It’s a cloudy, hot morning in Sunny Isles Beach, in the greater Miami area. Tourists and numerous residents of the three Trump Towers with their curved, bright facades sunbathe on the beach. Several excavators are working on a property next door: New high-rise buildings with hotels and apartments have been rising in Sunny Isles for years, many of them in the luxury segment.
A few hundred meters from the beach in the real estate company Big International, Russian is spoken: owner Eli Nektalow is discussing the contract with employee Anna Abraham, which she will hopefully sign tomorrow with a couple from Russia. Sunny Isles in South Florida is known as Little Moscow because of the many Russian-speaking residents. Some live here permanently, others have a second home far from home.
“In the year 2000, no Russians lived here. It started when the first high-rise buildings were built on the beach. First one family moved here, then another, and the told friends from Sunny Isles. Russians like to live close to each other, because of the culture and of the language. And that’s why Sunny Isles is now one of the most expensive real estate markets in South Florida.”
Russischer Boom in Sunny Isles
It’s cool in the rooms of the real estate company, music is playing very quietly. When Eli Nektalov talks about Russians, he means everyone who comes from the countries of the former Soviet Union. Since he’s been in the US, he says he’s simplified it. Nektalov is from Kazakhstan and has lived in Florida for 20 years. He founded Big International 15 years ago – right at the beginning of the “Russian boom” in Sunny Isles, as he puts it. The fact that Donald Trump has invested in several projects here is proof of the quality of the location. For Nektalov, Trump is a star of the real estate scene. And he believes that Trump will be well received by Russian-speaking US voters.
“I think most Russians here will vote for Trump because they know what he’s achieved and that he’s someone who can do what he sets out to do. Trump has seen the world and he’s going to take the best of everything and implement here in the USA, for example in education or in the health sector.”
Above all, Eli Nektalov hopes that a President Donald Trump would really improve relations between Russia and the US, as Trump has announced several times. Because business with customers from Russia has collapsed in Sunny Isles. This is mainly due to the sanctions that the US government has imposed on Russian banks and individuals in the course of the Ukraine conflict, says the real estate agent. Even those Russians not directly affected by travel bans or transaction barriers are now reluctant to invest in the US, he says.
“There are a lot of rumours, and that’s why people are afraid to invest in the US and here in South Florida. For us, of course, that means falling income. If this continues, let’s say six months, then it will be catastrophic for us. If the sanctions are lifted, then more people could get visas and invest here again.”
enthusiasm for Trump
His colleague Anna Abraham is also enthusiastic about the businessman and politician Trump: She came to the USA from St. Petersburg seven years ago because she saw more opportunities for herself here. As a green card holder, she cannot vote – and she is sorry. She sees parallels between Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump.
“They are both very strong leaders, very direct and powerful. They have an inner strength that you can feel even when you see them on TV. Both are great negotiators – and they seem to like each other.”
Her boss Eli Nektalov nods as she says this and he adds:
“I believe that if the two work together, then they can achieve a lot of good things. If America and Russia are friends, a lot of wealth will be created. Everyone benefits from that. And if Russia and America are happy, then Europe will be too, and Asia too. Then are all on the same wavelength.”
Next to the real estate agency is Yuri Kutsevol’s Nutcracker shop. The humming fridges are filled with tins of caviar and cakes. Yuri Kutsevol comes from Luhansk in eastern Ukraine. He owned an entire supermarket chain there, but because of the violence and tyranny that still reigns in eastern Ukraine, he is now in Florida with his family. Although Yuri Kutsevol does not speak English well, he follows the pre-election campaign as well as he can.
“I know little about Clinton so far, probably because I haven’t been here long and didn’t live in the United States during her husband’s presidency. That’s why Hillary is still a stranger to me. As a businessman, I can better assess Trump.”
relationship with Russia
Ukrainian Yuri Kutsevol blames Vladimir Putin for the conflict in eastern Ukraine. But he would still be happy if a US President Trump would improve relations with Russia.
“Trump doesn’t want to be friends so much with Putin, I don’t think, but above all with Russia – but of course that’s mostly Putin these days. So you have to find compromises for friendly cooperation. The economy is interconnected worldwide. And we have here Because of the sanctions, there are hardly any Russian tourists now. Our business is suffering as a result. We are now American taxpayers.”
In the real estate agency next door, Eli Nektalov and Anna Abraham call it a day. They are confident that Trump will win the election and that he will be a good president for the United States of America, which they have called home for years.