Gender not an issue for most influential woman in Russia

“Man or woman - it’s the results that count”, says St. Petersburg Governor

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By Jussi Konttinen
     
      Russia is still a country run by men. There are two women in the national government, and there is one woman in the Duma with a rank as high as that of Deputy Speaker.
      Valentina Matviyenko, the Governor of St. Petersburg and former Deputy Prime Minister, is considered to be the most influential woman in the country. The 59-year-old Matviyenko, who dresses in stunning designer clothing, pays little heed to the debate on gender issues.
      “Your question about gender is impolite. Those with a difficult job are evaluated on the basis of the results. I have never encountered problems in my career because of my gender. St. Petersburg is a European city. It doesn’t matter here if someone is a man or a woman”, says Matviyenko in an interview with Helsingin Sanomat.
     
The St. Petersburg Economic Forum, which begins on Friday, has become a high-level public relations event for Russia. It is a time for signing investment contracts worth billions of euros.
      This year, in connection with the Forum, the St. Petersburg-based Russian Oil Exchange will be inaugurated.
      Matviyenko’s undoubted achievements as governor are linked specifically with the economy. During her five years in office the budget of St. Petersburg has quadrupled, and foreign investments have increased tenfold.
      On the other hand, much of the tax revenue is from big state-owned companies, which Matviyenko has persuaded to relocate to the city on the Neva.
     
Trade between Finland and St. Petersburg grew last year by nearly one third. Stockmann is building a department store in St. Petersburg, SRV is setting up a logistics centre, and YIT is building new apartments.
      “We want to develop innovation technologies. It would be a good area of cooperation for Finland and St. Petersburg. The Finnish Technopolis company plans to build a technology village here”, says Matviyenko.
      The governor would like to bring back a ferry connection to operate between Finland and St. Petersburg. She has appealed to the Duma to allow cruise passengers to spend three days in St. Petersburg without a visa.
     
Matviyenko has been criticised for her treatment of the city’s historical buildings.
      A movement defending the historic appearance of the city has drawn up a list of 100 buildings of the time of the Tsars that have been demolished while Matviyenko has been in office.
      The Governor turns cautious when the subject is raised.
      “Those kinds of claims are not true. The buildings in question were in poor condition, and had no architectural value. There were no alternatives as far as they were concerned. A city needs to develop. More repairs are being done to old buildings in the city now than in decades.”
      The Governor also defends plans by the state-owned Gazpromneft to build a skyscraper 400 metres tall at the mouth of the Neva - half of which will be financed by the city. “The architecture of the 21st century must also leave its beautiful mark on St. Petersburg.”
     
Matviyenko also speaks about “the importance of democratic development and the civic society”, but the lot of the political opposition has been a hard one in the St. Petersburg that has been under her leadership. Permission has been denied for the holding of a number of demonstrations, and police have taken a hard line on demonstrators, who have been dragged to jail in a very harsh manner.
      “We do not deny what has happened, but we will not agree to demands for holding marches on the Nevsky Prospekt. When orders are disobeyed, it is anarchy, and a reaction is needed.”
      The Yakoblo party, which is part of the Parliamentary opposition, was dropped from the City Duma on a technicality.
      “Yabloko violated the election law, which all parties must obey. Their appeal was thrown out of court”, Matviyenko shrugs.
     
The increasing trend toward multiculturalism offers the leader of St. Petersburg a new challenge. There are already hundreds of thousands of foreign workers in the city.
      Immigrants’ rights are limited. According to civic organisations, the children of many immigrant families are not allowed into schools.
      "Immigrants whose papers are in order, do not have those kinds of problems. If people are here illegally, they must be punished, as well as the companies that hire them", the governor says.
      Matviyenko has said that she will step down from her post in 2011. Before that, many tribulations lie ahead. The governor would like her city to host the 2020 Olympics, as well as the Eurovision Song Contest next spring.
      But what is her vision of St. Petersburg 20 years from now?
      “Our most important goal is that the people of St. Petersburg should achieve a European standard of living. We must create industry and infrastructure, we must improve housing and keep the environment clean.”
     
Helsingin Sanomat / First published in print 4.6.2008


Previously in HS International Edition:
  Regular passenger ferry traffic from Helsinki to St. Petersburg to start in July (22.5.2008)
  Stubb wants to "modernise" Finnish and EU relations with Russia (28.4.2008)
  Russian dissidents call for tough stance from West (10.6.2008)
  Poll: Finns wary of prospect of Putin staying in Russian leadership (4.1.2008)
  Human rights activists held for questioning in Russia (8.10.2007)

JUSSI KONTTINEN / Helsingin Sanomat
jussi.konttinen@hs.fi