Pskov Region of the Russian Federation as Foreign Policy Actor by Eero MIKENBERG

318 Pages·2008·1.92 MB·English

Pskov Region of the Russian Federation
as Foreign Policy Actor

by
Eero MIKENBERG
A dissertation submitted for the degree of PhD

Faculty of Social Science, Department of Central and
East European Studies
University of Glasgow

May 2006
ABSTRACT
Subnational foreign activities are a new and relatively unexplored aspect of
the international system. The absence of clear and universal rules creates an
ambiguous political playground that can be misused by both states and their
subnational governmental units for reaching their foreign policy and foreign trade
goals.
Worldwide, different patterns for subnational foreign activities in federal
states have emerged. For example, in the United States, member states of the
federation are fighting over foreign investments mainly. In Germany, on the other
hand, members of the federation have delegated their rights in terms of foreign
activities to the federal government. In general, federations with long democratic
traditions have managed to introduce the formulas for containing subnational foreign
activities.
In Russia, in contrast, the breakdown of the Soviet Union confronted both the
federal centre and members of federation with a fundamentally new situation. In
Soviet times, the territorial units of the Russian Socialist Federative Soviet Republic
(RSFSR), were of administrative nature only, i.e. they lacked the political dimension.
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Some of the Russian regions were using their newly-gained freedom for the
purpose of challenging the federal centre. Pskov region of Russia has been one of the
most active subnational actors.

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Contents
ABSTRACT..............................................................................................2
Contents.....................................................................................................4
List of Tables.............................................................................................6
List of Pictures...........................................................................................7
List of Abbreviations.................................................................................9
Note on Transliteration............................................................................ 10
Acknowledgements.................................................................................. 11
Preface..................................................................................................... 13
Chapter 1 Regions as Foreign Policy Actors.............................................33
1.1. Terms and Definitions.......................................................................38
1.2. Subnational Actors in the International System.................................44
1.3. Reasons for Subnational Foreign Activities.......................................46
1.4. Conceptual Framework: Types of Subnational Foreign Activities......53
1.5. Instruments.......................................................................................64
1.6. Consequences of Subnational Foreign Activities............................... 70
1.7. Outlook.............................................................................................73
1.8. Examples..........................................................................................76
1.8.1. US States........................................................................................77
1.8.2. Quebec...........................................................................................80
1.8.3. Germany........................................................................................83
1.8.4. Belgium.........................................................................................90
1.8.5. The European Union......................................................................95
Conclusion...............................................................................................98
Chapter 2 Russian Regions as Foreign Policy Actors..............................100
2.1. Agents in Russian Foreign-policy Making: Subnational Dimension..103
2.2. Legal Framework for Subnational Foreign Activities........................108
2.3. Russian Regions in the International System....................................113
Conclusion..............................................................................................121
Chapter 3 Pskov Oblast(cid:146) of the Russian Federation...............................124
3.1. History................................................................................................127
3.1.1. Ancient Times...............................................................................128
3.1.2. The Feudal Republic of Pskov.......................................................130
3.1.3. Pskov as Part of the Centralist Russian State.................................133
3.1.4. 20th Century...................................................................................136
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3.2. Population..........................................................................................141
3.3. Economic Geography.........................................................................143
3.3.1. Energy and Natural Resources.......................................................144
3.3.2. Industry.........................................................................................147
3.3.3. Ownership of Enterprises..............................................................151
3.3.4. Tourism.........................................................................................152
3.3.5. International Trade/ Transit...........................................................154
3.3.6. Foreign Investment........................................................................156
3.3.7. Communications...........................................................................157
3.3.8. Economic Performance .................................................................158
3.4. Regional Regime.................................................................................166
Chapter 4 Subnational Foreign Activities of Pskov (cid:150) Regional and Local
Units..........................................................................................................176
4.1. Subnational Foreign Activities: Different Levels of Government......180
4.2. Regional Unit...................................................................................185
4.2.1. Directions......................................................................................187
4.2.2. Partners.........................................................................................188
4.2.3. Chronology...................................................................................190
4.3. Local Municipal Units......................................................................191
4.3.1. Directions......................................................................................192
4.3.2. Partners.........................................................................................193
4.3.3. Chronology...................................................................................198
4.4. Local Rural Units.............................................................................199
Chapter 5 Case Studies.............................................................................202
5.1. Case Study No 1 Euroregion vs. Council for Cooperation of Border
Regions...................................................................................................203
5.2. Case Study No 2 (cid:147)Raketa(cid:148)-ferry (cid:150) Will it Travel Again?..................218
Chapter 6 Making Sense of Subnational Foreign Activities: the Case of
Pskov.........................................................................................................239
6.1. Analysis of Regional Foreign Activities...........................................242
6.2. Analysis of Local Municipal Foreign Activities................................254
6.3. Analysis of Local Rural Foreign Activities.......................................259
Summary: a Pskov-made Foreign Policy?...............................................264
Pskov, Regions and Foreign Policy in Retrospect....................................270
Bibliography...........................................................................................288

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List of Tables

Table No 1 Comparison of Pskov and its neighbouring regions (1998)
Table No 2 The Dynamics of Pskov industrial production, 1985-2000
Table No 3 Foreign trade of Pskov oblast(cid:146) (in million US dollars)
Table No 4 Electricity consumption in Pskov region (million kWh)
Table No 5 Budget of Pskov oblast(cid:146) 1990-1998 (million roubles)
Table No 6 Population living below the minimal subsistence level
Table No 7 The official minimal subsistence level in Pskov and neighbouring
regions in 1998 (in thousand roubles)

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List of Pictures

Picture No 1. Pskov Oblast(cid:146). Source: the official website of the Pskov Oblast(cid:146)
administration at www.pskov.ru, English transcription by author.

Picture No 2 The Kremlin of Pskov, the centre of the feudalist republic. The
public meetings took place in the courtyard of the Pskov Kremlin, which was
protected by high walls and two rivers.

Picture No 3 Lenin still stands proudly in front of the regional administration.

Picture No 4 The main building of the Pskov regional administration. The
administration of Pskov region is located on the Street Nekrassova, Pskov. In the
same building, in the right wing reside several federal institutions, including the local
representation of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Picture No 5 The Town Square of Tartu. The second-biggest Estonian town,
Tartu, is influenced by German rule. With its Rathaus (Town Hall) Tartu contrasts
with Pskov and its Kremlin.
Picture No 6 The Koydula border station, built with assistance from the EU,
waits for an upswing in cross-border trade

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Picture No 7 The emblem of the CCBR combines the three national flags of
Estonia, Russia and Latvia, encircled by 7 yellow stars.

Picture No 8 A fast ferry on the river Emayogy

Picture No 9 Before Pskov was incorporated by the Russian centralist state,
foreign affairs were decided here, in the Pskov Kremlin.

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List of Abbreviations
ACCT ((cid:145)Agence de cooperation culturelle et technique(cid:146))
CCBR Council for Cooperation of Border Regions
CIS: Commonwealth of Independent States
CoE: Council of Europe
CPSU: Communist Party of the Soviet Union
EC/EU: European Community/European Union
EU: European Union
FRG: Federal Republic of Germany
GDR: German Democratic Republic
GOSKOMSTAT: State Statistics Committee
LDPR: Liberal Democratic Party of Russia
MFA: Ministry of Foreign Affairs
MFER: Ministry of Foreign Economic Relations
NATO: North Atlantic Treaty Organisation
NDR: Nash Dom Rossiya {Our Home is Russia}, a political party in Russia
RSFSR: Russian Socialist Federative Soviet Republic
SU: Soviet Union
USSR: Union of Soviet Socialist Republics

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Note on Transliteration
For the transliteration of Russian to English, the author uses a scheme
employed by Europe-Asia Studies, except for cases where the respective
word is in use in English already (Moscow, for example).

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