Serguei Gussev, CEO of TVT Company, owned by TAIF, stands in front of a map of Kazan as a big general: «We are covering now all the districts, close to 90% of the population.» He is in charge of another high tech project of TAIF, under which a network of optical cables is being laid down in Kazan. At present, users of this network can watch 30 western channels, and very soon their number will be increased to 120. Apart from TV channels, users also have access to multimedia services with a speed of traffic of 10 Mb/sec, which provides for fast development of the informational infrastructure of Kazan. |
«Meridian» is arguably the most popular shopping place in Kazan. It is part of a wholesale market established by TAIF to provide all the services for food manufacturers and their dealers, thus helping shops throughout the town to diversify their ranges of goods. But «Meridian» is better than the others, and has up to 15000 different products on its shelves. According to Rifkat Islamov, director of «Meridian», only the best supermarkets in Moscow can match this. The only complaint Islamov has is that he needs more space. This does not come as a surprise, since all shelves are full, and the shop also has its own bakery and produces various salads and sweets. |
«Karsar», established in 1992, is now rethinking its business. It used to co-operate with local Customs to help importers expedite the processing of their goods and related formalities. Recently, changes have been introduced in Customs regulations and procedures. Alfred Shigabutdinov, MD of «Karsar», makes a bitter comment: «Moscow does not trust people in the provinces, and nobody is the winner.» Now that additional controls have been imposed, it is not possible anymore to expedite anything. Nevertheless, at «Karsar», they still have hope, and trust that common sense will prevail. Maybe this is why they have launched, last year, a new fuel station, one of the best in Tatarstan and even in Russia. |
«IntelSet» stands for «intellectual networks». The difference between old fixed lines and new digital equipment is obvious: a state of the art switchboard handling the same number of lines occupies just one room, not a whole building anymore. Even more important is the radically improved quality and potential of communications. Rifgat Garaev, CEO of «IntelSet», says: «Apart from standard telephone lines, we also offer a vast range of services such as «intelligent» office equipments, development of corporate networks and high speed access to the Internet». That explains the name of this company. |
Because OAO «TAIF» has so many projects and is always looking for the highest standards of construction, it had to establish its own companies: «Meta-TAIF», registered in 1997, and «TAIF-CT» registered in 1999. «TAIF-CT» has built compounds for the «Santel» network of mobile communications and a bonded terminal for «Karsar», and it is finishing now the building of «Pyramid», a center of recreation and cultural activities. Valeri Panchuguin, director of «TAIF-CT» in charge of design and development of projects, is now busy with plans related to an administrative building in the inner city. It will be a state of the art facility, and there are loads of problems to be solved because the company will have to take over an old construction site with an unfinished building. A year ago, «TAIF-CT» has re-built for the city a comfortable medical center for children, added new floors to it and arranged there new offices for sale or rent. |
Everybody is waiting for the opening of «Pyramid», a center of recreation and cultural activities. «TAIF-ART», the company that will be running the center, has already moved in. Rosa Khalilova, executive director of «TAIF-ART», will have soon to get used to be photographed; for the moment, she is still a bit shy. She does not know yet for sure the date of the opening, but she has no doubt that on that day, everything will be ready, and the program her company is putting together will be full of surprises. She would not even give a hint about what they might be. Therefore, all we can do is quote a paper issued by «TAIF-ART»: «Our company was establish to help people get together in the joy of recreation». |
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Albert Shigabutdinov, CEO of «TAIF», insisted on having an apartment block built for the families of leading managers and experts of the group. The maintenance is done by «TAIF-Service». Its CEO, Evgueni Simonov, is very proud of the facilities. This house has its own power unit and independent water supply system, it is guarded and houses a shop, a restaurant, a barbershop, two swimming pools and a gym. There is also a big conference-hall for business meetings. |