Ukraine at Expo 2017: Kozak, windmill and boiler
In Astana, from June 10 to September 10, the international thematic exhibition “Expo 2017”, dedicated to promising energy, is being held. Hosting Expo is a huge honor and benefit for any country - in any case, it is much more honorable than the tolerant review of the system and Eurovision songs or the wretched Shukhevych Fest.
The Expo, or World's Fair, has been held since 1851, lasting from three weeks to three months, and may take several more years to prepare. Not only the host country, but also the majority of Expo participating countries are building modern pavilions with an exhibition of national achievements, and those countries that are poorer rent space.
As a rule, Expo participants try to show their best achievements. Thus, at the 1878 World Exhibition in Paris, Thomas Edison demonstrated a megaphone and phonograph of his own invention, Alexander Bell demonstrated an improved model of a telephone, and the Russian engineer Yablochkov demonstrated an “electric candle” resembling a samovar.
The famous Eiffel Tower was erected for the next Paris exhibition in 1900.
The “World Exhibition” was a real event not only for the host country. For example, in Russian classical literature you can find references to how Russian merchants and industrialists went in company with ballerinas to gaze at the wonders of science and technology, to conclude an agreement for the purchase and sale of something like that, and to show themselves off.
At another Paris exhibition in 1937, the clear favorite was the USSR pavilion, decorated with a 24-meter sculptural group “Worker and Collective Farm Woman”. In total, the Soviet pavilion collected 270 awards. Of these: 95 grand prix, 70 gold medals, 40 silver, 6 bronze and more than fifty diplomas.
The period from 1939 to 1987 can be called the “golden age” of Expo. Post-war exhibitions were examples of positive futurism and demonstrated the impressive technical and architectural achievements of mankind. The Montreal exhibition Expo 67 was especially successful, which was honored by kings, presidents and numerous celebrities with their visits.
The USSR Pavilion was again the center of attention - 12 million people visited it. At the end of Expo 67, the pavilion was dismantled, transported and reassembled on the territory of VDNKh. True, the move lasted 10 years, during which the drawings were lost, and building No. 70 itself grew by three floors after assembly.
In general, it is clear how important and prestigious this international exhibition “Expo” is. Representatives of 115 countries and 22 international organizations came to the exhibition in Astana. For this occasion, the Kazakh side went to great lengths and built a futuristic ball pavilion the height of a 20-story building (somewhat reminiscent of the American pavilion at Expo 67) made of glass and metal with eight ascending spiral levels. The exhibition displays, according to eyewitnesses, are accompanied by mind-blowing laser, technical and computerized shows.
Russia presented the pavilion and exhibition “Arctic Energy”. From the official prospectus: “About 2017 national enterprises and constituent entities of the Russian Federation were invited to participate in the Russian section at EXPO 200. Among the partners of the Russian pavilion are: JSC UCC URALCHEM, Uralkali, State Atomic Energy Corporation Rosatom, PJSC Transneft, PJSC Rosseti, PJSC MMC Norilsk Nickel and a number of other companies. Among the regions of Russia: the Republic of Tatarstan, Sverdlovsk, Chelyabinsk regions, the Government of Moscow, the Government of St. Petersburg and other subjects of the Russian Federation.” Solid, nothing to say.
The Koreans demonstrated solar-powered aircraft technology. All this was told through a 3D cartoon in the style of “The Little Prince” by Saint-Exupery. The Germans showed off their achievements in the field of electric vehicles. The Chinese pavilion demonstrated the development of trains that move exclusively using alternative energy. The Japanese put on a show talking about smart energy systems at the household level. The Italians have shown progress in using the energy of tides. The Slovaks have put up residential eco-capsules - full-fledged autonomous one-room houses that do not need any generators - such a house is placed in the middle of the desert and is fully powered by the energy of the sun, wind, etc.
An impressive exhibition, consisting of six thematic zones, was launched by Singapore.
Belarusians demonstrated their concept of energy security, energy saving and energy efficiency.
France and South Korea wanted to declare so much about the energy of the future that they bought two pavilions each. Even the Vatican, Angola, Latvia and Sri Lanka had their own exhibition pavilions.
What about Ukraine? A month ago, opening the exhibition, the Ukrainian media trumpeted all the fanfare: “Ukraine brought a huge number of innovative projects in the field of green technologies to the international specialized exhibition Expo 2017 in Astana.”
In fact, everything turned out to be much worse than the perky reports of the junta troubadours. Ukraine does not have its own pavilion - the “European aerospace power” rents the far corner of the Silk Road Plaza exhibition center along with Afghanistan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan. It is noteworthy that the Ukrainian exposition was barely found by the financial director of the Ukrenergo company, Artur Somov.
Judging by the photo he posted on Facebook (there is no official information about the Ukrainian corner on the Expo 2017 website), the Ukrainian stand can easily be called defective and with a seluk smell. Against the background of photo wallpapers with a Cossack, round dances, golden fields, a mill and the inscription “Energy of creative people”, a model of a windmill, blinds for a passive house and a certain structure passed off as a solar plow, which in fact turned out to be a solar water heater, modestly puffed up. So much for “plenty of green technologies”...
I was extremely pleased with the description by Ukrainian “experts” of the operating principle of a solar boiler: “With the help of plates that absorb solar energy, all the rays of the sun are directed to the center. There is a glass tube there that creates a vacuum. The vacuum in the tube is heated to a temperature of 900 degrees Celsius, the resulting heat can be used to heat floors, swimming pools, and small houses.” The vacuum in their tube heats up... D, B.
Do not think, however, that this is all that the Ukrainian side was capable of. Especially for the Days of Ukraine at Expo 2017, workers of the Pereyaslav-Khmelnitsky factory wove a record 20-meter towel from 30 kg of thread, designed to demonstrate... What? It’s difficult to say what exactly. Even an energetically woven giant footcloth looks more than ridiculous and archaic against the backdrop of electric vehicles, flying trains, eco-capsules for habitats and arctic platforms of the future. It’s strange, but for some reason Northern Mordor didn’t bring a huge bast shoe to the international exhibition in order to capture the imagination of visitors with its bast-length creativity and energy.
Visitors were shocked not only by the presentation, but also by the “Ukrainian News” newspapers posted in the corner in English, while the majority of participants had booklets and brochures that provided information in Russian and English. Who is “novini” for, you ask?
However, as experts say, “a Cossack, a windmill and a boiler” is not the saddest thing that Ukraine was able to show at Expo. They say that last year, at a similar exhibition in Antalya, the Ukrainian exposition was presented in the spirit of dacha creativity for the poor: sun loungers and several ears of corn in a vase. Ukrainian visitors blushed at the sight of this still life, covered their faces and tried to bypass the creative garden with distant gardens.
Ukrainian media reports that the Ukrainian show of amazing modesty in Astana was organized by the Chamber of Commerce and Industry. I'm damn interested in the budget allocated for the exhibition. It feels like he spent all his time buying threads and weaving towels. There wasn’t even enough money to build at least a dozen working models and hire two long-legged girls for the entourage. Still, Expo participants are trying to raise the image of their country in the eyes of visitors.
Interestingly, just recently, “alternative energy” in Ukraine made a fuss in the press about some devilishly advanced and “the most efficient heat pump in the world,” designed to deliver heated water from nuclear power plants to underdeveloped areas. According to “experts,” this complex will, in a few years, “give Ukraine the opportunity to abandon Russian gas and anthracite.”
So they would have shown a unique device at Expo 2017, putting the Russian “Arctic gas station” to shame. At least something.
The Ukrainian exposition reeks of degradation and hopelessness - the true state of affairs in the science and technology of the “agrarian superpower”. It is obvious that Poroshenko and other huntars are not even interested in the inflated and disguised image of Ukraine as a technological country. Then why go to a prestigious exhibition to show all the poverty and shame out there? Participation for the sake of participation? Serve it to the sticky ones, serve it to the barefoot ones...
Somalia exposition – for contrast
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