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Technology Center in Moscow Seeks Western Companies

Russian officials are urging Western companies to open offices in a technology center
in Moscow. They hope the center will help the country reduce its economic dependence on energy
exports by developing companies that create jobs in Russia.
The center is called Technopolis. It was once a car factory.
Igor Ischenko is the chief executive officer of Technopolis. He says foreign
companies are beginning operations at the center. He adds that the center is the starting point for
the development of new technical and economic solutionsin Russia.
Mr. Ischenko says 25 companies are operating in Technopolis now. He says that will increase to 50 by
the end of the year. Officials had predicted that the center would hold 100 companies by then.
Many Western countries have put economic restrictions, or sanctions, in place against Russia because of
its actions in Ukraine. The sanctions have led several Western companies to decide not
to open offices in Technopolis.
Elina Belevskaya is head of public relations for Russias government-owned
Holding Company Composite. It makes high-technology materials.
She says her company talked with Dow Chemical and Dow Aksa. She said
the company hoped the talks would lead to making products for the world auto
industry, including Ford Motor Company. She says, our company is still rather new and
we cannot do everything by ourselves. In Russia, it is not easy to
convince large auto companies to buy your products, she says. Working with
Dow Chemical would have let us make products for the U.S market. But, she says,
the sanctions made that impossible.
It is not easy for Russian companies to find the materials needed for production and
for developing markets within the country.
The Russian government also owns the Nanotechnology Center for Composites.
It buys its supplies from European companies and many of its
customers are also foreign. Peter Molnar is the technical director for the Nanotechnology Center.

This situation is somehow developing the local market and the local production. And we hope that
we can be a part of this local production. And, yeah, I hope that we can show that it
is possible to produce here even high-end products and products which are quite new and innovative.
Igor Ischenko of Technopolis says there are plans to open an even larger technology center.
He says his company will operate it.
But he also says he
is worried that Moscows financial problems may limit thetax reductions companies are given for moving to
the city. He says Moscow may not continue to provide free electric power and water to Technopolis if the
citys economy continues to worsen.
Im Bob Doughty.

American Expressions in the Home

Now, the VOA Special English program, Words and Their Stories.
Some unusual words describe how a person spends his or her time. For
example, someone who likes to spend a lot of time sitting or lying down while
watching television is sometimes called a couch potato. A couch is a piece
of furniture that people sit on while watching television.
Robert Armstrong, an artist from California, developed the term couch potato in 1976. Several years later,
he listed the term as a trademark with the United
States government. Mister Armstrong also helped write a
funny

book about life as a full-time television watcher. It is called the Official Couch Potato Handbook.
Couch potatoes enjoy watching television just as mouse potatoes enjoy working on computers.
A computer mouse is the device that moves thepointer, or cursor, on a computer screen.
The description of mouse potato became popular in nineteen-ninetythree. American writer Alice Kahn is saidto have invented the term to describe young people who spend a
lot of time using computers.
Too much time inside the house using a computer or watching television can
cause someone to get cabin fever. A cabin is a simple house usually built far away from
the city. People go to a cabin to relax and enjoy quiet time.

Cabin fever is not really a disease. However, people can experience boredom
and restlessness if they spend too much time inside their homes. This is
especially true during the winter when it is too cold or snowy to do things
outside. Often children get cabin fever if they cannot go outside to play. So do their parents.
This happens when there is so much snow that schools and even offices and stores are closed.
Some people enjoy spending a lot of time in theirhomes to make them nice places to live. This is called
nesting or cocooning.
Birds build nests out of sticks to hold their eggs and baby birds. Some insects build cocoons around
themselves for protection while they grow and change. Nests and cocoons provide security for wildlife. So
people like the idea of nests and cocoons, too.
The terms cocooning and nesting became popular more than twenty years ago. They describe people
buying their first homes and filling them with many things. These people then had children.
Now these children are grown and have left the nest. They are in college.
Or they are married and starting families of their own far away. Now these parents are
living alone without children in their empty nest. They have become empty nesters.

Nuclear Deal Could Lead to Increased Influence for Iran

Negotiators are trying to reach an agreement to limit Irans nuclear activities. The deal would include an
easing of international sanctions against Iran. The restrictions were designed to punish Iran for
its nuclear activities.
Some observers believe a final agreement would help Iran expand its influence in the Middle East.
Representatives from Iran, the United States and five other countries recently agreed on
a plan for future negotiations on Irans nuclear program. Negotiators
now hope to reach a final agreement by the end of June.
As the talks move forward, some governments have raised other concerns
about Iran, including its support for Houthi rebels in Yemen. They are also
concerned about Irans assistance in Iraq in the fight against Islamic State militants and
its ties to Hezbollah, the Shiite militant group based in Lebanon.
One of the most outspoken critics of a stronger Iran is Israel. Prime Minister
Benjamin Netanyahu has criticized the deal reached in Switzerland this month.

The deal would greatly bolster Irans economy. It would give Iran thereby
tremendous means to propel its aggression and terrorism throughout theMiddle East.
But United States officials say a nuclear deal may actually help reduce threats
from Iran. Marie Harf is with the State Department.
One of the reasons we are so committed to seeing if we can prevent them
from getting a nuclear weapon is, if you can imagine how much power they're
able to project today, they would be able to project ever more power if that was backed up by
a nuclear weapon.
Kelsey Davenport studies efforts to stop the spread of weapons. She says an
Iran nuclear deal might lead to more unrest in the Middle East.
Any agreement that left Iran with a nuclear infrastructure was going to be a bad deal.
Emanuele Ottolenghi is a Middle East expert at the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies.
He says people should be worried that the easing of sanctions might empower Iran. He spoke to VOA
on SKYPE.
It will be a great boost to Irans wealth, which the regime has used as a tool
to influence regional foreign policy, to fund terrorist movements, to advance its goals,
to enhance Irans role as a leader in the non-aligned movement. The sky is the limit
Emanuele Ottolenghi says several countries would likely feel most threatened by
an empowered Iran. One of them is Israel. Another would be Saudi
Arabia, which he says competes with Iran.
There is a, an irreconcilable rivalry between the two countries and the ruling elites as both aspire to be
the beacon and, and guide, and sort of global power in
the Islamic world. These two things cannot be reconciled.
He says the changes should help countries that enjoyed trade relations with
Iran before the sanctions were put in place.