Moscow Orientation – Day 5 – Business and Politics

Today we met with Andrew Summers, the head of the American Chamber of Commerce in Moscow, and he described the organizations mission and its place in the business firmament in Russia. Very interesting discussion about what makes business either difficult or attractive to American companies and what is happening on the ground here in terms of investment. This was all very conversational and heavily laced with anecdotes about actual experiences that “member companies” have had – in effect, names had been changed to protect the innocent. His take away from his members – Russia is a great market and all the risks and difficulties are proportionately small and manageable.

After that, we met with the head of Echo of Moscow the leading independent radio station in Russia. Actually, its kind of in its own niche with no real competition. Anyway, the head of the station founded the company in 1990 and holds radio license #1. Ownership has gone through several incarnations, and at this point Gazprom – the state-owned energy giant – owns 66% of the shares.

Vennidiktov, the chief, is a high-energy fellow. Bordering on maniacal, perhaps. He wore a flannel shirt and jeans. His hair was long, and sticking straight out from his head in every possible direction. He has a beard that sticks out in every possible direction available to it, too. The effect is a graying lion’s mane, a corona of hair surrounding his bespectacled face. He speaks very quickly, but clearly and purely – that is, intelligibly.

We spoke about government involvement in the media in Russia. He noted that Gazprom calls only to find out when to expect the dividends. All the same, there is a degree of censorship. In Russia, broadcast licenses can only be pulled by the courts and not by government fiat. That’s good, he noted, except the soviet-style court system does exactly what ever the government wants. Two complaints from the state – ratified by the court – and a station can be taken off the air. So in answer to a question of whether he would interview Shamil Basayev, the Chechen warlord, he said emphatically “No. But bin Laden I could do.”

In general, Russia’s a tough place to be a journalist. Officialdom is highly skeptical of a generally toothless press (witness Putin’s decision to create a press oversight board and purchase of Moscow News by a businessman who says that its not in the interest of society to criticize the government.) Journalists are murdered in Russia with shocking regularity, and not one case has led to a conviction. Neither has any journalist prevailed in any court action, something like 40 cases at this point. The station also writes out additional press passes for their journalists – not only do you need press accreditation, but a piece of paper saying specifically what you’re covering in order to appease the police.

Still, they soldier on pretty bravely. Each story may be small, but the work is important for Russia’s development as an open, civil society.