This is the first editorial in this week's issue of the Sakhalin Times

Sakhalin has an extremely rich but fragile marine ecosystem. The cold waters around the island provide a habitat for than a hundred species of fish. Sakhalin is renowned for its crab, salmon, pollock and halibut. These and other marine wildlife species face a great threat of extinction. This threat comes less from the multinational oil companies on the island and more from the poaching mafia.

The presence of the “fish mafia” predates the arrival of the oil companies. The mafia went from strength to strength after the Pacific Fleet reduced its deployments around Sakhalin. The poachers have a good network from Primorye to Magadan to the Kamchatka peninsula. Their largest markets are Japan, South Korea and China. Last week, Russian Interior Minister Rashid Nurgaliyev made a startling revelation that 75% of all seafood caught in the Russian Far East is illegally exported. Poaching is a 25-billion rouble industry in Sakhalin alone. There are at regular press-releases from the FSB about the coast guard arresting poachers. The FSB added that there were 5,600 poaching-related crimes this year alone. Despite stepped-up vigil, poachers are making a fortune.

Such a trade wouldn’t be flourishing unless there were some officials in the government as well as in the FSB that gained from the sheer volume. The poachers are definitely well-connected. Their job is easier as the Russian Government lacks adequate means (and laws) to protect marine resources. It’s a shame that ordinary fishermen and Sakhalin’s Indigenous Peoples who are traditionally dependant on fishing for their livelihood, live in poverty when the mafia is literally making billions.

Two simple steps can go a long way in solving this menace. The first step would be to completely revise fishing quotas. Many ordinary fishermen turn to the mafia when they have exhausted their quotas. This is a sure-fire way of making some extra money. The federal government needs to appoint an expert who can work with fishermen’s unions and help establish more reasonable quotas. The fish around these waters is valuable and there is no reason that ordinary fishermen shouldn’t reap the benefits of the trade. The state needs to play a more active role in this industry and constantly encourage smaller private enterprises.

The second step, which is already being implemented, is the expansion of cooperation between states that have a common maritime border with Russia. The chief of the Border Guards has already reached an agreement with his South Korean counterpart to jointly combat poaching. Similar agreements need to be reached with Japan and China. If these countries seriously cooperate with Russia and take action against dubious buyers, then there will be no market for poached marine products.

Both the Sakhalin Administration and the Russian Federal Government need to act fast against the poaching menace or else several precious marine species will be driven into extinction.

This is the editorial in this week's issue of the Sakhalin Times

Russia is at a stage now that it has no enemies in its Far East. China seems to be at ease after getting two empty islands on the Amur. Japan does not consider war an option in its quest to get the Southern Kurils. America has never had ambitions on Russian territory. Unfortunately, the Russian Government still has an obsession with security and a great deal of paranoia when it comes to allowing foreign tourists in to the country. This is more the case in the Russian Far East.

The real successors to the USSR are the various administrations of the regions in the Far East Federal District. Every domestic airport from Vladivostok to Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk to Petropavlovsk-Kamchatski has FSB officers that conduct extra document checks on foreigners. A sane person would assume that the Russian Border Guards have a fool-proof system that doesn’t allow people without valid visas to enter Russia.

The “big people in the little areas” also seem to subscribe to their own version of the Russian constitution. If it isn’t the FSB officer at an airport, it is a policeman on a train. It is human nature to resist change and the government officers in this part of the country don’t want to accept a person’s new-found (yet legal) freedom of movement. The end result is that the Russian economy and people lose tourism-related income.

One of the most important items on the agenda of last week’s Russian American Pacific Partnership (RAPP) meeting was the development of tourism in the Russian Far East. Sakhalin and the Russian Far East have vast and incomparable tourist potential with unsurpassed scenic beauty. The large land mass of the Russian Far East is full of beautiful cities, mountains, forests and a sparkling clean coastline.. From the charming Mediterranean feel of Khabarovsk in summer to the majestic year-round ocean views in Vladivostok to a red autumn in Sakhalin, the Russian Far East offers something special for every traveller in every season. Even the culture in this part of Russia is unique and very different to other parts of the country.

Tourism to Sakhalin and the Russian Far East is being held ransom to ridiculous visa policies, poor connectivity and in most cases appalling tourist infrastructure. The government has to play an active role to develop tourism in the Russian Far East. This would mean offering financial assistance to entrepreneurs who want to build hotels, restaurants and offer travel services. Every tourist looks for value for money and in the Russian Far East, tourists have to pay 5-star prices for 2-star facilities (they can forget about service with a smile). It is a combination of a lack of competition and government indifference that make the hospitality industry in the Far East unfriendly to tourists.

The Russian Government doesn’t want the country to be swamped with low-budget travellers but that is no excuse to indirectly shun tourism. There has to be some sort of revised visa policy. China offers visa on arrival to particular regions and free trade zones like Shenzhen. As a result, many tourists and business travellers visit these regions for short trips, significantly contributing to China’s coffers. Many special zones or cities can be opened up in the Russian Far East for tourists from countries that pose no security or immigration risk. There’s no reason why Russia can’t open up Sakhalin to Japanese tourists who are among the highest spenders in the world. There is neither a security threat nor any chance of illegal immigration from Japan.

Once a decision is made on which zones or cities can be opened for visa-free travel, Russia needs to improve flight connections to those places. It’s only when air traffic on the sectors become competitive that they will be able to attract tourists from Western Europe and other distant locations. An active international tourist promotion campaign is also needed on the lines of the award-winning campaigns by Malaysia and India. Russia can capitalise on the fact the Far East is largely unspoiled and one of the world's last remaining frontiers, one of the few places where people can visit and be the first to see what others have not.

A flourishing tourist trade in the Russian Far East will improve the region’s economic prospects and living standards. This could also be a catalyst to resettlement in the Russian Far East and help solve an impending demographic crisis. The onus is on the Federal Government to implement practical measures to develop and encourage tourism in what is definitely Russia’s best kept secret.

This is the first editorial in this week's issue of the Sakhalin Times

Konstantin Pulikovsky, the Russian Presidential Envoy in the Far East, signed a decree calling for a complete inspection and audit of all public bodies in the Sakhalin Region. There is a growing awareness in Moscow that many regions in the Russian Far East are being mismanaged. Mismanagement by public bodies has contributed to rising costs in the Sakhalin Region, but it would be too simplistic to lay all the blame on the local authorities.

The Federal Statistics Service reported that the cost of the basic food basket in the Sakhalin Region averaged 2,113 roubles per person per month. The cost of food in Sakhalin is even much higher than in Moscow. The actual figures have to be higher at the moment given the fact the poultry from Siberia and livestock from Primorye and Khabarovsk is still banned on the island.

Calculating with the official figures, a family of four in Sakhalin would have to spend around 8,500 roubles a month just for food. Add to that, utility bills of around 3,000 roubles and other expenses including transport and daily household expenses of say 1,000 roubles per person and conservative math says that a family of four would spend close to 500 dollars a month just to meet living expenses. This is a considerable sum even for local professionals with decent jobs in multinational companies. Now imagine a poor pensioner, who has been stripped of benefits like free transport and medicines. Such a person would find it next to impossible to make ends meet.

Food prices are even higher in Kamchatka, Chukotka and Magadan. Russians have already started giving up on those places (especially the latter two) and are migrating en masse to central Russia. It’s only a matter of time before locals start giving up on Sakhalin. The high costs of living will contribute more to the impending demographic crisis. People are less inclined to have children as education costs have also sky-rocketed along with food and living costs. In the 1970s, Moscow was hoping that the Sakhalin Region would have a population of one million by the start of the 21st century. Given the present circumstances, Sakhalin won’t even have three hundred thousand inhabitants in another two decades.

A federal subsidy to reduce costs is just a short-term measure that will not solve long term problems. There has to be a financially feasible way to pay professionals on the state’s payroll better salaries. Moscow needs a clearly-defined, long term approach towards the Sakhalin Region, where it decides on how to improve the standard of living of Sakhaliners.

This is the first editorial in this week's edition of the Sakhalin Times.

The 16 “underground striking” miners in Uglegorsk have managed to gather nationwide publicity for their cause. Their self-imposed exile, 142 metres below the surface of the earth, has entered its 9th day and might last another 2 weeks. The miners have been working in a semi-private establishment and have been denied their basic wages for over three years. Desperate times do call for desperate measures. The resolve and determination of these men needs to be admired. It is a complete disgrace that they have had to resort to such drastic tactics to get their wages.

Russian labour laws are stringent and penalties for such kind of “slavery” are severe. Sadly, in many cases, it’s government or semi-private organisations that violate these laws. Not too long ago, employees of utility providers from Dolinsk and other smaller cities were protesting against back wages, outside the Japanese Consulate as a way of humiliating the Sakhalin Administration. When the lawmakers are themselves violating labour laws what’s to stop unscrupulous Russian businessmen from doing so?

During the Yeltsin years, a large number of government employees weren’t paid their salaries for stretches of months. Many families survived on vegetables and fruits that they grew in their dachas in the summer and autumn months. There was so much economic turmoil and instability in those days that people could somewhat understand why they weren’t getting their salaries in time. Under the present economic climate, there is absolutely no excuse for public or private enterprises not to pay their salaries. If the Shakhtyorsk mine was really making losses for years it should have been shut down by now. At least these poor miners could have looked for other jobs.

The Sakhalin Administration needs to get its act together. First of all, it needs to make sure that all government entities pay outstanding wages (if any) and ensure that salaries are paid on time. The administration then needs to turn up the heat on the semi-private and private organisations. The government divested its stake in many semi-private organisations with the logic that that private ownership would equal better management. The end result is that the private monopolies have been responsible for even more cancerous business practises than the government ones. It’s the Sakhalin Administration’s responsibility to make sure that semi-private organisations are better managed and take decent care of their employees. Private enterprises, especially in the fishing and timber industries, are also notorious for not paying salaries. It’s needless to say that stricter controls need to be established there as well.

The multi-national companies in Sakhalin are often the target of severe and unfair criticism but at least they conduct their business activities with complete professionalism. Certain industries might just be better off if foreigners were allowed in. The Sinegorsk coal mine was handed over to Chinese management in 2004 and there hasn’t been a single labour dispute since then.

There is too much economic activity (and progress) in the Sakhalin Region for families to go hungry because their wage-earners aren’t being paid their salaries.