The Leningrad Oblast The text below was prepared by Samuel Haskins, an intern with the Russian-American Chamber of Commerce®. Overview The Leningrad Oblast is located in the Northwest Economic Region of Russia, in the northwest of the Eastern European Plain. It is bordered by the Russian territories of Kareliya to the north, Archangel to the east, Novgorod to the south, and Pskov to the southeast, and the countries of Estonia to the west and Finland to the northwest, and also is connected to the Gulf of Finland and Lake Ladoga, the largest lake in Europe. Forests cover two-thirds of the Oblast, and one-tenth of it is swampland. The total area of the Oblast is 84,500 square kilometers, and the administrative center of the region is at Saint Petersburg, which is the second largest city in Russia. The economy, history and population of the Leningrad Oblast, as well as the entire Northwest Economic Region are all centered around the city of Saint Petersburg. The current population of the city is about six million, while the rest of the Oblast is home to only about 1,676,000 (1996 figures). Pollution in the region is high, with a poorly designed nuclear power station located in the area. Besides Saint Petersburg, the economic centers of the Oblast are Vyborg (with Saint Petersburg, another major port), Sestroretsk and Kingisepp. It is a very accessible Oblast, with 2,229 kilometers of railway track and 9,616 kilometers of paved road. In 1995, 14 percent of the Oblast's population was employed in agriculture, mostly animal husbandry and vegetable production. The timber business is thriving in the region, and the main industries in the area are mechanical engineering, metallurgy, chemicals, petrochemicals, petroleum refining, forestry/agricultural product processing, energy production, light manufacturing and construction material production. 28 percent of the Oblast's workers were employed in industry in 1995.   History Although the Leningrad Oblast was not actually formed until August 1927, Saint Petersburg City was founded in 1703. From 1914 to 1924 it was known as Petrograd, and from 1924 until 1991 it was called Leningrad. The history of the city is a fascinating one, and has affected the region surrounding it greatly. Saint Petersburg was founded, as official court historian Nikolai Karamzin would write, "on tears and corpses." (Volkov, 11) In 1717, it was declared the new capital of Russia, and had a population of more than 40,000 by 1725. Because of the violence that went into its construction, the masses of the working class were resentful toward the city. After Peter the Great's death in 1725, the city and the country were ruled by Catherine the Great. As Czar Peter had established Saint Petersburg as his "window to the west," Catherine would also make changes to the city to make it more European. Ironically, perhaps the most famous of all cultural artifacts of the city, The Bronze Horseman, was created by Etienne Falconet, a famous French sculpture at the time, and completed by a Russian. The city of Saint Petersburg has gone through many changes of identity, symbolized by the changing of the city's name. In 1914, Czar Nicholas II ordered the name to change from St. Petersburg to Petrograd. At the time of the founding, it was named after its patron saint, Saint Peter. After 1914, however, it was the city of Peter the emperor. By 1918, the Germans were approaching Petrograd. The same year, Vladimir Lenin and the government fled, moving the capital from Petrograd to Moscow. As French Enlightenment philosopher Denis Diderot said about the move, "It is extremely unwise to place the heart on the fingertip." (Volkov, xvi) In 1924, Soviet Congress wrote in a special resolution, "Let this major center of the proletarian revolution from this day forward be connected with the name of the greatest leader of the proletariat, Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov Lenin." Until 1991, the city and outlying area would be called Leningrad. In that year, there were many political battles between the communist hard-liners and the liberals. As poet Alexander Kushner wrote at the time, "I had the fortune to be born in Leningrad and I will die, God willing, in Petersburg." (Volkov, 543) After the city's name change, the region retained its old name, Leningrad. The city of Saint Petersburg and the Leningrad Oblast have had a violent history. In 1993, Klyuchevsky would write, "I doubt one could find a battle in military history that led to the death of more soldiers than the number of laborers who died in building] Saint Petersburg." In reality, however, this was just the beginning of violence in the region, with both world wars doing vast amounts of damage to the land, industry, and society in the area. Only recently has population figures in Leningrad surpassed the pre-World War II population statistics. The city and region have traditionally had strong political ties to Moscow. The most recent of these is now-President Vladimir Putin, the former mayor of Saint Petersburg (as well as a former KGB agent in Germany), who was originally a strong connection between Saint Petersburg and foreign investors. Economy Traditionally, the major industries in Leningrad and the city of Saint Petersburg were defense, technology, ship building, optics, refineries, chemicals and heavy industries. The Scandinavian and Baltic countries have held strong economic ties with the Oblast. According to Grigory Dvas, the vice-governor of the region, Leningrad's economy is on the upswing. In the first 9 months of 2000, the industrial growth rate was at 25.5 percent, while real salary grew at a rate of 29.5 percent. The average salary per worker in St. Petersburg increased from 3122 to 3207 rubles. ("Salary & Industrial Output Growth," Copyright 2000 RIA Oreanda October 20, 2000) Capitalism is budding in Leningrad, with the economy of the Oblast moving from military industries to more consumer-oriented sectors such as breweries, tobacco and automobile assembly plants. (May 19, 2000 Copyright the Financial Times Limited, London). Leningrad Oblast is an industrial core of Russia, with industrial production being high. In 1998, the volume of industrial production for Saint Petersburg and the surrounding Leningrad region stood at 56 billion rubles, a little over half as much as that of Moscow city and Oblast combined. The numbers for Saint Petersburg seem to be climbing, also: in the first four months of 2000, local industrial production was up 25 percent from the same period the previous year. Investment in 1998 in the region was at about 19.6 billion rubles. According to Oblast spokesman Sidorin, the major contributors to this increase were the industries of paper, forestry and construction materials. These numbers are consistent with the previous year's statistics, when the paper/timber industry increased by 14 percent and the construction material industry increased by 25 percent. The cost of food basket (defined as 25 goods) has been lower than average for the Leningrad Oblast, with its 1998 cost six percent lower than the average for the entire Russian Federation (compare this with the same statistics for Moscow, which are 5 percent over the average cost for the Russian Federation and a full 24 percent higher for Moscow city). This cost of living statistic is even more impressive when coupled with the average wages per worker, which shows Leningrad's numbers to be at least 10 percent below the average cost of food basket for the Russian Federation. Although 'Petrograd,' the old name of the city, finds its roots in the name of Czar Peter the Great, it could have also been for the region's petroleum refining industry. In 1998, the Leningrad-Saint Petersburg region sold 65 thousand tons of gasoline (3.3 percent of the total for the Russian Federation), and sold 74 thousand tons of diesel fuel (3.8 percent of the total sold). In February 1999, the region had 258 thousand tons of coal (about 1.3 percent of the total) and 295 thousand tons of fuel oil (5.4 percent of the total for the Russian Federation). One of the major problems for Leningrad in the economic sphere is the lack of skilled workers, engineers and technicians. This is a change from the past, when the universities and institutes would contribute to the educated workforce. Investment Foreign investment in Leningrad is thriving, with about $400 million invested in the region last year. Philip Morris is quite active in the area, recently completing a new cigarette factory and now able to produce 90 percent of the Philip Morris brands sold in Russia. Kraft Foods also completed a new coffee packaging plant with the ability to package 20% of all demand in Russia, and plans to launch a new mayonnaise production line in the city of Gorelovo. The American company Caterpillar has a road construction material plant. Ford Motor Company is building a production plant in Vsevolzhsk City. International Paper Company takes advantage of the heavy forested region through its subsidiary, JSC Svetogorsk. The most active countries in the region in terms of private investment are United States, Sweden and Germany. Finland is strong in the timber industry and, through the Finnish firm Nokia, cellular phone usage is becoming more popular in the region. The government of the region is actively pursuing reforms and open lines of communication to enhance investment in the region. With the assistance of the U.S. Consulate General, the local government has hosted internet conferences regarding American investment in the Leningrad Oblast, with Leningrad government officials and representatives from major American companies taking part. According to the committee for Economy and Investment, headed by chairman Grigory Dvas, American investment makes up about 80 percent of all foreign investment in the region ("Internet Conference on Investments," RIA Oreanda, Economic News, March 2, 2001). In addition, United States Ambassador James Collins proclaimed that Russian and American business companies have reached a new level of economic relations in a farewell visit to the Oblast in June. A delegation from the region, lead by Governor Valery Serdyukov, recently visited the United States for the purpose of attracting new investments and strengthening the economic bonds between the two.   Going There Saint Petersburg, known as Russia's most European city, was built around the River Neva. At about the same latitude as Anchorage, Alaska, the winters are often bitter, cold and dark, with an average January temperature of 17 degrees Fahrenheit. Many who have been there say there are few things as beautiful as Saint Petersburg during the winter months, however. From December 25 until January 5 Russians celebrate the Russian Winter Festival with sleigh rides, folk shows and performing bears. During the summer the residents are energetic and festive, celebrating the "White Nights," a festival during the last ten days of June, during which the sun does not set. The average temperature in the summer months is around 68 degrees Fahrenheit. The airports, named Pulkova-1 (domestic flights) and Pulkova-2 (international flights), lie about 10 miles south of the city. The subway is very efficient, and buses and taxis are also available. Driving in the area, as well as the rest of Russia, is dangerous for those inexperienced in Russia's conditions. The Russian-American Chamber of Commerce® is a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization acting to promote American business interests in the Russian marketplace. The Russian-American Chamber of Commerce® Last Updated: October 18, 2001. Copyright the Russian-American Chamber of Commerce® 1995-2003. All rights reserved.