#10
San Francisco Chronicle
May 26, 2002
Russians: 'So Bush is here, so what?'/Ordinary people
see no economic payoff from the summit
Anna Badkhen, Chronicle Staff Writer
St. Petersburg, Russia -- Certainly the earnest young A students at St. Petersburg University had all the right questions for the two presidents.
When will Russia join the World Trade Organization? they asked President Bush and Russian President Vladimir Putin on Saturday. What do the two leaders think about the brain drain from Russia to the United States? When will Russia graduate from exporting primary products such as oil and wood and start exporting high-technology products to the West?
The questions from the 60 students -- all of them carefully screened to attend the meeting -- reflected their intense interest in U.S.-Russian relations. But these undergraduates hardly represented the attitude of most Russians toward the Bush-Putin summit, which began Friday in Moscow, then moved on Saturday to St. Petersburg, Russia's second city, for a two-day visit.
"So Bush is here, so what?" asked one St. Petersburg police officer, who identified himself only as Yuri. "He'll see our beautiful city, talk with Putin about something. No big deal."
The indifference of many Russians to the summit in their midst may be a result of the sparse payoff from Russia's budding ties with the United States. And few here see how this meeting can turn the two countries into business partners.
"You can have the best relations with Bush, but you shouldn't confuse that with an economic revival," said Alexei Pushkov, a prominent Russian television commentator. "(Former President Bill) Clinton and (former Russian President Boris) Yeltsin were friends, but what did we get out of it?"
COMMERCIAL TIES
Since the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, U.S. direct investment in Russia has totaled $4 billion -- about one-tenth of what U.S. companies have invested in China over the same period. To Russians, this suggests that U.S. businesses don't see their country as a priority for building commercial ties. Analysts here say it would take more than good chemistry between the two leaders to attract foreign investors, who are discouraged by corruption, crime, bureaucratic interference and a history of hostile takeovers here.
"If corrupt policemen and greedy court assessors have replaced bandits and thugs, does that make the investment climate in Russia any better than it was before?" asked Vladimir Averchev, a liberal analyst.
"For Russia to win more investment, Russia needs to undertake reform itself, not accept gifts from presidents," Pushkov agreed.
On Friday, Bush and Putin signed a pact that encourages deeper economic cooperation between the two nations, but their comments at Saturday's meeting with St. Petersburg University students revealed tensions over economic issues.
Bush's promise to seek congressional repeal of the 1974 Jackson-Vanik Amendment, a Cold War-era restriction on commerce with Russia, fell short of Putin's expectations, and the Russian president made a sarcastic remark about the trade curb.
"These obstacles and limitations were placed upon us back in the days of the Soviet Union, and by their very inertia they continue on and on," Putin said in televised remarks. "We think that it is not good for our bilateral relations with the United States. We have to do better."
The Jackson-Vanik amendment was implemented to punish the Soviet Union for its refusal to allow Jewish emigration, but has been waived annually since 1994. Formally lifting the restriction would be a signal to U.S. and European businesses that Russia is a trustworthy partner, one worth investing in.
WORLD TRADE ORGANIZATION
Nor, despite earlier White House promises, did Bush formally pronounce Russia a market economy -- a key milestone for Russia's entry into the World Trade Organization. Putin, who pursues a pro-Western foreign policy, seeks membership in the WTO, which sets and polices world trade rules.
Bush, who supports Moscow's entry into the WTO, said he would oppose bending the group's strict standards to accept Russia.
"I think the accession to the WTO ought to be based on the rules every other nation has had to live up to," Bush said. "Nothing harsher, nothing less harsh."
These disagreements did not seem to spoil the overall good-natured exchanges between the two presidents in Putin's hometown, which celebrated its 299th birthday Saturday.
Bush and Putin went on a two-hour tour of the Hermitage Museum, attended Tchaikovsky's "Nutcracker" ballet at the Mariinsky Theater, and later went on a boat trip on the calm waters of the Neva. In remarks broadcast on Russian national television, Bush called Putin "my friend" and referred to him as "Vladimir." Putin called his counterpart "George."
Thousands of people poured into the streets of central St. Petersburg Saturday -- but unlike the 20,000 anti-war demonstrators who had greeted Bush in Berlin earlier last week, these were merely spectators taking part in City Day celebrations. Some of them cheered when cars carrying Putin and Bush drove by, en route to the university, the Associated Press reported.
HANDFUL OF PROTESTERS
A mixed group of about 100 elderly Communists, teenage nationalists and anti-globalization activists demonstrated in St. Petersburg's city center. Some carried banners reading, "Bush: Hands Off Russia!" and "USA Is Terrorist No. 1." About 20 of the young protesters tried to push their way through tough security lines into the university, where Bush was speaking, but police quickly detained them.
"Every city has its small group of crazy people," Nikolai Butko, a pediatrician who was enjoying the sunny day out, said apologetically about the protesters.
"Me, I don't care whether Bush comes or goes," Butko said. "All these high-level talks mean nothing to me."
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