Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
07MOSCOW5192
2007-10-29 17:07:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy Moscow
Cable title:  

TOMSK OBLAST GOVERNOR ON ELECTIONS, RELATIONS WITH

Tags:  PGOV PINR ECON SOCI RS 
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VZCZCXRO2188
PP RUEHDBU
DE RUEHMO #5192/01 3021707
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
P 291707Z OCT 07
FM AMEMBASSY MOSCOW
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 4910
INFO RUCNCIS/CIS COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUEHXD/MOSCOW POLITICAL COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 MOSCOW 005192 

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/29/2017
TAGS: PGOV PINR ECON SOCI RS
SUBJECT: TOMSK OBLAST GOVERNOR ON ELECTIONS, RELATIONS WITH
MOSCOW

REF: MOSCOW 1008

Classified By: Ambassador William J. Burns. Reason: 1.4 (d).

Summary
-------

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 MOSCOW 005192

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/29/2017
TAGS: PGOV PINR ECON SOCI RS
SUBJECT: TOMSK OBLAST GOVERNOR ON ELECTIONS, RELATIONS WITH
MOSCOW

REF: MOSCOW 1008

Classified By: Ambassador William J. Burns. Reason: 1.4 (d).

Summary
--------------


1. (C) Tomsk Governor Viktor Kress enjoys strong support from
the regional population as well as the Moscow elite because
he, somewhat like Putin, is seen as a competent steward of
his region's economic resources and as a capable manager of
the local political system. During discussions with the
Ambassador in Tomsk on October 26, Kress outlined an
ambitious and progressive vision for economic development
beyond natural resource extraction via the intellectual
horsepower of Tomsk's six universities and attracting U.S.
and other international investment. While noting that
center-periphery relations were weighted in Moscow's favor,
Kress welcomed the signal sent by Kozak's appointment as
Minister of Regional Development. Under pressure from
Moscow, Kress agreed to head the United Russia party list for
Tomsk oblast in the December Duma elections, and local
political observers expect extensive use of administrative
methods to bolster the turnout for the Kremlin's party.
Kress's continued success as one of the few remaining
Yeltsin-era governors is a testament to his ability to sail
the ever-changing political winds that steer the relationship
between center and periphery. End summary.

Developing the
"Siberian Athens"
--------------


3. (C) In Tomsk, one in five of residents --nearly 100
thousand people-- attend the city's six universities, which
include the oldest "classical" university in Siberia.
Governor Kress told the Ambassador in an October 26 meeting
that he views Tomsk's intellectual capital as the key to the
region's future, especially in the fields of information
technology, bio-tech, and nanotechnology. He has set what he
terms an "ambitious" goal of creating 50 thousand
knowledge-based jobs over the next twenty years.
Implementing this plan, however, will require the region to
create a welcoming environment, including affordable housing,
for university graduates --up to 70 percent of whom come from

other oblasts. In pursuit of his goals, Kress has sought to
foster the creation of small- and medium-sized businesses
and, under his leadership, the region has won a competition
for the right to establish a special economic zone with tax
and financial benefits.


4. (C) Building new infrastructure is a central part of
Kress's economic plan. His administration is planning an
international airport as well as mega-projects, like the
building of a northern rail line. In order to develop the
region's tourism potential, Kress has worked to protect and
restore Tomsk's large stock of architecturally-significant
wooden houses. (Kress criticized the mayor of Tomsk,
currently in pre-trial incarceration on bribery charges, for
allowing developers to demolish one of the city's historic
neighborhoods.) In order to save the historic center, Kress
has lobbied for changes in zoning rules, which currently
require builders to appeal to Moscow for permission to
convert agricultural land on the city outskirts into
residential plots; a process that currently takes more than
six months to complete.


5. (C) Kress appealed to the Ambassador for assistance in
attracting U.S. business to Tomsk, especially in creating a
"partnership" with a northern U.S. state. His administration
has a capable and active international relations staff, and
the Governor goes abroad at least three times a year to
promote Tomsk's investment potential. Tomsk currently has a
partnership program with Liaong province in China,
Alsace-Lorraine in France, and with two German regions -
Baden-Wurtenburg and Lower Saxony.

Center-Periphery Relations
--------------


6. (C) Kress characterized the relations between center and
periphery as skewed heavily in Moscow's favor, but he thought
that the appointment of Dmitriy Kozak as Minister of Regional
Development would help. Kress considered Kozak a capable
administrator, with first-hand experience, as Southern
Polpred, of the issues facing regional leaders. (Kress's
optimism was perhaps fueled by Kozak's advocacy, in an
October 25 appearance at the Federation Council, of increased
regional autonomy and greater local control over finances.)


7. (C) Other commentators said that the takeover of local oil

MOSCOW 00005192 002 OF 002


producer Tomskneft by the state-controlled oil company
Rosneft had fundamentally changed the balance of power
between Moscow and Tomsk. Tomskneft had invested heavily in
local universities and society when its was controlled by
Mikhail Khodorkovskiy's Yukos. Rosneft, according to local
newspaper "Tomskie Novosti" Editor Aleksandr Krasnoperov,
"does not care about the interests of the region." He
pointed to the oblast's financial woes since Rosneft --which
had overpaid its taxes in 2006-- stopped further payments to
the region until it was fully reimbursed. (Originally,
Rosneft had agreed to amortize the repayment over three
years, according to Krasnoperov.)

The Limits of Progressivism
--------------


8. (C) Kress earlier this year bowed to pressure to head the
regional branch of United Russia (YR) and is number one on
the party's regional Duma list. Tomsk has traditionally been
a more "liberal" region, if only because of the large number
of students and intellectuals. The governor predicted that
the Communist Party (KPRF) would do well in the coming
election, but noted that the Union of Right Forces (SPS) also
had a strong following in Tomsk -- more so than in most
regions of Russia.


9. (C) The head of the Yabloko party and member of the city
legislature, Vasiliy Yeremin, complained that YR had all the
advantages: control over administrative resources and a
dominant position in the media. In his telling, the large
number of universities was actually a negative, since the
students tended to vote as "instructed." (Yeremin claimed
that SPS did well in Tomsk because the Prorector of the Radio
Technical University, who was in the leadership of the
regional SPS branch, directed his students to vote for the
party.) Moreover, he claimed that government workers,
including teachers, doctors, and bureaucrats tended to vote
as their bosses recommended.


10. (C) Krasnoperov agreed that administrative pressure on
students skewed voting patterns in the city -- Tomsk oblast's
major population center. Krasnoperov cited statistics from
one of the city districts in which more than 60 percent of
the students had voted in local elections, while only 20
percent of the "non-student" population had cast their
ballots. Krasnoperov predicted that the election would
largely follow the pattern established during the March
elections for the regional legislature, in which YR took
almost half of the vote (reftel). He expected that the KPRF
and the mercurial Vladimir Zhirinovskiy's Liberal Democratic
Party (LDPR) would each win about 13 percent of the vote.
SPS was expected to garner about 8 percent.

Ambassador in Lively
Exchange with Tomsk
State Students, Participates
in Rule of Law Roundtable
--------------


11. (SBU) In addition to his conversation with Kress, the
Ambassador had a lively discussion with about one hundred
Tomsk State students, and participated in a roundtable
dedicated to a USAID-funded rule-of-law judicial program.
The Ambassador also found time to meet health and early care
education workers and the disabled children that they work
with. He attended as well a roundtable with members of a
Department of Energy-funded program that is to permanently
shut down the remaining three operating plutonium production
reactors in Russia.

Comment
--------------


12. (C) Kress appears confident that his position in Tomsk is
secure and that the turnout for the Duma elections for United
Russia will meet Kremlin expectations. His vision for
developing Tomsk's economy fits neatly with Putin's plans for
Russia, and he has been more successful than most of his
contemporaries in maximizing Federal funds to achieve his
goals. Even as they complain about the heavy-handed
administrative methods used to compel others to share in his
vision, critics viewed Kress as a progressive leader who has
ably defended the interests of his constituents.
Burns