Sure, lets attack pirates rather than dictators.U.S. Firms Shrug Off Putin Power Plays
By Maria Levitov
Staff Writer
Recent moves by President Vladimir Putin to strengthen the Kremlin's hold on Russia's political life do not worry U.S. businesses, the global head of America's biggest business lobby said Thursday.
There's no cause for concern, said Thomas Donohue, president and CEO of the American Chamber of Commerce, which presents over 3 million businesses worldwide, including more than 800 in Russia. "Both of our nations are in the midst of restructuring our government."
In light of the growing threat of global terrorism, it is important to find a balance between protecting society while keeping them open, said Donohue, who is on a three-day visit to Moscow.
Critics have called Putin's decision to abolish direct elections for governors and single-mandate State Duma seats, and the relentless legal assault on oil giant Yukos, as clear indications that the country is reverting to its totalitarian past. But U.S. businesses are more concerned with increasing bilateral trade and seeing Russia join the World Trade Organization, Donohue said.
Therefore, he said, protecting intellectual property rights, not Yukos, will dominate his talks with Prime Minister Mikhail Fradkov and other senior officials during his visit.
"It would be a mistake to link one individual and one company to a series of negotiations ... [which are] not about us telling the Russian government how to run their affairs, other than in the issues that we negotiate between one another," Donohue said.
"[But] if this became the rule of the day, not the event of the day, it would raise a lot of concerns."
American businesses see "extraordinary progress going on" in Russia, making the country deserving of WTO status, he said, adding that counterfeiting remains a major stumbling block.
U.S. trade officials estimate American companies lost out on more than $1 billion in sales last year as a result of Russian piracy.
AmCham's eagerness to see Russia join the global trade body is founded on practicality, Donohue said. "We believe we do very well when our trading partners are in a rules-based system."
He said he hopes negotiations will be wrapped up within a year, far longer than Russia originally hoped, which was before Tuesday's U.S. presidential election.
"Money goes where it is welcome, where it is safe and where it can be profitable," he said, adding that he sees no indications that U.S. money is unwelcome in Russia.
"We are a major foreign investor here, but we should be a lot more of a foreign investor."
Donohue said he expects bilateral trade to increase to $15 billion per year by 2007 from around $10 billion now. But even then it would still pale in comparison with the United States' main trading partners -- Mexico, Canada, Japan and the European Union -- whose trade balances number in the hundreds of billions of dollars.
Have a very nice day.
-fgalkin
