VZCZCXRO7474
RR RUEHLN RUEHVK RUEHYG
DE RUEHYG #0044/01 1960333
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 150333Z JUL 09
FM AMCONSUL YEKATERINBURG
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 1307
INFO RUEHMO/AMEMBASSY MOSCOW 0950
RUEHLN/AMCONSUL ST PETERSBURG 0577
RUEHVK/AMCONSUL VLADIVOSTOK 0587
RUEHYG/AMCONSUL YEKATERINBURG 1342

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 YEKATERINBURG 000044 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV ECON RS
SUBJECT: BASHKORTOSTAN - WAITING FOR CHANGE 
 
¶1. (U) Sensitive But Unclassified.  Not for internet 
distribution. 
 
¶2. (SBU) Summary:  Political/Economic Officer and LES Pol/Econ 
assistant traveled to Ufa June 29-July 1, meeting with human 
rights and opposition activists, the rabbi, and exponents of 
women's rights.  We participated in the opening of an English 
language summer camp and led a discussion at the American 
Corner.  Recurring topics raised by interlocutors in our 
meetings were Rakhimov's future, corruption, and voter apathy. 
All bemoaned the sequestration of wealth by Rakhimov, agreed 
that he will not be reappointed, and told us there is no reason 
to vote as long as he is in office.  End summary. 
 
The End of an Era Near 
----------------------- 
¶3. (SBU) According to Konstantin Potnin, who runs his own NGO 
and is affiliated with the Moscow Helsinki Group, the "consumer 
democracy" of Bashkortostan provides the basis for political 
stability.  Yedinnaya Rossiya (YR) holds a remarkable 62 percent 
of local duma seats while an additional 30 percent of local 
deputies are YR supporters.  Potnin and Anatoliy Dubovskiy, head 
of the Rus opposition group, speculated freely on the future of 
Bashkortostan president Rakhimov.  Any change from Rakhimov will 
be positive, they both said.  All our interlocutors also agreed 
that Rakhimov will not be reappointed in 2011 when his term 
expires; opinions differ as to whether he will be asked to 
depart before then.  One observer believes that by this 
September Rakhimov will be out, as Moscow has now disentangled 
him from his Bashneft holdings.  Non-Bashkirs complained about 
Bashkirization of schools, business and public life.  It is said 
that Tatars are the force behind opposition internet sites, but 
our contacts do not think that conflict between Bashkirs and 
Tatars has been an issue since the border dispute was resolved 
in 1989.  We were told that visitors from the Kremlin recently 
inquired about inter-ethnic relations in the republic and that 
the Kremlin knows that potential ethnic disputes will be avoided 
if a Russian is appointed president (this according to an ethnic 
Russian). 
 
¶4. (SBU) The topic of corruption also provoked lively 
discussions at all our meetings.  Grand corruption in the 
privatization of state-owned-enterprises in the early 1990s was 
acknowledged by all.  One contact himself lost his business many 
years ago as part of Rakhimov's acquisition of assets.  Election 
fraud is also widely discussed and acknowledged.  No one we 
talked to bothers to vote because, they say, the results are 
pre-ordained.  Several people commented on the 2005 elections 
when voter turnout was alleged to be 80 percent although people 
in the cities do not vote.  It turned out that thousands of fake 
ballots were printed; activists protested and provided ample 
evidence of the fraud to Moscow.  A court case was initiated. 
In the end, however, only an employee of the printing company 
was convicted; those who initiated the fraud went free. 
 
American- Bashkir Intercollege English Language Summer Camp 
--------------------------------------------- -------------- 
¶5. (U) City and school officials, camp instructors, Pol/Econ 
officer, and camp founder Vyacheslav Shvaiko opened the seventh 
annual Intercollege English Language Summer Camp on June 30. 
The summer camp program was launched by ELO Bridget Gerston and 
Fullbright alum Shvaiko and targets gifted children from 
low-income families, providing them with three weeks of English 
instruction with American teachers and Russian alumni of 
USG-funded programs.  All activities are conducted in English. 
The camp serves as a model for other regions in Russia and some 
European countries.  It receives full support from the city 
Ministry of Education and school authorities.  During the school 
year the campers participate in Access language programs to gain 
skills for the camp, which includes leadership training to give 
these students more self-confidence.   Highlights of the opening 
ceremony included traditional Bashkir dancing, Bashkir-Russian 
rap, and an announcement that the government of Bashkortostan 
will fund scholarships for academic gold medal winners to attend 
universities in Moscow.  Many of the prize winners are alumni of 
the Access and summer camp programs. 
 
Fishing for a Congregation 
--------------------------- 
¶6. (SBU) Rabbi Dan Krichevskiy operates the Ufa 
synagogue/community center on a business model.  He says the 
product he is selling is God and like a fisherman he tries 
different bait to get people into the center to be exposed to 
God.  The center houses a synagogue, school, gym, exercise room, 
offices, and kosher restaurant.  The synagogue offers a free 
playground for children while their parents attend services.  He 
estimates the Jewish population of Bashkortostan to be around 
15,000, of whom about 9,000 live in Ufa.  Over 1,000 people 
attend the high holiday services while about 120 attend 
regularly.  He has not seen any examples of religious 
 
YEKATERINB 00000044  002 OF 002 
 
 
discrimination or harassment, but notes that the government 
requires businessmen to donate funds to muslim groups but will 
not assist the synagogue.  In a twist of irony, when Vladislav 
Surkov recently visited Ufa to discuss Rakhimov's future (after 
Rakhimov's public criticism of YR) he also opened a new mosque 
and the celebration dinner was held at the synagogue restaurant, 
the only kosher/halal facility in Ufa.  Krichevskiy has been in 
Ufa for just over ten years, arriving after completing his 
studies in New York with the Lubavitzer rabbi.  He is married 
and has five children.  His brother is in Omsk, his 
brother-in-law in Tomsk, and his sister in Moscow. 
 
Women's Rights 
--------------- 
¶7. (SBU) We met with Alevtina Yemelyanova, former director of 
the Women's Crisis Center, and Anisa Yenikeyeva, president of 
the Union of Bashkirian Women.  Both recognize the existence of 
discrimination against women in Bashkortostan, and in Russia. 
They stressed that women are usually the first to be fired and 
are paid less than men.  Only seven of the 120 deputies in the 
republic's legislative assembly are women.  They stated that 
women generally do not vote and that the population in general 
is indifferent to political life in the republic because they do 
not expect any changes.  The situation might change, however, if 
the next president is not a representative of the local elites. 
People are afraid of retaliation against their families and 
prefer not to oppose the current regime.  Three crisis centers 
now operate in Ufa, and they are now supported by the government 
and do not rely on private funding.  The centers work mainly 
with teenage mothers offering them psychological assistance and 
child care.  Spousal violence is not taken seriously by the 
local police. 
 
American Corner 
--------------- 
¶8. (SBU) On June 30, Pol/Econ officer meet with an audience of 
all ages to discuss the role of women's rights in U.S. foreign 
policy and to hear views of the audience regarding women in 
politics in Russia.  Opinions ranged from the view that women 
should stay at home (expressed by a high-school aged girl) to 
the view that Russia badly needs more women in meaningful 
government positions (expressed by a woman who wrote her PhD 
thesis at Kent State University contrasting women's rights in 
the U.S. and Russia).  The audience was hungry for contact with 
Americans and suggested several topics for future gatherings.  A 
contingent of enthusiastic past and future IREX participants 
contributed to the lively discussion.  During our time in Ufa we 
heard from various contacts that access to the American Corner 
has been limited and that programs there are not well publicized 
so no one knows what the schedule is.  The calendar on the 
Moscow web-site is difficult to use.  Some regular users of the 
Corner report that they must call the director on his cell to 
make sure he will be there before heading over. 
 
Comment 
------- 
¶9. (SBU) The political atmosphere was a blast from the past.  We 
were followed to all our meetings by security agents, a Ministry 
of Foreign Affairs representative was present at several 
meetings, our appointments with government officials or at 
government-owned enterprises must be approved by the Prime 
Minister, and our LES Pol/Econ assistant's cell-phone was 
monitored.  Just three weeks before our visit, a district court 
ruled that the blog "Revinform News Agency" on livejournal.com 
is extremist.  Earlier this year the opposition website 
ufagub.com was also declared extremist and the owners had to 
move their site to a server in the United States.  Those human 
rights and opposition activists who are successful (in the sense 
that their organizations are allowed to operate and work with 
government officials) know how to pick their issues and battles. 
 An approach focused on individuals (e.g., Mr. X was beaten in 
prison, can you help with his situation), rather than human 
rights across the board, seems to work.  Economically, the 
republic and city appear prosperous, due to thriving 
agricultural and petroleum sectors.  The republic is reportedly 
suffering less from the economic crisis than Sverdlovsk and 
Chelyabinsk with their reliance on metallurgical industries. 
The city itself is much cleaner and greener than Yekaterinburg, 
and we did not encounter any traffic jams, due to broader roads, 
and a more liberal use of left turn arrow traffic lights.  Users 
of the American Corner are delighted with the resource but the 
director appears to need more guidance and programming ideas. 
SANDUSKY