KAZAN Even at the end of last week, last-minute enhancement works were visible in Kazan’s street scene. Along the street leading to the Kazan Kremlin, or fortress, workers were painting the facade.
Today, Tuesday, the capital of Tatarstan will host the Brics meeting. Brics is a group of developing economies to which Russia belongs.
In Kazan, the preparations started a long time ago: the streets have been renovated and the houses improved. Residents of the city of 1.3 million people have prepared for road closures. Kazanian Vasil Valiyev says that he has to go to work during the meeting, and he and his wife are already discussing logistics.
– It is very difficult because there will be a big rush of delegations, 34 countries will arrive at the summit, Vasil Valijev knows.
– But it’s okay, we’ll get through it.
The Brics summit is the largest international meeting in Russia since February 2022, when Russia launched what it called a “military special operation” attack on Ukraine.
The Russian leadership wants to show that the Western powers’ attempts to isolate Russia internationally have failed.
Kazan is raising its profile
Multicultural Kazan is a metaphorically suitable meeting place when Russia turns its gaze to the east and south.
The majority of residents of Kazan, located at the confluence of the Volga and Kazanka rivers, are Muslims and Orthodox Christians. Tsar Ivan the Terrible conquered the Kazan Duchy in 1552 and annexed the region to the Russian Empire. In 2009, the historically and culturally significant Kazan received permission from the Russian Patent Office to use the name “Third Capital of Russia”.
Vasil Valiyev says that Kazan has changed a lot since he first visited there 25 years ago.
– There were still shacks here, old barracks, Valiyev says.
Since then, Kazan has been doing well. When Valiyev moved to the city in 2007, he was amazed at how everything had been renewed.
Kazan once had a bad reputation as a hotbed of violent gangs. Vasili’s son Damir Valiyev says that today you can walk the streets of Kazan with peace of mind.
– In the 80s and 90s, there was a lot of crime in Kazan, but now there is no such thing. The government of the republic is fighting against it and Kazan is flourishing, says Damir Valiyev.
– No one robs, rapes or kills anyone, his father accompanies.
The enlarged Brics is seeking its role
Brics is meeting in Kazan for the first time in its new configuration. It was originally an organization of five emerging economies, Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa. At the beginning of this year, Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran and the United Arab Emirates became members.
Among others, the leaders of China and India will arrive at the meeting Xi Jinping and Narendra Modi. Also the president of NATO country Turkey Recep Tayyip Erdoğan will be there. Turkey has announced that it is seeking Brics membership.
Instead, the influential crown prince of Saudi Arabia Muhammad bin Salman does not attend the meeting. The meeting experienced another setback when the president of Brazil Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva announced that he was staying in Brazil due to an accident.
BRICS is not just an image issue for Russia. Russia would like the Brics countries to create a mutual system for payment traffic arrangements. In 2022, Western countries closed key Russian banks from the Swift system, which transmits secured and encrypted messages of international money traffic, such as payment orders.
Russia also presents the Brics countries with an insurance company that would enable the transportation of essential products and raw materials, even if the western companies that dominate the market do not agree to insure the transportation.
Damir Valiyev from Kazan hopes that the summit will help attract even more investments to Tatarstan. His father, on the other hand, thinks that Brics will create its own currency.
– It will certainly be better than the dollar. The value of the dollar is not determined by anything, not gold or anything else. I hope we get out of US influence. And Russia will become the biggest superpower. And about Finland with us, as neighbors, Vasil Valijev reflects.
Small entrepreneurs praise their city
In any case, Kazan’s facelift pleases many of the city’s residents. This is what a group of entrepreneurs from Kazan say in a downtown restaurant. They do not criticize those in power.
Running two beauty salons Lyudmila Aksinina says that entrepreneurs support the Brics meeting, even if it causes momentary inconvenience in traffic.
A blogger Miljausha Hakimova thinks that the atmosphere is festive, but on the other hand, he wants to leave the city for a while so that the noise calms down. He believes that thanks to the meeting, many will get to know the city and the Tatar culture.
Dermatologist running a cosmetology clinic Guljezem as Kalimul says that there is a huge difference in Kazan compared to 5-10 years ago.
– Kazan is probably the fastest developing city in Russia, even compared to Moscow, says Kalimullina.