vlad.tribnet.com / Issue #162 / Opinion / Reading article...

Navy cadets cheered, bureaucrats were delighted, but Primorye residents have little to gain from the visit of Belarussian President Alexander Lukashenko.

Primorye desperately needs freedom from the central planning that turned this region into an economic backwater on the Pacific Rim for 70 years. It needs to reassure foreign investors that this is a safe place to put their money. Lukashenko, however, is the kind of man who forbids his factories to shut down – which guarantees that incompetent businesses will keep losing money. And he allegedly inspired the governor to hand over the skin of a rare Siberian tiger, according to the daily Vladivostok. Even if this was legal, the symbolism was attrocious.

If Primorye wants to avoid the isolation Belarus is increasingly experiencing, it should look for partners who have more to offer than promises of a brotherhood of outcasts.