MAYOR DALEY VISIT: MOSCOW AND CHICAGO PRESS

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 MOSCOW 002367 SENSITIVE SIPDIS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PGOV PREL PHUM PINR ECON ETRD KDEM RS SUBJECT: MAYOR DALEY VISIT: MOSCOW AND CHICAGO PRESS "RESET" ¶1. (SBU) Summary: Mayor of Chicago Richard M. Daley, accompanied by advisors and business leaders, visited Moscow September 2-6, 2009. The purpose of the visit included promoting commercial and cultural exchange between the cities, reaffirming the Moscow-Chicago Sister City relationship, and discussing Chicago's 2016 Summer Olympic bid. The visit was an overwhelming success as Moscow and Chicago hit the "reset" button on a city-to-city level. The visit also resulted in closer ties between the U.S. Embassy and the Moscow City government. End Summary. Sister City Exchange -------------- ¶2. (SBU) Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley led a delegation of business and government leaders to Moscow September 2-6. His trip was to reciprocate for the visit of First Deputy Mayor Vladimir Resin to Chicago in April 2009 to attend the Chicago Global Cities Forum. Daley's delegation focused on promoting increased commercial and cultural exchange between the two cities. The trip, sponsored by the Chicagoland Chamber of Commerce and World Business Chicago, built on the sister cities relationship established between Chicago and Moscow in ¶1997. ¶3. (SBU) Daley met with Moscow Mayor Yuriy Luzhkov to sign an agreement that renewed the ties between their cities. Daley commended Luzhkov on his continuing efforts to revitalize Moscow through more cultural exchanges, greening projects, and outreach to business leaders worldwide. He named public education, mass transit, water conservation, and other environmental issues as some of the challenges facing Chicago and urban areas around the world. Increased Business Cooperation -------------- ¶4. (SBU) Daley was the keynote presenter at a business meeting with 100 leading Russian entrepreneurs. During his presentation, Daley said, "I have always maintained that the things that unite cities far outweighs any difference we might have." He added, "I believe the business relationship between Chicago and Moscow is strong, and we want it to grow stronger." Daley reminded meeting participants that the Chicago Customs District had $83 million in imports from Russia and $138 million in exports to Russia in 2008. He also pointed out that 35 companies based in the Chicago area have operations in Russia, including McDonald's, Motorola, and several law firms. Chicago-based Boeing has a significant presence in Moscow, the site of one of its design centers worldwide. Daley's staffers also met with members of the Ministry of Trade to discuss the Russia National Exhibition in Chicago, which is slated for November 18-21. The purpose of the exhibit is to describe and present Russia, its culture, and its trade potential. 2016 Olympic Bid -------------- ¶5. (SBU) Daley complimented Russia for its leadership in winning the competition to host the 2014 Winter Olympics which will be held in Sochi. Chicago is the United States of America's candidate city to host the 2016 Summer Olympic and Paraolympic Games. Daley said that if Chicago is successful in securing the games in the final round of competition in Copenhagen next month he looks forward to working with Russia to strengthen the Olympic Movement. ¶6. (SBU) On September 4, Daley and Mike Roberts, former President and COO of McDonalds and Vice Chairman, Chicago 2016, met with Vitaly Mutko, the Russian Federation's Minister of Sports, Tourism, and Youth Policy. Although Daley and Roberts openly sought the Minister's support for Chicago 2016, they focused on global benefits they expected to result from such close business cooperation between the U.S. and Russia. Linking Chicago's Olympic bid with Russia's hopes towards hosting the 2018 FIFA World Cup and possibly even a U.S. bid to host the 2022 FIFA World Cup, Daley and Roberts presented a farsighted perspective on the possible outcome of closer U.S. and Russian coordination, cooperation, and healthy competition, especially in the sports arena. Media Attention -------------- ¶7. (SBU) Mayor Daley's visit attracted significant media attention. Vesti 24 broadcast segments of an interview with MOSCOW 00002367 002 OF 002 the Mayor on its evening news program September 7 and 8th. Local Moscow television channel Stolitza and RIA Novosti wire service covered the Mayor's visit. Vedomosti, a business newspaper, interviewed Mayor Daley and is writing a story on the Mayor's visit. Bloomberg also interviewed him as part of an article for the Olympics. AP published a series of photographs of the Mayor's visit. Atmospherics -------------- ¶8. (SBU) Daley and Luzhkov clearly strengthened city-to-city relations during the visit. Moreover, Luzhkov attended a reception at the Ambassador's residence for the first time in over a decade and delivered a speech about improving U.S.-Russian relations before more than 100 guests, including State Duma members, members of the MFA, famous athletes, and journalists. After the Moscow City Day celebration, Luzhkov personally took Daley on a three-hour private tour of Moscow and capped the excursion with a bear hug. The two men were on a first name basis by the end of the visit. The Daley visit also deepened channels of communication between the U.S. Embassy and the Moscow City government, enabling us to further strengthen relations at the working level. Comment -------------- ¶9. (SBU) The Daley visit was an enormous success and we saw tangible results of the "reset" policy on the city-to-city level. The closer ties will give us the opportunity to have a broader dialogue with city officials on a range of issues. Beyrle