Cherkizovsky Market
Encyclopedia
The Cherkizovsky Market , also known as Cherkizon was Europe's largest marketplace
, located in Izmaylovo District
, Moscow
, Russia
, near the Lokomotiv Stadium
and Cherkizovskaya
Moscow Metro station. It was owned by Telman Ismailov
's AST Group. In its heyday the market employed an estimated 100,000 workers, mostly Asian immigrants. Moscow city authorities closed it down on June 29, 2009 on grounds of numerous violations of regulations and illegal activities. In July, 2009, Moscow authorities confirmed that the market was to be replaced with a Chinatown
.
and Central Asia
worked and lived there, many illegally. However, Moscow city authorities, in an effort to curb the spread of counterfeit goods and protect Sino-Russian trade, declared their intention to shut down the market several times since 1999.
On August 21, 2006, a blast hit the marketplace, killing 14. The bombing
was carried out by members of the Russian radical nationalist
group Spas
. Eight group members were later found guilty of the attack along with some other bombings carried out by the Moscow city court in May 2008, and given prison sentences ranging from 2 years to life imprisonment
.
complained at a government meeting that last year's large-scale confiscation of smuggled Chinese goods on the Cherkizovsky market hadn't resulted in convictions. According to The Independent
, The Sunday Times
and others, Putin was furious that Telman Ismailov in late May threw a lavish party in Turkey
, celebrating the opening of an opulent resort hotel there, despite him having made his fortune in Russia.
On June 18, 2009, Russian authorities said they would destroy more than 6,000 containers holding an estimated $2 billion worth of pirated and smuggled goods which entered in to Russia through the practice of gray customs clearance.
On June 25, Alexander Bastrykin
, head of the Investigative Committee of the Prosecutor General
's Office turned on the market, demanding its shutdown. State-run Rossiya TV channel aired a programme investigating the smuggling connected to the marketplace and attacking Ismailov. Moscow mayor Yuri Luzhkov, despite being a close friend of Ismailov, pledged to remove the market.
On June 29, The market was temporarily shut down by Russia's consumer watchdog Rospotrebnadzor after a series of checks revealed 464 violations of fire safety regulations. The complete list of violations included poor sanitary conditions, concerns over how goods were stored, and concerns over the living conditions of thousands of the market’s employees.
On July 15, Mayor Luzhkov made it clear that the closure was permanent, and the dismantling of the market began the following September.
was worried by the situation around the market and in late July sent a MOFCOM delegation headed by Chinese Vice Minister of Commerce Gao Hucheng to negotiate the fate of the Chinese vendors. Moscow's consumer department cooperated with the Chinese coordination group and agreed to allow Chinese merchants to clean up their stalls and ship out their merchandise from the closed market during a specific period of time every day.
Gao said China had no objections to Russia's crackdown on illegal trade, but that the Russian side should try its best to keep the economic losses of the Chinese business people to a minimum. Some Chinese analysts noted that Russia's cracking down on smuggling
and rectifying its domestic markets would help regulate trade channels, improve trade environment, and therefore be overall beneficial to the sustained and sound development of bilateral trade between the two countries in the long run.
A poll conducted by the Levada Center
showed that among the 94% of Moscow citizens who knew about the closure, 67% supported the move. Another online poll conducted by the newspaper Izvestia
also showed that over 80% of respondents were in favor of the shutdown.
Marketplace
A marketplace is the space, actual, virtual or metaphorical, in which a market operates. The term is also used in a trademark law context to denote the actual consumer environment, ie. the 'real world' in which products and services are provided and consumed.-Marketplaces and street markets:A...
, located in Izmaylovo District
Izmaylovo District
Izmaylovo District is a district in Eastern Administrative Okrug of Moscow, Russia. It is a historical part of Moscow, the ancestral land of the Romanov noble family. Population: Area: .-History:...
, Moscow
Moscow
Moscow is the capital, the most populous city, and the most populous federal subject of Russia. The city is a major political, economic, cultural, scientific, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the continent...
, Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
, near the Lokomotiv Stadium
Lokomotiv Stadium (Moscow)
Lokomotiv Stadium is a football stadium in Moscow, Russia. It is the home stadium of Lokomotiv Moscow and was the home ground of the Russian National Team for the 2010 FIFA World Cup qualification matches. The stadium was reconstructed in 2002 and holds 28,800 people, all seated...
and Cherkizovskaya
Cherkizovskaya
Cherkizovskaya is a Moscow Metro station in the Preobrazhenskoye District, Eastern Administrative Okrug, Moscow. It is on the Sokolnicheskaya Line, between Preobrazhenskaya Ploshchad and Ulitsa Podbelskogo stations.- Design :...
Moscow Metro station. It was owned by Telman Ismailov
Telman Ismailov
Telman Ismailov is a Russian entrepreneur and businessman of Azerbaijani Mountain Jew descent. He is chairman of the Russian AST Group of companies, which is active in many countries.-Early life:...
's AST Group. In its heyday the market employed an estimated 100,000 workers, mostly Asian immigrants. Moscow city authorities closed it down on June 29, 2009 on grounds of numerous violations of regulations and illegal activities. In July, 2009, Moscow authorities confirmed that the market was to be replaced with a Chinatown
Chinatown
A Chinatown is an ethnic enclave of overseas Chinese people, although it is often generalized to include various Southeast Asian people. Chinatowns exist throughout the world, including East Asia, Southeast Asia, the Americas, Australasia, and Europe. Binondo's Chinatown located in Manila,...
.
History
The market was founded in the early 1990s. With an area around 300 hectares, it was the largest market in Russia, and one of the largest in Europe. Thousands of migrants from ChinaChina
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
and Central Asia
Central Asia
Central Asia is a core region of the Asian continent from the Caspian Sea in the west, China in the east, Afghanistan in the south, and Russia in the north...
worked and lived there, many illegally. However, Moscow city authorities, in an effort to curb the spread of counterfeit goods and protect Sino-Russian trade, declared their intention to shut down the market several times since 1999.
On August 21, 2006, a blast hit the marketplace, killing 14. The bombing
2006 Moscow market bombing
The 2006 Moscow market bombing occurred on August 21, 2006, when a self-made bomb of the power of more than 1 kg of TNT exploded at Moscow's Cherkizovsky Market frequented by foreign merchants. In 2008, eight members of the racialist organization The Saviour were sentenced for their roles in...
was carried out by members of the Russian radical nationalist
Radical nationalism in Russia
Radical nationalism in Russia refers to some far-right and some far-left extremist nationalist movements and organizations. Of note, the term "nationalist" in Russia often refers to radical nationalism. However, it is often mixed up with "fascism" in Russia. While this terminology does not exactly...
group Spas
The Saviour
The Saviour is a militant nationalist organization which claimed credit for the August 2006 Moscow market bombing. Media reports indicate that the market, located near Cherkizovsky, was targeted due to its high volume of Central Asian and Caucasus clientele....
. Eight group members were later found guilty of the attack along with some other bombings carried out by the Moscow city court in May 2008, and given prison sentences ranging from 2 years to life imprisonment
Life imprisonment
Life imprisonment is a sentence of imprisonment for a serious crime under which the convicted person is to remain in jail for the rest of his or her life...
.
Closure
On June 1, 2009, Prime Minister Vladimir PutinVladimir Putin
Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin served as the second President of the Russian Federation and is the current Prime Minister of Russia, as well as chairman of United Russia and Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the Union of Russia and Belarus. He became acting President on 31 December 1999, when...
complained at a government meeting that last year's large-scale confiscation of smuggled Chinese goods on the Cherkizovsky market hadn't resulted in convictions. According to The Independent
The Independent
The Independent is a British national morning newspaper published in London by Independent Print Limited, owned by Alexander Lebedev since 2010. It is nicknamed the Indy, while the Sunday edition, The Independent on Sunday, is the Sindy. Launched in 1986, it is one of the youngest UK national daily...
, The Sunday Times
The Sunday Times
The Sunday Times is a British Sunday newspaper.The Sunday Times may also refer to:*The Sunday Times *The Sunday Times *The Sunday Times *The Sunday Times...
and others, Putin was furious that Telman Ismailov in late May threw a lavish party in Turkey
Turkey
Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...
, celebrating the opening of an opulent resort hotel there, despite him having made his fortune in Russia.
On June 18, 2009, Russian authorities said they would destroy more than 6,000 containers holding an estimated $2 billion worth of pirated and smuggled goods which entered in to Russia through the practice of gray customs clearance.
On June 25, Alexander Bastrykin
Alexander Bastrykin
Alexander Ivanovich Bastrykin is a Russian official, Former First Deputy Prosecutor General of Russia,and former Chairman of The Investigative Committee of the Prosecutor General's Office...
, head of the Investigative Committee of the Prosecutor General
Prosecutor General of Russia
The Prosecutor General of Russia heads the system of official prosecution in courts known as the Office of the Prosecutor General of Russian Federation ....
's Office turned on the market, demanding its shutdown. State-run Rossiya TV channel aired a programme investigating the smuggling connected to the marketplace and attacking Ismailov. Moscow mayor Yuri Luzhkov, despite being a close friend of Ismailov, pledged to remove the market.
On June 29, The market was temporarily shut down by Russia's consumer watchdog Rospotrebnadzor after a series of checks revealed 464 violations of fire safety regulations. The complete list of violations included poor sanitary conditions, concerns over how goods were stored, and concerns over the living conditions of thousands of the market’s employees.
On July 15, Mayor Luzhkov made it clear that the closure was permanent, and the dismantling of the market began the following September.
Aftermath
The sudden shutdown of the market left tens of thousands of workers, many of them illegal immigrants, jobless and in financial trouble because they were unable to sell their goods. ChinaPeople's Republic of China
China , officially the People's Republic of China , is the most populous country in the world, with over 1.3 billion citizens. Located in East Asia, the country covers approximately 9.6 million square kilometres...
was worried by the situation around the market and in late July sent a MOFCOM delegation headed by Chinese Vice Minister of Commerce Gao Hucheng to negotiate the fate of the Chinese vendors. Moscow's consumer department cooperated with the Chinese coordination group and agreed to allow Chinese merchants to clean up their stalls and ship out their merchandise from the closed market during a specific period of time every day.
Gao said China had no objections to Russia's crackdown on illegal trade, but that the Russian side should try its best to keep the economic losses of the Chinese business people to a minimum. Some Chinese analysts noted that Russia's cracking down on smuggling
Smuggling
Smuggling is the clandestine transportation of goods or persons, such as out of a building, into a prison, or across an international border, in violation of applicable laws or other regulations.There are various motivations to smuggle...
and rectifying its domestic markets would help regulate trade channels, improve trade environment, and therefore be overall beneficial to the sustained and sound development of bilateral trade between the two countries in the long run.
A poll conducted by the Levada Center
Levada Center
Levada Center is a Russian independent, non-governmental polling and sociological research organisation. It is named after its founder, the first Russian professor of sociology Yuri Levada . Levada Center traces back its history to 1987 when VCIOM was founded, originally headed by Academician...
showed that among the 94% of Moscow citizens who knew about the closure, 67% supported the move. Another online poll conducted by the newspaper Izvestia
Izvestia
Izvestia is a long-running high-circulation daily newspaper in Russia. The word "izvestiya" in Russian means "delivered messages", derived from the verb izveshchat . In the context of newspapers it is usually translated as "news" or "reports".-Origin:The newspaper began as the News of the...
also showed that over 80% of respondents were in favor of the shutdown.