Latest news with #Sokolov
Otago Daily Times
28-05-2025
- Business
- Otago Daily Times
New owner set on keeping Maggies' ‘soul'
Enjoying the "special vibe" at Stuart St cafe 'Maggies' is new owner Boban "Bobby" Sokolov, who moved to Dunedin with his family from North Macedonia about five months ago. PHOTO: GERARD O'BRIEN It was after his first coffee at Maggies a couple of months ago that Boban "Bobby" Sokolov decided he wanted to buy the business. Hailing from North Macedonia, Mr Sokolov said he moved to Dunedin with his family about five months ago so his wife could study for a doctorate of Business Administration at the University of Otago. He officially took over as owner at the start of May. Since arriving in Dunedin, Mr Sokolov said he had not seen anything quite like Maggies around the city — or even around Europe. "I've never seen anything similar to what Maggies has to offer. "The people working here, they all seem to click with each other, help each other, have really positive attitude." His first month at the helm of the cafe had been "pretty amazing", he said. His business background in North Macedonia included being head of commerce at a family-owned company for about 12 years, which operated grocery stores, supermarkets and a bakery. He had looked at a few businesses for sale since arriving in the city. "Once I had my first coffee here, I just enjoyed the special vibe about Maggies." He wanted to do something that would make him happy while in Dunedin, he said. "The team, the people, as well as the customers that are coming here, it's just amazing. "So that's what made my choice really easy at the end." Mr Sokolov said he did not want to change a thing about Maggies and was committed to keeping its "soul" the same. Almost all of the cafe's existing staff had agreed to continue working under his ownership. Founder and former owner Troy Butler would also stay on for a couple of months to help with handing over the business. Mr Sokolov said he also owned a dog, a Great Dane called Hubert, who he bought from Ukraine shortly before the war but had to leave in North Macedonia. "I miss him. "My whole family misses him. "For me, it's pretty helpful to see all these dogs and pets coming in Maggies and all these pet lovers."
Qatar Tribune
11-05-2025
- Sport
- Qatar Tribune
Qatar's Sokolov clinches U16 gold at Arab Golf in Cairo
Tribune News Network Doha In a remarkable achievement that adds to Qatar's growing reputation in regional sports, Daniel Sokolov, a rising star of the Qatari national junior golf team, claimed the gold medal in the U16 individual category at the Arab Golf Championship for Juniors and Ladies, held in Cairo, Egypt. The prestigious event took place across the renowned Madinaty Golf Club and Katameya Dunes courses and concluded last Saturday. The championship brought together 110 players from 13 Arab countries: Qatar, Jordan, Bahrain, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Morocco, Oman, Palestine, Saudi Arabia, Tunisia, the United Arab Emirates, and hosts Egypt. Sokolov dominated over the course of the three-round event, finishing with a total score of 204 strokes, an impressive 9 under par. He finished six strokes ahead of the runner-up, Alaa Eldin Salama of Egypt (210 strokes, 3 under par), while Morocco's Mohamed Bouhmo was third place with even-par score of 213 strokes. Mohammed Ibrahim Al Muhannadi, Board Member and Deputy Secretary-General of the Qatar Golf Association (QGA), who also headed the Qatari delegation, expressed pride in Sokolov's outstanding performance. 'This victory is a testament to the dedication of our young athletes and the ongoing efforts of the QGA in nurturing emerging talents,' Al Muhannadi stated. 'The championship was an invaluable experience, and it showcased the promising future of Qatari golf. Our junior players are the foundation upon which we build our future national teams.' He also commended the excellent organization of the tournament. The gold medal marks a major milestone in Daniel Sokolov's career, reflecting Qatar's long-term strategy in developing youth golf.
Boston Globe
03-05-2025
- Politics
- Boston Globe
Message from the Russian military: ‘We lost your son'
'Lost him how?' she says she responded, alarmed and angry, especially when the officer explained that after Rafael had failed to check in by radio, a search had proved impossible. 'How do we search for him?' she says the officer told her. Advertisement Variations on that grim scenario have been repeated countless times since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022. The Russian Ministry of Defense lacks any formal, organized effort to track down legions of missing soldiers, according to bereaved families, private organizations that try to assist them and military analysts. Relatives, stuck in limbo, fend for themselves with scant government information. The ministry declined to comment for this article. Sokolov, the liaison officer, said in a text message: 'You do realize that I can't comment on anything.' Even if Russia and Ukraine reach a peace agreement, the hunt for missing soldiers is expected to endure for years, if not decades. The Defense Ministry has not published any statistics about the number of missing, which military analysts and families say is because it does not know the number. Estimates run to the tens of thousands. Advertisement Anna Tsivilyova, a deputy minister of defense and a cousin of President Vladimir Putin, told the State Duma last November that 48,000 relatives of the missing had submitted DNA samples in hope of identifying remains, although that included some duplicate requests from the same family. In Ukraine, 'Want to Find,' a government project to help locate Russian servicemen captured or killed there, said it had received more than 88,000 requests for information, with over 9,000 in April alone. It noted that the overall number of missing is still unknown. The International Committee of the Red Cross, which tries to locate missing from both sides, whether civilians or military, has 110,000 cases submitted. The family of Isakhanov Ravazan, a 25-year-old soldier, last received a brief voice message from him on Nov. 9. During a battle soon afterward, his aunt said, he radioed his commander that he could not stanch the bleeding from a bad wound. He has not been heard from since. 'No one saw him dead,' said his aunt, who, like several people in this article, did not want to be identified for fear of falling afoul of laws against detailing battlefield losses. 'Maybe he saved himself, maybe someone found him, we are still holding onto hope that he is alive,' she said. 'There is no peace for the soul. I cannot sleep at night, and neither can his parents.' Most missing soldiers likely died fighting and were abandoned on the battlefield, experts said. There are not enough teams to collect bodies, and the constant deployment of drones makes retrieval too dangerous. Advertisement Commanders have enough trouble delivering food and ammunition, and that is the priority, said a military analyst with the Conflict Intelligence Team, an independent organization in exile that tracks the conflict. The analyst, who declined to use his name to avoid jeopardizing relatives still in Russia, said only families of the soldiers care if bodies are collected, 'and there is no punishment for alienating relatives.' A Ukrainian man from the occupied city of Luhansk, who was dragooned into service as a battlefield medic and who also declined to be identified, said of his experience: 'Hundreds of people were left lying out there. Every day, dozens were wounded or killed.' Even when bodies are retrieved, identification is problematic. Often remains can be removed only after the battle lines shift markedly so that attack drones fly elsewhere, and that could take months or even years. The military morgue in the western city of Rostov, officially known as the Center for the Reception, Processing and Dispatch of the Deceased, is the main clearing center. When she learned that her son was missing, Kaipova, who is married and has one other son, flew there first. 'Everything is overcrowded,' she said, arriving at 7 a.m. to submit a DNA sample and leaving at 10 p.m. 'Wives, mothers, fathers -- all crying, sobbing, waiting.' Investigators there told her and others that they face a backlog of about 15,000 unidentified servicemen. The sluggish pace, the constant referrals to different government agencies and the lack of basic information have families of the missing on a slow boil. Anger overflows from numerous online chat rooms where relatives seek help. Relatives of missing soldiers from the 25th Guards Motorized Rifle Brigade from the Leningrad region have made repeated appeals to Putin. Advertisement 'Everywhere we encounter indifference!' they said in a video last month showing pictures of the missing. Every family receives exactly the same form letter and is just told, repeatedly, to wait, they said, 'Help us! We are tired of living in ignorance for months and years!' The Kremlin established the Defenders of the Fatherland State Foundation, ostensibly to help soldiers, veterans and their families. But it has no inside track on details about the missing, analysts said. There is 'no system of liaison with the soldiers' families,' said Sergei Krivenko, director of a human rights organization formed to help soldiers. He called the Fatherland Foundation a 'fake structure,' designed to deflect blame from the Defense Ministry and 'to give a semblance of action.' The Fatherland Foundation did not respond to requests for comment. Kaipova has written to numerous officials starting with Putin, visited his administrative office and searched through multiple hospitals, including some amid the fighting in eastern Ukraine. 'I run in circles,' she said. Rafael was a reluctant soldier. Raised in the central city of Tyumen, he seriously injured another man who tried to take his car. Officials presented him with a common choice in Russian criminal cases: Go to jail or to the front. His mother begged him to chose jail, but he recoiled. 'He was in agony, pacing,' she said. 'He did not want war or prison.' He deployed last Aug. 1, his 20th birthday. She never heard from him again. A hospitalized soldier from his unit once called to tell her that Rafael had cried out for his mother in fear at the start of his first battle. Advertisement She learned from Form 1421, the terse military record of his disappearance, that he served with an intelligence unit. Rafael was among a group of soldiers carrying out 'special tasks' in a Donetsk province village, it said, when they came under fire from artillery and drones. 'The group, which included Rafael Kaipov, lost contact after this engagement.' Under new laws, commanding officers can go to court just six months after the last contact with a soldier to have him declared missing, allowing them to halt his combat pay. Families have to file an additional case to have the missing soldier declared dead, which releases hefty benefits. Some shun such a definitive step. 'I cry constantly, morning and night,' Kaipova said. 'My biggest fear is that I will exhaust every lead and have no one left to turn to.' This article originally appeared in
CBS News
15-04-2025
- Business
- CBS News
University of Chicago Booth School of Business gets $100 million gift for MBA program
A private equity investor who got his start at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business has donated $100 million to the school. University of Chicago alumnus Konstantin Sokolov, founder of Chicago-based IJS Investments, made the $100 million gift to the Executive MBA Program at the university. The program will be renamed the Sokolov Executive MBA Program, and Booth will use the gift to establish a new clinical professorship for the program. "With Sokolov's remarkable commitment, the Sokolov Executive MBA Program will continue to educate future generations of leaders, giving students the insight and skills they need to move people and organizations to success," said Madhav Rajan, Booth dean and George Pratt Shultz Professor of Accounting. The 21-month MBA program at Booth provides students with personalized coaching, leadership workshops, insight circles, and career clinics. The program focuses on global economics - with campuses in Chicago, Hong Kong and London. "I am immensely proud to be able to support the incredible achievements made by Chicago Booth, an institution with a legacy of pioneering research and transformative education since its founding," Sokolov said in a statement.
Forbes
15-04-2025
- Business
- Forbes
University Of Chicago Given $100 Million For Its Executive MBA Program
The University of Chicago has received a $100 million gift from entrepreneur and investor Konstantin Sokolov. The donation will be used to support multiple components of the university's Executive MBA Program at its Booth School of Business. In honor of the donor, the university said it would rename the program the Sokolov Executive MBA Program. It will also create a new clinical professorship for a scholar who will teach Executive MBA students. 'With this extraordinary gift, Konstantin Sokolov offers a powerful testament to the impact of the education provided by the University of Chicago Booth School of Business,' said University of Chicago President Paul Alivisatos, in a news release. 'I am pleased to know that students will benefit from his generous support, which will allow the school to continue fostering innovation, leadership and excellence in business education.' Chicago's executive MBA program has a long and distinguished history. First created in 1943, its initial cohort consisted of 52 students who met two nights a week at a building on Michigan Avenue. Today, it trains more than 200 students annually in a 21-month multidisciplinary curriculum — dubbed 'The Chicago Approach' — that's offered in Chicago, London and Hong Kong. In addition to formal classes, it places special emphasis on career and leadership development through personalized executive coaching, leadership workshops and an executive-in-residence experience. Konstantin Sokolov immigrated to the U.S. from Russia at age 21; he received his Executive MBA from the University of Chicago in 2005. Sokolov is the founder of IJS Investments, a private equity firm located in Chicago. His gift marks the 20th anniversary of his graduation from the program. 'I am immensely proud to be able to support the incredible achievements made by Chicago Booth, an institution with a legacy of pioneering research and transformative education since its founding,' Sokolov said in the news release. 'I am deeply honored by the school's decision to give my name to its world-leading Executive MBA Program," he added. "Two decades after my graduation, the lessons I learned, the experiences I gained, and the friendships I forged at Booth remain the foundation of my career and my life. The school's relentless pursuit of knowledge is an inspiration, and I hope my support will contribute to its continued success.' The new gift will be used for several purposes, according to the university, including additional support for student scholarships and daily operations as well as enhancements to the curriculum and the forging of greater professional connections and related opportunities for students. 'With Konstantin's remarkable commitment, the Sokolov Executive MBA Program will continue to educate future generations of leaders, giving students the insight and skills they need to move people and organizations to success,' added Madhav Rajan, dean of Chicago Booth and the George Pratt Shultz Professor of Accounting. 'This gift will help the school further adapt and refine its offerings to meet the evolving global business landscape.' Chicago's Booth School is widely recognized as one of the leading business schools in the nation. Forbes recently ranked it first on its list of best business schools.
