VZCZCXRO6667
RR RUEHAST RUEHDBU RUEHDH RUEHHM RUEHLN RUEHMA RUEHPB RUEHPOD RUEHSK
RUEHSL RUEHTM RUEHTRO RUEHYG
DE RUEHVK #0111/01 3280537
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 240537Z NOV 09
FM AMCONSUL VLADIVOSTOK
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 1231
INFO RUEHXD/MOSCOW POLITICAL COLLECTIVE
RUCNCIS/CIS COLLECTIVE
RUEHZN/ENVIRONMENT SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY COLLECTIVE
RUEHVK/AMCONSUL VLADIVOSTOK 1336

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 VLADIVOSTOK 000111 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PREL SENV ECON EINV RS
SUBJECT: KAMCHATKA - A REGION STRUGGLING 
 
VLADIVOSTO 00000111  001.2 OF 002 
 
 
-------------------- 
Summary 
-------------------- 
 
¶1. During a visit to Kamchatka Pol-Econ officer met with a good 
cross-section of local political leaders, businessmen, and 
commentators to catch the pulse of this, one of the naturally 
most spectacular regions of Russian, or anywhere.  Like so many 
other places in the Russian Far East, the lack of good 
governance and plain old law and order undermines prospects for 
development.  The local governor has proven a big disappointment 
to Kamchatkans, and Kamchatka has reportedly been for him as 
well.  Meager funding and plans for physical infrastructure 
development hamstring any potential for expanding tourism to 
which just about everybody we met pins hopes for economic 
growth.  We found a number of instances where grassroots-level 
collaboration between the US and Kamchatka were making a 
difference. 
 
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One of the Wonders of our Natural World 
--------------------------------------------- -------------------- 
 
¶2. In meetings with journalists, economic and political leaders, 
and environmentalists, during our November 17-20 visit to the 
Kamchatka Region, we discussed a range of current issues, 
particularly as they relate to American interests in this 
nature-rich peninsula 1,600 km northeast of Vladivostok.  That 
is, as the crow flies, since there are no roads or railroads 
into Kamchatka, just expensive air seats and passage by sea. 
Kamchatka has 300,000 people and is the size of Germany, 
Austria, and Switzerland together. 
 
¶3. One of the wonders of our natural world, 30 active volcanoes 
dot the region, and its Valley of the Geysers is second only to 
Yellowstone's vast geyser basins.  Thousands of Brown bears, big 
brothers to the American Grizzly, feed in Kamchatka's rich 
salmon-filled rivers and streams.  Without these salmon breeding 
areas, the world's salmon stocks would dwindle to meager and 
questionably sustainable numbers.  A long term threat to the 
fish population is the prospect of major oil drilling in the Sea 
of Okhotsk.  Three national reserves and four regional parks aim 
to preserve Kamchatka's pristine biodiversity.  There are no 
fewer than six UNESCO World Heritage Sites on Kamchatka. 
 
--------------------------------------------- ---------------- 
Regional Governance - or lack thereof 
--------------------------------------------- ---------------- 
 
¶4. The region has a new and young centrally appointed governor, 
the son-in-law of one of Putin's close friends, but a governor 
who has yet to gain any of his own friends in Kamchatka.  A 
journalist, and just about everyone else who spoke candidly, 
told us that Governor Aleksey Kuzmitskiy has failed to gain the 
confidence of business and other elites of the Region.  He is 
reportedly himself tired of his position and looking for a way 
to get out of this part of Russia.   Kuzmitskiy's reclusive 
behavior has made the administration even less responsive to the 
Region's needs. 
 
¶5. In this sense, Kamchatka's poor governance is pretty much of 
the same brand as that inflicting other regions in Russia's Far 
East, but it stands out when environmental issues are of such 
crucial importance.  Whereas the national preserves are funded 
centrally, regional parks rely on regional monies which are 
scarce and slow-coming.  During our visit to the headquarters of 
the stunning Nalychevo Regional Park, we saw how the 
international community, including Americans, had jumped in to 
help the park evolve, in spite of this meager public support, 
into a modern institution entrusted with overseeing one of the 
volcanic wildlife-filled refuges near Petropavlovsk, Kamchatka's 
capital.  Seriously lacking regional funding for Nalychevo's 
operations, the UNDP, WWF, US Forest Service, and Alaskan 
entities have joined other donors to build visitors centers, 
construct information signs, and provide training and education 
to workers, school children, and the local population. 
 
¶6. The directors of the Nalychevo and its neighbor Kronotskiy 
Federal Biosphere Preserve did not indicate much cooperation 
between the two.  We might have sensed some arrogance from the 
federal director towards the regional park.  But the real 
problem was money.  The regional government does not fund 
Nalychevo properly, and the Russian Federal Government provides 
no funding.   The lack of governing support is a serious 
challenge for Nalychevo, and we assume the other regional parks 
as well. 
 
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Tourism -- or lack thereof 
------------------------------------------ 
 
 
VLADIVOSTO 00000111  002.2 OF 002 
 
 
¶7. Agriculture, commercial fishing, and tourism are Kamchatka's 
economic base.  The regional government has worked out an 
investment package to incentivize inward investment.  But there 
are a lot of horror stories that make for even bigger 
disincentives that keep investors out of this part of Russia. 
When we asked a local journalist about prospects for new 
investment he responded with a story about how a local official 
in a neighboring region had told an investor with a successful 
gold operation to sell his share.  A Chechnyan group wanted it 
all, and their people had two bullets, the official said, one 
for the businessman and the other for the official, if the group 
did not get the mine.  He pulled out.  Our journalist said these 
were the risks for investment in this part of Russia. 
 
¶8. The climate being what it is, and with little desire to 
expand fishing beyond current levels, everyone in Kamchatka 
looks to tourism for economic growth.  The problem is 
accessibility.  With air fares running USD 1,000 a seat from 
Vladivostok to Petropavlovsk, the cost for getting to Kamchatka 
is high.  But once you get there, the scenic wonders are still 
quite inaccessible.  For example, Kronotskiy Federal Preserve, 
which is 20 percent larger than Yellowstone National Park, 
issues a quota for only 3,000 visitors each year.  A tourist can 
buy a place from the quota from a local travel agency, which, in 
turn, buys it from the park.  The park's director, who looked 
like he was pushing 30 years old, said there is an attempt to 
increase that to 3,500 in 2010.  To get to Kronotskiy, its 
towering volcanoes, breathtaking lakes, and steaming geysers, 
visitors need to take a helicopter at a price of USD 700 a 
person.  In other words a road infrastructure into or even 
around these parks has yet to be built. 
 
¶9. Numerous cruise ships from Alaska and Japan stop by 
Petropavlovsk during the summer months.  But without easy access 
to the natural wonders, the city remains essentially a fishing 
town, and a stop-over of only a day or part of a day exhausts 
most tourists' interests, said the local cruise handler.  The 
lack of regional infrastructure, she complained, does not allow 
room to expand tourism much.  She said when she raised this with 
the Governor, he responded that her agency just needed to invest 
in helicopters.  She was dumbfounded.  "Where do we get that 
kind of money?" she asked. 
 
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American Connections 
------------------------------------------- 
 
¶10. Kamchatka is not as far north as one might think.  Its 
southern tip lies on about the same latitude as the US-Canadian 
border.  But it has a lot in common with Alaska, and virtually 
everyone we talked to had one connection or another with Alaska. 
  Park officials keep in touch with each other as well as 
municipal and other authorities. 
 
¶11. There are a lot of connections with the State of Washington, 
as well.  The mayor of Seattle had visited Kamchatka a few 
months earlier.  Kamchatka's second city, Yelizovo, also had a 
cooperation program with Leavenworth, Washington, a 
tourism-centered town in the Cascades east of Seattle.  The 
mayor told with enthusiasm how Yelizovo officials had been on an 
exchange in Leavenworth for hands-on experience in municipal 
administration. 
 
¶12. Nevertheless, regional officials estimated that only about 
4,500 Americans came to Kamchatka last year, slightly less than 
the number of Japanese who hold first place in the numbers of 
tourists.  There might be a few more Americans making part day 
stops from the cruise ships.  Most American visitors are hunters 
and fishermen seeking to enjoy the sports-rich mountains and 
streams, whatever the cost. 
 
---------------------------------------- 
No Gov, No Fun 
---------------------------------------- 
 
¶13. Overall 5-6,000 Americans a year is a pretty meager number, 
and if there are only a few more Japanese than Americans, 
tourism for a spectacular region like Kamchatka is despairingly 
negligible (Yellowstone had 900,000 visitors in July 2009, 
alone).    Many in Kamchatka lament the demise of an air 
connection between Alaska and Kamchatka after the only airline 
connecting the peninsula to North America went bankrupt some 
time back.  Nevertheless, the numbers tell a bigger story. 
Without access to the tourist areas, air connections will not 
solve the problem, even if the companies manage to run 
profitably.  Without infrastructure, there is no access.  And 
without dynamic, competent administration, no physical 
infrastructural development is in sight. 
ARMBRUSTER