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‘Partner’ is a term the United States Ambassador to Russia, Alexander Vershbow, uses to describe Russian/American relations, says Vladivostok based US Consul General Pamela Spratlen. “The presidents of both nations have met several times. At the very top they have shown interest in cooperation. Some of it is threat related, such as cooperation on fighting terrorism and HIV. Sakhalin is one of the places that has opportunities and where the cooperation is in a positive field, which is very good.” Spratlen adds the relationship between Sakhalin and the United States is on the upward path of being closer. “The relationship is more economically than politically focused and more oriented toward the future than the past.”

Spratlen took up her duties as US Consul General in Vladivostok on 2 October 2002. She came to the Russian Far East from Moscow, where she was coordinator of all US government technical assistance for two years. During this period, she travelled around Russia to see how the funds - 200 million dollars per year – were being spent. Spratlen, who has a Masters degree in state politics, has been working in the diplomatic field for 13 years in Guatemala, Washington and Paris. She was born in Columbus, Ohio.

“We put a lot of focus on Sakhalin,” Spratlen says. The fact that she has already visited the island twice since she was appointed supports that statement. She plans to have an American officer, herself or someone else, visiting Sakhalin every quarter. The prime focus is on oil and gas, although she thinks there are other commercial opportunities for American companies, such as in the field of construction and consumer goods.

In December, she came to Sakhalin to meet with local officials to discuss interests on the political and economical level, such as PSA (Production Sharing Agreement) legislation. “The oil and gas business is a risky one, that’s also one of its attractions. We would like to see all projects – of any country – proceed. I think development on a broad basis is good.”

She thinks all Sakhalin citizens should benefit from the oil and gas projects. “An opportunity like this project will create jobs.” And she’s positive talking to officials and companies. “There is training for entrepreneurs and there are some visual changes - from the year 2000 to now I have seen more business activity.”

The US Consul General believes the implementation of the oil and gas projects will be a challenge, looking at the infrastructure. “Sakhalin has to make sure it is prepared, which is difficult with an infrastructure dating from the fifties and earlier.” Another issue she mentions is for Sakhalin to deal with HIV. Spratlen notes that she met people working in the AIDS prevention centre in Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk and “found it very good to see how they were trying to prepare for what is coming”. She says US President George W. Bush mentioned in his State of the Union address there will be more attention to HIV in the coming year from the side of the United States, adding that hopefully on Sakhalin initiatives will be taken by the regional officer.

Asked about the recent wave of violence against foreigners in Moscow – dark skinned in particular, she says the security issue is a problem. “Diversity is an issue the Russian government has to deal with. I don’t know what the atmosphere in Moscow is now, but I was threatened when I lived there and experienced visual hostility. Some I think is urban behaviour, some is more racially motivated.” Spratlen thinks the Russian government must be more effective in addressing this issue. “When incidents take place, the perpetrators should be found and prosecuted. The police should take action when they see something and follow the law. On the political level I think Russian leaders should make it clear to the people that it [ethnic violence] is unacceptable in their speeches and by supporting policies that promote the fact that Russia is a diverse country.”

To represent the interests of American citizens on Sakhalin, the US consulate is looking for a consular agent on Sakhalin. This American citizen will provide routine and emergency consular services, assist US government representatives visiting the region, provide public information about issues of concern to Americans and provide consular information to Russian citizens. “We’ve been working on that since June 2000. To the press it may seem that we have made no progress whatsoever, but internally we have. We don’t have a consular agent in this part of the world. It is a long route in the State Department and Sakhalin is psychologically far, which makes it difficult to make something happen. We have interviewed individuals and selected a couple of leading candidates. We know whom we’d like to see, but it is now a decision for Moscow and Washington. We are very interested in getting a consular agent. Hopefully it will happen very soon.”

She remembers her first impression of Russia was that it was “very grey”, when she first visited Moscow in January 1999. At the same time, Spratlen was impressed with the beauty of some of the buildings such as the Kremlin and older buildings in the Chistye Prudy area in Moscow. “The architecture is very different from Europe. The language was different. Everything was different.”

What brought her to the Russian Far East? “I like frontiers and this is a frontier area.” She sees several similarities between the Russian Far East and the United States. “As American I like to think we are a new nation; the Russian Far East too.” She adds both Russia and the United States are huge countries. When it comes to Russian people, she says that there is not one common mentality, “mentality depends on the individual”. In general, she believes Russian people, more than Americans, are used to adapting to what comes.

Asked her opinion about the people in the Russian Far East, she says: “The people here are more open, their attitude to life is more positive that in Moscow. Life is hard in Moscow. There’s a lot of snow dispersed with who knows what chemicals. You have to make sure you don’t fall and get hit by an icicle at the same time. People have to travel long distances by noisy metro. Here, it is sunny and people are closer to the sea, nature.”

Spratlen likes being in Vladivostok very much. “The most pleasant surprise was the cultural life. Here we have the Pushkin theatre and the Gorky theatre, whose director is very active. I’m glad there is a consulate based here.”

She loves singing and painting, but hasn’t found the time yet to find an instructor. “I met a few artists and think there is a lot of talent in the Russian Far East.” She has little time for hobbies as she works a lot. “I hoped to get a degree online, but the work has taken more energy than I thought.” She says the Vladivostok consulate with 50 employees is quite large - 252 American citizens are registered in the Russian Far East, but the actual number working in this area of the world is believed to be much higher. “I often have obligations in the evening,” she says, “but Russians know that one shouldn’t always work. We must find time to relax”, which is what she tries to do.

© 2002 Petra Wijnsema

Last update: 13 February 2003