SMOLENSK: SLOWLY BREAKING AWAY FROM THE RED BELT

C O N F I D E N T I A L MOSCOW 000411 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/14/2018 TAGS: PGOV KDEM SOCI RS SUBJECT: SMOLENSK: SLOWLY BREAKING AWAY FROM THE RED BELT Classified By: Political M/C Alice G. Wells. Reasons 1.4 (B/D). (C) Summary: Historically branded as part of Russia's "red belt," the city of Smolensk exhibits all the familiar characteristics of a staunch communist bastion slowly coming to terms with the new Russia. Paradoxically, for a city that has repeatedly fallen victim to foreign invasions, Smolensk lacks a basic transportation network with the only option a train ride to Moscow or into the wilds of Belarus, and there is little economic incentive for Smolensk graduates to remain at home. Although the presidential election is only two weeks away, there was little evidence visible on the city's streets during a February 12 - 13 visit, and numerous conversations suggested that the public was indifferent to the contest's outcome. A continuing desire for stability and continuity above all suggested that most will vote for Putin's hand-picked heir Dmitriy Medvedev, while only a small portion of the population -- die-hard communists -- will support Communist candidate Zyuganov. The new governor, in charge since only December 2007, has inspired measured enthusiasm for his good ties to Moscow and a pragmatic approach; although to date there have been few concrete results. End summary. From Lenin to Dzerzhinskiy -------------- ¶2. (C) Except for a few brand name stores, most of which appeared last year, Smolensk seems to be a city of the past. Streets, named after Marx, Lenin, Dzerzhinskiy, the October Revolution and Smirnov, have not been renamed, and the most popular local newspaper, with a circulation of 80 thousand, is still called "Workers Way." With close to sixteen percent of the population supporting the communists -- surpassing the nationwide average of twelve percent -- in the December 2 Duma elections, the Smolensk region remains one of the most "red" in Central Russia. United Russia's local representative Viktor Pupchenikov told us February 12 that the KPRF's lock on power had come to an end, and that his party hoped to deliver at least sixty-five percent of the vote to Putin heir-apparent Dmitriy Medvedev. The Communist Party's Valeriy Kuznetsov countered that any party with the administrative resources of United Russia could deliver a landslide victory. Dwindling and Falling Behind -------------- ¶3. (C) Sergey Kovalev, a journalist and engineer at Smolenskenergo, described Smolensk as a dying region with its population in terminal decline and little prospect for increased investment. One of the region's few exports, he said, was electricity, 75 percent of which is diverted to the more prosperous neighboring Bryansk and Kaluga regions. What is more telling, according to Kovalev, is that the consumption of electricity has been declining in Smolensk. Despite the rhetoric of the Putin regime, Kovalev detected little change in the life of Smolensk residents. Among his seventeen classmates at one of the prestigious Smolensk institutes, class of 1994, ten are working in Moscow, three in the U.S. while he, one of the remaining four, is making an all-consuming effort to find a job in Moscow. ¶4. (C) Kovalev, who supplemented his mother's 2,800 ruble (USD 110) a month pension by moonlighting for a local newspapers, described himself as "bitter." He scoffed at the idea of Smolensk, which is about sixty kilometers from the Belarusian border, as a window on the West. Kovalev dismissed United Russia as an association of those in power and those who wish to join them. The ruling party and the Russian people are as separate as oil and water with no channel of communication between them, he contended. Red but not Golden -------------- ¶5. (C) Dmitriy Galkin, researcher at the Smolensk Medical Academy, echoed Kovalev's comments. Smolensk's seven higher education institutes churn out well-educated graduates who find no place in the local economy. "They study well in order to leave," he summarized. The average monthly salary of college graduates ranges from 7,000 - 10,000 rubles (USD 280 - 400). Galkin also supplements his income by working regularly on projects for a Moscow medical institute. Both Galkin and Kovalev expressed frustration with the apoliticized Smolensk media, which provide little useful information. Both thought the possible remedy for the region's terminal decline was outside investment, but neither saw a prospect for change in the near-term. Despite many historical sites in the city, Smolensk attracted few tourists. "There isn't even an airport here; who's going to come?" they asked. Positive Signs Slowly Appearing -------------- ¶6. (C) High school English teacher and medical researcher Oleg Dudochkin echoed Galkin and Kovalev. Smolensk region was natural resource poor, and its problems were compounded by corruption and the lack of capable professionals among the region's leadership. Dudochkin, however, noted a few encouraging signs. Like many, he holds two jobs and is benefiting directly from recent positive developments at each of his work places. As part of the GOR's National Projects, the state high school where Dudochkin teaches now offers internet access to each classroom with enough computer terminals for each student. His medical research company had been bought recently by an American multinational firm, which increased his salary. United Russia: Sing Stability and Sing it with Enthusiasm -------------- -------------- ¶7. (C) United Russia dominates every walk of Smolensk's life. The region's governor, the major of the city, the Editor-in-Chief of the largest circulation local newspaper, the director of the diamond factory "Kristall," the director of the biggest regional hospital, and virtually all of the remainder of the region's elite are party members. The party has 10,600 members in the oblast, and an additional two thousand in Smolensk. The second largest party -- the Communists -- trails far behind with only 2,500 members oblast-wide. Governor, Sergey Aitufyev, has pioneered a few new projects. In order to counter population decline, he has added an additional 10,000 rubles to the financial incentive package provided by the national government to the parents of new-born children. With Aitufyev's arrival, the federal government awarded one of the eight trauma centers to be built nationwide to Smolensk. Unlike his scandal-ridden predecessor, Aitufyev is tackling the region's infrastructure problems. ¶8. (C) In two separate meetings, twelve pro-Kremlin Young Guards members and thirteen students at Smolensk State University, enthusiastically parroted United Russia's slogans. Russia's course for greatness had been charted by Putin, they maintained, and should not be questioned. Twenty-two-year old student Marina Kondratsenkova said that '90s cynicism had been replaced with genuine patriotism. There was little discernible difference between the politically-active Young Guards and the Smolensk State students. Both groups believed that Putin's plan was working and that only Putin's designated successor could carry on. They praised Medvedev's stewardship of the national projects and believed, as promised, that by 2010 they would yield concrete results. Another student who spent two summers in the U.S. through the work and travel program thanked Putin for giving Smolensk everything that Moscow now has, including traffic jams. No Campaign, Good Campaign? -------------- ¶9. (C) Aleksey Stepanov of the Regional Election Commission alleged that there had been no election campaign violations to date. According to Stepanov, 54 percent of the region's eligible voters had participated in the December Duma elections, less than the national average. Among the participants, seventeen percent were under age thirty. Stepanov agreed that the population of the region was apolitical, but he hoped for a better voter turnout this time around. He expected election observers from United Russia and the Communist Party at most of the region's 825 polling stations on March 2. Except for a handful of United Russia's campaign placards -- "Russia Forward" -- over the streets of Smolensk, there was little sign of election excitement. Stepanov hinted that the other parties simply did not have the funds to spend on street advertisements. Little Chance for Others -------------- ¶10. (C) The 45-seat Smolensk Regional legislature is composed of 35 United Russia, 6 Communist and 4 LDPR deputies. The Communist Party's Kuznetsov contended that improvements in the living standard remained elusive, and that, between out-migration and the persistent gap between deaths and births (22,000/8,500 in 2007),the future was grim. The party's thinning and largely elderly ranks -- Kuznetsov told us that the average age was 57 -- was the result of United Russia's "nasty" campaign to inculcate an erroneous understanding of the past among voters. He lamented that Putin's regime had replaced "all that was good in the Soviet system with bandit capitalism." LDPR's Lev Platonov said that United Russia's unchallengeable control of administrative resources made it difficult for his party to influence the political process. Instead, the party had focused on helping the underprivileged. LDPR presidential candidate Vladimir Zhirinovskiy had swung through during the Duma election campaign with little noticeable impact. SPS's Igor Timofyev admitted that the Duma election results, where SPS polled 1.16 percent region wide and Yabloko 1.43 percent, suggested a bleak future. Comment -------------- ¶11. (C) The contrast between the students' infectious enthusiasm and their elders' pessimism was evident both in the conversations recorded here and in other chance exchanges during the February 12 - 13 visit to Smolensk. Not a subject of conversation was the presidential campaign itself, which everyone we encountered assumed, either with enthusiasm or indifference, would bring more of the same. The debut months of Governor Aitufyev seemed to sit well even with those inclined to be skeptical about the ability of those at the head of the food chain, but few believed he would be able to reverse the region's flagging fortunes. BURNS