No. 008 Meeting with Former Primorye Governor Vladimir Kuznetsov

  

 

 

No.  8

                                                    

                                                     U.S. Consulate General, Vladivostok

                                                                           April 26, 2001

 

 

 

 

Meeting with Former Primorye Governor Vladimir Kuznetsov

 

CG and Former Primorye Governor Vladimir Kuznetsov

 

I met with former Primorye Governor Vladimir Kuznetsov on the afternoon of April 26.  Kuznetsov, a Kozyrev man,  was Governor of Primorye in the early 1990s before Yevgeniy Nazdratenko came to power.  It was at Kuznetsov's urging that Vladivostok was opened to foreigners, and it was because of his frequent foreign trips that Nazdratenko and his supporters were able to engineer his removal in 1993.  Following his removal from the Governorship, Kuznetsov was appointed Russian Consul General in San Francisco.  He served there until 1997, and then he and his family stayed in the U.S., where he works as a consultant and Vice President of the Russian-American Cultural Foundation.  Kuznetsov is visiting Primorye to renew old acquaintances and to deliver lectures at DVGU (Far East State University) on Russian-American relations.  Over the past week, he has appeared on numerous TV news programs and talk shows in the Primorye area, but in public has been rather circumspect in his views.

 

Kuznetsov on the Gubernatorial Election

 

Kuznetsov was unsparing in his description of the various candidates for Governor, who, as of today, number 16 and counting.  He said none of them would have been his first choice for Governor.  "All the really good men left Primorye when they saw how Nazdratenko was ruining it."  However, he noted that he had met with Acting Governor Valentin Dubinin twice in the past week. He thought he had improved considerably since Kuznetsov knew him as head of the Anuchinskiy district in the early 1990s.  "He is not pure, and not brilliant, but he has good intentions."  Kuznetsov said that he and Dubinin were discussing the possibility of Kuznetsov's return to Primorye as an adviser on Foreign Relations to the Governor, should Dubinin win the election.  It was also possible that Kuznetsov might be appointed to the Federation Council, but this was a decided long shot.  In any event, his family would stay in Marin County. 

 

While Kuznetsov thought that Dubinin had the best chance for victory, he did not dismiss the possibility that former Mayor Cherepkov might win in a runoff.  "Cherepkov is very clever, and he will ally with anyone (i.e., even Nazdratenko) to improve his chances of winning."  Kuznetsov thought Deputy PolPred Gennadiy Apanasenko also had a chance at winning, but only if the Center was willing to resort to the crudest of election strong-arm tactics.  "Apanasenko has no popular support.  People will only vote for him because they fear what might happen if they oppose him and he wins."  Kuznetsov planned to meet with PolPred Pulikovskiy next week.  If asked, he planned to tell him to drop the support of his Deputy since the latter would not be perceived if legitimate if he won.

 

Kuznetsov expressed nothing but derision at the current antics of ex-First Deputy Governor Tolstoshein.  "The man has no shame.  First he sues to get his old job back, and now he is threatening to write a tell-all memoir.  He can't tell all, or he'll go to jail."

 

Admiration for Ishayev

 

Kuznetsov expressed admiration for Khabarovsk Kray Governor Ishayev, who he described as an old friend and colleague.  "He has a fearsome reputation," Kuznetsov said, "and he does have complete control of Khabarovsk.  But he is nevertheless a little soft-hearted.  He has people on his staff that I would have fired long ago, just because he doesn't like to let people go." 

 

Anti-Americanism in Vladivostok

 

Kuznetsov said there was some anti-Americanism in Vladivostok, but not as much as people might suppose.  Partly this was a hangover from Nazdratenko, who "had 200 propagandists on his staff"  ready to blame foreigners, especially Chinese and Americans, for any failures in Primorye.  Kuznetsov said that his contacts with DVGU students indicated that the younger generation, at least, had lost its wariness of foreigners and was eager for increased contacts.

 

Kuznetsov will return to Primorye the week before the elections and has promised to drop by for another conversation.