[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 127 (Tuesday, September 13, 1994)]
[Senate]
[Page S]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[Congressional Record: September 13, 1994]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
ST. PETERSBURG COMMISSION: CATALYZING BOTTOMS-UP REFORM IN RUSSIA
Mr. WARNER. Mr. President, I want to invite the attention of my
colleagues in Congress to a unique international partnership formed by
the Center for Strategic and International Studies [CSIS], a
distinguished policy research institution in Washington, DC. I refer to
the International Action Commission for St. Petersburg, on which I
serve, and which is successfully increasing investment and business
growth and speeding the process of economic conversion in St.
Petersburg city and region. Working under the joint leadership of Dr.
Henry Kissinger and Mayor Anatoly Sobchak, the 71 commissioners,
comprising leaders of business, government and universities from six
nations, play an aggressive and direct role in bringing about an
impressive number of positive changes in northwest Russia.
Commission actions are developed and implemented through a framework
for cooperation involving 11 joint Russian-Western working groups and a
consortium of international universities. These working groups have 26
concrete actions completed or underway in areas ranging from
arbitration court development to defense industry conversion and energy
conservation. Through these actions, and through the partnership that
has created them, the commission has sparked joint venture development,
growing private and public investment in the St. Petersburg region, job
growth, business education, technical assistance, and the building of
structures necessary for a functioning free market economy and stable
economic growth. These significant and tangible results not only
provide clear benefits to the St. Petersburg region, but they also
serve as a model for economic conversion for other Russian cities and
regions, and cement a healthy working relationship between American and
Russian leaders.
The intense activity taking place in St. Petersburg through this
commission, the enthusiastic involvement of so many senior leaders, and
the early successes already achieved in this effort, underscore the
critical importance--to both Russia and the United States--of strong,
bottoms-up change in this strategic region of Russia to accompany top-
down reform efforts led from Moscow.
Under the leadership of its president, Ambassador David M. Abshire,
CSIS's effort on this project merits our admiration and support. I ask
unanimous consent to insert in the Congressional Record descriptive
information about the commission's work.
There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in
the Record, as follows:
[From the Center for Strategic and International Studies, Washington,
DC]
International Action Commission for St. Petersburg
brief overview
The International Action Commission for St. Petersburg has
moved aggressively to develop and advocate concrete actions
which are leading to near-term increases in foreign
investment and in Russian and Western business growth in St.
Petersburg and the Leningrad Oblast. The commission is co-
chaired by Dr. Henry Kissinger and Mayor Anatoly Sobchak. The
71 commissioners are senior leaders of business, government
and universities, and are from St. Petersburg, President
Yeltsin's cabinet, the U.S., Finland, Sweden, France and the
U.K.
The work of the commission is being accomplished by joint
Russian-Western working groups which develop promising
actions and assist the city, oblast, business community and
universities in the timely introduction of these actions.
Over 200 persons are involved in the current eight working
groups and in a consortium of 26 international and St.
Petersburg universities. These eight working groups have 30
actions completed or underway addressing the following areas
critical to economic growth and conversion:
Public Education for Business Growth;
Infrastructure Improvement;
Modernization and Development of the Port;
Energy Conservation and Management;
Unstable Business Conditions;
Defense Diversification;
Banking and Investment; and
Agribusiness Development.
The full commission has met in plenary session on three
occasions beginning in October 1992 in St. Petersburg, at a
1993 meeting in Baltimore, Maryland and Washington, DC, and
returning to St. Petersburg for a June 1994 meeting.
During the June, 1994 plenary session, the commission set a
priority on securing needed investment funding for 21
projects developed by the commission working groups over the
past year. The commission also agreed to form three new
Russian-Western working groups to act on:
Small and Medium Sized Business Growth;
Health Care Improvement; and
Strengthening of Government Processes under New Local and
Regional Government.
The three new working groups will meet in St. Petersburg in
September 1994, and will propose new actions to be developed,
acted upon as quickly as possible. The original eight working
groups will guide the funding and execution of developed
projects. The commissioners will meet to measure commission
progress at a fourth plenary session, scheduled for July,
1995.
This commission is organized by CSIS with Mr. George W.
Handy as director and Mr. David A. Pepper as assistant
director. Funding is from corporate contributions and a U.S.
AID grant.
Cochairs
Henry A. Kissinger and Anatoly Sobchak.
Commission Members
Europe & the United States
Krister Ahlstrom, President and CEO, A. Ahlstrom
Corporation.
Anders Aslund, Director, Stockholm Institute of East
European Economics.
Percy Barnevik, President and CEO, ABB Asea Brown Boveri.
Per Benemar, CEO, Petersburg Products International.
Carl Bjornberg, President and CEO, Myllykoski Oy.
Michael R. Bonsignore, Chairman and CEO, Honeywell Inc.
Fred L. Cipriano, Senior Vice President, Booz-Allen &
Hamilton.
Robert W. Cox, Chairman, Baker & McKenzie.
Robert Davies, Executive Director, The Prince of Wales
Business Leaders Forum.
Georg Ehrnrooth, President and CEO, Metra Corporation.
Bruno Grob, President, Otis Elevator International.
Jukka Harmala, President and CEO, Enso-Gutzeit Oy.
Robert D. Hormats, Vice Chairman, Goldman Sachs
International.
Jaakko Ihamoutila, Chairman and CEO, Neste Oy.
Jaakko Iloniemi, Managing Director, EVA.
James D. Jameson, Chairman, Glenair.
Harry Johnston (D-FL), U.S. House of Representatives.
L.J. Jouhki, President, Thomesto Trading Company Ltd.
Seppo Kauppila, Consul General, St. Petersburg, Embassy of
Finland.
Jarl Kohler, President, Finnish Forest Industries
Federation.
Eugene Lawson, President, U.S.-Russia Business Council.
Joseph I. Lieberman (D-CT), United States Senate.
Harald B. Malmgren, President, Malmgren Group.
Thomas E. Marsh, Regional President, R.J. Reynolds Tobacco
International.
Dave McCurdy (D-OK), U.S. House of Representatives.
Jean-Marie Merillon, Chairman, Credit Lyonnais Russia.
Jan Meyers (R-KS), U.S. House of Representatives.
Kalevi Numminen, President and CEO, Imatra Power.
Jorma Ollila, President, Nokia Group.
William H. Orton (D-UT), U.S. House of Representatives.
Ambassador Henry Owen, Consultants International.
Milan Panic, President, ICN Pharmaceuticals.
John E. Pepper, President, The Procter & Gamble Company.
Ogden R. Reid, Director, National Patent Development
Corporation.
John J. Roberts, Vice Chairman, American International
Group.
Blair A. Ruble, Director, Kennen Institute for Advanced
Russian Studies.
Robert Rutford, President, University of Texas at Dallas.
Ambassador John D. Scanlan, ICN Pharmaceuticals.
William Donald Schaefer, Governor of Maryland.
S. Frederick Starr, President, Aspen Institute.
Matti Sundberg, CEO, Valmet Corporation.
Peter Wallenberg, First Vice Chairman, Skandinaviska
Enskilda Banken.
John Warner (R-VA), United States Senate.
Thomas Wheelock, Chairman, Comspan.
Russia
Vladimir Alexandrov, General Director, Shipbuilding.
Alexander Belyaev, Member, Federal Council.
Alexander Belyakov, Governor, Leningrad Oblast, Member,
Federal Council.
Yuri Bokov, General Director, Shipbuilding.
Alexei Bolshakov, Chairman, Railway Project.
Anatoly Chubais, Deputy Prime Minister, Chairman, Committee
for Privatization, Russian Federation.
Boris Fedorov, Deputy, State Duma.
Vladimir Gorodniy, Vice President and General Director,
Lenvest.
Viktor Ivanov, General Director, Union Industrial &
Building Enterprises.
Victor Khalansky, Chief Representative for St. Petersburg,
Central Bank of Russia.
Igor Klioutchnikov, Chairman of the Board, St. Petersburg
Stock Exchange.
Alexei Kudrin, First Deputy Chairman, of St. Petersburg
Government, Chairman, Committee on Economy and Finance.
Vyacheslav Larin, General Director, LenTEK.
Yuri Lvov, Chairman of the Board, St. Petersburg Bank.
Liubov Ogneva, General Director, St. Petersburg Clothes
Manufactory.
Vyacheslav Petrov, General Director, Arsenal Production
Association.
Vladimir Putin, First Deputy Director, of St. Petersburg
Government, Chairman, Committee on External Relations.
Alexander A. Sarkisov, President, Klimov Works.
Peotr G. Semenenco, President, Klimov Plant.
Vladimir Semenov, General Director, Industry and
Construction Bank.
Dmitry V. Sergeyev, Deputy Minister of Transportation,
Russian Federation.
Anatoly A. Turchak, President, Concern Leninets.
Ludmilla Verbitskaya, Rector, St. Petersburg University.
Vladimir Yakovlev, First Deputy Chairman, of St. Petersburg
Government, Chairman, City Development Committee.
Eugene Yelin, President, Currency Stock Exchange.
Valentin P. Zanin, Manager General, Signal.
overview
The International Action Commission for St. Petersburg is
organized under the co-leadership of Dr. Henry Kissinger and
Mayor Anatoly Sobchak to support actions which will increase
investment and business growth and speed the process of
economic conversion in St. Petersburg city and region. The 71
commissioners, senior leaders of business, government and
universities from six nations, work through 11 joint Russian-
Western working groups and a consortium of international
universities to undertake concrete actions having a near term
impact on this strategic city and region of Russia. Periodic
plenary sessions bring the commissioners together to assess
progress, eliminate obstacles and decide on new directions
for action.
third plenary session
On June 10 and 11, 1994, the International Action
Commission for St. Petersburg met in St. Petersburg for its
Third Plenary Session. The highly successful session was
hosted by co-chairman, Mayor Anatoly Sobchak, and was
preceded on June 9 and 10 by a meeting of the commission's
international university consortium. The commissioners
assessed and agreed upon 33 concrete decisions contributing
to investment and business growth in St. Petersburg city and
region; highlights included:
$1.6 million dollars in investments to support 12 actions
which have been developed by commission working groups and
proposed to the U.S. Agency for International Development for
funding.
Continued progress on major investment projects in energy,
port, agribusiness and other infrastructure areas totaling
potentially several hundred million dollars.
Commission agreement to form three new working groups in
the areas of small and medium-sized business growth, improved
health care and strengthened government processes (the later
with an emphasis on tax and investment incentives, creation
of an ombudsman office and law and order).
Approval by commissioners of a schedule for the year ahead
with a meeting of commission and working group co-chairmen in
February 1995 and a fourth plenary session in July 1995.
Agreement that the priority effort of the commission in the
year ahead would be to help secure needed investments and to
support their rapid application, in St. Petersburg city and
region.
major accomplishments among 30 current commission actions
Television program on Russian-Western cooperation broadcast
on June 11 to the 14 million viewers of the St. Petersburg
channel.
Voice of America Radio broadcasts across Russia of
commission experience.
Guidelines, sponsors and charters for International
Arbitration Court organized; registration expected in several
months.
One stop shop agency to assist businesses and investors and
to speed city development organized.
U.S. Russia-Exchange programs underway with full St.
Petersburg participation.
Russian-American Enterprise Fund introduced to St.
Petersburg personally by fund chairman, Mr. G. Corrigan.
International School and Medical Center open and operating
successfully.
Leninets award of a U.S. government grant for defense
industry conversion of $1 to 5 million scheduled for July;
all commission defense enterprises are well positioned for
additional grants.
University Consortium expanded to 26 international
universities with work underway on distance learning, new
courses, exchanges and creation of business schools.
projects developed and ready for investment action
The following 12 projects ready for funding have been
developed from working group actions and proposed to U.S.
AID:
Television program follow-on;
Arbitration court start-up;
Investment and Development Agency public relations plan;
Central historic district development;
Technology park business plan and prospectus;
Bank card system start-up;
General banking training;
Energy efficiency zone and company formation;
Business plan for agribusiness wholesale terminal market;
Agricultural skill training;
Feasibility study for port operations improvement; and
Port operations training program.
Negotiations for major funding are underway with commission
working group support for projects developed from joint
Russian-Western actions in the following areas:
Infrastructure Improvement Program (World Bank);
Stock Exchange Clearing House;
District Heating Project (World Bank);
Energy Efficiency Center & Zone (World Bank);
Energy Master Plan (Finnish Government, World Bank);
Nuclear Energy Project (World Bank);
Agribusiness Wholesale Market (World Bank, EBRD);
Port Operations Improvements (World Bank, EBRD); and
Guarantee Fund for Environmental Improvements.
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