TYUMEN, TOBOLSK SPARKLE IN THEIR OWN WAYS

UNCLAS YEKATERINBURG 000031


DEPARTMENT FOR EUR/RUS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: ECON SCUL PGOV RS
SUBJECT: TYUMEN, TOBOLSK SPARKLE IN THEIR OWN WAYS


1. Summary: Consul General traveled to Tyumen and Tobolsk May
18-20. In Tyumen, we opened a photographic exhibit, saw the
newly renovated American Corner, met with the rector of the oil
and gas university and visited the offices of the Halliburton
oil services company. In Tobolsk, we met the mayor and toured
the superbly restored kremlin complex.

--------------
Tchaikovsky exhibit renews ties


2. The PAS-produced photographic exhibit, "Tchaikovsky in
America," which celebrates the great composer's participation in
the opening of Carnegie Hall in 1891, was warmly received at the
Tyumen philharmonic on May 19. Philharmonic director Mikhail
Birman recalled the performance of the U.S. Air Force Jazz Band
Check Six in Tyumen in 2005 and expressed his interest in having
more U.S. musical acts visit the city. Birman, a concert
pianist, and Tyumen Philharmonic conductor Anton Sharoyev, a
violinist, fondly reminisced about their concert tour of the
U.S. in the late 1990's. The opening received extensive print
and broadcast media coverage.

--------------
American Corner ready to go


3. We were pleased to learn that Tyumen's American Corner,
located in the city's main library, had hired a new coordinator
and was about to become fully functional again. A series of
calamities, including burst pipes last fall and the sudden
departure of the previous coordinator had limited the corner's
activities for several months. With extensive renovations to
the library now complete, we were encouraged by the positive
attitude of the library's administration and the enthusiasm of
the new coordinator, a recent university graduate and former
participant in the U.S. Summer Work and Travel program.

-------------- --------------
Tyumen - Oil service industry center thrives


4. Nikolay N. Karnaukhov, rector of the Tyumen State Oil and
Gas University, told the CG that the future of Russia's energy
industry remained with oil and gas. He said that his
institution, which has over 60,000 students in Tyumen and other
branches in the region, works closely with Russian and
international companies to develop technologies to exploit
reserves under difficult geologic and climactic conditions. The
rector said that his university has extensive contact with U.S.
and other western institutions, but most of it was based on
personal relationships between academics. Meanwhile,
Halliburton representatives said they were in the midst of a
three-year service contract with TNK-BP. A 30 percent drop in
revenues due to the effects of the global economic crisis had
forced the company to cut some staff, but the managers we met
with expressed confidence that the company could weather the
downturn without further significant layoffs.


5. Tyumen has clearly benefited from both its status as center
of the oil service industry serving Western Siberia and an
enlightened administration. It is a bustling, exceptionally
clean city with lots of greenery and numerous public parks.
Dozens of late 19th century architectural gems have been
preserved and intelligently integrated into the modern
cityscape. An extensive development project along the steep
embankment of the Tura River is in the early stages of
construction. From a high point above the river, we counted 19
construction cranes rising along the horizon.

-------------- --------------
Tobolsk - Siberia's historic capital reborn


6. On May 20, CG paid a courtesy call on Tobolsk mayor Ivan
Fillipovich Olenberg. The city's main industry is the Neftekhim
petrochemical plant, which employs about 5,000 people. The
mayor said that unemployment was low and stated flatly that
there was no significant foreign investment there. He said the
city had exchanges with Council Bluffs, Iowa, in the 1990's, but
since then the relationship had languished. Olenburg is 40. He
served in the military and then the police until 2005. He has
been mayor since 2007.


7. The mayor's apparent disinterest in foreign contact is a
shame because Tobolsk is in the midst of a 5-year renovation
program that is sure to restore its status as the "Pearl of
Siberia." Rich in history, Tobolsk is variously known as the
Tsarist capital of Siberia, the place of exile of the
Decembrists and rebellious Poles in the 19th century, and the
city where Tsar Nikolai II and his family were held for 8 months
before being transferred to Yekaterinburg in April 1918. Sites
relevant to this history abound in the town, but none sparkles
like the spectacularly restored kremlin complex, whose white
walls and golden domes dominate the old town from a line of
bluffs high above the Irtysh River. According to the city's
deputy administrator for tourism, about 15% of the city's
130,000 visitors in 2008 were foreigners. Though the CG's
comments reflecting the U.S. desire to expand contacts with
Russians in a broad range of spheres were narrowly interpreted
in media reports to mean tourism, Tobolsk's restoration
certainly speaks of its potential in this regard.


SANDUSKY