Val Karren - The Deceit of Riches

“Are you familiar with the current situation where the criminal gangs are hiring local bureaucrats to consult them, as well as sort out disputes about territory and product control?” Del asked me straight faced.

“What? Are you joking?” my jaw dropped, “How does that all work?”

“Well, the criminal groups have figured out that they can go on fighting each other and all wind up dead, or they can coordinate their efforts to build their own specific criminal enterprises and fight the government together. So, they actually have a pool of money that everybody contributes to, that goes to pay the politicians to sort out their disagreements so that it doesn’t come to cutting each other’s throats,” Del said dryly.

I sat with nothing more to say. I stared at him with a blank face from across the room.

“It’s true, kid.” Del continued to lay it all out for me, “The gangs will simply latch onto a competent entrepreneur and make him their slave. If anybody shows a bit of talent for making a bit of money, they’ll bleed him dry like leeches. If he refuses he is shot in a back alley, his car is bombed, his wife is kidnapped, his mother raped and murdered. Much of their own infighting now is about whose businessman is whose. So, they hire a local official to decide for them who gets to exploit which sectors. The government man then makes sure that laws and regulations support his decisions that benefit the gangs. They call this guy ‘the roof’ or ‘krisha’ in Russian.”

“How deep do you suppose it all goes?” I asked Del, referring to the political corruption.

“Well Peter, I think you might be looking at it with just a touch of naivete. We Americans, in general, have a simple view of the world and how it ought to be; Never tell a lie, Honest Abe, Checks & Balances. That’s unique in the world outside the USA except in countries like England and France. Hell, even Spain and Portugal were fascist dictatorships up until maybe twenty years ago! People do what they have to do just to get by in most of the world. The system is stacked against them and so they find a work around. Power in Moscow is used in a totally different way than in Washington. For them, it’s the perks of the job. We’re the ones who call it corruption when we can’t figure it all out and get a share of it. That’s the way it’s been for a very long time and four years of reforms ain’t gonna pull it out of the gutter. The whole culture runs this way.”

“Doesn’t this frustrate you as a business man?” I complained.

“Sure does, but it’s not my money, and they want me to play by ‘the rules.’ I tell them how we could get it done and then they tell me something else. So, I do what they want. Listen, I’m being paid so much money that I’ll never have to work again when I’m done here. They’ve got me in the golden handcuffs right now, so I’ll do what they want and how they want, but I tell it to them as it is. They make the decisions.” Del explained in his own defense

“Fair enough,” I snorted

Professor Dashkova was very pleased with the results with the first attempt at the Russian language assessment exam from the Moscow State University. We had a few months to go before June’s final exams, but I had already passed with just the minimum score on the practice round held during the midterm period. It could only get better, in theory.

“Mr. Turner, If you pass with a higher score in June, you could go to study in Moscow in September instead of here in Nizhniy,” Lyudmila said proudly.

“I am very satisfied to stay here in Nizhniy. I’ve seen Moscow and I am not too interested to go live there,” I remarked modestly.

“Young man, if you are invited to study in Moscow, you cannot refuse it! It’s the honor that all the students are hoping to achieve. The best of the best study in Moscow,” Lyudmila pressed.

“I understand, Professor, but I am busy with projects here in Nizhniy and wouldn’t want to give those up,” I insisted.

“I am so amazed at your dedication to your studies. Our Russian students are never as serious as you and don’t apply themselves to make so much progress. It would be a shame if you did not go to Moscow if you can,” she pleaded.

“Thanks again, but I speak Russian now like a Nizhniy local, with Ukrainian parents, and they’ll only laugh at my accent in Moscow like they did last summer! Moscovites are rather snobbish that way,” I accentuated it by putting on a high-pitched whine like a Muscovite.

“Yes, you are correct, but it should not stop you. And that’s that,” Lyudmila closed up her binder and rested her folded hands over the cover of her portfolio and wouldn’t discuss the matter any further. If it was up to her I would be in Moscow already.

Valentina Petrovna was brought up to speed on my midterm scores and also gave me compliments for the quality of my studies and test results. What was more surprising is that now she would only speak Russian with me!

“I also have a note from the American library that you spend too much time there, Peter. Olga is concerned that you are not healthy and are not being social,” Valentina sounded like a doctor diagnosing a patient.

“Is that all she said? That I don’t seem to have friends? That’s funny,” I chuckled.

“This Saturday night, there is a student event at The Monastery, a local night club, I assume you know of it, which is held every quarter by the owner for the students after their exams. If you show your student card entrance is free. You are required to attend!” Valentina ordered.

Just then Hans walked past the open door of Valentina Petrovna’s office who I hadn’t seen for about a month during my self-internment at the research library.

“Outstanding, Valentina Petrovna, thanks! I’ll sleep over at Hans’s Saturday night. He lives close. I promise to have some fun!” and with that, I darted from her office to catch Hans before he disappeared. The mood in the office was festive, almost jolly as the exams were all but over for the most of us. Relief was palpable in the halls.

My final mid-term evaluation was with Dean Karamzin in his office on Friday afternoon to review the direction and progress of the article that he was demanding in June from me. I explained in depth to the Dean what I had been reading about and documenting.

“The evidence is damning. The documentation is fuzzy and misleading and the effects that these deals are having on the government’s budgets are dramatic! Industries that the central government once controlled and funded the country with have been sold off to sketchy groups with no track record in the industries, in fact some didn’t exist weeks before the sales. Company assets have been systematically stripped and sold to the highest bidders and the directors of the new companies have disappeared with the proceeds from those sales! No more taxes, no more export duties, no more jobs. The government sold the companies for a song and a dance, in several instances for about ten percent of their market value, and now no tax revenues and lot of unemployed people needing assistance. It’s like the companies just evaporated into thin air after selling their equipment and infrastructures. It’s been one huge liquidation and carpet bagging exercise for those who pushed the sales through.”

The Dean mulled over this information with a surprised look.

“And then there are the banks!” I was ready to continue my monologue. The Dean stopped me.

“You found all this documentation in my library?” was his first puzzled question.

“Uhhh, yes. Why? Is this a problem?” I asked like a mouse caught in a trap, with cheese in its mouth.

“A problem? No! This is wonderful that our library has this information!” he exclaimed. “You know I don’t believe many people use the database because we don’t speak English well enough. But to have you extract this information in an academic way from our library is a great step forward for the university! Mr. Turner this is outstanding news,” the Dean said solemnly with excitement.