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Viewing cable 08STPETERSBURG197, MURMANSK - PROSPERING, BUT WITH PROBLEMS

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Reference ID Created Released Classification Origin
08STPETERSBURG197 2008-12-23 16:04 2011-08-24 01:00 UNCLASSIFIED Consulate St Petersburg
R 231604Z DEC 08
FM AMCONSUL ST PETERSBURG
TO SECSTATE WASHDC 2654
INFO AMEMBASSY MOSCOW 
AMCONSUL ST PETERSBURG 
AMCONSUL VLADIVOSTOK 
AMCONSUL YEKATERINBURG 
AMEMBASSY HELSINKI 
AMEMBASSY OSLO
UNCLAS ST PETERSBURG 000197 
 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: RS PGOV ECON EINV EIND EPET EWWT PHUM OPRC
SUBJECT: MURMANSK - PROSPERING, BUT WITH PROBLEMS 
 
1. (SBU)  During a December 17-18 visit to Murmansk, DPO and 
Poloff saw a city relatively unscathed by the world economic 
crisis, and in fact saw a city hoping to capitalize on 
opportunities arising from the crisis and building on its recent 
economic growth.  However, despite the apparent prosperity, 
there are definite undertones of a heavy-handed government 
stifling dissent and giving favorable treatment to 
well-connected companies and persons.  Also, the Russian media's 
unrelentingly negative depiction of the United States, 
especially with respect to differences over Georgia and South 
Ossetia, have evidently borne fruit in the hearts and minds of 
the city's youth. 
 
Economy Doing Nicely, Government Programs Proceeding Apace 
----------------------------- 
 
2. (SBU)  The oblast government is proud of its role in 
attracting foreign business to the oblast as well as improving 
various quality-of-life-factors for the population such as 
increased personal incomes and enhanced environmental 
protections.  One obvious point of civic pride was Prime 
Minister Putin's December 8, 2008 decree regarding the future of 
the Murmansk transportation hub on both sides of the Kola Bay. 
This public/private project is expected to generate up to US$11 
billion in port and land-based infrastructural improvements. 
The government is also pleased with the city's demographic 
turnaround.  The massive population losses of previous years 
have been slowed, and the oblast's population has stabilized. 
In fact, it appears Murmansk is now a net importer of migrants 
from other parts of Russia, as its vibrant economy, current low 
unemployment rate, and growing personal incomes (projected to 
grow by 14% in the next year to US$500 monthly) have proven very 
attractive. 
 
3. (SBU)  The government is acting proactively to head off 
ill-effects from the world economic crisis, by having set up an 
anti-crisis monitoring group which will keep tabs on regional 
business activity, unemployment, and the inflation rate. 
Development of the important natural gas reserves in the 
offshore Shtokman shelf have not yet been officially delayed 
(2013 is still the projected production start date), and the 
10,000 jobs it is expected to generate should more than offset 
any crisis-related job losses.  The government has also assured 
the population that the crisis will not cause any reduction in 
social spending. 
 
4. (SBU)  The local government boasts an aggressive plan to 
improve the quality of the environment and health of the people. 
 The oblast's main programs in this area are to implement clean 
water and air regulations, improve the quality of the drinking 
water supply by switching to underground sources; modernizing 
the city's waste treatment and management program; and proper 
disposal of radioactive waste.  The oblast's environmental 
improvement efforts have already had some success, as some 
locally produced products (like reindeer meat) now qualify for 
and receive European Union certificates of quality, and thus 
command premium prices in the international marketplace. 
 
Government Mischief 
----------------------------- 
 
5. (SBU)  Though economic development has been proceeding nicely 
in Murmansk, civil society has often had to cede to the 
bulldozers of progress.  A prime example of this is the 
controversial construction of a hypermarket downtown.  The new 
building is being built in an area not previously zoned for 
retail space, and civic activists have protested its location by 
claiming it would cause an excessive amount of traffic in a 
residential area, infringes upon green, open space, and would 
not be aesthetically pleasing.  As part of the rezoning process, 
a public hearing was held in which residents had the opportunity 
to express their views.  Activists opposed to the rezoning claim 
the large majority of meeting attendees were opposed to the 
rezoning.  But, the chairman of the meeting, a local government 
official, arbitrarily limited voting to those who were located 
in the first few rows of the meeting hall - rows in which the 
seats had been reserved for supporters of the zoning change. 
The outcome was a foregone conclusion. 
 
6. (SBU)  After fixing the public hearing, the next hurdle to 
overcome in building the hypermarket was to obtain approval of 
the environmental impact study.  The builder's designs were 
submitted to the local governmental environmental committee for 
approval, but the project was disapproved citing excessive 
environmental degradation.  Trying again, the builders submitted 
the same papers to the same committee, but received the same 
disapproval.  But, third time being the charm, upon submission 
of the same papers to the same committee the third time, the 
appropriate approval to commence with the building was received 
with no explanation given as to the reasons for the change in 
verdict.  So in spite of widespread opposition, the market is 
going up.  Our contacts in Murmansk stated this series of events 
and others like it have greatly increased political disaffection 
amongst the population, who are becoming convinced of the 
futility of social activism. 
 
7. (SBU)  The local authorities also seem to have been cracking 
down on foreign NGO activists, using the ambiguity surrounding 
what sort of visas visiting foreigners must obtain in order to 
attend meetings or assist with NGO work.  The most recent 
example of this cracking down process was an incident this past 
summer wherein twelve Scandinavians joined in on a Russian NGO's 
activities to pressure the government into declaring the Khibiny 
mountains, in the center of the Kola peninsula, a protected 
area.  The twelve were arrested for violating visa rules because 
they had entered Russia on tourist visas, but were accused of 
conducting business activities.  The twelve were roughly 
interrogated overnight, fined, and expelled from the country. 
Interestingly, the activists later appealed to the court system 
to overturn their expulsion orders - and won.  However, despite 
this court ruling, the authorities seem to be intent on 
harassing "undesirable" foreigners based on visa regulations. 
In November of this year, two Scandinavian reporters, who were 
attending a human rights conference in Murmansk, were detained 
and expelled from Russia for visa violations.  In this case, 
though, it doesn't seem the authorities had their cover story 
quite straight, as one of the reporters entered Russia with a 
tourist, but the other had entered with a business visa, so it 
is unclear exactly what supposed violation of the visa 
regulations the reporters ostensibly committed.  Both reporters 
are planning to appeal their expulsion orders. 
 
Lapps Struggling to Save Culture 
----------------------------- 
 
8. (SBU)  Our visit to Murmansk came just two days after the 
Kola peninsula Lapps held the first congress in post-Soviet 
history.  Though it took place in out of the way Olenegorsk, the 
seventy four attendees voted to create their own parliament, 
along the lines of the Norwegian and Finnish Lapp model, which 
would help them maintain their cultural integrity.  But, this 
will be an uphill fight, as there are only 2,000 Kola Lapps left 
in Murmansk Oblast, with the majority living in the remote town 
of Lovozero.  Throughout the entire oblast, only one boarding 
school in Lovozero instructs children in their native Lapp 
language.  Additionally, the oblast administration does not 
appear willing to give more than lip-service to the idea of 
supporting Lapp culture - much less Lappish autonomy - as 
indicated by the its recent downgrade of the Committee on 
Northern Peoples (created in 1992) into an amorphous and 
inefficient Oblast Enterprise. 
 
Students Desire Better U.S./Russia Relations, but Lack 
Understanding of Real Differences 
----------------------------- 
 
9. (SBU)  DPO and Poloff spoke with two dozen English-speaking 
international affairs university students and professors at one 
of the city's major universities.  In addition to the normal 
interest in U.S. work/study exchange programs, the attendees 
also showed a keen interest in how the United States perceived 
Russia, and especially whether or not the U.S. believed it could 
work together with Russia as a partner.  They also expressed 
interest in the American Presidential transition, and how 
President Bush's foreign policy legacy will be perceived.  The 
general tenor of the meeting showed they were optimistic the new 
Obama administration will be more cooperative and friendly 
towards Russia. 
 
10. (SBU)  However, it was also evident the students' optimism 
was not based on any grounded understanding of actual potential 
U.S. policy changes so much as on non-specific hopes for an 
improved future.  In fact, it is possible they will be 
disillusioned with future U.S. foreign policy advances, given 
their lack of understanding of true American motives.   For 
example the attendees were nearly unanimous in proclaiming that 
the proposed Poland and Czech Republic based missile defense 
system does in fact present a clear threat to Russia Also, the 
Russian government line regarding its rationale for intervening 
in South Ossetia - that it had to act to prevent "genocide" - 
appeared to have been widely accepted. 
 
Comment 
----------------------------- 
 
11. (SBU)  The city and oblast of Murmansk seem to be doing well 
economically, and it was encouraging to note that the benefits 
of economic growth do seem to be trickling down.  However, the 
stories of government intransigence and heavy-handedness, in its 
dealings with local activists, foreign NGO workers, and the 
indigenous Lapps indicate that the relative economic prosperity 
has not translated into political and social freedoms.  The need 
for intensified U.S. public diplomacy and outreach efforts is 
also evident, given how well-educated university students, 
capable of thinking for themselves and having free access to 
information (including foreign and English-language press), were 
more than willing to believe the worst about the United States, 
and inclined to the groupthink they are fed on a daily basis by 
the mass media.  The Murmansk region may be growing 
economically, but growth in the social and political spheres and 
in understanding and tolerance of others is still lacking. 
 
 
GWALTNEY