They even have a cheery dezhurnaya sitting next to them, and she is just bursting over the accomplishment.
"Everyone is so happy," said Tatyana, perched on a small metal chair in the departures hall. "But they still break down a lot. At first they both worked, now only one works."
There are two pairs of escalators, but of each pair, only one works. On one side of the airport, one goes up. On the other side of the airport, one goes down. Still, you can at least walk on the broken ones.
"Before, we were like an information booth," said another Tatyana, who works at a cigarette kiosk. "Everyone used to come up to us and ask us how to get to the first floor. Now they can see for themselves."
Tatyana has been working at her kiosk for four years, and she has never seen the escalators working. They've been broken for at least five years. But the repair was considered a big success.
"This success cost us $500,000," said Vasily Akporisov, the general director of Sheremetyevo.
Akporisov said he hopes the airport will see several additional improvements in the upcoming year.
The airport is purchasing a computerized passport processing system that, according to Akporisov, should dramatically decrease the time spent at passport control. An experiment is already underway for Russian citizens, who can now pass through a "green line" at passport control.
"We're trying to shorten the time that foreigners spend at the border," said Akporisov, a former military man who took over the directorship at Sheremetyevo last year. Negotiations are also underway with Customs to simplify procedures by buying new x-ray equipment and modifying the customs form.
Friday saw the first anniversary of the Louis Restaurant-Cafe overlooking the departure hall. Louis executives said they hope soon to open a similar cafe and restaurant across the runway at Sheremetyevo-1. Extensive modernization and renovation underway there should also be finished this year, Akporisov said.
There are, however, problems. Last year, the government promised 50 billion rubles ($10.3 million) in credit for improvements at the airport.
"I've made five attempts to get that money," said Akporisov. Presidential economic adviser Alexander Livshits, he said, recently traveled through Sheremetyevo-2, assessed the situation and promised to help shake the money loose. "He understood that we need help."
There are legal difficulties as well. The airport and Aeroflot, which used to be parts of the same company, have separated. Aeroflot has been made into a joint stock company. The airport wants to follow suit, but the paperwork is gathering dust in government offices.
"We are completely without legal rights right now," Akporisov said. "I don't know why, but it must benefit someone. It's cutting off the economic development of the airport."
The little things should get attention, too. "We're going to put the place in order," Akporisov said. "I mean cleanliness."
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