Obninsk seems to be on the move

Date: August 1, 2006
Section: News
Copyright 2006 The Oak Ridger. All Rights Reserved.
We were picked up at our hotel in a small bus for the ride to Obninsk, Kaluga Region, Russia, which is about a two-hour drive from Moscow on a good road very similar to a state highway in Tennessee.

Obninsk itself is a thriving city of 105,000 people. It is known as the first Russian Science City, with a history very similar to Oak Ridge. For example, Obninsk reactors produced the first electricity from nuclear power for a national grid in June 1954, and Obninsk is celebrating its 50th anniversary as an official Russian city.

Our host for our stay was Andrey Schikovsky, senior specialist, International Relations and Investments Department for the Obninsk City Administration. During our ride from Moscow, I had the chance to talk with Andrey in depth about himself, his family, and Obninsk.

Andrey is 31-years-old and has been married for about one year. He and his wife, Rita, live in a flat (similar to an American apartment) with his mother and father. This is typical in Obninsk, with several generations of families often living under one roof. Very few families own a single-family detached home; almost everyone lives in flats (mostly built during “Soviet times”) although many new, modern flat complexes are being built today by private developers.

Andrey and Rita are just beginning to look for their own flat. Many people in Obninsk own their flat as opposed to leasing, and Andrey is looking for a flat in the 60 square meter range (645 square feet). This would be a "starter flat" and would cost about 1,000 U.S. dollars per square meter. A mortgage in Russia is expensive, with mortgage loan rates ranging from 12 percent to 14 percent.

I asked Andrey about the massive amount of change that has occurred in Russia during his lifetime. He was 15 years old and a reluctant member of the "Pioneers" (essentially a feeder program for the Communist Party — most students were expected to join) when Mikhail Gorbachev introduced glasnost and perestroika to the Soviet Union. Andrey explained that the members of the Pioneers wore red ties to school and, almost immediately, under perestroika these ties (and the Pioneer program itself) disappeared.There are many political parties in Obninsk today, with the major party being the centrist United Russia party, of which President Putin is the leading member.

Andrey explained that the role of the mayor of Obninsk functions are very similar to Oak Ridge's city manager, and Obninsk's chairman of the City Council is more like our mayor. The Obninsk City Council has 30 members serving four-year terms, and all 30 members run for election at the same time.

Only two or three council members are paid; the rest are essentially volunteers.

The Obninsk public school system consists of 16 schools. However, unlike Oak Ridge, students generally attend the same school for at least eight and usually 10 years of their elementary education. At age 15, students can choose to complete the 11th and 12th years of their “middle education” or go on to vocational school. After this, students can choose to go to “high school,” which is the equivalent of an American university.

An increasing number of students choose to go to high school, not the least because it keeps the male students out of the mandatory Russian army enlistment. Andrey himself graduated from the University of Nuclear Power Engineering in Obninsk and from the Moscow State University of Management.

Andrey’s family history will sound very familiar to Oak Ridgers. His grandfather came to Obninsk in 1962 as an engineer; his father is a chief engineer; and his mother is a medical doctor. So it is not at all unexpected for Andrey to hold an important position with the city administration.

As the city celebrates its 50th anniversary, Andrey is hosting delegations from France, Finland, China, Serbia and the Czech Republic, in addition to our Tennessee delegation.

His English is superior, and his skills as a host are beyond compare. Our first stop in Obninsk will be to meet Mayor Shubin, and Andrey adroitly prepares us for this important meeting. The time Andrey spends with us during these busy days is a tribute to the strong relationship between Obninsk and Oak Ridge.

Andrey also has a good sense of humor. For example, when his cell phone “rings” (as it often does), the phone humorously states, “Comrade, pick up the phone, this is Stalin!”

As we arrive in Obninsk to meet the mayor, I thank Andrey for his warm and candid interview. It makes me think of the near impossibility of having this type of interview just a few years ago during “Soviet times” — as Andrey often calls the period early in his life.

Obninsk seems to be truly on the move!

EDITOR’S NOTE: Oak Ridge Mayor David Bradshaw is offering readers of The Oak Ridger a day-by-day account of an Oak Ridge delegation’s trip to Oak Ridge sister city Obninsk, Russia. Part IV will publish in Wednesday’s edition.