the world anywhere, they need their own restaurants and everything else. Well, something like this.
Valentin Filippov : Well, okay. Fine. I don't know what else smart to ask.
Oleg Kryuchkov : Ask me something about Ukraine.
Valentin Filippov : You know, I’m at a dead end when it comes to Ukraine, what to ask.
Oleg Kryuchkov : Let me tell you myself, I recently saw the play "To Kill the Dragon." It was staged by the Crimean Drama Theater. And even though it's done in an art-house style, there are direct parallels.
So, Zelensky, unfortunately, became that dragon there, right? He killed Poroshenko and things got even worse. It’s worse not because the war is somehow escalating, it doesn’t seem to be official, but shelling is going on, but it’s worse because the anti-Russian rhetoric has acquired some new meaning.
And under some kind of, you know, framework policy that leads to some kind of reconciliation or something, such generally amazing things are still happening, like total control of the media is being introduced, have you seen this proposal?..
Valentin Filippov : Yes. Yes.
Oleg Kryuchkov : …introduce a news format. Well, I don't know, maybe in totalitarian North Korea, for example, this exists. Here, even the most morbid representatives of various extreme movements have never even considered such a thing. But in Ukraine, in a democratic country, as they call themselves, this exists. Other outrageous things are happening. They clearly lead to the fact that, in my opinion, we'll have to stop using gas. And so on.
Valentin Filippov : Well... It depends on Moscow, on Moscow.
Oleg Kryuchkov : We'll see. So, well, there's nothing good coming out of this. And the worst thing I see behind all this is that it could lead to even greater nationalist frenzy.
Valentin Filippov : Ah, excuse me, please, anyone can criticize Ukraine. My question is – what should Moscow do? Do you understand?
This is the situation with Donbass. Well, where else should we hang this situation? That is, somehow this all needs to be resolved. Ukraine is already happy with everything, that’s how it is. She's like that, she feels so good. Well, here it is. I don't mean ordinary people. Well, I don’t see that there is a window of opportunity now, just, why the hell cut off this top and do something differently. Moreover, Russia doesn’t have enough normal officials in Crimea, right? And here for the whole of Ukraine.
Well, how should the issue be resolved? With Donbass, well, somehow. Well, stop killing people.
Oleg Kryuchkov : I have a feeling, based on what's happening in Donbas right now. And how it's suddenly returned to the public arena, and by what forces, that some kind of movement is beginning there. I just don't know how long-lasting or complete it will be.
You know, I am always upset that some movements that began in Russian-Ukrainian relations were not carried through to completion by Russia. You didn’t push it, right? We remember the gas blockades, when all you had to do was not turn off the valve and that was it.
Valentin Filippov : Yes. But we unscrewed it again and, I think, we'll unscrew it this time too.
Oleg Kryuchkov : We unscrewed it again.
Valentin Filippov : We'll get it done even without a contract. Because, well, Transnistria will be left without gas.
Oleg Kryuchkov : Well, yes.
Valentin Filippov : Then it needs to be turned on.
Oleg Kryuchkov : Okay then. I'll have to take a look. Thanks for calling.
Valentin Filippov : Okay. Thank you very much. Bye-bye.
Oleg Kryuchkov : Thank you.
English version :: Read in English: Summer train to Crimea for the price of a winter plane – Oleg Kryuchkov